Leonardo da Vinci

"What he’s done is really captured the complex brilliance of one of the most extraordinary humans in the world. It’s a favourite of mine. When people think of da Vinci, it’s as this extraordinary person who is almost untouchable in genius. And of course he had incredible capacity. However, he refined his craft. He was incredibly intentional. He was incredibly curious, insatiable even. And he dedicated his life’s efforts to understanding the things he was curious about. The man did not have an easy life, but he was passionate and purposeful in how he spent his time. And I think that many of us in modern times sometimes have it backwards. We work really hard, but we struggle with purpose and meaning. Da Vinci is a reminder to flip those around, and first orientate: spend deep time thinking about what matters most. And then, by trying to structure one’s inner life and outer world so they align, amazing things can take place. To me, he puts a flag squarely in ground zero about aligning passion and purpose, relentless hard work, and creative exploration of what is. What he’s achieved speaks for itself. Great question. I don’t know. I have to go away and think about that, really. However, extraordinary thinkers and doers have a blend of internal and external drive. It’s not as simple as saying that somebody is 100% internally driven to unlock, find, explore, and learn. There are external drives and needs that we all have. There’s a balance between the two. And my investigation has led me to the insight that there’s no one right combination. But when our internal drive is higher than the external, it helps us play the long game of discovery and curiosity. So if we have it on a one to ten scale, we might have an eight out of ten on internal, and a seven out of ten on external, and it ends up working out just fine."

"Walter Isaacson's wonderful biography turns Leonardo from an icon into a human being. For me Leonardo becomes the most human in the explorations of his endless failures."

"I am about a third through Walter Isaacson's "Leonardo da Vinci" and really enjoying it. It makes me realize that so many of those great figures in history we feel we know so much about, we really know little."

""Leonardo da Vinci" is his best book, I think."