Openness to new ideas

If you're a sports fan, you know well that a prospect's path rarely follows a straight line. Take Michael Jordan; cut from his high school varsity team, he famously developed into one of basketball's all-time greats. Or Tom Brady, who went from a scholarship at Michigan, to falling to the 6th round of the NFL draft, and then doing pretty well in New England. And in soccer, Ousmane Dembele saw accolades at Rennes, struggles at Barcelona, and acclaim at PSG.

Similarly, the path to discovery, whether in a scientific lab or any creative endeavor, also rarely follows a straight line. Breakthroughs don't come through meticulously laid, flawlessly executed plans. In reality, there's simply too much variance.

Today's good thing is a celebration of openness—of accepting that variance.

Taken from Nature Magazine