Shows / R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Professor David Maslach talks about graduate school, research, science, Innovation, and entrepreneurship. The R3ciprocity project is my way to give back as much as I possibly can. I seek to provide insights and tools to change how we understand science, and make it more democratic.
Episodes
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Why ‘Trying Harder’ Won’t Always Make You Better
I’ve spent most of my career trying to understand productivity. What drives it. What breaks it. How to measure it. And—maybe most painfully—how elusive it…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
I Was Lied To About Entrepreneurship
I was lied to about entrepreneurship. I was told that if I went and tried something, it would work out. That if I did good work, people would notice. That…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Artificial Intelligence Mirrors Human Self-Deception
AI hallucinations, Truth, and Gaslighting. I think the thing that most people are super surprised about is AI hallucinations. Where it makes things up on the…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Professor Life Is a Constant Focus on Trying to Get Ahead
If you are in the professor game, you already know what I’m about to say. One of the most fascinating things about being online is that everybody tries to…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
How to Stop Being Burned by Other People
I was raised a very good Catholic boy. My mom is deeply religious. Caring about other people was everything. Mother Teresa was a role model. Giving. Serving…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Just Go Be Awesome
I don’t know who needs to hear this today, but here it is: Just go be awesome. We don’t say that enough. We don’t hear it enough. We spend way too much time…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
You’re Not Lazy: You’re Just Trained to Fear Imperfection
In school, we’re taught that mastery is the goal. Understand the material. Get the A. Move up. But the real world? It doesn’t work like that. We don’t live in…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Everyone Loves Disruption… Until You Start Disrupting
Almost nobody actually wants change. We say we do. We might even read a book or two about it. But deep down, most people want to work with what they already…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Why Academia Feels So Competitive (And How to Escape It)
Why does academia feel so competitive? I think we first have to define what competition is. I see it as a race toward a limited amount of resources. A lot of…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Is Academic Life Worth It? Here’s What Keeps Me Going.
I know it’s easy to talk about the dark side of academia: the rejections, the grind, the isolation, the politics. But today, I want to talk about something…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Why Grades and Pedigree Don’t Tell the Whole Story
We like to believe there are clear signals of future success: good grades, the right school, a glowing letter of recommendation. We use these signals to make…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Why We’re So Wrong About Who Will Succeed
We think we can predict success. In grade school, it’s athletic ability. In high school, it’s test scores. Later in life, it’s houses, cars, and job titles…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
PhD Culture Is Obsessed With Productivity (And It’s Toxic)
PhD life isn’t just about research. It’s about living in a culture that quietly worships productivity. From day one, you’re thrown into a world where everyone…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Successful Careers Is the Most Overrated Idea in Academia
Success is so strongly sold to you in academia. It’s part of the culture. Part of the myth. We’re told there is one path: success → happiness → utility → more…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
10 Years of Rejection: What Nobody Tells You About Building Something New
When I started building this innovation project ten years ago, I thought it would be exciting. The truth? It’s been rejection, stigma, and even what…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Why You Can Only Talk About the Weather (And Even That’s Risky)
One of the strangest things I’ve learned as a researcher is how few topics people are willing to talk about honestly. Almost everything makes people…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Why Academia Says It Wants Entrepreneurship But Punishes It
Institutions say they want innovation, entrepreneurship, and commercialization in PhD life. In practice, they actively work against it. I know this because I…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
A Boring Barber Made Me Wealthy (I’m Not Joking)
I was a strange kid. At 14, I read The Wealthy Barber. Not because I was ambitious. Because something about it made sense. I’m 46 now, and that book quietly…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Why Life Hacks Don’t Work (and What Actually Does)
Almost everything you read about PhD life, career success, or even work-life balance comes packaged as a simple hack: • Read this book, and you’ll know how to…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Innovation Isn’t Fun. It’s Lonely.
We sell innovation — and PhD life — like it’s a game. Like it’s toys, breakthroughs, and fun every day. But here’s the truth: Real innovation is grinding…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
I Used to Be in Special Ed. Now I Teach PhDs.
One of the hardest things I’ve learned as a professor is this: most people don’t “get it” on the first try. And that’s not because they aren’t smart. It’s…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Why Being “Not That Good” Is Actually Your Superpower
One of the hardest lessons in life — and in academia — is that nobody is going to do the work for you. You’ll want someone to rescue you. To guide you. To make…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Academia’s Big Lie: More Output ≠ Better Work
Almost everything you read about PhD or researcher life is about optimization. Do more with less. Catch up. Publish faster. But here’s the truth: most of it is…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Why Talking About Money in Academia Feels Like Betrayal
As a professor, I live in a strange contradiction. Students assume I’m wealthy. Colleagues know how much free labor this profession demands. The truth?…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Repetition Is the Only Real Advice That Works.
Most people giving you advice don’t have any context for your life. Even well-intentioned advice usually falls flat, because they’re not in the game you’re…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
The 2% Rule Explains Almost Everything About Human Behavior
Education makes a dangerous assumption: that people want to learn. They don’t. Most people don’t want to improve, cooperate, or even engage when it would…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Why Going Back for a PhD Makes Successful People Feel Stupid
Most mature PhD students think they suck the moment they start. That is the default experience. You usually come in as someone who was doing spectacularly…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Why You’ll Never Be Recognized for the Work You Actually Do
I’ll be the first to say it: academic awards are political. Best paper, rising scholar, senior scholar… endowments, honors, “recognition.” None of it is as…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
The 4 Words I Heard at Age 7 That Still Drive Me: ‘You Can Do This’
There are two kinds of people in this world: • the ones who create barriers, say “you can’t do this,” and keep you stuck in the norms… • and the ones who say…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Happiness Isn’t a Feeling—It’s Mental Work
One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned is this: feeling good about yourself and the world has very little to do with “feeling” at all. Happiness is not…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
How Do You Tell Who’s Actually Serious?
This is something I’ve wrestled with for years: How do you tell if someone is actually serious? I’ve spent decades in research. Every idea takes…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Self Forgiveness Is the Only Real Productivity Hack for Parents
My wife and I are both professionals. I am a business professor and she is a veterinarian. We have two teens. The hard part is not planning. It is that life…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid: Why Skepticism Saves You
We’re sold a story every day—by schools, employers, businesses, and even “in-crowds.” They all want us to buy in completely. But here’s the hard truth: if you…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
The Only Thing That Works
I know how easy it is to get distracted by the newest idea, the latest tip, or what others say you should be doing. I fall into that trap too. But after years…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Everyone Thinks They’re Better Than You — They’re Wrong
Almost every problem in life comes down to ego. People genuinely believe they’re better than you—deep down, to their core. It’s not a guess, not an…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
When You Stop Caring About the Research Game
I used to wake up excited to do research. I chased goals. I loved the climb. I believed in the system. But years of rejection change you. You start to see the…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Why Buying Houses Often Underperforms Boring Index Funds
Most people think buying property is automatically a good investment. As a business professor, I’m going to say something unpopular: most of the time, it…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Why “Work Harder” Is Terrible Advice for PhDs
I strongly believe that working harder reduces research quality. And I know that sounds wrong in academia. But 95% of the advice I hear is either: • “You just…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Why Economic Logic Fails in Real Life — and What Works Instead
The longer I’ve been a parent, scholar, and human being, the less faith I have in the neat, clean economic logic I once believed in. Those tidy models—pick…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
The Real Win Is Staying in the Game
I swim a lot. And almost every week at the pool, I see someone in their 70s—sometimes even in their 80s—learning how to swim for the first time. They’re out…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Why Do Most Adults Stop Exercising After 30?
I strongly believe the way we teach fitness and athleticism is completely wrong. We start with competition. We teach that the goal is to win, to maximize, to…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
My Biggest Career Flaw Is That I’m Too Public & Honest
I’m probably too open about my inner life. What I’m thinking. What I’m struggling with. What I don’t understand yet. I don’t know many people in academia who…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Why Almost Nobody Has a Long-Term Vision Anymore
I’ve always been a crusty old man. Now I just admit it in public. Here’s the thing that drives me a little crazy: almost nobody has a long-term vision anymore…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Most Money Problems Are Actually Hope Problems
I honestly think that a lot of what we call “financial problems” are not really financial at all. I think money, most of the time, is just an indicator. A…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Innovation’s Dirty Secret: It’s Boring, Lonely, and (Maybe Not) Worth It
When you follow something like the R3ciprocity Project—or any long, hard project—you need to understand something: recognition might never come. And if it…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
The 7-Year Rule That Saved My Career
century ago, most of us wouldn’t have lived past 30—especially young men, lost to war and hardship. Today, we face a new challenge: living long enough to feel…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
The Quiet Drivers of Success Most People Completely Miss
I study as a business professor is how badly we infer causes from surfaces. We walk into a classroom, a gym, Walmart, a town meeting, and we instantly start…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
I Started With One Follower. It Was the Developer.
When I started this project, I had about 80 followers. On YouTube, my first follower for six months was the developer. That’s the truth. At any moment, I could…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Science Doesn’t Advance by Persuasion
One of the most interesting things I’ve learned in science is this: No amount of convincing will ever change people’s minds. No amount of work. No amount of…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
I Don’t Believe In Research Career Success
I don’t believe in the success games of research.
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
How Do You Keep Going When Your Family Thinks You’re Wasting Time?
The hardest part of building something meaningful isn’t the outside criticism. It’s the silence—or worse, the doubt—from the people closest to you. Family…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
I’m Happy Being the Screw-Up: My Mom Gets To Knows Really Know Who I Am
I feel that I am the most successful person alive, and I know that sounds really presumptuous of me. But I want to explain. If I was to look at the norms or…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
I Finally Understood Why So Many PhDs Feel Like They’re Failing
What drives me bonkers about our culture is that we do not encourage people to struggle in a healthy way. We don’t encourage people to sit with failure. We…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Why Becoming a Researcher in 2026 Is Better Than in 2005
Why Doing Research in 2026 Is Objectively Better Than in 2005 (Even if it still sucks) 1. Access is radically better In 2005, most people outside a few Western…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
That Moment When the Cold Winter Air Hits Your Skin After A Intense Workout
The best feeling in the world isn’t the workout. It’s what happens after. You finish. You’re warm, flushed, a little euphoric. Your eyes feel strange. Your…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Academia Taught Me to Compete. I Fought Back With Kindness.
I just came back from one of the biggest international conferences I attend. Over 14,000 people—researchers, professors, thinkers—all incredibly talented. It’s…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Software Development Is Just a Sequence of Embarrassing Bugs
Here’s the truth I’ve learned as both a business professor and a software builder: software development isn’t elegant. It’s a series of embarrassing bugs. You…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
PhD Life Runs on Shame. Here’s How I Finally Broke Free.
The easiest way to understand PhD life is to imagine a world built on shame. It’s full of thou shalt nots. It’s full of don’t do this. It’s full of quiet…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
Hustle Culture Lied to You
After years studying business and building something real, I’ve learned this: there’s no hack, no shortcut, no one-time breakthrough. Everything that…
- R3ciprocity.com - Prof David Maslach: Innovation; Research Life; Striving Towards Happiness
I Research Innovation With Medical Device Failure: A Boring Research Topic, Then The World Caught Up
My research sounds narrow: how do you learn from failure, and how does that turn into innovation. But “failure” is a misleading word. Once you look closely, it…