Wisdom in fragments

As I progressed in my career, there were always moments where I asked myself whether I was good enough for that next challenge. I was often the youngest person in the room, and typically the only brown face in the room. I took the fact that I felt I wasn't good enough as a challenge.

Former President of Nintendo of America, led iconic console era

My maternal grandfather was exiled from Haiti and remained outspoken, highlighting the cruelty being inflicted on the Haitian population. His experience shaped me – and shaped my own mentality of being tough, resilient, picking myself up from disappointments, and continuing to move forward. We cannot be paralysed with disappointment when things don't go the way we want.

Former President of Nintendo of America, led iconic console era

Innovation is a skill, a teachable skill, just like management. If you focus on a handful of key principles, you can effectively drive innovation in any type of business. Innovative companies are not afraid of failure – they're willing to take risks, fail forward, learn from missteps, pivot, and keep going.

Former President of Nintendo of America, led iconic console era

Happiness is family. I loved growing up in Sinjar surrounded by my mother and siblings. Those memories are my happy place.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner & Yazidi Genocide Survivor Advocate

Honestly, I do not always feel hopeful. I am more worried for the future of my community now, eight years after the genocide began, than I was when I first escaped ISIS. But I also find hope and solidarity in those crises.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner & Yazidi Genocide Survivor Advocate

Education exponentially multiplies advancements in every other sector. And critically, it empowers communities with the skills to shape their own futures, build their own economies, and advocate for their own rights.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner & Yazidi Genocide Survivor Advocate

A lot of aid goes to displacement camps, which are necessary in the immediate aftermath of a crisis but are short-term and frankly undignified band-aids. The community feels hopeless in that environment where every day is the same and there are no opportunities to rebuild their lives.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner & Yazidi Genocide Survivor Advocate

Rape is one of the oldest weapons of war and it remains so to this day. For too long, it has been viewed as an 'unfortunate' side effect of war. But really, it is a tactic. The truth is that stable societies are built on the backs of women.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner & Yazidi Genocide Survivor Advocate

Beyond the atrocities of mass murder and rape, ISIS also set out to systematically destroy the Yazidi community by ensuring that we did not have the resources to survive in our homeland. They poisoned wells, burned farms, took out electrical grids, and destroyed schools, homes, temples, and hospitals.

Nobel Peace Prize Winner & Yazidi Genocide Survivor Advocate

Young people see philanthropy and change completely differently – they don't support charities in the same way as I do, but they campaign and that's perhaps more valuable. The money is less important now, and the drive is the focus, the talking, the doing.

Pioneering Software Engineer & Founder of Freelance Programmers Ltd

I always tried to run my business in a humane way. I had this idea of business being tough and harsh, and thought I could build a business that was humane and kind. Performance metrics and KPIs are relatively straightforward to follow, but doing the 'right thing' is not nearly so clear cut.

Pioneering Software Engineer & Founder of Freelance Programmers Ltd

Looking back, there were two things that made change possible for me. Firstly, I lived the change. My company was a way of, as they say, 'scratching my own itch.' I wanted to be able to go on working myself, and I realised that a lot of other women would have had comparable aims and desires.

Pioneering Software Engineer & Founder of Freelance Programmers Ltd

For me, success is about harmony, and it has several dimensions. The classic three; intellectual, physical, and spiritual – when those three are in harmony, I feel my life is a success. Money isn't really a part of that. Many people use money as a measure of success, not as their umbrella for a rainy day.

Pioneering Software Engineer & Founder of Freelance Programmers Ltd

I've noticed that wealthy people don't build resilience often because they think they're protected by their money. To a certain extent, this is true. As the money goes however, there's no strength… there's no kernel behind the money that allows them to see through the problems of life. Your happiness comes from inside.

Pioneering Software Engineer & Founder of Freelance Programmers Ltd

My early experience as an unaccompanied child refugee on the Kindertransport brought me to England in 1939, evading Nazi Europe. That really had an enormous impact on me, everything was different. It was such a big change, that change doesn't throw me anymore. I've learned to enjoy change, I like to do new things, make new things happen. I'm also very conscious that my life was saved, and I decided, very early on, to make mine a life worth saving.

Pioneering Software Engineer & Founder of Freelance Programmers Ltd

Some political conversations are necessary, think about conversations on race or gender, there aren't 'sides' to take when we're talking about human dignity. Instead of focusing on trying to change someone's mind, we can focus on speaking from a place of curiosity. Trying to change other people is a fool's errand – we can have some influence on how people behave, but if your goal is to change their mind, you're setting yourself up for failure.

Harvard Business Review contributor & workplace dynamics expert