Set sail.
Sunsetting a project should mean that every aspect of the endeavor delivered results. In this positive scenario, sunsetting means more than a finish. It signifies a strategic sensibility: everyone grasps that investing more resources into a completed project could mean redundancy or even waste ... that those resources cannot go to a new endeavor that will propel the organization into its next phase. Same with a person. Thinking of a career change, or even retirement, as the healthy end of only one endeavor -- as opposed to the sad end of absolutely everything -- injects a productive mindset into one's next phase. Our work is never done. We should seek our next project. And we should always look to next week.
Under Full Sail. Anonymous American 19th century. Oil and casein on plaster and lath. Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch. National Gallery of Art.
Embracing longevity and lifelong impact
Athena Alliance: I’ve discovered through thousands of conversations with women senior leaders, that this vision of “sailing into the sunset” after years of hard work has lost its allure. In a world where our life expectancy has increased and consequently our potential for active contribution has expanded, I find myself wondering why we limit ourselves to defining life as a period of work followed by a period of rest.
How AI is deciphering lost scrolls from the Roman Empire
Isaac Schultz: The Vesuvius Challenge was launched in March 2023. It’s a project challenging members of the public to use AI to identify characters, and ultimately words, hidden in the Herculaneum scrolls. The first word found and translated from one of the unopened papyrus scrolls (“purple”) was announced in October 2023. The finder of the word won $40,000 for his efforts, as part of the $1,000,000 paid out last year to people working on the lost library.
Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine doubling enrollment
Emily Schabacker: The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine uses a problem-based learning curriculum in which small teams of students, usually about eight in a group, work through patient cases that represent the most common clinical conditions that physicians see in Virginia. Students are also required to work with a mentor on a research project that meets publishable standards by the end of their education. “This is a very different kind of a learning experience than a big-box medical school where everyone sits in a big classroom and listens to someone who’s lecturing,” Learman said.
The last of the Hollywood power brokers
Clay Risen: Among Mr. Kanter’s close friends was Mel Brooks, and Mr. Kanter helped in the production of a long list of Brooks films, including “Young Frankenstein,” “Silent Movie” and “High Anxiety.” He also joined Mr. Brooks, the director Paul Mazursky and a small group of other film-industry insiders for a regular Friday lunch. The repast became legendary around Hollywood. ... The lunches have continued, and Mr. Kanter was in regular attendance. He was there the Friday before his death, for a meal at Porta Via in Beverly Hills, his son said. Getting up after the meal, Mr. Kanter told his old friends, “See you guys next week.”