Posts by Thomas Hill III

Charles Blondin was a French tightrope walker and acrobat (and yes, I know Man on Wire was about Philippe Petit). He was best known for crossing the 1,100-foot Niagara Gorge on a tightrope. In fact, he crossed it more than 300 times, often with different theatrical variations: blindfolded, in a sack, trundling a wheelbarrow, on stilts, carrying…

I remember watching my grandfather and father when they were faced with a broken piece of equipment or a seemingly impossible task. Most people would have given up, but I never once heard them say, “I don’t think we can fix this.” Their response was always, “Let’s figure out what it will take.” That simple…

The coastal redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) in the Pacific Northwest are the tallest trees in the world—the record holder, Hyperion, stands at 380.3 feet. They are capable of reaching such heights due to several factors, with a significant one being their ability to absorb up to 40% of their water needs through their leaves. The theoretical…

Contrary to the old myth, goldfish don’t actually have three-second memories. Recent research shows they can remember things for weeks or even months. They learn to navigate mazes, recognize human faces, and remember feeding schedules. They can distinguish between different people and even be trained to perform simple tricks. The goldfish memory myth persists because…

Attending the “Welcome” conference in New York, I was able to hear Jesse Cole (of Savannah Bananas fame) speak about putting fans first. At one point, he told the story of the first time they played in a large major league stadium and what they were willing to do so the fans in the upper…

In the early 2000s, the video game company Electronic Arts used the tagline “Challenge Everything.” Good for them, but they didn’t come up with this concept. It has been around since at least the 17th century and is commonly known as the scientific method. The scientific method is a process in which a problem or…

“Love God and do as you please” is attributed to St. Augustine in a sermon on 1 John 4:4-12. He was on to something. Our executive team was working on a “Code of Conduct” arising from a list we made—as a team—of things we would and wouldn’t do in meetings and interactions with each other. It…

Over breakfast one morning, a friend used a phrase I hadn’t heard in a while. In the 1980s, Vince and Larry burst onto TV screens across the U.S. Through humorous dialogue and endings that always included Vince and Larry going through the windshield, they encouraged us to “Buckle Up” for safety. Then the narrator would…

The renowned photographer, Ansel Adams, used the terms “assignments from without” and “assignments from within” to distinguish between commercial projects and images he felt personally driven to create. His peers (like Imogen Cunningham) often teased him, calling him a “sellout.” He didn’t see it that way. We are often called on to hold together in our hands what seem…

In 1983, Stephen O’Brien, an American geneticist, discovered that cheetahs have “close genetic uniformity.” He and his colleagues performed skin grafts on several cats from different populations. Normally, the grafts would be rejected within a couple of weeks because the cat’s body would identify the graft as foreign. This didn’t happen with the cheetahs. Their…