“Throw me to the wolves, and I will return leading the pack.” (This line is widely misattributed to Seneca.Its origin is modern, but its message on resilience and leadership remains sound.) “Thrown to the wolves” is the moment when status collapses and reality speaks.Titles vanish. Favour fades.What remains is character, skill, and the ability to … Read more
At first glance, it seems like a paradox. In reality, it is a statement of method.Becoming an adult is inevitable.Becoming young, however, is a choice. Biological youth is a phase.Mental youth is a discipline. Over time, we accumulate experience, structure, responsibility.All of this is necessary and useful. But it carries a silent risk, rigidity: And … Read more
When people tell you that in adulthood problems come one after another, do not believe them … they all arrive at once. And they show up without formal notice: fiscal, operational, family, health, relational.Each with “non-deferrable” urgency.Each convinced it has absolute strategic priority. The real surprise of adulthood is not complexity. It is simultaneity. When … Read more
“Horror vacui“, Latin for “fear of empty space”, began as an aesthetic category.But, as often happens, it did not remain confined within frames for long. At first it is art. Then it becomes behaviour.Originally, it describes an almost compulsive urge to fill every available space: no margins, no pauses, no visual silence. From Baroque art … Read more
“Conversational implicature” is one of those invisible mechanisms that hold human communication together.It is not what we say, but what we allow the other person to understand without saying it. Consider the dialogue: “A. Where is Charles?”“B. There is a yellow Volkswagen outside Anne’s house.” It does not work on a logical level, yet it … Read more
What is perceived as chaos on a desk is often not disorder. It is a system. Not a linear system. Not an aesthetic system. But a functional one. To the outside observer, that surface cluttered with open books, overlapping notes, hastily written post-its, and objects apparently out of place seems to deny the very idea of … Read more
The sheer assertiveness of the little FIAT Panda, sitting at 130 km/h (about 80 mph) and refusing to move aside despite my repeated flashes, was not stubbornness. It was doctrine. My utmost respect goes to the fearless driver (indeed: the test pilot) pushing the Panda beyond every reasonable fear, because only those who have done … Read more
Research in psycholinguistics and social psychology shows that the use of different languages can be associated with consistent variations in behaviour, emotional expression, and modes of self presentation among bilingual and multilingual individuals. Numerous empirical studies indicate that each language tends to activate specific cultural frameworks, together with social norms, communicative conventions, and patterns of … Read more
“Surprising people” is driving through a red light.“Improvising” is slamming on the brakes when the light is green. Two actions equally unpredictable, yet opposite in their wisdom. It is a joke, of course. But, as often happens, humour captures the world of work and leadership with surgical precision. In traffic, as in teams, surprising others … Read more
This week I underwent surgery to remove a cataract. A simple procedure, at least when described: the surgeon enters the eye, removes the “damaged” crystalline lens, and replaces it with a new one, selected to compensate for any pre-existing visual defects. This is the account of an ordinary patient whose quality of life has improved … Read more
A dear friend of mine has found himself today in a situation that is authentically “Pirandellian” (as in Luigi Pirandello, 1934 Literature Nobel Laureate). A cyber-attack has caused him to lose his main social media account, the one through which he used to speak to the world. That account was tied to an alias, and … Read more
History of the adhesive bandageLife, death and miracles of a device that saves both lives and honour Before beginning, it may help international readers to understand the family of words from which “sparatrap” originates. In much of Europe, the earliest form of the term was the French sparadrap, itself derived from the medieval Latin sparare … Read more
Today I spoke at a conference in Poland, sharing insights from my specific field: the engineering, inspection, and maintenance of giant wind rotor blades.
Among the presentations, one particularly stood out — a talk on the 6R philosophy, a modern evolution of sustainability principles that goes far beyond the familiar “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.”
The cooling of coffee follows an elegant law of classical Newtonian physics — describing how a hot liquid gradually descends towards the “golden zone” of 50–65 °C, perfect for both flavour and the survival of your tongue.
With infusion coffee in a large cup, the curve is predictable: after 8 minutes and 54 seconds it is ideal; after 16 minutes and 50 seconds it is already lukewarm and sad.
Then there is Italy.
Unity of command is one of the pillars of leadership, both in the military and in business.
When it is clear who is in charge, attention is focused, efforts do not overlap, and execution runs smoothly.
From Eisenhower’s direction in the Second World War to Steve Jobs at Apple, well-defined authority has consistently supported coherent strategies and the efficient use of resources.
It ensures that everyone marches — or charges — in the same direction, reducing conflict, ambiguity, and redundant decision-making.
It often feels that having only one problem should make life simpler. In reality, it can make things harder.
A single difficulty becomes a monolith — dominating our attention, resisting resolution, distorting our focus.
But when problems multiply, something unexpected happens: they begin to interact.
What once seemed insoluble in isolation becomes manageable within a broader system.
The complexity itself creates space for new perspectives, new patterns, new solutions.
“Cu mangia fa muddichi.”
He who eats makes crumbs, says a Sicilian proverb.
This is not about being the cleverest in the room.
It is about creating a system where speed, experimentation, and continuous learning are at the core.
Progress is rarely clean.
But mess means movement, and the real question is: how fast can you and your team learn, adapt, and evolve—faster than your competitors?
“Cu ‘un fa nenti ‘un sbaglia nenti.”
(Sicilian proverb)
He who does nothing makes no mistakes.
But he does not win, either.
“We did not make any obvious mistakes, and yet, somehow, we lost.”
(Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia, during the 2013 press conference announcing Nokia’s cellular division acquisition by Microsoft)
This is, in essence, the story of Nokia — once a global emblem of reliability, innovation and leadership.
A respected company, with no major missteps.
And yet, the world was racing forward.
And they stood still.
Occam’s Razor
William of Occam, a 14th-century Franciscan friar, left us a principle as self-evident as it is often ignored:
“Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.”
In plain English:
“Do not multiply entities beyond necessity.”
Today, this principle is widely used in scientific, logical, and investigative contexts, often expressed as:
“All else being equal, the simplest explanation is to be preferred.”
Around the world, people use their faces and bodies to communicate just as much as their words. In Italy—especially in the South—gestures and expressions are woven into the rhythm of conversation. In contrast, cultures like Japan and China rely on more restrained body language, where even silence and stillness carry meaning.
Yet despite these wide differences, one form of nonverbal communication is universal: eye contact.