Steph's Business Bookshelf Podcast

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About the book

The quality of your working relationships determines your success and your happiness. Stop leaving it all to chance.

Build relationships that are safe, vital, and repairable.

One essential conversation. Five powerful questions.

Your chance to build the best possible relationships with all the people who matter

Source: https://www.mbs.works/how-to-work-with-almost-anyone/

About Michael

I’ve written books that have sold about a million copies all told, including The Coaching Habit, a self-published book that’s become the best-selling book on coaching this century. I founded a training and development company, Box of Crayons, that has taught coaching skills to hundreds of thousands of people around the world. I love that it’s a human-centered place to work, and that it practices what it preaches.

But wait! There’s more! I’ve been happily married for 30 years or so; I was a Rhodes Scholar; I’ve created a book in partnership with Seth Godin that raised $400,000 for Malaria No More; I’ve been named #1 Thought Leader in Coaching and a Coaching Guru; I’ve launched several podcasts; I’ve spoken live and virtually to crowds of thousands…

Source: https://www.mbs.works/about/

Listen to Michael talk to Brené Brown about the Advice Trap

Big ideas

We should all have this conversation
Safe, vital, repairable
Keystone conversations

Let's connect

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It's April, and it's been a funny month of starting books, not finishing books, and desperately trying to squeeze books in so that I did finish them. So here we are; two books read, two books retired, and two books in progress.

This month I'm talking about...

Books I read
📚 Before and Laughter by Jimmy Carr (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📚 How to Work With (Almost) Anyone by Michael Bungay Stanier (pre-release)

Books I didn't finish
📚 Superforecasting by Philip Tetlock (DNF)
📚 The Persuaders by Anand Giridharadas (DNF, TBC)

Books I'm still in the middle of reading
📚 Future Normal by Henry Coutinho-Mason and Rohit Bhargava (WIP)
📚 Born a Crime by Trevor Noah (WIP)

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I'm back telling you about what I read last month, and what's worth reading. This month's books include...

Write Useful Books by Rob Fitzpatrick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
2 Hour Workshop Blueprint by Leanne Hughes (no rating as this was an early draft copy)
Invisible Child by Andrea Elliott ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I Wanna Be Yours by John Cooper Clarke (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

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ICYMI, this year I'm experimenting with a slightly different style of episode, featuring reviews of what I read over the last month. There'll still be occasional 'three big idea' episodes popping up throughout the year, and the four years and 197 other book based episodes will still be in the back catalogue to be enjoyed.

February might be the shortest month, but I managed to read four books, including a big chunky 500+ pager! This month I'm talking about...

Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Applied Creativity by Christopher S Sellers ⭐️⭐️💫
Wicked Arts Assignments ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I'd love to hear what you think of these new episodes, and what you're reading at the moment. Drop me a message and say hi on...
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Welcome to 2023 and to 'season two' of Steph's Business Bookshelf. ICYMI, this year I'm experimenting with a slightly different style of episode, featuring reviews of what I read over the last month. There'll still be occasional 'three big idea' episodes popping up throughout the year, and the four years and 197 other book based episodes will still be in the back catalogue to be enjoyed.

January is always a more book-heavy month, and this one was no exception. This month I'm talking about...

And Away by Bob Mortimer (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Pocket Full of Do by Chris Do ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Taste by Stanley Tucci (audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
How the Future Works by Helen Kupp, Sheela Subramanian, and Brian Elliott ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
$100m Offers by Alex Hormozi ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'd love to hear what you think of these new episodes, and what you're reading at the moment. Drop me a message and say hi on...
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Hi friends, as we roll into 2023 I wanted to share some of the reading I'm planning on doing in 2023, some experiments I'm playing with, my word of the year, and a few changes to the schedule that are coming up.

Here's Madeleine's newsletter that I mention in this episode.

Let's talk books on...
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It's time for the wrap that's not quite as good as the Spotify wrap, but still one of my favourite bits of the year; looking back at the books I've spent my year reading.

This year I read 52 books, 29% were ebooks, 42% were physical books, and 29% were audiobooks. I use the StoryGraph app to track my reading.

Here's some of the books that get a mention...

The Top 3

Imaginable by Jane McGonigal (Listen to the three big ideas here)
Stolen Focus by Johann Hari (Listen to the three big ideas here)
Brave New Work by Aaron Dignan (Listen to the three big ideas here)

Honourable Mentions

Big Feelings by Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy (Listen to the three big ideas here)
Creative Acts for Curious People by Stanford dSchool
Good Pop, Bad Pop by Jarvis Cocker
Will by Will Smith
I Didn't do the Thing Today by Madeleine Dore (Listen to the three big ideas here)
This Working Life by Lisa Leong & Monique Ross (Listen to the three big ideas here)

What were your reading highlights this year? Let me know by connecting on Instagram or LinkedIn.

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About the authors

Liz Fosslien is the co-author and illustrator of the WSJ bestseller No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotion at Work and Big Feelings: How to Be Okay When Things Are Not Okay. She leads the content and communications teams at Humu, where she helps leaders and their teams take small steps towards profound improvement. Prior to joining Humu, Liz designed and led workshops for executives at Google, Facebook, and Nike on how to create inclusive cultures. Her writing and data visualization projects have appeared in CNN, The Economist, The Financial Times, and NPR. Liz starts every day by eating plain Greek yogurt and reading academic abstracts.

Mollie West Duffy is the co-author of the WSJ bestseller No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotion at Work and Big Feelings: How to Be Okay When Things Are Not Okay. She was previously an Organizational Design Lead at global innovation firm IDEO, and a research associate for the Dean of Harvard Business School.She has worked with companies of all sizes on organizational development, leadership development, and workplace culture. Her writing has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Entrepreneur, and she’s taught design courses at Stanford and USC. Mollie loves personality tests.

Source: https://www.lizandmollie.com/bios

About the book

Uncertainty. Anger. Despair. Envy. When you’re overwhelmed by big feelings, it can seem like you’re the only one who is struggling. But having difficult emotions doesn’t mean you’re malfunctioning. It means you’re human.

Weaving surprising science with personal stories and original illustrations, each chapter examines one uncomfortable feeling—like envy, burnout, and anxiety—and lays out strategies for making it manageable. You’ll learn:

How to use regret as a compass for making decisions
How to identify what’s behind your anger and communicate it productively
Why you might be suffering perfectionism, and how to detach your self-worth from what you do

Big Feelings helps us understand that difficult emotions are not abnormal, and that we can emerge from them with a deeper sense of meaning.

Source: https://www.lizandmollie.com/big-feelings

Three big ideas

Dispel the myths
Nothing is permanent
We are human

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About the book

Great Ideas. Methods, not Magic.

Innovation is not an event; it’s a practice. Don’t leave the big ideas to the creatives. Revolutionize your creative process by mastering Ideaflow: the proven strategy that anyone can use to routinely generate and commercialize innovative ideas. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, student, C-suite leader, or anything in between, this book will teach you how to unleash creativity and innovation to magnify and accelerate all your other efforts, by simply building it into your daily routine

About the authors

Jeremy is the Director of Executive Education at Stanford d.school and an Adjunct Professor at Stanford's School of Engineering. He is the co-host of the d.school’s widely popular program “Stanford’s Masters of Creativity.”

Perry is a seasoned teacher, entrepreneur, product designer, chief executive and co-founding member of the Stanford d.school's faculty with over 20 years of experience.

Find out more about the book and authors here.

Big ideas

1) All problems are idea problems

2) You're not testing enough

3) Elevate

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About the author

Pat is one of the founders of The Table Group and is the pioneer of the organizational health movement. He is the author of 13 books, which have sold over 6 million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages.

As President of the Table Group, Pat spends his time speaking and writing about leadership, teamwork, and organizational health and consulting with executives and their teams.

Prior to founding the firm in 1997, Pat worked at Bain & Company, Oracle Corporation and Sybase. Pat lives in the Bay Area with his wife and four boys.

Source: https://www.tablegroup.com/pat/#pat

About the book

Pat's new book, The Six Types of Working Genius, is on track to be his biggest and most impactful book yet. In classic Lencioni fashion, Pat brings his model to life in a page-turning fable that is as relatable as it is compelling. He tells the story of Bull Brooks, an entreprhttps://www.stephsbusinessbookshelf.com/the-five-dysfunctions-of-a-team-by-patrick-lencioni-why-you-need-to-embrace-conflict/eneur, husband, and father who sets out to solve his own frustration at work and stumbles into a new way of thinking that revolutionizes the way he sees his work, his team, and even his marriage. Bull's story is indicative of every man and woman who is striving to avoid burnout and find fulfillment, dignity and success in their work.

Beyond the personal discovery and instant relief that Working Genius provides, the model also gives teams a remarkably simple and practical framework for tapping into one another's natural gifts, which increases productivity and reduces unnecessary judgment.

Whether you're a team leader or entrepreneur, a front-line employee or executive, or a school teacher or stay-at-home parent, this book will help you find more joy, fulfillment and success in your work and your life.

Source: https://www.workinggenius.com/book

Three big ideas

The 6 types
Know your category
In it together

Other books of Pat's I've talked about

Five Dysfunctions of a Team (my favourite)

The Ideal Team Player

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This week's episode is a little different as I wanted to tell you about some of the books I'm looking forward to reading, rather than about a book I've read. Here's the books on my TBR at the moment...

The Persuaders by Anand Giridharadas
Ideaflow by Jeremy Utley and Perry Klebahn
The Prepared Leader by Erika James and Lynn Perry Wooten
Humanocracy by Gary Hemel and Michele Zanini
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff
Big Feelings by Liz Fosslien and Molly West Duffy
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
Faith, Hope and Carnage by Nick Cave and Sean O’Hagan

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About the author

Hi, I'm Tiago Forte, I’m the founder of Forte Labs, and the question that drives me is, “How can humans reach their creative potential?”

To answer that question, I teach and write about new ways for you to thrive in our connected, digital world.

Over the last decade, I’ve helped thousands of people build a Second Brain.

It’s a trusted place outside your head where you can collect and organize your most important ideas and insights, and use them to do your best work.

The ultimate goal of building a Second Brain is to help you lead a more fulfilling life with more ease and less stress.

Source: https://fortelabs.com/

About the book

How many times have you tried to remember something important and felt it slip through your grasp?

How often have you struggled to recall even one useful takeaway from a book or article you read?

How much time have you wasted looking for a document or file you were sure you saved?

If your first thought was, “This happened to me today!” then you’re not alone.

The sheer amount of information flooding our brains every day is overwhelming.

Information Overload has long since become Information Exhaustion, taxing our mental resources and leaving us constantly anxious that we’re forgetting something.

Yet, information is the fundamental building block of everything we do.

Anything you want to accomplish, from executing a project at work to getting a new job, learning a new skill, and starting a business, requires finding and putting the right information to use.

Your professional success and quality of life directly depend on your ability to manage the information around you

Now, it’s time to acknowledge that we can’t “use our head” to store everything we need to know, and outsource the job of remembering to technology.

This is where a Second Brain comes in.

To make effective use of information, we need to package it up and make it accessible for our future self.

Building a Second Brain is a way to cultivate a growing body of knowledge that is uniquely your own…

So when the opportunity arises — whether that’s giving a big presentation, launching a new product, or starting a business or a family…

You’ll have access to the wisdom you need to make sound decisions and take the most effective action.

Source: https://www.buildingasecondbrain.com/

Big ideas

1) Empty your head

2) Projects not topics

3) The CODE

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About the author

Associate Professor, Dr Catherine Ball is a scientific futurist, speaker, advisor, author, founder, executive producer, executive director and company director working across global projects where emerging technologies meet humanitarian, education and environmental needs. Catherine also likes to create businesses and champion movements, collaborate with peers, and advise game-changers.

A sought-after voice across the start-up, futurist and tech world, Catherine works globally across a wide range of projects from creating documentaries and world leading conferences and events, to advising on the use of novel approaches (e.g. drones) across environmental and humanitarian projects. Catherine is a proponent of community engagement with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), and likes to demystify emerging tech.

Source: https://www.drcatherineball.com/about

About the book

As we face challenges globally on multiple fronts, it’s refreshing to hear the positive voice of scientific futurist Dr Catherine Ball. In Converge she presents insights into how technology and science are providing answers to many of the challenges the world is facing today – food shortages, war and conflict, the decline in local manufacturing, health and ageing, and global warming – and asks why we are not embracing these technologies more widely.

The answer in many cases is, ‘Because we don’t know about them!’ Well, now we do. Dr Catherine opens our eyes to the amazing, wide world of technological advancements and explores the role we all have in learning more, owning the conversations, and determining what we want technology to be.

Source: https://www.drcatherineball.com/books

Three big ideas

We are not ready
Trust and control
5 to 6

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☀️ Get in before 21 October to join this year's Steph's Business Bookshelf Summer Book Club: https://www.itsyesand.co/sbbsbc 📚

About the book

For a dozen years as one of the world’s most admired CEOs, Indra Nooyi redefined what it means to be an exceptional leader. The first woman of color and immigrant to run a Fortune 50 company — and one of the foremost strategic thinkers of our time — she transformed PepsiCo with a unique vision, a vigorous pursuit of excellence, and a deep sense of purpose. Now, in a rich memoir brimming with grace, grit, and good humor, My Life in Full offers a firsthand view of Indra’s legendary career and the sacrifices it so often demanded.

Source: https://www.indranooyi.com/thebook

About the author

Indra Nooyi is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo (2006-2019); a Fortune 50 company with operations in more than 180 countries.

In this role, Ms Nooyi was the chief architect of Performance with Purpose, PepsiCo’s pledge to do what’s right for the business by being responsive to the needs of the world around it. As part of Performance with Purpose, PepsiCo was focused on delivering sustained growth by expanding its portfolio to include more nutritious products, limiting its environmental footprint, and empowering its associates and people in the communities it serves. During her tenure, PepsiCo grew net revenue more than 80%, and PepsiCo’s total shareholder return was 162% beating the S&P over the same period.

Source: https://www.indranooyi.com/meetindra

Three big ideas

1) Find unselfish mentors

2) Learn, learn, learn

3) Purpose

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It's quarterly review time with a recap of the best books I read between 1 July and 30 September this year.

Best books I read

Four Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney & Sean Covey et al (listen to the episode about this book here)
Cult Status by Tim Duggan (listen to the episode about this book here)
Brave New Work by Aaron Dignan (listen to the episode about this book here)
Thanks for the Feedback by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen (listen to the episode about this book here)

Best audiobook I listened to

James Acaster's Guide to Quitting Social Media

Honourable mentions

Die with Zero by Bill Perkins (listen to the episode about this book here)
100 Days of Brave by Ionlanthe Gabrie (listen to the episode about this book here)

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About the book

The performance evaluation at work; the parenting advice from your mother-in-law; the lecture by the cop who just pulled you over.

We get feedback every day of our lives, from friends and family, colleagues, customers, and bosses, teachers, doctors, and strangers. We’re assessed, coached, and criticized about our performance, personalities, and appearance.

We know that feedback is essential for professional development and healthy relationships—but we dread it and often dismiss it. That’s because receiving feedback sits at the junction of two conflicting human desires. We want to learn and grow, but we also want to be accepted and respected just as we are now. Thanks for the Feedback is the first book to address this tension head on. It explains why getting feedback is so crucial yet so challenging and offers a simple framework and powerful tools to help us take on life’s blizzard of offhand comments, annual evaluations, and unsolicited advice with curiosity and grace.

Source: https://www.stoneandheen.com/thanks-feedback

About the authors

Doug Stone is a Founder of Triad Consulting and a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. He has also written screenplays, and is determined to play guitar better than his friends.

Sheila is a Founder of Triad Consulting Group and a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. Her husband teaches negotiation at MIT, and they are both schooled regularly in negotiation by their three kids.

Source: https://www.stoneandheen.com/authors

Three big ideas

1) The gift and the colonoscopy

2) The three types of feedback

3) Know your triggers

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About the book

You know that well-connected friend who only exists in the movies? The one who throws the best parties and can set up any introduction you need?

Everyone wants to know someone magical like this who brings people together. The secret is: you can be that person. You should be that person. The 2-Hour Cocktail Party will show you how.

Discover a simple party-hosting formula with step-by-step instructions that help you meet new people, strengthen your existing relationships, and make you the person everyone wants to know.

You’ll learn which days are the best to throw events (probably not the ones you think!) and what to say to the first people who arrive. Learn how to ensure your invitations get responses and your guests show up excited to mingle. Plus, get helpful pre-party checklists and a breakdown of activities to encourage new connections.

With The 2-Hour Cocktail Party, you’ll make new friends, boost your career, and leave everyone asking. “When’s your next party?”

Source: https://party.pro/book/

About the author

Howdy 👋🏼

I’m Nick Gray. I just launched a new book: The 2-Hour Cocktail Party.

Most people know me as the Founder of Museum Hack.

I hate museums. That’s why I started Museum Hack. It was featured in a popular TEDx talk. Then I grew it to a multi-million dollar business.

In 2019, I sold Museum Hack in an interesting way. It starts with a juicy takeover; read the story here.

I just turned 40. For my birthday, I rented out an entire indoor water park. That was fun.

Source: https://nickgray.net/about/

Three big ideas

1) Build momentum

2) Nights, nametags, nibbles

3) Icebreakers

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About the book

Consumers have changed, and the businesses that form around them are principled, purposeful and creative. The next generation of entrepreneurs thinks differently, and Cult Status will show you how you can too.

Enough has been written about huge cult brands founded last century – Nike, Apple, Red Bull. What will the cult companies of tomorrow look like? Who is amassing the kind of passionate community that gives them the best chance of getting through difficult times to build long-term, sustainable success?

Source: http://cultstatus.com/book/cult-status/

About the author

Tim Duggan is an author, advisor and optimist who firmly believes in the power of business to do good.

Tim has co-founded several digital media ventures, most notably Junkee Media, the leading digital publisher for young Australians, which was acquired by ASX-listed oOh!media

His first book, Cult Status: How To Build A Business People Adore, was named the Best Entrepreneurship and Small Business Book at the 2021 Australian Business Book Awards. His second book on creativity in the workplace, Killer Thinking: How To Turn Good Ideas Into Brilliant Ones, is out now.

He’s also the Chairman of the Digital Publishers Alliance, a group representing over 100 titles from the leading independent publishers in the country, as well as working with a range of businesses that he’s passionate about.

Source: https://timduggan.com.au/about/

ICYMI - here's the episode where I talked about Tim's latest book, Killer Thinking.

Big idea #1 - Refine & define, the seven steps to cult status

Big idea #2 - Be an untrepreneur

Big idea #3 - Know your enemy

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About the book

What's stopping us from doing the best work of our lives? It's the way we work. Bureaucracy. Hierarchy. Compliance. Everything that slows us down and makes us feel less human. Our organizations are broken. And we can fix them.

Aaron Dignan helps teams around the world completely reinvent their operating systems—the fundamental principles and practices that shape their culture—with extraordinary success. He helps them see that organizations aren't machines to be predicted and controlled. They're complex human systems full of potential waiting to be released. In Brave New Work, you'll learn exactly how to reinvent the way you work, not through top-down mandates, but through a groundswell of autonomy, trust, and transparency.

Source: https://www.bravenewwork.com/

About the author

Aaron Dignan sees the same phenomenon everywhere he looks. Our most trusted and important institutions—in business, healthcare, government, philanthropy, and beyond – are struggling. They’re confronted with the fact that the scale and bureaucracy that once made them strong are liabilities in an era of constant change. For the past ten years, he has studied organizations and teams with a new way of working that prioritizes adaptivity and autonomy over efficiency and control. Aaron contends that teams everywhere need to join them in the future of work.

As the founder of The Ready—a global organizational transformation and coaching practice—he helps companies large and small adopt new forms of self-organization and dynamic teaming.

Dignan is an active angel investor and helps build partnerships between the startups and end-ups he advises. He has sat on advisory boards for GE, American Express, PepsiCo, and Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, as well as the board of directors for Smashburger.

Source: http://www.aarondignan.com/#intro

Big ideas

Towards self-management
Upgrade your operating system
Decisions, decisions, decisions

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About the book

Fully revised and updated, the definitive guide for leaders on how to create lasting organisational change.

Do you remember the last major initiative you watched die in your organisation? Did it go down with a loud crash? Or was it slowly and quietly suffocated by other competing priorities? By the time it finally disappeared, it’s quite likely noone even noticed.

Almost every company struggles with making change happen. The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Revised and Updated is meant to help you reach the goals you’ve always dreamed of with a simple, repeatable, and proven formula. In this updated edition of the business bestseller, you’ll learn the 4 Disciplines of Execution and how to make them work for your organisation.

This proven set of practices have been tested and refined by hundreds of organisations and thousands of teams over many years. When a company or an individual adheres to these principles, they achieve superb results, regardless of the goal. These 4 Disciplines of Execution represent a new way to work and think that is essential to creating lasting organisational change and thriving in today’s competitive climate. It’s the one book that no leader can afford to miss.

Source: Amazon, see more on https://www.franklincovey.com/the-4-disciplines/

About the authors

Sean Covey is the President of FranklinCovey Education and the original architect of the 4 Disciplines methodology. A Harvard MBA and former Brigham Young University quarterback, Sean is also a New York Times bestselling author and has written numerous books, including The Leader in Me and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens.

Chris McChesney the Global Practice Leader of Execution for FranklinCovey and has led the ongoing development of the 4 Disciplines for more than fifteen years, impacting thousands of organizations. Known for his high-energy and engaging message, Chris has become one of the most requested speakers within the Franklin Covey Organization, regularly delivering keynote speeches and executive presentations to leaders in audiences ranging from the hundreds to several thousand.

Source: Amazon, see more on https://www.franklincovey.com/the-4-disciplines/

Big idea #1 - Accountability is key

Big idea #2 - The four disciplines

Big idea #3 - The whirlwind

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I've just got back from an excellent week away doing some reading, planning, thinking, and pondering. But what is a reading week? How should you plan one? And what traps should you avoid?

In this week's special episode I share three tips / big ideas to think about if you're planning your own reading / thinking week. You'll find out...

Why location matters
How to set your expectations (and self) up for success
Why you shouldn't just read

I mentioned Riparide in this episode. Check them out if you're after an interesting space in nature for your upcoming escape.

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About the book

Die with Zero by legendary energy trader, Bill Perkins, details a thought-provoking framework for maximizing net fulfillment, over net worth.

Die with Zero introduces the compelling principles he uses to think about personal finances, and more importantly, life.

Die with Zero is not something Perkins came up with after building his wealth. It's packed with stories from his first job on Wall Street making $16,000 annually, to getting fired and feeling lost in life. To his life today: a hedge fund manager, film producer, high stakes poker player, and resident "Indiana Jones" for several charities.

Called the "Last Cowboy" by the Wall Street Journal, Bill Perkins is reported to have earned more than $1 billion for his previous firm in five years.

Source: https://www.diewithzerobook.com/welcome

About the author

"The Last Cowboy" according to the Wall Street Journal, Bill Perkins is one of the world's most successful hedge fund managers and entrepreneurs. After studying electrical engineering at the University of Iowa, Bill trained on Wall Street and later moved to Houston, TX where he made a fortune as an energy trader. Perkins is currently the CEO of BrisaMax Holdings, a consulting services firm based in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Now at age 52, Bill views his career as an engine for personal growth and spends his time exploring the world, savoring his relationships, and taking in all that life has to offer.

DIE WITH ZERO is a labor of love project. Bill has been developing the principles outlined in the book since his first job making $16,000 a year in the 90's as a screen clerk for the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Source: https://www.diewithzerobook.com/welcome

Big idea #1 - The risk of missed experiences

Big idea #2 - Won't somebody think of the children?!

Big idea #3 - Timing is everything

Support my book habit: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/stephsbookshelf

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About the author

Everett Harper is the CEO and Co-Founder of Truss, a human-centered software development company, named as an Inc 5000 fastest-growing private company for 2020 and 2021.

He is a rare combination of a Black entrepreneur, Silicon Valley pedigree, National Champion, and a proven record for solving complex problems with social impact.

He had the foresight to build a company that’s been remote-first since 2011, salary-transparent since 2017, anticipating the importance of hybrid work and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) by a decade. Before Truss, Everett was at Linden Lab, maker of Second Life, a pioneering virtual world, and Bain and Company management consultants.

Though both his parents had pioneering careers as software programmers for IBM, Everett is the first in his family to attend college, as an A.B. Duke Scholar at Duke University. While majoring in biomedical and electrical engineering at Duke, he also won a NCAA National Championship in soccer. He was inducted into the North Carolina Soccer Hall of Fame in 2019. Everett graduated with an MBA and a M.Ed in Learning, Design and Technology from Stanford University.

In his career, he’s leveraged his education and experience to help millions of others, from helping fix healthcare.gov at Truss, fighting poverty worldwide as a Board Member of CARE, and helping low- and moderate-income homebuyers while at Self-Help, a community development finance institution.

Everett grew up a small town kid in New York’s Hudson Valley. He currently lives in Oakland, CA, making limoncello when life hands him lemons.

Source: https://www.everettharper.com/about

About the book

Lead organizations, solve problems, and sustain growth with effective practices for complex, uncertain, and unpredictable environments.

Renowned CEO and strategist Everett Harper explores practical techniques for making pivotal decisions through uncertainty in Move to the Edge, Declare it Center—a pragmatic playbook for leaders solving complex problems in high-pressure environments. You’ll discover a collection of practices, processes, and infrastructure that can be applied to your own circumstances and scaled throughout your organization.

The author’s framework—which is perfectly suited to an increasingly volatile, uncertain, and unpredictable business environment—offers effective ways to make decisions without complete information. It demonstrates how to sustain a team through uncertain and stressful periods while managing personal anxiety.

The book includes case studies from World Central Kitchen, policymakers responding to Covid-19, and California wildfire fighters, adaptable playbooks on salary transparency, remote work, and diversity and inclusion, and personal stories from the author that describe strategies for maintaining high performance and avoiding burnout.

An indispensable guide to modern business leadership, Move the the Edge, Declare it Center is a one-of-a-kind discussion of effective, modern strategies to deal with complex problems in the face of uncertain outcomes.

Source: https://www.everettharper.com/about-the-book

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About the book

Are you feeling exhausted and overwhelmed? Do you feel like you have no time for yourself? Are you wondering how to regain your energy and find joy?

Being a leader today is hard. We are pulled in so many directions, with big responsibilities and many livelihoods reliant on us.

It may be surprising to learn that our first responsibility is to care for ourselves. To make choices that are right for us, instead of what is right for others.

With blurred boundaries between work and life, it can be difficult to find time for this. We’ve glorified being busy to become over-scheduled and over-committed and feel guilty about taking time for ourselves.

Fully Connected is for leaders who want to take back ownership of their lives and reclaim their health and energy. On their terms.

When you figure out what lights you up and how to say no to what doesn’t bring you joy, you become a better leader as you energise your co-workers, communicate with conviction and create a culture of belonging.

In these pages Mel Kettle shares practical, simple and actionable ideas for you to increase your self-awareness, understand what motivates you and prioritise self-care so you can become a fully connected leader.

Source: https://www.melkettle.com/store/p/fullyconnectedbook

About the author

Mel is a trusted mentor to executives and leaders and a highly sought-after speaker and trainer. Her clients include leaders, teams and organisations that want to achieve real connection and sustained engagement.

At the heart of everything Mel does is a commitment to self-leadership. She has an over-arching belief that we need to lead ourselves first before we can lead others. This view came after she survived the debilitating effects of work-related loneliness, stress and burnout in her late 20s, and was reinforced when she had a life-threatening melanoma in her early-40s.

Mel also brings the unique educational combination of a Master of Business (Marketing) and a Master of Public Health, making her a valuable asset to clients including IRESS, Toll, Queensland Country Bank, ANZ, the Local Government Association of Qld, Pharmacy Guild of Australia, IHC New Zealand, Arup and numerous universities and government agencies.

Mel's sub-speciality is helping women and organisations better understand the impact of menopause in the workplace. She is the founder of the award-winning menopause blog, Just as Juicy (www.justasjuicy.com). She has been a frequent podcast and radio guest talking about her experience and how organisations can better support menopausal women at work.

In January 2022 Mel was recognised by leadersHum as one of the Top 200 Biggest Voices in Leadership for 2022, one of only seven Australians on the list.

Mel is the host of podcast This Connected Life and the author of two books: The Social Association, published in 2018; and Fully Connected, due out in June 2022.

In her spare time, Mel loves to cook, go to the beach, dance around the house and read crime thrillers.

Source: https://www.melkettle.com/about

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About the book

A legit business: one that’s proof-of-concept tested, compliant and connecting with your customer. For real.

Practical and frank, 100 Days of Brave is the ultimate guidebook for building a business that will thrive. It’s for women who want to live life on their terms, enjoying the freedom that entrepreneurship provides – but who haven’t the mentors to get their show on the road.

Whether you’re on the cusp of beginning a part-time hustle or you’re in the throes of start-up, 100 Days of Brave presents you with an achievable roadmap to testing and working your business concept.

Source: https://iolanthegabrie.com/books/

About the author

Iolanthe never imagined herself at the helm of a thriving brand. But after a detour from academia in Dublin and a wrestle with retail management, Iolanthe crossed the final frontier: she became an estate agent and an auctioneer.

Iolanthe’s family and friends were about as impressed with this decision as you might imagine – but her intuition served her well: real estate is the ultimate bootcamp for business. In its arid soil, Iolanthe learned to connect with prospects, to market her negotiation skills and to have difficult conversations about money with an agitated public.

After a successful career in property, Iolanthe launched Ruby Assembly in 2009, intuiting that social media would play an important role in global marketing in the years to come. She was right. Serving a diversity of professional categories from real estate to law, finance to franchise and local governments to psychics – Ruby Assembly enjoys a fine reputation for inimitable social media and digital marketing content that connects.

An engaging and generous speaker, prolific business writer and marketing strategy mentor, Iolanthe shares her passion and expertise for very good business via Serious Women’s Business, a 500-strong networking group based in Melbourne.

Source: https://iolanthegabrie.com/about/

Big idea #1 – Being Brave

The book is split into three sections. Brave beginnings, building brave and being brave.

Ultimately it is about building the brave muscle, the mindsets, the skills, the actions, and the activities, that you need to bring your idea to life as a business or as a side hustle.

We don't have to be creating the next unicorn or tech venture, and Iolanthe is very strong on the fact that any business is a start-up, so whether you are walking dogs, financing multi-billion-dollar mergers or acquisitions deals, all of this is relevant to you.

By the end of part one of the book, you almost forget that you needed any bravery at all. The advice in the book is so practical and outlines what you have to do, you can go off and do it. There’s also lots of good advice in there about what to worry about and what not to.

Bravery is also required to avoid some of the noise - those awkward questions from your family, friends, and ex-colleagues. And that's before you've even needed to dig into the bravery required for hard client conversations and feedback.

Big idea #2 – Brains & Guts

Brave involves both knowing your stuff and knowing yourself.

Iolanthe talks about how you do need to tap into a bit of intuition, a bit of your internal knowledge, to do some of the things that you will need to do as a business owner.

But your business foundation can't be based on woo woo, or intuition alone. You do need to have some substance behind it.

Iolanthe provides a really good amount of caution to those drawn to the Instagram fantasy or influencer types that lie to you about the reality of running a small business and getting one off the ground.

She talks you through defining your initial offering, tricky legal things to avoid, money, hiring, firing, marketing, business development, prospecting, and SEO. She also covers what you should consider for branding, what to outsource and how to surprise and delight your clients and customers.

Big idea #3 – Too Legit to Quit

The first part of the book is about getting clear on your business. The second part is more about creating legitimacy and looking at the part.

You can do this by creating branding that's fitting, professional and walks the talk of your work. You need to be findable, trustworthy, clear, and consistent. It doesn't need to cost millions to do this, and it is a marathon not a sprint.

This is the stuff to outsource (branding, copy, photography, building a website or even social media) because it's probably the stuff that you're going to put off or you might not have the skills to do and may take you longer. But once you've got this stuff down, it becomes the baseline for having some fun with your business which allows you to make it your own and make it memorable.

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About the author

As a black child raised by five sets of white foster parents (some incredibly loving, some - not so much) I always felt that I had to prove my worth, so that I would to be 'allowed to stay.'' I had to be not only a 'good girl' but a 'good black girl'. I had no say in where I would live or who my new mum and dad would be, or where I would be living next.

I was told to always be thankful, always be grateful for what I had, to never ask for more and, to never rock the boat.

And now with thirty years of personal and professional development in my bones, things have changed.

Professionally, I am an ICF credentialed coach with nearly a decade of ethical coaching under my belt.

I work with women who want to lead value based and empowered lives.

I am a feeling person. I can be with and honour my own feelings; so I can sit with and honour your feelings.

I am a person of meaningful action; so I can guide you to create meaningful action that supports you and your life.

I have no agenda and I don't judge.

If you want someone to walk alongside you, as you step into your worth and begin to create the life that you want, it will be my honour and privilege to support you.

Source: https://www.keminekvapil.com/aboutkemi

About the book

The world does not need busy women, it needs present and powerful women.

Blending inspiring stories with reflective coaching practices, POWER provides the tools to navigate the challenges that impact who we are, from discrimination and burnout to trauma and self-doubt.

Reclaim your power and create a life of true joy and fulfilment.

Source: https://www.keminekvapil.com/power-book

Big idea #1 – Defining Power

Kemi pays careful attention to the definitions. Throughout the book, she pulls out the Oxford English dictionary and defines some words where their meaning has been attached to things that aren't their original dictionary definition.

Included in this is defining power. She talks about how power is abstract and intimidating for many women so often we need to call it other things, to feminise it, call it 'soft power' to make it more palatable. But it's time to redefine and reclaim it for what it is. Power might have always looked male, white or some other combination of traits that just aren't yours.

Power might also feel associated with other words, for example, ambition. Kemi associated ambition as a less positive trait until she looked it up, and realised that ambition is not a bad thing at all.

She calls for a new paradigm, starting on the inside; women believing in themselves and feeling like they belong, owning their power and supporting and coaching others to do the same.

Power redefined can be used as individuals and as a collective. Importantly it is power ‘with’, not power ‘over’, using the Brené Brown language. Power ‘over’ is what most people have experienced, hence the more negative connotations and ideas that we have about the idea of power. Like most systems, patriarchy is designed to support itself and sustain itself. So, we must dismantle it by using power differently.

Big idea #2 – POWER

Kemi breaks power into its own acronym. ‘Presence, ownership, wisdom, equality, and responsibility’

Presence is being aware in the moment, knowing the impact that we have and using it to connect with ourselves and with others.

Ownership is the ability to integrate all parts of ourselves. Who you are, what you stand for, your experiences and the impact those have had on you and owning the story, rather than someone else's interpretation.

Wisdom is our inner wisdom, trusting your gut, and knowing that we often give our power away in the language we use of stories we tell ourselves. We need to trust ourselves rather than deferring trust or deferring power to other people because that's what we've always done.

Equality is the role that we have to play in shaping global equality, helping others who have less than we do, and owning our privilege. This allows us to help and shape things in a different way for others.

Responsibilities - taking responsibility for our power and deciding how we're going to use it. We can use that to act or behave in a particular way that is aligned with the power that we have.

Using these principles, you'll be able to build power from the inside out. Which allows you to shift the structures around us so that more people are empowered.

Big idea #3 – Practice Makes Power Practice makes power, or power takes practice.

Power is not something that can just be reclaimed by reading a book. It's not knowledge based. It does take work and hard conversations. It takes uncovering our preconceptions and ideas that maybe we haven't ever explored.

To do all of this it takes practice, it takes boundaries, which need to be clear, communicated, and committed to do the work. This practice might cause you to realise some hard truths, but ones necessary to reclaim and redefine power and use it for collective good.

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Here's the best books I read between April and June this year (in no particular order)... The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll (listen to the full summary here) Killer Thinking by Tim Duggan (listen to the full summary here) Power by Kemi Nekvapil (coming next week!) Me by Elton John

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About the book

A thought-provoking, gorgeously illustrated gift book that will spark your creativity and help you rediscover your passion with “simple, low-stakes activities [that] can open up the world.” — The New York Times

Welcome to the era of white noise. Our lives are in constant tether to phones, to email, and to social media. In this age of distraction, the ability to experience and be present is often lost: to think and to see and to listen.

Enter Rob Walker’s The Art of Noticing — an inspiring volume that will help you see the world anew. Through a series of simple and playful exercises — 131 of them — Walker maps ways for you to become a clearer thinker, a better listener, a more creative workplace colleague, and finally, to rediscover what really matters to you.

Source: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/570033/the-art-of-noticing-by-rob-walker/

About the author

ROB WALKER is a columnist and contributes to a wide of publications including The New York Times, The Atlantic, NewYorker.com, The Boston Globe, and Bloomberg Businessweek. He is the author of Buying In and Significant Objects (coedited with Joshua Glenn) and on the faculty of the Products of Design MFA program at the School of Visual Arts. He lives in New Orleans.

Source: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/59959/rob-walker/

Big idea #1 — Less productivity, more curiosity

The answer to having lots to do and endless lists is not to add more. “A hyper effective schedule designed to maximize productivity is in fact, more likely to distract you from what’s important than help you discover it.”

We’re doing so much and we’ve all experienced the situation where you have lots to do but get to the end of the day and feel like you’ve achieved nothing meaningful. Instead, Rob suggests dedicating just one hour per week to consciously directing your attention.

Stop trying to be more productive and instead try to be more curious (or embrace “joyous exploration”).

The more we do, the more we push against this attention deficit that we are all facing at the moment. Given the complexity of what’s going on in the world, and some of the terrible things that are happening, we really need the best of our attention to solve these problems. We need to push against this attention deficit and our state of peak destruction, and in order to do that we need to practice paying attention, which means practicing noticing.

Attention makes us human, let’s get it back through noticing.

Big idea #2 — The types of noticing

The book is split into five types of noticing. In these five sections there’s different activities with different levels of difficulty that you can do in order to practice noticing.

Those five sections are; Looking: eg lifting up your eyes and spotting something new every day, noticing colours, spending time really seeing something (eg spending three hours looking at one piece in a gallery*), or looking for something in particular. Sensing: eg making a sensory map, hunting for scents. Going places: eg looking for imaginary clues, going somewhere new, taking a different route, or taking the hardest route to get somewhere, make up games to play to find new things in the supermarket. Connecting with others: eg follow strangers (don’t be weird about it) and let them lead you to somewhere different, interview other people, make up backstories for strangers you see. Being alone: eg make an inventory/list of stuff (things you didn’t buy / things you touched today), study a rock, get distracted, go on a date with yourself.

*there’s a whole section in ‘looking’ chapter about galleries that’s well worth a flick through if you have a gallery visit planned.

Big idea #3 — Attention is creativity

It’s seeing things well that brings your work or your art to the next level. This is absolutely not only relevant to “creatives” or “artists”, it’s the skill that allows you to transcend the boring and the surface level things and instead see connections that others may overlook.

The art of noticing allows sports coaches or scientists to see data links that others might miss, it allows teachers, leaders, or doctors to see subtle clues that might be important, and allows investors to pay attention to undervalued companies. This is the thing that could make the difference between you and others in your field, in your industry, and/or your company and allows you to do what you do really well. “The difference between looking and seeing, between hearing and listening, between accepting what the world presents you and noticing what matters to you.”

The art of noticing is the importance of bringing these things together and paying attention to the right stuff at the right time, and making the difference between missing something vitally important, and being able to make the most of it.

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About the author

Marcus Buckingham is the author of two of the best-selling business books of all time, has two of Harvard Business Review’s most circulated, industry-changing cover articles, and has been the subject of in-depth profiles in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company, The Today Show, and The Oprah Winfrey Show. After spending two decades studying excellence at the Gallup Organization and co-creating the StrengthsFinder tool, he built his own Coaching + Education firm, The Marcus Buckingham Company. As CEO, he quickly turned it into a Human Capital Management company working with some of the world’s largest organizations.

He is known as the world’s most prominent researcher on strengths and leadership at work, and today leads research at the ADP Research Institute. Challenging entrenched preconceptions about achievement to get to the core of what drives success, Marcus’s strengths- based approach is defining the future of work as we know it.

Source: https://www.marcusbuckingham.com/about/

About the book

You’ve long been told to “Do what you love.” Sounds simple, but the real challenge is how to do this in a world not set up to help you. Most of us actually don’t know the real truth of what we love — what engages us and makes us thrive — and our workplaces, jobs, schools, even our parents, are focused instead on making us conform. Sadly, no person or system is dedicated to discovering the crucial intersection between what you love to do and how you contribute it to others.

In this eye-opening, uplifting book, Buckingham shows you how to break free from this conformity — how to decode your own loves, turn them into their most powerful expression, and do the same for those you lead and those you love.

How can you use love to reveal your unique gifts?

How can you pinpoint what makes you stand out from anyone else?

How can you choose roles in which you’ll excel?

Love + Work unlocks answers to these questions and others, so you can: Choose the right role on the team. Describe yourself compellingly in job interviews. Mold your existing role so that it calls upon the very best of you. Position yourself as a leader in such a way that your followers quickly come to trust in you. Make lasting change for your team, your company, your family, or your students.

Love, the most powerful of human emotions, the source of all creativity, collaboration, insight, and excellence, has been systematically drained from our lives — our work, teams, and classrooms.

It’s time we brought love back in.

Love + Work shows you how.

Source: https://loveandwork.org/about-the-book/

Further listening: I enjoyed this episode of Marcus Buckingham on the Diary of a CEO podcast, talking about some of the ideas from the book.

Big idea #1 — You are wyrd (but nobody cares)

From an early age, we’re pushed in certain directions. And often those directions have little to do with our unique strengths, preferences, loves, or desires.

More often than not we are constantly pushed to work on our weaknesses or our ‘development areas’ rather than actually focusing on what we love and what we’re good at. When you get to work, you’re given goals from above, a performance review that ranks you soullessly against your peers, and pushed towards a fixed career path.

Our education and work systems aren’t designed this way through malice, but through this relentless search for efficiency or standardisation, but at the cost of people’s unique contributions.

The idea of wyrd is not ‘weird’, it’s wyrd; an ancient Norse term which means “the idea that each person is born with a distinct spirit, a spirit unique to you that guides you to love some things and loathe others.”

Your wyrd can be found in your ‘red threads’; the situations where you lose track of time, you’re in that flow state, times where you’re the only one to notice something, or the only one who can come up with a new way of doing things and improving things.

Big idea #2 — A little bit of love, every day

Love belongs at work, without it work would be pretty miserable. But we don’t have to love all of it,all of the time. We know this because when we survey a group of people who are highly successful, resilient, and engaged, and a contrast group of people who are less so, the two best questions that separate these groups are these;- do you have a chance to play to your strengths every day? - were you excited to go to work every day, last week?The people who are thriving the most answer ‘strongly agree’ to both of those questions.

So do you have a chance to play to your strengths every day?

It shows that frequency trumps intensity when it comes to loving what you do. They reckon that you need to love what you’re doing around 20% of the time in order to thrive. It means that you, you don’t need ‘a whole quilt of red threads’ to thrive and be resilient, just enough of them every day.

You can write a love note to dig a bit deeper. If you say you love helping people, ask if it matters who you’re helping, when you’re helping them, why you’re helping them, what you’re helping them with, and how you’re helping them?

Your why matters, but your what matters so much more because that’s really what you think about when you answer the questions around enjoying what you did that day / if you’re excited to go to work.

It’s important to note that your strength is not something that you’re good at but you hate doing. You might be good at it, but it doesn’t count as a strength.

Big idea #3 — Love and leadership

If you think that love has no place at work, and that work is to be endured, then listen up. You don’t just need to ‘suckitup’, and love can be found in all kinds of jobs for different people. What one person loves, another will loathe, and vice versa.

Love and work leaders prioritise their people as people. They push against some of the formulated systems and processes that exist in most workplaces and instead focus on the individuals, their loves, and what helps them contribute.

Leaders who check in regularly with their team members get better results. There’s a particular check in formula that he suggests; a weekly 15 minute conversation held each week about the upcoming week. The conversation is built on four short questions (two about last week and two about the next coming week). What activities did I love last week? What activities did I loathe last week? What am I priorities this coming week? What help do I need from my team leader?

Team leaders who had this conversation every single week with their team members had engagement scores 77% higher than the control groups and attrition at 67% less than the control groups. This checking can be done in any manner of ways; email, text, voice, face-to-face… it doesn’t matter, as long as it happens.

Marcus says that if you don’t want to do this, or the idea of this bores, you really need to consider your role as a leader. If you’ve got too many people reporting to you to make this possible, focus on fixing that.

Marcus also presents some bold things that love and work organisations don’t do. They don’t cascade goals down from up high, because that interferes with people thinking about how they can bring what they love to do and bring it into contribution. They don’t use performance rating because no one trusts them and therefore it causes undesirable behaviours and outcomes. They don’t use performance feedback tools. They don’t do cascading talent reviews because it degrades trust across the entire organisation, nobody feels comfortable with them, and it drives this idea of completeness, or that you tick all of the different skills off the skills matrix in order to be a valued employee. They don’t conduct centralised employee opinion surveys because again it removes trust and the conversation should focus in teams instead.

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About the book

Bullet Journal® (or BuJo® for short) was created by Ryder Carroll, a digital product designer and author living in Brooklyn, NY. Diagnosed with learning disabilities early in life, he was forced to figure out alternate ways to be focused and productive. Through years of trial and error, he developed a methodology that went far beyond simple organization. Now he focuses on helping others learn what the Bullet Journal method is truly about: the art of intentional living.

Though it does require a journal, Bullet Journal® is a methodology. It’s best described as a mindfulness practice disguised as a productivity system. It’s designed to help you organize your whatwhile you remain mindful of your why. The goal of the Bullet Journal is to help its practitioners (Bullet Journalists) live intentional lives, ones that are both productive and meaningful.

Source: https://bulletjournal.com/pages/about

About the author

Ryder Carroll is a New York Times best-selling author, digital product designer, and inventor of the Bullet Journal method.

He’s been featured by the New York Times, LA Times, Fast Company, The Wall Street Journal, BBC, Vogue, Bloomberg, and others.

Watch his TEDx talk on intentionality.

Source: https://www.rydercarroll.com/

Big idea #1 — Outsource your brain

Our brains are too full, this isn’t what brains are best used for. Before we can start properly journaling we need to first see what we’re working with. The mental inventory is the brain dump of getting everything out of your brain, onto some paper, and into three lists; What you are working on What you should be working on, and What you want to be working on

It’s very important that you write it down (pen/pencil and paper), so much of the bullet journal method is based on this pen to paper action, it helps us think and feel at the same time, unlike typing things which can be quite unconscious.

Once you’ve written those three lists you can ask two questions of each item; is it vital? does it matter?

And if the answer of those two things is no, you can ditch it because it probably shouldn’t be on your list and living rent-free in your brain.“True efficiency is not about speed, it’s about spending more time with what really matters”

Note: there’s quite a few similarities between this method and David Allen’s Getting Things Done.

Big idea #2 — The system

The bullet journal method is part to do list, part journal, part planner, part sketchbook, part scheduler, and anything else you need it to be. And that’s the best thing about it is that you can make it your own and make it yours by mixing and matching.

Side note: I don’t recommend looking at BuJo content online before you start because the level of artistic skill that people put into their journals will both amaze and inspire you and absolutely put you off.

The actual original method is very simple and contains seven key concepts; Index: helps you locate the content in your bullet journal. Future log: allows you to store future tasks and events that fall outside the current month, so you don’t forget them. Monthly log: an overview of the current month events and tasks. Daily log: your catch all for rapid logging that day; a combination of to do items, events, reminders, observations, and anything you’re tracking. Rapid logging: a system of short form symbols and marks that you use to capture the things in your daily log. Collections: where you would actually block your BuJo content into related items (eg. gym log of workouts, reading log of all the books you want to read/have read) Migration: the monthly process of filtering out things that are floating on your to-do list that actually just don’t need to get done anymore, and pulling forward anything from your future log into the new month.

Big idea #3 — Get your goals

You can use your bullet journal for setting and smashing your goals. Firstly, the book advises you to consider what interested you in this particular goal, what motivated you to want to invest my time and energy here, what you’re trying to accomplish, what would it require, and your definition of success with this goal.

Once you’ve answered these questions you can break it down into sprints, which are self-contained projects. An example from the book is about learning how to cook. A self-contained project as a sprint for this broader goal could be to learn knife skills. You can then block that sprint into your calendar over a period of time and turn this into tasks or activities.

This approach creates momentum as these mini goals give you lots of ‘wins’ along the way, because they stand alone as a goal and accomplishment, rather than having to wait until you reach the ‘whole’ goal before you’ve achieved something.

You can link to this to your bullet journal by setting up a habit tracker/goal tracker to log your process or consistency towards the goal and see those very satisfying ticks build up over time.

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About the book

A practical and fascinating guide from leading data expert Dr Selena Fisk that teaches us how to make informed decisions using the numbers around us so we can work smarter and live better.

Data is everywhere. Smart watches track our steps and heart rate, social media platforms recommend people we might know and products we might like, and map applications suggest when we should leave home depending on the traffic.

From organising your home budget and understanding social media metrics, to running a side hustle or a multi-national, multi-million-dollar organisation, having the mindset ‘but I’m not a numbers person’ is no longer helpful or accurate.

I’m Not A Numbers Person takes us through the ‘why’ of data, the types of data we often see and use in life and work, and the key areas of data literacy, which is understanding the data and what it all means, and data visualisation, which is where we make the data look beautiful in tables, graphs or other visuals.

Whether you’re a solopreneur, a small business owner, an emerging leader, or in an executive leadership role, this book is a must-have guide to understanding data and making decisions in the 21st century.

Source: https://majorstreet.com.au/products/im-not-a-numbers-person-by-dr-selena-fisk

About the author

Selena is a data storyteller who is passionate about helping others sort through the numbers to tell the real stories and lead positive change. She fiercely advocates for a world in which we are all data-informed, not data-driven; yet she realises that this isn’t a skill set we all have or are confident in.

As a data coach and storyteller, Selena is as enthusiastic about building data storytelling skills in others as she is about building her own understanding of the evolving ways data can support individuals, organisations and communities to flourish and thrive. For her, using data in a way that benefits others is the only way to use it. Almost nothing will accelerate the impact we can have as humans like being able to see trends in the numbers, and using this information alongside our understanding of context to inform our decisions.

Source: https://www.selenafisk.com/about

Big idea #1 — It’s not just the dollars

When I first picked up this book, I assumed it was going to be a lot more about the financial side of businesses/work. However, on page one that assumption was dispelled. Of course, financials get a mention, but it goes way beyond that. The data literacy that Selena is talking about is the stuff that is all around us.

Everything from the dollars to the SEO stats and your website, your Google analytics, your podcast listeners, staff turnover, clicks on a job ad you posted, and a myriad of other stuff. In short data is everywhere. We’re dripping in it. And we’re not very good at always using it or making the most of it.

Early in the book, Selena looks at the levels of data use versus impact. This gives us the six types of data users that might exist in the world. Unconscious: have no idea of the data around us, how it’s gathered or used. Conscious: they might have quite a bit of fear, have heard horror stories about data breaches and they’re pretty suspicious. Casual: they have some awareness but can’t articulate, explore or interrogate data. Aware: starting to develop an understanding and is able to interrogate and interpret data in different ways. Active: using data insights to inform what they’re doing. Reflective: they’re refining and adjusting regularly to interpret data in the context of the wider environment and make decisions.

Ultimately, we want our decisions to be data informed, not data-driven. Data informed decisions, consider the world in the context, rather than just blindly following the numbers. To do this means you need to make data your friend.

Whether you’re running your own business or working somewhere, this is equally as important. If you’re working in an organisation, you absolutely need to understand the data uses and impacts of your own work/your team’s work, and be able to articulate and challenge that. Especially as you get more senior, as this is already areal expectation of leaders in all departments.

Big idea #2 — Make a plan

One of the main ideas in this book is about having structured plan and approach for your data. You can do this as a team to uplift the literacy for everyone.

Selena suggests making a table of all the data you have access to, or you have available to you in your organization. With this you can consider which data informs your work, ranking them into order of importance, noting the relevance for each bit, and using these to improve your literacy.

You might consider how are those numbers or those bits of data are calculated or gathered; what’s their origin, what drives them going up/down/sideways, what is good or bad?

This plan can then help you better create, measure, communicate, analyse, and understand the available data, and maybe help you work out where extra data would be helpful.

Big idea #3 — Get trendy

One of the most important elements of effective data use is data storytelling. Communicating data to have an impact and for it to help you decide what to do next.

To do all of this, you need to find the trends. There’s not one way to find trends in a set of data, but Selena has five key principles that overlay on whatever data you’re looking at. Recognise unique lenses: bring other people in to look at the data as they may interpret things differently. Use multiple data sets: the answer rarely sits in one place and we need to be practicing triangulation of multiple data points to add colour, context , and reliability to make sure it all makes sense when you put it all together. Zoom in and out: look at averages, but then zoom into the detail because that might tell you a different story that an average might not, because it oversimplifies. Cut white noise: filter data and use your data plan in order to decide what data you actually don’t need to look at for the particular piece of work, analysis, or data storytelling that you are doing. Minimise errors in thinking: make sure that you’re not getting sucked into different biases when you’re looking at the data. If you really want the answer to be one thing, are you going to see that preferred answer whatever the data says? Look at data with other to help avoid this.

Once you’ve done all of this, and you’ve decided if you’re exploring or explaining with your data analysis, you can work through the data and see the story it’s telling you. And then obviously go forth and tell that story to others.

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Adam Ashton is the co-host of the What You Will Learn podcast. I had lots of fun asking Adam about how he reads (especially as he read over 70 books in 2021), what he's reading, hearing about his unique way of pairing audiobooks and hard copy books, making notes, and finding out whether he starts more books than he finishes.

And make sure you check out Adam (and other Adam's) podcast; What You Will Learn, over at https://www.whatyouwilllearn.com/

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Madeleine Dore is a writer. She's recently released her first book, I Didn't Do The Thing Today, all about letting go of productivity guilt (which I talked about on episode 157 of Steph's Business Bookshelf (listen here)).

In her writing, both in the book and in her Extraordinary Routines newsletter, she brings in such a breadth of different quotes and references. So in this conversation I ask her more about how she reads, dig into her process of note taking and collation, and how writing a book impacts the way she reads.

Madeleine is such a pleasure to talk to, I hope you enjoy this conversation.

Find out more about Madeleine here.

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About the book

We need better ideas right now. Everywhere you look, there are growing problems that require fresh, creative thinking to help us solve. The good news is that anyone can learn to master the art of creativity to turn good ideas into brilliant ones.

That’s what this book is about: those killer ideas that have a positive impact on many people, with near-infinite winners. The type you hear about and think, ‘Damn, I wish I’d thought of that!’

Tim Duggan, the co-founder of Junkee Media, will show you how to identify and generate your own ideas with big potential, and then how to refine and bring them to life. Learn from the creative minds behind some of the most innovative ideas out there, like Canva, KeepCup, Movember, Linktree, B Corps, Zero Co and more.

Source: https://timduggan.com.au/book/killer-thinking/

About the author

Tim Duggan is an author, advisor and optimist who firmly believes in the power of business to do good.

He has co-founded several digital media ventures, most notably Junkee Media, the leading digital publisher for young Australians, which was acquired by ASX-listed oOh!media

His first book, ‘Cult Status: How To Build A Business People Adore’, was named the Best Entrepreneurship and Small Business Book at the 2021 Australian Business Book Awards. His second book on creativity in the workplace, Killer Thinking, is out now.

He’s also currently the Chairman of the Digital Publishers Alliance, a group representing over 100 titles from the leading independent publishers in the country, as well as working with a range of businesses that he’s passionate about.

Source: https://timduggan.com.au/about/

Big idea #1 — The best ideas are killer

Tim’s model for what makes an idea better than good and better than great is the acronym KILLER, which stands for; Kind — having a net-good effect on the world Impactful — impacting a large number of people Loved — people love you Lasting — not just a trend, has longevity Easy — people understand what you do Repeatable — create their own momentum

These are about the idea, being killer, but it’s also about the execution; the idea alone is not enough, the execution has to be killer as well.

Ideas that go beyond good and great and become killer ideas have an infinite amount of upsides, and none or very, few downsides. Tim talks about putting a winners and losers lens over your ideas and using the losers, or the potential losers, as a result of your idea as a trigger to stretch your idea further and design downsides out of it. Nobody should lose as a result of your idea coming to life.

It’s important to note that the creative thinking for a create for a killer idea exists within everyone. You might just not have had a chance to show it just yet, but by using some of the techniques in the book and your own creativity, you can absolutely come up with your own killer ideas yourself.

Big idea #2 — The eight steps to a killer idea

Now that we know a killer idea is and what it looks like, you might want to know how to come up with one or refine your ideas into one yourself. There’s eight steps to this, which Tim has put into a model that looks like a little key hole, and you start the bottom with step number one and work your way up. Be your problem’s therapist: take in information, absorbing it, and starting to think about what is the real problem, looking at it from different perspectives, and really understand the problem. Fit your own mask first: look after yourself and your own creativity, by making sure you’ve created the space to be creative by doing your own individual ideation. Plus each other’s ideas: now you get to bring other people into the process, and make this into a generative and iterative approach where you add to each other’s ideas, rather than shooting them down. Sit with it: let the ideas breathe, give them a bit of space to let them come to life and ferment in the way that they need to. Apply the right filter: come up with the design principles or the elements that you need to make sure your idea is feasible, and making sure it meets the criteria that is required in order for the idea to be killer and to work. Stretch it out: take your idea and then stretch it even further to design out any downsides. Launch into a rising tide: know what else is happening in the zeitgeists in the world, what trends exist that you might be able to leverage and where you can benefit from other momentum. Listen with open ears: your ideas won’t exist in a vacuum once they’re out in the world, so how do you take the feedback and experiences of your end users to build your idea even further.

Big idea #3 — Space, inputs, time

Killer ideas don’t appear fully formed. As Tim says in the book, we need to get better at nurturing them into existence and make sure that we have the space, the inputs, and the time in order to make our idea even better.

Giving an idea space might look like physical space for it to float around and ferment. You might plan to go on a boring long drive, do some chores, or go out on a hike and immerse your idea in the physical space of nature to grow.

Some ideas need fertilisation along with the fermentation of space. You can fertilise your ideas through inputs such as conversations, reading about adjacent or abstract ideas, listening to music, or even peeling a piece of fruit. The important thing here is to think about where are those inputs coming from, and how might they help your idea.

Finally, time; boredom, sleep, and purposeful thinking time are the key ingredients to giving yourself the time to think about the idea in a deeper way. Schedule boredom into your days and weeks, and definitely make sure all of your ideas get slept on.

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About the book

Packed with research-based insights from Australia’s leading workplaces, Let’s Talk Culture is the how-to guide for people leaders who want to shape a world-class team culture by design.

Successful leaders and organisations know that culture is the unseen advantage of world-class teams. But can it be influenced? And what role do managers play in building and shaping it?

Author and expert in leader communication, Shane Michael Hatton, says the research suggests it can be influenced and that the people leader plays a crucial role — but it all starts with effective communication.

Based on extensive research with people leaders on the ground, Let’s Talk Culture reveals the five practical conversations people leaders need to have to design a world-class team culture within their organisation.

An easy-to-understand guide for future culture champions, this book will give you the tools to build a team that attracts and retains your top talent, confidently address cultural inconsistencies in the workplace and meaningfully reward the behaviours that strengthen your team culture.

Source: https://majorstreet.com.au/collections/coming-soon/products/lets-talk-culture-shane-michael-hatton

About the author

Shane Michael Hatton is an expert in leader communication, blending his experience in business and psychology to help leaders communicate, connect and collaborate more effectively in order to bring out the best in those they lead. As a speaker, coach and trainer, Shane has partnered with well known and loved businesses across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. He is a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach and the author of Lead the Room: Communicate a message that counts in moments that matter.

Source: book cover

Big idea #1 — What is culture?

This is a good place to start because it is hard to define. Two thirds of managers who were part of the research for this book were confident that they could define culture, but when they were asked to do so. The definitions were pretty vague and generic, or just taken straight from Google.

One of the things the research did find is that there were four different commonalities in the culture definitions. There was a collective element: culture is a shared experience. There is an unseen element: it is a bit abstract, intangible, and hard to measure. There is an observable element: there are observable inputs in terms of the behaviours and practices that make a culture. There is a social learning element: culture is learnt and it is dynamic.

There’s a group of leaders referenced in the book as ‘the 11%’, who seem to have a stronger grasp of culture and their impact on it. There were 11 things they knew to be true about culture: it can be influenced it is the little things it’s not static it needs a leader it is key to success it needs trust, transparency and learning it needs clarity that it can be challenged that it takes time that training pays off, and it shifts performance.

Big idea #2 — Communication is culture

So many cultural issues are made or broken by the quality of communication. When we communicate well, though, we can resolve all sorts of issues.

Shane says that culture has three challenges, the definition, the leadership, and the skills required.

Half of the people leaders in the study told the researchers that they somewhat or strongly agreed that culture is not something that can be influenced. But that’s incorrect, culture needs intent, and it needs strategy, and it needs leadership participation. Leaders do this though the everyday conversations that build culture.

There’s five elements or characteristics to those culture conversations; trust, vulnerability, empathy, curiosity, and safety. Your role as a leader is to build and role model those in order for culture conversations to happen.

Big idea #3 — Culture conversations

There are five different conversations that you need to have in order to build, maintain, adapt, change, influence a culture in an organisation. The expectation conversation: naming it and making the unspoken spoken. The clarification conversation: making the invisible observable. The communication conversation: give culture a language through sharing stories. The confrontation conversation: having feedback conversations in a really healthy, productive, constructive way and doing that well so that people know what is important. The celebration conversation: calling out the good stuff to inform those stories and helping people to see what good looks like.

Having the discipline around these conversations as a leader with your teams will greatly help overcome the lack of clarity people have around culture.

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About the book

Despite our deep desire to feel a sense of belonging, many of us feel isolated. The rise of technology and modern workplace practices have led people to be even more disconnected, even as we remain constantly contactable. And as our human interactions have decreased, so too have our happiness levels. This is sparking a crisis in mental health that will have repercussions for years, leaving people lonelier and organizations less productive and profitable, too. What Christine Porath has discovered in her research is that leaders, organizations, and managers of all stripes may recognize there is a cost but have few solutions for how to implement the cure: Community.

Source: http://www.christineporath.com/books/

About the author

Christine Porath is a tenured professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. She’s the author of Mastering Civility: A Manifesto for the Workplace and co-author of The Cost of Bad Behavior. Christine is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, and has written articles for New York Times, Wall Street Journal, McKinsey Quarterly, and Washington Post. She frequently delivers talks and has taught in various Executive programs at Harvard, Georgetown, and USC. Prior to her position at Georgetown, she was a faculty member at University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.

Christine’s work has been featured worldwide in over 1500 television, radio and print outlets. It has appeared on 20/20, Today, FoxNews, CNN, BBC, NBC, msnbc, CBS, ABC, and NPR. It has also been included in Time, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Fortune, Forbes, NY Times, The Washington Post, and L.A. Times.

Source: http://www.christineporath.com/

Big idea #1 — Bring them together and let them go

The first rule of community is bringing people together, which is probably comes as no surprise. Connecting and uniting people is the core of a community, that can be people on the same team, such as the Chicago Bulls, or disparate people who share a common ailment, as in the practice of shared medical appointments used in some medical institutes in the US.

Unity has an exponential effect if it’s done well, by positively impacting one person the whole community gets better. However, to truely realise the potential of a community you have to let go of them, let go of yourself, and let go of your ego.

The founders of the 100,000 Homes Campaign found this when they discovered that a community group was using their manual, but they hadn’t been through the 100,000 Homes official training. This group had got hold of the manual through another group who had been through the training.

Now at first the 100,000 Homes team were a bit affronted, they thought that if these people hadn’t been trained properly how could they have do the work? It’s easy to let ego get in the way, but you can’t get the scale and the impact if you stay too centralised and controlled. For a campaign like this, trying to get 100,000 people experiencing homelessness into homes and into stable living arrangements, they quickly realised that they were not going to do that on their own. What they instead decided to do was help empower other groups and set the principles and practices.

What you need to do is have clear guidelines and guardrails on what matters, what you can do, what you can’t do, and let people get on with it. Southwest Airlines do a really good job of this, they let their people make the best decisions for their customers by making it incredibly clear what’s important. As a result you get amazing stories of the lengths that Southwest staff will go to for their customers.

Big idea #2 — R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Respect is at the core of any community you’re building. Without it, you won’t have a healthy community. Christine takes this idea further with the behaviour of civility, which is to move culture forward in a more civil way. Civility happens throughout the life cycle; as you hire reward, promote, and train for civility. She says that civility boosts, trust, likeability, and perceived integrity.

Some situations get to the stage where you just have to start again. There was an example of this in the book of a company called Traeger, led by Jeremy Andrus. When he joined Traeger the culture was toxic, at one point it became physically dangerous, this was the catalyst that something drastic had to change. After a number of months of trying to make some changes and coming up and getting more and more resistance because of what had come before, Jeremy decided to shut down the headquarters and move it to another state. This meant they let a lot of people go, but it also meant they could bring the right new people in to lead the company going forward.

There was obviously a huge financial, emotional, and operational cost involved in doing that, but the results that the company achieved in the time that Jeremy was was CEO as a result of those changes were phenomenal.

Big idea #3 — Your role

As the world feels bigger and more complex, it’s easy to dismiss our own roles in community and culture, because it feels so much bigger than just us.

But Christine says there’s four things you can influence that will help you better contribute to a community. Self-awareness: asking for some hard feedback, or getting some coaching that sheds light on some of your blindspots. Physical wellbeing: just moving our bodies and the getting all the physical and mental benefits of doing so will help you better contribute to your community. Recovery: making sure you’re sleeping, getting enough rest, taking time off, and seeing this as an important part of your work. Mindset: adopting a growth or a positive mindset to overcome challenges, and also helping others do the same.

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About the book

How do you grow your business when you don’t have a marketing budget? How do you stand out in a busy world?

And what if the answer is right in front of you?

‘For me, the newsletter is the most important tool I have in building a global denim brand. Second only to the sewing machine.’

So writes entrepreneur David Hieatt who has based his entire marketing strategy around a simple email newsletter. And it’s worked. His company has grown into a creative global jeans business with a fiercely loyal community.

Now, David shares his insight, strategy and methodology so you can do the same. In Do Open you will discover: Why giving is your secret to success How to get people’s attention when time is your biggest competitor Why creating beats sharing How a small team can win

Build community. Build your brand. Build long-term growth. Discover why the humble newsletter is pure and utter gold.

Source: https://thedobook.co/products/do-open-how-a-simple-email-newsletter-can-transform-your-business-and-it-can

About the author

David Hieatt is not a theorist. He has built brands from nothing, with next to nothing, just by understanding a few basic rules. The Scrapbook Chronicles newsletter has become a cult offering from his company, the Hiut Denim Co. Its open rate exceeds almost any industry standard and it is one of those rare emails that people actually look forward to receiving. And it has delivered results. It has grown the company by 25 per cent each year for the last three years. And each year for the last three years, the company has turned a profit.

David is co-founder of The Do Lectures and has spoken at Apple, Google and Red Bull, amongst others. In 2010 he self-published The Path of a Doer and in 2014 he published Do Purpose: Why brands with a purpose do better and matter more (Do Books).

Source: https://thedobook.co/products/do-open-how-a-simple-email-newsletter-can-transform-your-business-and-it-can

Big idea #1 — Be excellent

You know your audience are busy people, so the best way of respecting their time is sending them something excellent, and most importantly, interesting. If you’ve not got anything interesting to say, you’re probably going to struggle to keep your audience very engaged.

This point of being interesting and being excellent really does underpin the whole book. You can build your excellence and interest by putting in the deep work required to think carefully about what to send your audience. This requires putting the time aside to think, because the best ideas are going to come from that thinking time.

You don’t necessarily need to be running a business for this to be relevant. You can absolutely use these ideas and techniques to write better emails or comms within the company you work for, in your projects, or to write better social media posts. Whatever it is, if you want it to be great, spend more time on. David says that a good newsletter shares how you think about the world, therefore you need to put the time aside to think in order to then share those thoughts.

David has the equation of Maintenance + Momentum = Strategic use of time.

Maintenance is your BAU, it’s the stuff you’ve got to do in order to keep going for things to keep making money or keep operating. But momentum is where you get the movement, the traction, and the growth. So that’s where you need to prioritise spending time. He encourages us to think long term; what if this was a 10-year relationship/activity? Not just a newsletter for a transaction to get some short-term sales.

And if you’re a a small business, this will be to your advantage if you use it well; you can act fast and you can likely bring a lot more personality into your newsletters, which helps build that personal relationship with your readers.

Big idea #2 — Be generous, but sell

You need to give before you ask. David uses the Gary Vee jab, jab, jab, right hook idea in this concept of give and take. But you don’t want to just talk about yourself. Think about talking about your customers, the people around your business, or other topics your audience might be interested in.

But, when you’re selling, sell. Don’t leave people wondering whether you’re trying to sell something or not, and don’t make it hard for them — make it really clear that you are selling something when you’re selling something.

David suggests actually having two different formats or different newsletters for different purposes, which is not something that you see in a lot of other content around this topic.

The Hiut Denim Company have two different newsletters; the Scrapbook Chronicles which contains 14 things: 12 pockets of inspiration and two company updates, which is their community building newsletter. They’ve also got the second newsletter; Factory Talk which contains three things and ends with their latest offer. It’s much shorter and is very much a sales newsletter.

Whilst generosity is important, David reminds us not to be too generous; a lot of unsubscribes come from people receiving too many emails. Don’t drown people in your generosity.

In order to be interesting and generous in your newsletters, you should curate your own inputs to make sure that you are getting different and interesting inputs in the things that you are reading, because that’s where you’re going to find things to curate and share with your audience.

There is a balance between curation which is more your maintenance type content, and creation, which is the momentum content as it’s original thought that’s often a bit more personal. There’s a role for both, but think about where you need to be investing the time in creation because that’s where you get your momentum.

Big idea #3 — Build a community

Your list is not a list, it’s people, it’s a community. You can use them to help you be more interesting, because if you understand them you can better connect with them and can share more relevant things with them that they’ll find interesting.

David encourages you to think about who the minority are that you’re talking to, who is that small group of people or what is the intersect of that venn diagram that where three or four things overlap? This is why unsubscribes for the right reason can be good, as the wrong people filter themselves out. so in

Use your newsletter to instigate a conversation with your community and allow a two way conversation to emerge. Make it really easy for people to comment, share, reply or come back to you with a response.

In the book he talks about the fact that a community wants three things; connection, meaning, and change. How can you bring those three elements into your your brand, your tone of voice, the design of your newsletter, the things you share, and the way people can interact with you.

Finally, you need to show people that you care. If you show people that you care about the work you’re doing, about your process, your products or service, about your message, and about them, they will let you lead. If you’re not very interesting or you’re a bit soulless and don’t have much of a voice, people aren’t going to trust you as much. If you put out good ideas by spending the time thinking about them, you build a community that trusts you and appreciates your generosity.

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About the book

The COVID-19 pandemic, increasingly frequent climate disasters, a new war — events we might have called “unimaginable” or “unthinkable” in the past are now reality. Today it feels more challenging than ever to feel unafraid, hopeful, and equipped to face the future with optimism. How do we map out our lives when it seems impossible to predict what the world will be like next week, let alone next year or next decade? What we need now are strategies to help us recover our confidence and creativity in facing uncertain futures.

In Imaginable, Jane McGonigal draws on the latest scientific research in psychology and neuroscience to show us how to train our minds to think the unthinkable and imagine the unimaginable. She invites us to play with the provocative thought experiments and future simulations she’s designed exclusively for this book, with the goal to: Build our collective imagination so that we can dive into the future and envision, in surprising detail, what our lives will look like ten years from now Develop the courage and vision to solve problems creatively Take actions and make decisions that will help shape the future we desire Access “urgent optimism,” an unstoppable force within each of us that activates our sense of agency

Imaginable teaches us to be fearless, resilient, and bold in realizing a world with possibilities we cannot yet imagine—until reading this transformative, inspiring, and necessary book.

Source: amazon.com and https://janemcgonigal.com/

About the author

Jane McGonigal is a future forecaster and designer of reality games created to improve real lives and solve real problems. She is also the author of two New York Times bestselling books, Reality Is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World (Penguin Press, 2011) and SuperBetter: The Power of Living Gamefully (Penguin Press, 2016), and her TED talks on how gaming can improve our lives have more than 15 million views. She is the Director of Games Research & Development at the Institute for the Future, a non-profit research group in Palo Alto, California, currently teaches the course “How to Think Like a Futurist” at Stanford University, and is the lead instructor for the Institute for the Future's series on the Coursera platform. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Source: amazon.com and https://janemcgonigal.com/

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It's time for my quarterly review of the best books of 2022 (so far), talking about the six books I've loved the most over the first few months of 2022, featuring... Stolen Focus by Johann Hari (listen to the full episode about the book here) I Didn't Do the Thing Today by Madeleine Dore (listen to the full episode about the book here) This Working Life by Lisa Leong & Monique Ross (listen to the full episode about the book here) Will by Will Smith & Mark Manson (read the review here) Imaginable by Jane McGonigal Creative Acts for Curious People by Sarah Greenberg

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This little special episode is about the top books on the big topic of leadership. A great little list if you are a leader, are working with leaders, or want to buy a useful gift for a leader in your life. They'd also be great as part of a nice little bundle for new promotions or new joiners to an organisations.

Anyway, that's to say that there's lots of use you can get from this bonus episode. If you think I missed a book, or you'd add something else to this list, let me know...

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About the book

“No regrets.” You’ve heard people proclaim it as a philosophy of life. That’s nonsense, even dangerous, says Daniel H. Pink in his latest bold and inspiring work. Everybody has regrets. They’re a fundamental part of our lives. And if we reckon with them in fresh and imaginative ways, we can enlist our regrets to make smarter decisions, perform better at work and school, and deepen our sense of meaning and purpose.

In The Power of Regret, Pink draws on research in psychology, neuroscience, economics, and biology to challenge widely-held assumptions about emotions and behavior. Using the largest sampling of American attitudes about regret ever conducted as well as his own World Regret Survey — which has collected regrets from more than 16,000 people in 105 countries — he identifies the four core regrets that most people have. These four regrets, Pink argues, operate as a “photographic negative” of the good life. By understanding what people regret the most, we can understand what they value the most. And by following the simple, science-based, three-step process that he sets out, we can transform our regrets in a positive force for working smarter and living better.

With Pink’s signature blend of big ideas and practical takeaways, captivating stories and crisp humor, The Power of Regret offers an urgent and indispensable guide for a life well lived.

Source: https://www.danpink.com/the-power-of-regret/

About the author

Daniel H. Pink is the author of five New York Times bestsellers, including his latest, The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward, published in February. His other books include the New York Times bestsellers When and A Whole New Mind — as well as the #1 New York Times bestsellers Drive and To Sell is Human. Dan’s books have won multiple awards, have been translated into 42 languages, and have sold millions of copies around the world. He lives in Washington, DC, with his family.

Source: https://www.danpink.com/about/

Big idea #1 — Regret is not a dirty word

Regret can actually be healthy. Over 70 years of research has concluded two things; that regret makes us human, and regret makes us better.

It makes us human because it engages this uniquely human ability that we have to time travel in our minds; forward into a hypothetical future to look at our lives if we took one decision versus another decision, backwards to think about what decision we should make now, and then forwards again into a different path or an alternate reality, to compare that to our current future or an alternative future.

Regret is especially painful as well as an emotion, because we can mostly blame it on our own decisions and actions or inactions. It is also a very common feeling, and one that is highly valued.

It makes us better by; sharpening our decision-making skills (we need to feel a little bit bad in order to not to repeat those particular decisions or actions that we took or didn’t take) elevating our performance (it can deepen persistence by imagining ourselves winning that gold medal / aceing the test / getting the job that we’re about to go into an interview for) strengthening meaning and connection (by reminding us what is important, what we don’t want to do, what we do want to do, how we want to live, how we don’t want to live).

Obviously we don’t want our regrets to overwhelm us. There’s a quote in the book that says, we want regrets to “poke us, not smother us”.

Big idea #2 — The four types of regret

In the regret surveys that Dan created, adults shared their regrets and were asked to categorise them into eight domains. Those eight domains were family, partners, education, career, finance, other, health, and friends.

And they were in that order. So the most regrets were in the family domain, and the least regrets were categorised in friends domain. But when they looked at the data, they realised that they were looking at the categorisation or those domains all wrong, there was actually a different theming of the regrets that could be established.

Those four types of regrets are; Foundational — a failure to be a responsible conscientious person or prudent. And most of the regrets here come into those financial educational and health domains. Often it’s a lack of the right decisions around what’s best for you in the future, or taking care of yourself now in order to be in a better place in the future period of time. Boldness — most of these come from inaction forgone opportunities. We’re more likely to, and the fact that we’re more likely to regret what we didn’t do, so a boldness regret is a lack of boldness in the past. Moral — taking the low road, which normally involves cheating, lying, deceiving, something bad in that. Connection — fractured or unrealised relationships with each other. The other term for this, this was rifts and drifts. So did you have a rift with someone; an argument or a falling out that was never really resolved, or did you just drift apart and you regret that and you feel guilty about not keeping in touch. Those come up later in life where maybe someone gets sick or passes away and you regret not staying in touch with them.

These underpin all of the domains, meaning it’s not the domain that regrets fall into that distinguish them, but the type of regret, or the reason that someone regretted the thing.

Other researchers that Dan spoke to said on boldness regrets that “regrettable failures to act have a longer half-life than regrettable actions”. Inaction is so much more painful for people, and throughout the book you can see this sentiment littered within the verbatim responses that people sent as part of the surveys.Regrettable failures to act have a longer half-life than regrettable actions

It’s incredibly painful reading, you could almost read all the regrets and go away with a renewed sense of purpose and resolve to not let these things happen in your life.

Big idea #3 — Avoiding and fixing regrets

To avoid regrets we can learn from the ones we’ve already got, take different decisions and pathways in order to avoid doing those things again in the future. For regret we already have, we can do a few things to stop them smothering us.

Firstly we can undo it; maybe that’s apologising, or maybe it’s taking action and behaving in a way that will undo, improve, or fix what you did or didn’t do in the past.

Secondly we can ‘at least’ it; taking something from a regret to a relief or from an ‘if only’ to an ‘at least’.

Eg. Dan shares this example about his regret of going to law school, which wasn’t something he wanted to do. Rather than… If only I hadn’t gone to law school, try At least I met my wife there

This is good for the pesky stuff that niggles away at us. It’s a bit of gratitude and is more about changing the mindset around a particular regret.

This works for certain types of regrets, but you might have bigger ones or ones that are created by inaction, which can be harder to undo. The three steps to try here are; Relive and relieve: disclosing the regret (to yourself or someone else) Normalise and neutralise: practicing self-compassion, thinking how you would speak to a friend in the same situation who came to you for advice. Analyse and strategise: creating distance between yourself and the regret by looking at it in the third person (eg Steph didn’t do X, rather than I didn’t do X)

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About the book

All over the world, our ability to pay attention is collapsing. In the US, college students now focus on one task for only 65 seconds, and office workers on average manage only three minutes. New York Times best-selling author Johann Hari went on an epic journey across the world to meet the leading scientists and experts investigating why this is happening to us — and discovered that everything we think we know on this subject is wrong.

We think our inability to focus is a personal failing — a flaw in each one of us. It is not. This has been done to us — by powerful external forces. Our focus has been stolen. Johann discovered there are twelve deep cases of this crisis, all of which have robbed some of our attention. He shows how he learned this in a thrilling journey that takes him from Silicon Valley dissidents who figured out how to hack human attention, to veterinarians who diagnose dogs with ADHD; from a favela in Rio where everyone lost their attention in a particularly surreal way, to an office in New Zealand that discovered a remarkable technique to restore their workers’ attention.

Crucially, he learned how — as individuals, and as a society — we can get our focus back, if we are determined to fight for it. The answers will surprise and thrill you. This is a book about our attention crisis unlike any you’ve read before.

Source: https://stolenfocusbook.com/

About the author

Johann Hari is a British-Swiss writer who has authored three New York Times best-selling books. They have been translated into 38 languages, and been praised by a broad range of people, from Oprah to Noam Chomsky, from Elton John to Naomi Klein.

His latest book, ‘Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention’, was published in January 2022.

His first book, ‘Chasing the Scream: the First and Last Days of the War on Drugs’, was adapted into the Oscar-nominated film ‘The United States Vs Billie Holiday’.

His second book, ‘Lost Connections: Uncovering The Real Causes of Depression — and the Unexpected Solutions’ was described by the British Journal of General Practice as “one of the most important texts of recent years”, and shortlisted for an award by the British Medical Association.

Johann’s TED talks have been viewed more than 80 million times. The first is named ‘Everything You Think You Know About Addiction is Wrong’. The second is entitled ‘This Could Be Why You Are Depressed or Anxious’.

Source: https://stolenfocusbook.com/the-author/

Big idea #1 — The 12 reasons you can’t pay attention

The book is structured around the 12 reasons we’ve lost our ability to focus. They are; The increase in speed, switching, and filtering The crippling of our flow states The rise of physical and mental exhaustion The collapse of sustained reading The disruption of mind wandering The rise of technology that can track and manipulate us The rise of cruel optimism The surge in stress and how it triggers vigilance Our deteriorating diets Rising pollution The rise of ADHD and how we are responding to it The confinement of our children, physically and psychologically

James Williams, a former Google strategist (and now dissenter) talks about this idea that we are living through, “a denial of service attack on our minds”. There’s so much information attacking our brains, they are overloaded and don’t function as well. We’re drinking from a firehose.

Big idea #2 — The system is rigged

All of the 12 reasons have some link to a broader systemic issue. Talking to the different people and scientists and researchers etc, that Johann spoke to as part of this book, who have been doing the work around this, this is the common theme.

And this isn’t just about Facebook or big tech, but frankly most of the big tech companies reward structures are based around usage. More use = more data,, which is what they sell, which = more money. People from the inside of these tech companies are now speaking out about the decisions being made internally in those organisations, why they’re being made, and the impact of them.

It is completely in these company’s control to make those different decisions, make the ones that would actually be an improvement to society. That would maybe get back to where social media could have been, and maybe was 10-15 years ago when it first started. The things that made it appealing in the first place.

However, now they know that something that inflames or angers gets a bigger response; it gets more shares, and it gets more attention, which brings them more money. Therefore that’s what is pushed to us.

The timeline and the infinite scroll that’s a feature of a lot of social media platforms could also easily be changed at the flick of a switch, but they don’t, because the more you’re on there, the longer that infinite scroll keeps you there with the distorted timeline, the more information they’re gathering.

We can’t just tech detox ourselves out of this by silencing our notifications or going on a silent retreat. A lot of the people designing these platforms, won’t let their kids use them, and they won’t use it themselves. So it just goes to show that if they’re not eating their own dog food, why should we be the guinea pigs doing it?

Ex-Googler James Williams was speaking at a conference with leading tech designers. And he asked them the simple question; “how many of you want to live in the world that you are designing?”. There was an uncomfortable silence in the room, nobody put up their hand.

These platforms really are the dumbing down of humanity and society, and diminishing our attention at a time we need it more than ever. The way that social media platforms are changing the conversation and shaping the conversation, is really quite terrifying. And never mind when you get into the stories and the evidence around radicalization and some of the really dark things that social media platforms are feeding people and continue to feed people, because that’s how they’re designed.

We can’t just not use tech. It’s too simplistic and too unrealistic. But it is worth considering what we’re using and how we’re using it.

Johann speaks to Nir Eyal, who literally wrote the book (Hooked), which became the book these big tech companies used to build their platforms and build their systems and services in a way that people cannot escape from them. The interview is quite heated as Nir suggests that people just turn off their notifications, and if they don’t, that’s on them. There’s a role for personal responsibility, but when the system is designed for the opposite, it’s a real challenge at a societal level.

There’s lots of tech examples there, but it’s the same with some of the food systems about what gets rewarded; keeping costs low and therefore the decisions that are made in order to maintain the status quo, maximise shareholder profitability, rather than maintain (or improve) nutritional value.

Similar with climate change and pollution. There’s examples of different health, stress, and attention outcomes for people living in areas with more pollution, versus those who get to live in slightly cleaner areas.

It all goes to show the level of systemic decisions and issues at play in terms of the holistic health and wellbeing of society and populations.

And it’s really hard to read some of this and not feel like you’re being taken down a conspiracy theory route. But at the same time, given how public much of this information is, you realise it’s not really a conspiracy, this is actually how things are happening and we are the guinea pigs (and the product) in this experiment.

Big idea #3 — What to do?

One of the things that the book is not, is a book of hacks. This book is not about how to hack your way around the, the systems that are designed to set us all up to fail.

At the same time, it’s easy to throw hands up in the air and assume that we can’t do anything because there’s such huge power at play. There is a balance of using things in a smarter way, and looking for bigger change.

Some of the things that Johann talks about in terms of the individual things that he does include; keeping his phone in a kSafe (a lockable box with a timer, he’ll put his phone in there between certain hours, it locks and you literally cannot get your phone out before the time us up unless you smash it open) using the Freedom app, which you can use to block certain websites or block emails when you want to really focus on doing some focused, deep work. not beating himself up, but asking himself what he could do to get himself in a flow state if he feels distracted taking six months off of social media per year (including asking a friend to change his passwords), he doesn’t take six months off in one go, but he takes a couple of weeks off every month or, or breaks it up throughout the year going out for walks without his phone prioritising free play time with his godchildren

He says that the pandemic has supercharged the direction in which we’re heading. If we were heading down a pretty miserable path, when it comes to technology use and our stolen focus beforehand, this has been exacerbated by the last couple of years as we’re much more connected, spending much more time on devices trying to block out the outside world, numbing ourselves, and more stressed.

He also importantly, calls for a bigger change. He calls it Attention Rebellion, which would call for; the banning of surveillance capitalism (or selling people’s information and attention for money), advocating for the four day work week in order to reduce certain stresses and give people more space and time for the brain break that they need in order to work really well and connect and spend time doing other things, and rebuilding childhood and the freedom around childhood that many people in earlier generations experienced and enjoyed, that is just not the case today.

He says it’s small creative groups of individuals and societies that will create this change, that’s why we have things like weekends. We need people who get together and say, ‘this is not good enough, something needs to change’. We need to be these people, and find these people; join them, vote for them, support them, whatever it needs to be, because without that, nothing will actually change.

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About the book

When it comes to recruiting, motivating, and creating great teams, Patty McCord says most companies have it all wrong. McCord helped create the unique and high-performing culture at Netflix, where she was chief talent officer. In her new book, Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility, she shares what she learned there and elsewhere in Silicon Valley.

McCord advocates practicing radical honesty in the workplace, saying good-bye to employees who don’t fit the company’s emerging needs, and motivating with challenging work, not promises, perks, and bonus plans. McCord argues that the old standbys of corporate HR―annual performance reviews, retention plans, employee empowerment and engagement programs―often end up being a colossal waste of time and resources. Her road-tested advice, offered with humor and irreverence, provides readers a different path for creating a culture of high performance and profitability.

Powerful will change how you think about work and the way a business should be run.

Source: https://pattymccord.com/book/

About the author

Patty McCord brings the Silicon Valley concepts of fresh ideas and innovation and applies them to rethinking the way we work. She challenges norms and invites us to reconsider the idea of “best practices.”

From her many years working with companies that range from very large global tech companies to small very small innovative start-ups, Patty saw first-hand how companies can become slow and complacent and employees become cynics and whiners. She spent 14 years at Netflix experimenting with new ways to work. Making the Netflix culture deck become reality for the people who work there. From abolishing performance reviews to challenging the need for policies, Patty believes people come to work as fully formed adults with a desire to make an impact and be proud of what they do and she’s on a mission to spread the word that we can do this differently. She is frequently in the media with interviews and articles from Harvard Business Review, NPR, Fast Company and The Wall Street Journal. She speaks at CEO Forums, Business schools and for large groups around the world.

Source: https://pattymccord.com/about-patty/

Big idea #1 — Your employees are adults

Your employees have power, but only if you don’t take it away. There’s been a big theme for a number of years around employee empowerment. We only need to empower employees if we disempowered them in the first place.

Netflix wasn’t built on elaborate systems. They kept stripping away policies, but they did it experimentally. This doesn’t therefore create a ‘free for all’, which is usually what people freak out and assume is going to happen when you start removing policies and procedures. Instead it removes the ‘senseless bureaucracy and stupid processes’, and instead focuses on discipline and behaviour.

This is what the Netflix culture deck is. It’s a summary of the behaviours that they expected people to be disciplined about in their time working for Netflix.

Patty’s belief is that a business leader’s job is to ‘create great teams that do amazing work on time’. That’s it. We don’t need loads of policies and processes and practices in order to do that, we just need to create the environment where people can do their best work. And even more so to create a company where people want to come in and ‘solve these problems with these people’, which is one of the phrases that Reid Hoffman used when he was describing to Patty the company culture that he wanted to create.

Now it’s worth noting that Patty was at huge tech companies before Netflix. She was at SunMicrosystems for a number of years, which is a huge, traditional tech company. She wasn’t always in this super cool startup Netflix kind of place. She says in the book that she often in her previous life she had implemented some of the policies and procedures that she eventually began to question, as she began to realise they just weren’t effective, and therefore were a huge waste of time and resources.

Big idea #2 — The principles

These are lessons that Patty learn about how to instill principles and behaviors of high performance in teams and set a culture in an organisation.

All teams and companies are different, so you can’t just lift the Netflix culture deck and adopt it as your own, but these five principles seem to be common and true and underlying whatever the ‘culture deck’ would look like for a company: We want to clear, open, constant communication about the work to be done and the challenges being faced. Not only for manager’s own team, but for the company as a whole. We want people to practice radical honesty, telling one another, and us, the truth in a timely fashion. And ideally face-to-face. We want people to have strong fact-based opinions and debate them avidly and test them rigorously. We want people to base their actions on what was best for the customer and the company, not on attempts to prove themselves right. We want hiring managers to take the lead in preparing their teams for the future by making sure they had high performers with the right skills in every position.

(Can you imagine if this was the case in all companies, it would be utopia),

All of this shows the underlying principles of discipline, and creating the environment, the systems and the conversations that allow that to sustain. None of those require endless policies and practices.

One thing that Patty is really strong about in the book is about your people. really knowing and understanding the business. Your people aren’t going to make the best decisions, and possibly behave in the correct/desired way if they don’t know the business. Knowing what you’re striving for, what you’re aiming for, what’s important, and what’s not is even more important than any learning curriculum. Help people understand, which will help give them the discipline to decide, act, and behave in the way that’s best for the customer and the business.

Big idea #3 — Create debate

One of the principles was around creating strong fact-based opinions to debate them avidly and test them rigorously, and also that the point of a debate was not about you being ‘right’.

They took this very seriously in Netflix. In her HR role Patty regularly tested “best practices” or “conventional wisdom”, and experimented by removing things, seeing what happened, tweaking, testing, and then putting things back in or taking more things out.

The Netflix exec team would orchestrate debates in front of each other, including having to argue the other side or different position to the one they maybe wanted to take or they believed in. They would also do this publicly in monthly debates in the Netflix theatre, where they would invite all of the staff to come and watch the debate a particular real business challenge they were facing at the moment. This was no role play just for the sake of doing it.

Part of this was to show that there’s no easy or obvious answer to hard questions, particularly at that strategic level, so it helped people see that there were multiple different, equally good directions, that decisions could go in and that it’s hard to decide which one to do.

This is a great way of role-modelling debate, and really powerful to show debate for the best betterment of the company, the customer experience, the clients, whatever it happens to be, and not for personal gain / being ‘right’.

Patty says this was much more powerful than any conflict related course or debate course that companies send their employees too. Because they’re seeing in real life, they’re seeing it in the context of the work that they are doing, and importantly that they can see that this is all in service of getting the right outcome for the company and the customer.

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About the book

Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience

If we want to find the way back to ourselves and one another, we need language and the grounded confidence to both tell our stories and to be stewards of the stories that we hear. In Atlas of the Heart, we explore eighty-seven of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human and walk through a new framework for cultivating meaningful connection. This is for the mapmakers and travelers in all of us.

Source: https://brenebrown.com/book/atlas-of-the-heart/

About the author

Dr. Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston, where she holds the Huffington Foundation Endowed Chair at the Graduate College of Social Work. Brené is also a visiting professor in management at the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business.

She has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy; is the author of six #1 New York Times best sellers; and is the host of the weekly Spotify original podcasts Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead.

Brené’s books have been translated into more than 30 languages, and her titles include Atlas of the Heart, Dare to Lead, Braving the Wilderness, Rising Strong, Daring Greatly, and The Gifts of Imperfection. With Tarana Burke, she co-edited the best-selling anthology You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience.

Her TED talk on the Power of Vulnerability is one of the top five most-viewed TED talks in the world, with over 50 million views. She is also the first researcher to have a filmed lecture on Netflix. The Call to Courage special debuted on the streaming service in April 2019.

Brené lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband, Steve. They have two children, Ellen and Charlie.

Source: https://brenebrown.com/media-kit/

Big idea #1 — We need to start feeling

Most of us don’t fully feel. We numb, we avoid, we deflect, and we do anything to not feel painful or uncomfortable feelings, in an attempt to remain in control.

When we start feeling our feelings, we discover we need to do a lot of work to reevaluate ourselves, to reset boundaries, choose ourselves over the comfort of others.

We can’t outrun our feelings, and we need to be, to hold people accountable for their hurtful behaviors. If we don’t understand the link between thoughts and behavior, we become more and more disconnected from each other. There is a lot of disconnection in the world at the moment because we’ve lost the ability to see things from a different point of view, to extend empathy, to connect, and to have the courage to have some uncomfortable conversations.

But to do any of this successfully, we need language. Most people unfortunately can only recognize three big emotions; something looking like mad, sad, and glad. As a result, we’re only really accessing a tiny slice of what it means to be human. The more emotions that we can define, access, and recognise in ourselves and others, the wider and better the conversations we can have.

Big idea #2 — The categories of emotions

The book is structured into 13 groups of emotions; The places we go when things are uncertain The places we go when we compare The places we go when things don’t go as planned The places we go when it’s beyond us The places we go when things aren’t what they seem The places we go when we’re hurting The places we go with others The places we go when we fall short The places we go when we search for connection The places we go when the heart is open The places we go in when life is good The places we go when we feel wronged The places we go to self assess

All of those clusters have several different emotions that sit within them, some of them are a mix of what we would commonly call positive and negative emotions (although many in the field would avoid this language).

Each emotion is then broken down to cover how it shows up in our bodies (the biology of the emotion), how families and communities shape our beliefs around the connection between feelings, thoughts, and behaviors (the biography), how to examine our go-to behaviors and recognizing the context of what we’re feeling or thinking (behaviours), and the backstory of each emotion (backstory).

Note: I think this is one of the most powerful parts of the book, the categorization of the emotions in this way, based on how and when they show up.

Big idea #3 — The confused emotions

There’s lots of examples in the book around emotions that often get confused with each other. For example, the difference between stressed and overwhelmed, jealousy and envy, and the link between resentment and envy.

Brené shares an interesting conversation Professor Marc Brackett (author of Permission to Feel). She asked if resentment was linked to anger, and he said that it was linked to envy. This was a huge penny-drop moment for Brené who realised that the ‘anger’ she felt when she was resentful, was actually envy, usually because the other person was able to put a boundary in place that she wished she could, but felt like she couldn’t.

This ability to recognise the subtle nuance between certain emotions is so important for having better conversations with each other about how we feel. Another example was the subtle differences between disappointed, regretful discouraged, resigned, and frustrated. If you’ve only got access to ‘mad, sad, and glad’, you might bunch all of those into ‘mad’. But actually there are really distinct differences in why those five emotions could be showing up.

The conversation you might have someone who’s feeling disappointed when they felt like an outcome was outside of their control, versus the conversation you can have with someone who was able to identify as feeling frustrated are quite different conversations and therefore quite different questions, and empathy are required.

For this reason, this book is an absolute go-to resource for labeling, understanding, demystifying, and defining the emotions we all feel. Seeing where those lines are commonly blurred, and therefore our actions and behaviors might be too, is a pathway to meaningful connection.

Meaningful connection requires grounded confidence and a mindset of learning and improving.

Ultimately, all of this is a journey based in reflection, curiosity, empathy, mistakes, a lot of discomfort, and really a lifetime of work. This is not something that you’re going to read the book, and become a fully fledged, emotionally competent human. This is absolutely a lifetime of work, as Brené openly shares in her own stories throughout the book.

I talked about Brené's previous book, Dare to Lead, in episode 2(!) of this podcast. You can go back and listen to it here.

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About the book

You spend most of your waking life working — a jaw-dropping 90,000 hours for the average person. You deserve to feel joy during that time. But how? This Working Lifeempowers you to experiment in the lab of life. You’ll reflect on your highs and lows, harness your superpowers and pinpoint your guiding values. You’ll learn the importance of empathy as you craft a job or curate a portfolio career that can grow with you. You’ll unlock the power of rituals, community and self-care, and build resilience that will help you face life’s inevitable curveballs. Lisa and Monique get personal, sharing hard-won learnings from their own lives. This Working Life also features insights from world-leading thinkers like Dorie Clark, Jeremy Utley and Dan Klein, and practical activities to help you take action.

Source: https://www.hardiegrant.com/

About the authors

Lisa Leong is the host of ABC Radio National’s This Working Life. She is a former corporate lawyer and ABC Eyre Peninsula breakfast presenter whose purpose as a broadcaster, media commentator and master facilitator is to help people find the sunshine in work, in relationships and in themselves. Her work and unique approach has been the subject of a Harvard Case Study and TEDx Talk: ‘Can robots make us more human?’ She is a graduate of the Customer-Focused Innovation program of Stanford University’s GSB and the Stanford .school, the Australian Film Television and Radio School, and the University of Melbourne Law School. Her superpowers are curiosity, creativity and delivering key messages by way of song.

Monique Ross is a freelance journalist, writer and editor who has previously worked for ABC News Digital and ABC Radio National. She is also a certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide, and the founder of Heartwood Nature Bathing, based in Brisbane/Meanjin. Her superpowers are connection, organisation, grit and making pasta disappear.

Source: This Working Life book cover

Big idea #1 — There’s not one answer

There’s not one answer to work, and there’s certainly not one career path. This is not a book of hacks, or a plan, or a process, or a methodology, or a single model per se. It’s more of a set of mindsets and thought-starters on how to (re)think work in the modern age.

It challenges the idea of a ‘job for life’, and encourages us to think about building skills that are transferable, and a career that’s more fluid and ever-changing. At the heart of this is a mindset of learning and experimentation, not an answer or a particular path for everyone that everyone should take.

There’s a lot of experimentation woven into the book in little sections called ‘lab experiments’, with ideas that you can put into practice including building a portfolio career, finding a mentor, and everything in between. The important point is that you do have options and you can change things. You can make tweaks by practicing job craft, you can pivot by adding strings to your bow or building a portfolio career, or you can completely reinvent by having a career change. Lisa and Monica give plenty of their own examples of tweaks, pivots, and reinventions they’ve had through their careers.

One of the most important things about this book is it really just show the art of the possible. It’s so easy to feel like you ‘can’t’ do these things, or ‘can’t’ change something about how you work. But how much of that is actually you holding yourself back; writing off things without really testing them, experimenting, and pushing a little bit more.

Big idea #2 — Category of one

This was one of my favourite ideas in the book. It’s the idea of being a category of one by leveraging your unique experiences, strengths, and values so that you (and only you) can add your own magic and impact to your work.

First you need to know what your strengths, values, and experiences are. This is important so that you can then develop them and use them with a bit more purpose and intent.

The life flow exercise in the book is a great exercise in the book where you look at the the highs and the lows of your life and career to see what those trends and themes are. You get to find the common denominator of when you’ve been really satisfied with your work or life, which means you can design your next move around having more of those elements.

This mindset of a category of one also allows you to stand out and can stop comparisonitis because if you’re a category of one, there’s no point comparing yourself or your path or your skills to other people, because they are a different category of one.

Being able to play your own game is also very freeing, and much healthier than constant comparison. It allows you to embrace a more infinite mindset rather than playing the finite games (despite the fact that organisations are often set up to pit us against each other when it comes to annual reviews etc).

Finally, thinking in a ‘category of one’ mindset can be the thing that allows you to successfully create and/or design a role, knowing what your strengths are, where you’re going, and what your unique individual path is.

Big idea #3 — Work/life coherence

Work/life balance makes my eyes roll back in my head, so I was very pleased to see for once a different approach in here.

Lisa and Monique challenge the idea that work and life should be separate. It often feels like more stress to try (and fail) do that. A coherence, on the other hand, is about finding more of a unified whole, or a connectedness between work and life.

They say that if balance draws a line between work and life, coherence starts to unify those two sides, and they become more interconnected, in flow and flexible to change. For work/life coherence to work, we need to remove guilt and presenteeism and instead focus on what actually matters.

There’s a two way exchange of course, and requires transparency in your team or organisation. At an individual level we need to be able to self-regulate, we need to better help ourselves focus and be present so that when we’re doing work, we are doing work, and when we were at home, we are doing that thing. Coherence doesn’t work if one are is always spilling into the other.

It takes boundaries, it takes self-awareness, it takes self-regulation. And of course, transparency in order for this to work.

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About the book

Are you constantly juggling multiple tasks and operating at 100 per cent or more? Do you feel you are permanently on the treadmill and can’t get off? If you needed extra capacity for something urgent, could you find it?

In The 1-Day Refund, best-selling author and time management expert Donna McGeorge shows you how to recover an extra 15 per cent of your time-10 minutes per hour, 1 hour per day or a full day each week-to think, breathe, live and work. By creating more space, you’ll discover a new ability to focus on what’s truly important to you.

With The 1-Day Refund, you’ll be on your way to getting back a full day, so you can take advantage of any opportunity that comes your way.

Source: https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-1-day-refund-donna-mcgeorge

About the author

Donna is passionate about enhancing the large amount of time we spend in our workplace (too much, for many) to ensure it is effective and productive, as well as enjoyable.

Donna has worked with managers and leaders throughout Australia and Asia–Pacific for over 20 years. She delivers practical skills, training, workshops and facilitation to corporates — such as Nissan Motor Company, Jetstar, Medibank Private and Ford Motor Company — so they learn to manage their people well and produce great performance and results.

She lives on the Gold Coast, Queensland, a region known for its world-class beaches, but her most creative moments come while sipping tea on her balcony, gazing at the meandering waterways, alongside her husband, Steve, and dog, Prudence.

Source: https://www.donnamcgeorge.com/about

Big idea #1 — Aim for 85

We need to rethink the idea of capacity. Most of us live at 100% (and some of us at 120%) in how we work and live. But Donna challenges us to aim for 85% , and design our lives and work around that.

Professional sports people do this, knowing that it’s better for endurance as they can be more relaxed. Actor Hugh Jackman also uses this 85% rule when he is performing as it allows him to be more relaxed and leaves his brain with a bit of extra capacity for mulling things over and being more creative.

This 15% buffer in our lives allows us not to rush, building in time for those delayed trains or meetings that run over, or any of these unexpected time when life happens to us. And 15% of seven days is one, so by operating at 85% you get this extra day back.

Donna uses a nice analogy in the book of a cup of tea; carrying a cup of tea at 100% full is very hard to maneuverer, whereas a cup at 85% is a breeze, with much less risk of spillage and mess.

Donna talks about four different types of capacity; Surge capacity; takes more energy but we don’t have much time, it’s necessary in some cases, but it’s not sustainable. Wasted capacity; when we have too much time and not much energy we’re pottering around wasting time doing ‘busy work’. Impaired capacity; where we have low energy and not much time, we’ve use all our energy at work and we have none left for our family and our friends and our hobbies. Adaptive capacity; our ability to modify for changes in environments as, and when they happen. This is where we want to be, and operating at 85% allows us to operate at this adaptive capacity.

Big idea #2 — Create space

We need to offset our off-kilter use of capacity. We need to make space in our lives and our days. And Donna has put a four-part model together that considers our physical and mental capacity, plus our personal and our professional lives. Mental capacity/personal lives: breathing space. We need to let go and disengage with people or things that bring us stress or anxiety and maximise for joy. Physical capacity/personal lives: living space. We need to free up by decluttering and thinking more functionally about the space we’re using to live in. Physical capacity/professional lives: working space. Here we need to level up by defragging our days and find chunks of time to work, not cracks of time. This might involve improving our systems or delegating work. Mental capacity/professional lives: thinking space. We need to take time out and decelerate and take time out in order to let our brains work at their best way with that space where we can make those connections and our brains can work as they have best evolved to work.

Big idea #3 — Reclaim a day

This is really the whole purpose of the book; the 15% of extra space and capacity is roughly one day per week.

If you were one of the many people who found yourself not having to commute as a result of working from home over the last couple of years, that’s an easy 8-10 hours a week that you would get back. If someone had told you in 2019, that you would have an extra 8-10 hours per week, the following year, or for the next couple of years, what would you have said, what would you have wanted to spend that time on?

Donna shares that Australians work 3.2 billion hours per year in unpaid overtime. And for what? Do we really want this time many of us gained to be absorbed back into emails and busy work?

This is the time to be intentional and rethink capacity and space for our life, our brains, our relationships, and our work.

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About the book

Any given day brings a never-ending list of things to do. There’s the work thing, the catch-up thing, the laundry thing, the creative thing, the exercise thing, the family thing, the thing we don’t want to do, the thing we’ve been putting off (despite it being the most important thing). Even on days where we get a lot done, the thing left undone can leave us feeling guilty, anxious, or disappointed.

After five years of searching for the secret to productivity, Madeleine Dore discovered there isn’t one. Instead, we’re being set up to fail. I Didn’t Do The Thing Today is the inspiring call to take productivity off its pedestal — by dismantling our comparison to others, aspirational routines, and the unrealistic notions of what can be done in a day, we can finally embrace the joyful messiness and unpredictability of life.

For anyone who has ever felt the pressure to do more, be more, achieve more, this antidote to our doing-obsession is the permission slip we all need to find our own way.

Source: https://extraordinaryroutines.com/book

About the author

Madeleine Dore is a writer and interviewer exploring how we can broaden the definition of a day well spent. For the past five years, Madeleine has been asking creative thinkers how they navigate their days on her popular blog Extraordinary Routines and podcast Routines & Ruts.

She has contributed columns and features to Sunday Life, BBC WorkLife, ArtsHub, 99u, Womankind, Kill Your Darlings, The Design Files, ABC Life and more. Madeleine regularly conducts life experiments and hosts events to explore how creativity isn’t just something we do, but how we approach our lives.

Source: https://extraordinaryroutines.com/about

Big idea #1 — Be a day artist

One of the underlying ideas is this concept of being a ‘day artist’, or seeing each day as a work of art. Being creative, rather than doing creativity in how we live. This means being creative with the elements of a day, even when that day doesn’t go to plan.

There’s a nice quote in the book from Helena Bonham Carter that says;“Everything in life is art. What you do, how you dress, the way you love someone and how you talk, your smile and your personality, what you believe in and all your dreams, the way you drink your tea, how you decorate your home, or party ,your grocery list, the food you make, how your writing looks, the way you feel. Life is art.”

It’s a great reminder that we get to choose how to live. It’s quite a freeing idea. Taking this approach involves a little bit more play, and wonder and curiosity.

Maybe you don’t start the day by ‘eating the frog’ or doing the most unpleasant thing first, but maybe you start the day with something that’s pure pleasure instead. There’s a fantastic example in the book, about a chef who starts the day with a bowl of porridge with a dollop of clotted cream on top, along with some brown sugar, and he just thinks that’s the best way to start the day because by breakfast, he’s already won the day! A perfect example of prioritizing delight over dread.

Being a day artist might mean making changes to your environment, having a corner of a room dedicated to reading, for example. It doesn’t need to be that you need lots of extra space, but maybe you just use your space differently. There’s example in the book from Austin Kleon, who talks about having a really clear, crisp, clean work area with his computer where he writes, but then a really messy desk, which is where he does all his messy collage work.

It means letting go of expectations, or at least holding them much more lightly and letting things surprise us, which can then allow us to explore what we really want, not just what we think we “should” be doing.

Now, we can’t seek constant novelty in life, but we can be much more attuned to it and leave space for surprise, even if it’s just for an hour or 10 minutes in our day.

Big idea #2 — Embrace the wobble

There’s lots of wobbling in our days. Maybe something takes longer than planned, or there’s a distraction, an interruption, or a drama. Whatever it might be, embracing the wobble means that we might need to find ‘puddles’ of time, rather than needing perfect blocks of uninterrupted time in order to get things done. It’s more about self-awareness, than self-regulation, which a lot of productivity guidance can be a bit heavy on.

Wobbling is a constant adjustment, we’re constantly twisting and turning and balancing and bumping into things. But berating ourselves for our inconsistency takes up the precious time that we’re telling ourselves off for wasting in the first place. There is no dress rehearsal in life, this is it.

Maybe we need to stop letting ambition get in our way. Sometimes ambition can be a good thing, but sometimes it can be a pursuit of recognition from others, rather than a focus on doing things that we want to do. It’s obviously not all bad, but maybe being more micro-ambitious, a term that she took from the wonderful Tim Minchin, is a healthier and more flexible approach that allows us to focus in what’s in front of us, in the present instead of what’s next.

Psst, have you subscribed to the bookmark newsletter? If you liked this, you might like my twice-monthly email with book reviews and ideas of what you should be reading, and listening to, next. Click here to subscribe.

Big idea #3 — Kindness over busy-ness

None of us need telling twice about the modern scourge of busy-ness. It’s such a barrier to connection and it’s a fast track to burnout.

Kindness, Madeleine says, is the antidote to burnout. Kindness with ourselves and with others. Whether that’s a chat with the person serving you at the post office, or making a donation to charity, or texting a friend to say hi, incorporating a bit more kindness into our days, rather than busy-ness, can be a nice way of slowing down and remembering what’s important.

Kindness extends to ourselves by knowing that rest is not a bad thing. Hobbies don’t need to be a side-hustles, and we can challenge all the things we tell ourselves that we should do. Otherwise it’s easy to find ourselves too busy to actually enjoy life. There’s a really nice analogy in the book of being like a sponge. Sometimes we’re in absorption mode soaking up, resting, learning, taking in knowledge etc, but too long in absorb mode will leave us kind of sodden and a bit soggy and wet. So we need to be squeezed. We need a bit of pressure to balance us out.

Ultimately, Madeline says;“Maybe we can’t expect to enjoy every day, but we can find it endearing. When we reach the end of the day, instead of berating ourselves, what we did or didn’t do, we can be charmed by the ordinary moments of living and what our days can bring.”

Which I think is a rather nice way of thinking about life.

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About the book

We unlock our greatness by working on the hard things. Instead of doubting yourself, fearing you’ll make a mistake, and feeling like you need to play “small” so you don’t disrupt the status quo, start showing up for yourself so you can show up for the world. Don’t regret a life half-lived. Stepping up and pursuing your dreams is hard … and it’s exhilarating, and it’s important. Let me show you how to get clear, get confident, and start anything that matters.

Source: https://www.mbs.works/best-books-training-for-coaches-leaders-and-mentors/how-to-begin-book/

About the author

Michael Bungay Stanier is the author of six books which between them have sold more than a million copies. He’s best known for The Coaching Habit, the best-selling coaching book of the century and already recognised as a classic. Michael was a Rhodes Scholar and plays the ukulele badly. He’s Australian, and lives in Toronto, Canada.

Source: https://www.mbs.works/about/

Big idea #1 — Set a worthy goal

This is the bulk of the book. You go through this process a few different times to refine and improve your worthy goal.

The first phase is purposely messy and probably quite dull. And you test this first draft of your goal on whether it’s thrilling, important, and daunting.

Round two of the iteration, has you adding some active words and verbs, before testing it again. A final refinement has you scoring the goal on how thrilling, important, and daunting it is, each out of seven. If the score is low (<18/21), your goal needs a bit more work. You might need to add a word, or make the goal bigger, or maybe more constrained, or specific. And then voila, you have a worthy goal.

Big idea #2 - The pain of reality

As any good coach would, Michael has you taking a good, hard look in the mirror. The book takes you through examining your habits, your false starts, your patterns and behaviours, and your ‘mosquitoes’, as he calls them, that buzz around you and follow you around, whatever it is you try to do.

This is an exercise in self-awareness and compassion, not self-loathing. You might go through this and realise some uncomfortable truths about your tendencies and things that may have set you back in the past, but it’s very much about being aware of them, and then being able to work with, or around, them this time.

The next part is about painting a picture of your future, whether you do, or whether you don’t, see through this worthy goal. This is really useful to see the true opportunities and opportunity costs, of doing or not achieving this goal.

One of my favourite exercises in the book is the idea of defining You2.0, which really hones in on what you want yourself to look like when you’re operating at your very best, versus operating at 85%. It’s such a great way of thinking back to situations where you really thrive, and what that looks like, to give yourself the boost that you can rekindle that again.

Big idea #3 — Set yourself up to succeed

As with any good goal setting book, there’s a big emphasis on setting yourself up for success. This includes having the right people around you; the people who are going to nurture you and you need a bit of nurturing, give you a bit of a kick or a nudge when you need it, or who you can aspire to and who can teach you. Ultimately the people who can both support and challenge you along the way.

The other piece is around awareness. There’s a lot of activities in here around really knowing thyself, understanding where you’re likely to trip yourself up, and where you’re likely to not be as effective as you could be in reaching your worthy goal.

Finally, thinking about experiments and practices. Michael talks a lot about how to take small first steps. Which isn’t necessarily a new idea, but a nice one to think about in terms of getting this worthy goal moving in the right direction, especially if it’s a bit daunting (as it should be).

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This week we're taking a gentle start to the year talking about the books on my reading list for this year, and how I'm rethinking my reading habits and goals.

Here's some of the books I mention in the episode; How to Begin by Michal Bungay Stanier Atlas of the Heart by Brené Brown I Didn't Do The Thing by Madeline Dore This Working Life by Lisa Leong and Monique Ross How to Tell a Story by The Moth The Power of Regret by Daniel Pink Stolen Focus by Johann Hari Making Numbers Count by Chip Heath The Biography of Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson

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It's a December special with this bonus mini-series called How We Read, featuring conversations about the books that have stuck with us.

This spin off series will continue in 2022 for members of the brand new Steph's Business Bookshelf Patreon, launching January 2022.

In this episode of How We Read I'm talking to Claire Hatton about her top books of 2021, how she reads, and why 2021 has spurred some different genres of reading for her. Here's the books he talked about: 1. Leading Edge by Holly Ransom 2. Victoria, The Queen by Julia Baird 3. Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku

Plus, honourable mentions of Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo, Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens, Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister by Jung Chang, and Phosphorescence by Julia Baird.

You can connect with Claire through LinkedIn and by checking out her podcast Don’t Stop Us Now, on your favourite podcast provider.

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It's a December special with a bonus mini-series called How We Read, featuring conversations about the books that have stuck with us.

This spin off series will continue in 2022 for members of the brand new Steph's Business Bookshelf Patreon, launching January 2022.

In this episode of How We Read I'm talking to Lisa Leong about her top books of 2021, some existential considerations on what's really essential, and a few insights from her new book.

Here's the books she talked about:

The Mindful Therapist by Daniel J. Siegel
The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander

You can connect with Lisa through LinkedIn or Instagram, pre-order her new book This Working Life here, and listen to her podcast, This Working Life wherever you get your podcasts.

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It's a December special with a bonus mini-series called How We Read, featuring conversations about the books that have stuck with us.

This spin off series will continue in 2022 for members of the brand new Steph's Business Bookshelf Patreon, launching January 2022.

In this first ever episode of How We Read I'm talking to Shane Hatton about his top books of 2021, how he reads, and how he weaved his way into a book club this year.

Here's the books he talked about: Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models by Gabriel Weinberg and Lauren McCann The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates

Plus, an honourable mention of The Medici Effect, With a New Preface and Discussion Guide: What Elephants and Epidemics Can Teach Us About Innovation by Frans Johansson.

You can connect with Shane through LinkedIn | Instagram | his website.

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About the book

It’s hard to give up on the feeling that the life you want is just out of reach. A beach body by summer. A trip to Disneyland around the corner. A promotion on the horizon. Everyone wants to believe that they are headed toward good, better, best. But what happens when the life you hoped for is put on hold indefinitely?

Kate Bowler believed that life was a series of unlimited choices, only to find that she was stuck in a cancerous body at age 35. In her instant New York Times bestselling book, No Cure for Being Human, Kate searches for a way forward as she mines the wisdom (and absurdity) of our modern “best life now” advice industry, which offers us exhausting positivity, trying to convince us that we can out-eat, out-learn and out-perform our humanness. With dry wit and unflinching honesty, she grapples with her cancer diagnosis, her ambition, and her faith and searches for some kind of peace with her limitations in a culture that says that anything is possible.

In facing down cancer, Kate searches for hope without cheap optimism, and truth with room for mystery. We are as fragile as the day we were born, and we will need each other if we’re going to tell the truth: Life is beautiful and terrible, full of hope and despair and everything in between, but there’s no cure for being human.

Source: https://katebowler.com/no-cure-for-being-human/

About the author

Kate Bowler is a New York Times best-selling author, podcast host, and associate professor of the history of Christianity in North America at Duke University. After being unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage IV cancer at age 35, she wrote the New York Times best-selling memoir, Everything Happens for a Reason (and Other Lies I’ve Loved), which tells the story of her struggle to understand the personal and intellectual dimensions of the American belief that all tragedies are tests of character. Her TED talk on the subject has received over 9 million views to date, and on her popular podcast, Everything Happens, she talks with people about what they have learned in dark times and why it is so difficult to speak frankly about suffering.

Source: https://katebowler.com/no-cure-for-being-human/

Big idea #1 — Your best life now

We’re obsessed with living well, optimizing everything, following people like Tony Robbins and those who promise us all the good things that will come from mastering our habits, enhancing our bodies, and that salvation is only a decision away.

Kate says that “every year billions of dollars are pumped into a wellness industry defined by the theory that we can be perfected. We can organize ourselves, heal ourselves, budget ourselves, love ourselves, and eat well enough to make ourselves whole.”

But of course, none of that is true.

And it’s one thing being bombarded with all of those messages on a regular day, but what does that all mean when you’ve had a serious and potentially terminal health diagnosis? When spending time and the idea of productivity take on whole completely different meetings.

It’s not really enough to live our best life. We need to think about it in a slightly different way in order to spend time well. And we need to think about the promises made by advertising and marketing and the so-called gurus, in a more suspicious way. Because maybe we can’t live our best life now, because we can’t control everything.

Big idea #2 — Unfinished cathedrals

Hang gliding, swimming with dolphins, and a world of other experiences have made their way into the experience economy; the things you must do before you die. We put them on bucket lists and it all suggests that life can be successfully completed.It’s much easier to count items than to know what counts.

We think that we can master the world by conquering our inner world.

But we can’t. Life can’t be completed, no matter what Instagram tells us. And that’s what makes it great. Kate tells a story about a trip to Lisbon, Portugal, and to a cathedral that was never finished. The story goes that the plans for the cathedral construction became so over-complicated that they just stopped and left it ‘beautifully unfinished’, as she said.

It was interesting to see different people’s reactions to the cathedral. Kate and her husband thought it was a bit ugly, and bit rough around the edges. But an older man that was there visiting as well was exclaiming at how beautiful it was, which made them see it in a different way. A nice metaphor for life.

She talks about the fact that time is a circle, and that ‘we’re trapped between the past that we can’t return to and a future that is uncertain’. And therefore ‘it takes guts and courage to live in this hard space between anticipation and realization’.All of our masterpieces are ridiculous, all of our striving unnecessary, and all of our work unfinished and unfinishable. We do too much, never enough and are done before we’ve even started. And that is better that way.

Quite a nice antidote to the overwhelm we put ourselves through on a regular basis around trying to ‘complete’ everything.

Big idea #3 — A painful reminder

Nobody wants a reminder of how all of us teeter on the edge between life and death on a daily basis. Kate talks about a friend who had a very unwell child who said that she felt like she was ‘everyone’s inspiration, but nobody’s friend’. It’s very hard to maintain some relationships during a long illness or a long, drawn out traumatic experience in life.

It’s hard to hear the dramas of everyday life with the same feelings when you’re having to brush over your stories about scans, tests, results you’re waiting on, and specialist appointments. She talks about the bubbling resentment that that comes with hearing people were getting upset about ruining some clothes in the wash by putting something of the wrong color in the machine, or their weight loss dramas etc. It’s a very evident show of the different realities that people can live in.

But Kate also talks about the hard fact that so much of the clarity and purpose that you can get from suffering quickly slides away. She talks about having to relearn and remember how to live ‘normally’, with all of life’s uncertainty which has just become incredibly clear. It’s not something we like to be reminded of, but none of us know what will happen in a given moment, and some of us have had ‘certain’ futures upended or even erased altogether.

This doesn’t mean we can’t exist. It just takes courage in order to do so.

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About the author

Alan Weiss is one of those rare people who can say he is a consultant, speaker, and author and mean it.

His consulting firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has attracted clients such as Merck, Hewlett-Packard, GE, Mercedes-Benz, State Street Corporation, Times Mirror Group, The Federal Reserve, The New York Times Corporation, Toyota, and over 500 other leading organizations. He has served on the boards of directors of the Trinity Repertory Company, a Tony-Award-winning New England regional theater, Festival Ballet, and chaired the Newport International Film Festival.

His speaking typically includes 20 keynotes a year at major conferences, and he has been a visiting faculty member at Case Western Reserve University, Boston College, Tufts, St. John’s, the University of Illinois, the Institute of Management Studies, and the University of Georgia Graduate School of Business. He has held an appointment as adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Business at the University of Rhode Island where he taught courses on advanced management and consulting skills to MBA and PhD candidates. He once held the record for selling out the highest priced workshop (on entrepreneurialism) in the then-21-year history of New York City’s Learning Annex. His Ph.D. is in psychology. He has served on the Board of Governors of Harvard University’s Center for Mental Health and the Media.

Source: https://alanweiss.com/about-alan-weiss/

About the book

The newest thoughts and examples on the best practices and language for successful professional services proposals. This is the contemporary version of the seminal book How to Write A Proposal That’s Accepted Every Time, originally written in 1998 and updated in 2002. Adopt the best global practices Alan has generated for conceptual agreement, options, escalating fees, avoiding the legal department, eliminating cancellations, and much more. He includes information about RFPs (requests for proposals) and retainers. Increase your income by six figures a year without doing anything different — except how you formulate your proposals.

Source: https://alanweiss.com/shop/books/paperback/million-dollar-consulting-proposals/

Big idea #1 — Proposals with purpose

Your proposal doesn’t do the selling for you. This is the fundamental idea of the book; the proposal isn’t doing anything that you haven’t already done. The sale should really already have been made from the meetings you’ve had, and the relationship you have built with the economic buyer. It’s a summary of what has come before and what has been agreed.

There’s a quote in the book that says;A proposal is a summation, not an explanation. It is a summary of the conceptual agreement you’ve reached with your economic buyer and not a negotiating document or an attempt to make a sale.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of sending a proposal without having actually ever sold anything, and making the mistake of seeing a proposal as the start of the sales process, rather than the end.

Alan says that the things that proposal should do include; summarizing the agreement detailing the objectives, metrics of success, and the value of those objectives being met giving options for levels of value detailing the fees and the terms and conditions

Conversely, what the proposal documents shouldn’t do is; be a document for gatekeepers to use on your behalf be vague establish credibility (that should already have been done) include anything that hasn’t already been agreed to be used to build a relationship with a buyer (again, that should already have been done), be a comparison point for competitors (ie you shouldn’t be in a situation where your proposal was being looked at and compared to another)

He says that most people send proposals too early and too often, even sometimes using the number of proposals sent out as a measure of success.

Big idea #2 — Know your buyer

This isn’t just from an avatar perspective and coming up with your stick figure pretend ‘buyer’ and writing things that they like / feel etc. This is about really building a relationship with the economic buyer; the person who can sign off the purchase order, who can pay the invoice, who can approve the finances involved in working with you.

At several points in the book Alan makes some sick burns at HR people (he often refers to them as Hardly Relevant in other talks / podcasts) and emphasizes many times that you should never deal with them. A proposal in the wrong hands, he says, is worse than no proposal at all. So we need to be working directly with our economic buyer.

Building a trusted relationship with your economic buyer might take several meetings or interactions, and is not done through a proposal document. He says you know the relationship building is going well when the other person shares undisclosed/non-public information with you and ask your opinion.

By working with the buyer you are able to better articulate value, because you know exactly what is important to them, what their objectives are, what outcomes would be valuable to them, and how to talk about those things in their words.

He says when gatekeepers are involved (or low-level people, as he often refers to them) that keep you from your buyer, it’s time to ‘blow a hole in the wall’ and find your own way to the economic buyer. He acknowledges this is a bit of a risky approach, and may only work 10% of the time, but that’s better than the 0% which you’re going to get if the gatekeeper keeps you from the economic buyer.

Big idea #3 — The nine key components

Alan very helpfully in the book provides several templates to use an example proposal, including wording and structures. Some of the wording you might not like, but it gives you a chance to make these your own. There are nine key components to one of his million dollar proposals: Situational appraisal: the context of the problem (keep it short and focused on the problem, don’t include the company history / what they do… your buyer already knows this!) Objectives: the desired business outcome Metrics: how success and/or progress will be measured Value: the impact of meeting the objectives Methodology and options: how the outcomes will be achieved / the levels of value available Timing: key dates / timing estimates / overall timeline Joint accountability: what you will do and what the client needs to commit to, in order to be successful Terms & conditions: legal blurb and payment terms / rates etc Acceptance: how does the client accept the proposal?

He says including these sections means easier and clearer conversations every single time, and therefore a better acceptance rate. But only if the work has been done upfront and you’re using proposals to summarize, not sell.

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About the book

Rejections don’t go on your resume, but they are part of every successful person’s career. All of us will apply for jobs that we don’t get and have ambitions that aren’t fulfilled, because that is part of being a working person, part of pushing oneself to the next step professionally. While everyone deserves feel-better stories, women are more likely to ruminate, more likely to overthink rejection until it becomes even more painful-a situation that the women in this collection are determined to change, and in so doing, normalize rejection and encourage others to talk about it.

Source: www.amazon.com

About the author

Jessica Bacal is director of Reflective and Integrative Practices and of the Narratives Project at Smith College. She leads programs to help students explore identity and find resilience in community. She also teaches a course called Designing Your Path, which guides students to consider questions like: What is your story? Where have you been and where are you going? What matters to you? What skills do you need to pursue what matters? Before her career in higher education, she was an elementary school teacher in New York City, and then a curriculum developer and consultant. She received a bachelor’s degree from Carleton College, an MFA in writing from Hunter College, and an EdD from the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, with her husband, two children, and two dogs.

Source: https://www.jessbacal.com/bio

Big idea #1 — Rejection is not the end

Fundamentally, the underlying message of this book is that rejection is not the end of anything. It’s not the end of your career, an idea, a business, a project, a book, whatever it is that has been rejected.

But so much weight is carried by that word. Even the word rejection, carries so much shame, embarrassment, and ego bruising. And women seem to currently experience this slightly differently to men. And that’s not our fault. There’s a quote in the book that says “rejection can reinforce a message that many of us are receiving all the time, in small ways, that you don’t belong”.

Research done at London Business School showed that;“female executives are less likely than their male peers to reapply for jobs in leadership after being turned down. And this isn’t because women are less resilient or persistent, but because they’ve already experienced years of small rejections in work cultures that generally value maleness more. They’ve felt a lack of belonging that leads them to believe that it would be foolish to reapply. And for women of color, rejection at work is often compounded by racism”.

So upfront it sets out that this is not a book for women about “fixing the women”. It’s about sharing the experience of rejection by women and what that means, feels like, and looks like for women. And that largely, this is systemic rather than the fault of us as women.

There’s also a big piece in realizing that most things, and most people, get rejected at some point. From academic papers, course admissions, funding rounds, and book deals. And it’s not always a reflection of you or your work. Even more importantly, it’s realizing that everyone experiences it, but often it’s kept hidden, it’s our own little shame or embarrassment that we carry with us. Therefore, we all just end up thinking it’s just us experiencing rejection, and just us that isn’t good enough to be accepted for something.

Big idea #2 — Go around it

Pretty much every story in this book involves having to face and respond to some kind of rejection. It’s feeling the feelings, and using those feelings to still go and do the thing that needs to be done.

It’s going around the rejection that results in sometimes a great piece of science, in the example from Angela Duckworth, or a new community and new audience, in the example from Polly Rodriguez, or a new way of working more authentically in Laura Huang’s story.

As Elizabeth Bell puts it in the book:“I think I realized in some way that if you don’t get what you want in the way that you want it, you can still have it. You just need to tolerate a different path”.

Similarly, Michelle Tea says;“when someone rejects your creative work, it just means that they can’t see a path for it. It doesn’t mean that there isn’t one.”

All of these statements and stories are great reminders as we’re doing our work, putting stuff out there, and being slightly vulnerable by putting ourselves in positions where people can judge or make comment on our work. But these rejections will often force more creative paths, and maybe ones that may even result in an even better outcome, as several of the women in the book suggest was the case from the rejection that they faced.

Big idea #3 — Practice rejection

The first thing we can do to practice rejection is to ask ourselves ‘what is the worst that can happen, and can I live with that?’, in order to steel ourselves and prepare for being okay with the worst happening (or realizing that the ‘worst’ maybe isn’t even that bad).

Rejection is ultimately a muscle, and Caitlin Kirby worked her rejection muscle so much that she actually had enough rejection letters to wear as a skirt to her doctorate dissertation defense. She collected all of the rejection letters that she had whilst doing her doctorate and turned them into a skirt. The comments she got from other students or other doctorate candidates was that they hadn’t realized that every doctorate candidate experiences that level of rejection, and that no one ever talks about how much rejection you have to go through in order to get a doctorate.

There’s some exercises in the book about getting better at rejection. One of them is to get 10 no’s . You write down a heap of things that you could ask for, and then go out and ask for them. Yes’s don’t count, you have to get 10 no’s. If you write down 10 things, get five ‘yes’ and five ‘no’, you have to carry on until you get 10 no’s. The ‘no’ is all that counts.

The other thing to practice is talking about rejection. So many of the stories in the book touch on women initially feeling like it was just them, but many found a community where they could share formally or informally and help others with their rejection too.

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About the book

Want to be more creative? Not sure of where to start? You’re not alone.

We all have a dysfunctional relationship with creativity. We love it, value it and want more of it but just can’t seem to find the time or resources to give to it. And despite desperate calls for more innovative thinking, the systems and processes that hold most businesses together don’t allow or enable anything like it.

This book is for anyone who feels like they have more to give but struggles to get it out. Packed full of powerful, practical and poetic tools, this inspiring and infectious read will help you cut through the barriers that prevent creativity at work while giving you the clarity and confidence to unleash your wild, untamed self-expression into every pocket of your personal and professional life.

Source: https://www.mykeldixon.com/store

About the author

Mykel Dixon is an award-winning speaker, author, musician and recognised authority of Creativity, Culture and the Human Future of Work. He helps leaders and teams rediscover their natural appetite and aptitude for Creativity with extraordinary success.

Through the design and delivery of explosive keynote presentations, immersive team-building activities and transformative talent development programs, Mykel leads a new-wave of entrepreneurial savants showing forward-thinking companies how to reinvent for relevance in a 21st-Century Renaissance.

Source: https://www.mykeldixon.com/

Also check out https://www.everydaycreatives.com/

Big idea #1 — Creative, everyday

“The future of work will be written by those with the courage to think, feel, and act more creative every day.”

There is a lot in the book that says about how and why we need to access courage in order to access creativity, even in times of uncertainty or discomfort.

We don’t need to go into all the reasons why creativity is so important. The writing is on the wall that our more socially, politically, and technically complex world requires a lot more creativity in order to solve the big problems that we are facing and will continue to face.

We know that the future of AI and robotics rests on the marriage of human creativity and emotion, with the efficiency and power of technology. Therefore we need to inject creativity into our daily lives; from our emails to our CVs, to how we connect with people, even the shoes we wear, and not just into the big stuff.

We can’t access creativity for the big stuff and the big problems if we’re not practicing creativity on a regular basis. Plus it makes life and work a lot more fun as well.

This book is all about harnessing those tiny ways and those little things that we can do every single day in order to be more creative; to access our creativity and expand our creative minds.

Like every book about creativity, it’s so important not to conflate creativity with artistic talent or artistic skill. Those are two completely different things.

Big idea #2 — Reclaim your creative identity

In the book Mykel says “No one was born boring. No one had dreams of being a buzzkill. It happens slowly, subtly, insidiously”.

You’ve probably heard people say that creativity is a skill and that it can be learned, but it’s really more bout relearning.

In a famous study led by George Land, 1,600 five-year-olds were tested for their creativity skills; their creative capacity and their ability to access that creative capacity. At just five years old, 98% of those 1,600 children scored as creative geniuses. Five years later, he tested the same children, at 10 years old only 30% were creative geniuses.

He tested them again at 15, by then it was just 12%. Most depressingly, by the time these children were 30 years old, just 2% of them showed the same creative genius potential that 98% of them had done 25 years earlier.

It goes to show that creativity is bashed out of us slowly but surely throughout our lives. We are taught that creativity and thinking differently is dangerous, that it will make us misunderstood, or isolated, or poor (or all three) and that it’s safer not to be creative.

Mykel says that all the post-it note activities in the world that you might do in your team or in a workshop, won’t help if fundamentally, you believe that you’re not creative, and you don’t reclaim the creativity that you, and all of us, were clearly born with.

Mykel breaks it down into six creative identities; The never was creative The used to be creative The kind of sorta creative The love to be creative The natural born creative, and The everyday creative.

He says the big difference is courage, the everyday creative is not born with more creativity than anyone else. They’re not innately more creative, but they have practiced and make it a conscious, courageous effort to bring creativity into how they’re living and how they’re working. This doesn’t mean doing anything wild, it just means being intentional.

Those identities are not fixed. Just because you may currently identify as ‘used to be creative’, doesn’t mean that you can’t move from that. Something worth reflecting on that and thinking about how you move from one level of creative identity to another.

Big idea #3 — Make it your own

Mykel gives plenty of space and prompts in the book to create your own creativity manifesto and your value proposition; the what, the, how, and the why to set the scene and set your mindset around what creativity means to you? Why is it that you want to access it? What would the benefits be and what is the value or the benefit to you and the others around you.

It’s then up to you to create the principles that make your own version of creativity, because by its very nature, it will look and feel different to everyone.

So some examples in the book… wearing a more colorful outfit or some crazy socks or shoes (a safe place to start with everyday creativity) using bright stationary to create some different connections and thinking in your brain (when you pick up your bright pink notebook or your bright orange notebook, you might then think, oh yeah, this is where I write my ideas or come up with great questions) going off script (Mykel used to work in a call center and he was always getting told off for going ‘off script’, but he also was the most successful in the call centre, showing that the output of creativity was celebrated, but the practice of creativity was very much admonished and he got told off a lot for going off script) asking more questions saying yes to different things switching your browser / looking beyond the default settings (one study suggested that people who go beyond the default settings on their computers and use a different browser than the default have a touch of extra creativity in them, because they’re not just going with what they’re given) Mykel centre aligns his emails as a way of bucking convention and making people stop and notice making work work for you, maybe mixing up your meetings reading something different, going somewhere different, or meeting someone different, to give yourself exposure to different ideas.

There’s just a few examples of some ideas of everyday creativity in the book, there’s obviously a million others that you can come up with to make it your own.

I like to think of these as cheeky little nods to yourself and to others around your way of expressing creativity, which builds up over time. And then before long, you’ll be asking different questions without even having to think about it. And when the moment appears that really matters, you’ll be ready to think in a more creative way, as you’ve worked to become the creative you were born to be.

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About the author

Dorie Clark has been named one of the Top 50 business thinkers in the world by Thinkers50, and was recognized as the #1 Communication Coach in the world by the Marshall Goldsmith Leading Global Coaches Awards. Clark, a consultant and keynote speaker, teaches executive education at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and Columbia Business School, and she is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Long Game, Entrepreneurial You, Reinventing Youand Stand Out, which was named the #1 Leadership Book of the Year by Inc. magazine.

A former presidential campaign spokeswoman, Clark has been described by the New York Times as an “expert at self-reinvention and helping others make changes in their lives.” A frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review, she consults and speaks for clients including Google, Microsoft, and the World Bank.

Source: https://dorieclark.com/about/

About the book

It’s no secret that we’re pushed to the limit. Today’s professionals feel rushed, overwhelmed, and perennially behind. So we keep our heads down, focused on the next thing, and the next, without a moment to breathe.

How can we break out of this endless cycle and create the kind of interesting, meaningful lives we all seek?

In The Long Game, Clark shares unique principles and frameworks you can apply to your specific situation, as well as vivid stories from her own career and other professionals’ experiences. Everyone is allotted the same 24 hours — but with the right strategies, you can leverage those hours in more efficient and powerful ways than you ever imagined. It’s never an overnight process, but the long-term payoff is immense: to finally break out of the frenetic day-to-day routine and transform your life and your career.

Source: https://dorieclark.com/longgame/

Big idea #1 — Do the right thing

This idea has a couple of different meetings. The right thing might be supporting a social movement, an equality position, or a climate change issue, even if there’s a short term cost. Dorie talks about interviewing someone who says of all the CEOs they’ve ever met, not one of them has not supported one of the issues in the public zeitgeist, However, many of them haven’t stood up publicly and supported those things because they’re too worried about the short term commercial or shareholder response to taking a strong position on a particularly tricky subject.

This short term thinking stops them doing the right thing and using their power to make a stand. Whereas, by taking a long term perspective and asking what the long term impact of taking a position on one of these issues might be, could yield greater results.

The right thing is also about not getting distracted. Doing the right thing is about avoiding shiny object syndrome (we all suffer from it at times) and might involve saying no to things that you do want to do. It’s relatively easy to say no to things we don’t want to do, but saying no to things we do want to do, but are going to distract us and get in the way of the things that we should be doing, is more difficult.

It takes courage to be a long term thinker. It takes courage to stand up and say no to things. It takes courage to stand up and have a position on a strong social issue. When you know there might be a short term “negative” impact to doing so.

We need to choose what we’re ok being bad at, in order to be a good at the thing that is important. This creates the difference between moving ten individual things an inch each, or one thing a mile. Which very much reminds me of Greg McKeown’s Essentialism concept.

Therefore, we need to set the right goals to focus on the right things. This might involve getting the right people in the right room, which can lead to the most unlikely of possibilities happening many months or years down the line — again requiring long term thinking.

Big idea #2 — Think in waves

Dorie talks about strategic over-indexing, or doubling down really on the things that will give the greatest return on investment into the future. You might want to split your time into heads up time or heads down time. Heads up time is when you’re looking for opportunities, you’re meeting people or going to events, whereas head down time is when you’re in deep work mode and focused on creating. Dorie sets herself three to six months blocks to be either heads up or heads down.

The other version of this, is the idea of waves. The four waves that you can be in are; Learning — improving your skills Connecting —going to events, joining groups, or networking Creating — getting work done Reaping — enjoying the benefits of your hard work (holiday anyone?)

I liked this idea of doing waves that you can just commit to for a few months at a time, and then switch modes and focus. Great for those of us who find the idea of focusing on one thing at a time a little painful.

Big idea #3 — Be patient

If there’s really one big idea from this book, it is being patient.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell if something’s not working, or if it’s just not working yet. We often hear the glib concept of people giving up just at the point that ‘it’ was going to happen and they were almost at their inflection point, but it’s really hard when you’re in that moment to know whether you’re on a hiding to nothing or just about to hit your stride. Especially if you’re not getting external validation and maybe you’re even getting actively being rejected from things as well.

Therefore you need strategic patience.

There will be a point of momentum, of exponential growth, and where the compound effect will kick in. Dorie sets out three questions that you can ask yourself if you’re stuck before that tipping point; why am I doing this? how has it worked for others? what do my trusted advisors say?

It’s easy to fall into the trap of constantly tweaking our strategies if we are getting stuck or feel like things aren’t working / aren’t going quick enough. Usually this results in us not ever really moving forward, just going round and round in little circles. We also need to start comparing, like for like; not comparing you at three years, to someone else at 20 years into a particular field or pathway that you’re choosing to take. Dorie goes as far to say that it takes a minimum of five years of consistent effort before you start to really see momentum building.

All of this requires rethinking failure, looking for different paths to the same desire or the same outcome, and potentially looking at alternative options.

For example, you’re writing a book but then the publishing deal falls through, or your co-author decides that they don’t want to do it anymore — disaster! But maybe not. Using an alternative option and asking yourself how you can leverage what you’ve already done so it’s not wasted would be a useful tactic. In that example you could approach another publisher, try a magazine or publication, turn the content into a series of talks or a course… there are multiple ways to rethink a setback (and might even become a better outcome).

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About the author

Highly regarded for his provocative style, James Victore is a graphic designer, art educator and dynamic high in-demand speaker on creativity. He lectures and teaches regularly around the globe, inspiring people to illuminate their individual gifts in order to achieve personal greatness.

Raised in upstate New York, James moved to New York City when he was 19 years old and by age 23, after dropping out of two different colleges, he became an apprentice to noted book-jacket designer Paul Bacon. It was with Bacon that Victore found his voice as a designer and he began to take charge of his own education and career as a self-taught artist and designer.

Described as “part Darth Vader, part Yoda,” James is widely known for his timely wisdom and impassioned views about design and it’s place in the world. As well as founding his own design studio in 1990, James taught at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Victore’s posters have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and are in the permanent collections of the Palais du Louvre in Paris, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., the Design Museum in Zurich, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.

Source: https://www.jamesvictore.com/about

About the book

“Feck” is the creative tool kit that you need in your life. It is about living and creating freely, without the stress of others expectations or even your own thoughts about being perfect. 80 chapters of inspiration and thoughtful practices. Order more copies! You need this book, but so do your co workers or your partner or mom or your college kid, heck, buy one for your boss!

Source: https://www.jamesvictore.com/get-inspired

Big idea #1 — Be weird

There’s a whole section of this book about being yourself about embracing your childhood weirdness, using creativity, having an opinion, and not fitting in.

James uses the analogy of ‘letting your light shine’, like in the gospel song ‘this little light of mine’, but we often don’t do that because it’s both too easy and too hard.

We forget how to be creative as we get older and how at some point the weirdness that we have as kids becomes a target rather than an asset. And so the hiding and the morphing into the being the same as everyone else begins.

For most of us, this starts at home (chapter one is actually called ‘your parents were wrong’, a strong way to start any book).We’re often presented with predefined pathways as options of what we can be when we grow up, which is obviously a horrible question to ask anyone, never mind a child. And these offered pathways are usually quite narrow.

James says that whatever we want to be, be it an accountant or an artist, or a songwriter or an engineer, you should be yourself, have an opinion, and do it your way.

Big idea #2 — The first rule of business: fun

Without fun, you are merely one of the working dead.

Without the fun, all of the hard work will be much more painful, and longevity will be much harder to maintain.

Fun allows us to test innovate, make mistakes and stay curious. It allows us to bring our personality into our products and services, which ultimately is what people love. People are drawn to products and services that have some character and some personality to them.

This doesn’t mean it won’t be hard. James isn’t painting this overly perfect or overly saccharin view of what life or work will, or should, be like. He talks a lot about quality and skill, there’s a whole section on sharpening the axe and building and maintaining your skillset. He talks about doing the work, even when you don’t feel like it, and the importance of having a plan. But having fun and making yourself happy first makes all of this possible.

After all excitement breeds, excitement.

Big idea #3 — Feck Perfuction

Nobody’s perfect, even you, and it’s easy to make a myriad of excuses or ‘big buts’ as James calls them to slip into comparisonitis, have shaky boundaries, or underselling ourselves by not asking for enough or by too much self-deprecation.

Building solid habits and embracing an action focused approach to work, experimentation, and mistake making means we can make things happen.

He mentions a Buddhist parable, that the second arrow comes from our own hands. The first arrow that hits us might be something going wrong; your car breaking down, the train being delayed, someone criticizing you. But the second arrow comes from our own hands; we then berate ourselves, we let that thing that happened to us ruin our whole day or a whole week, rather than just letting it go and choosing to react in a way that’s more productive. We get to choose whether to fire that second arrow into ourselves.

James says we need to embrace the flaws. We need to turn them into features or strengths, and let go of the judgment of ourselves and others and get on and make something happen.

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About the book

You may have outgrown a relationship. Your job may no longer excite you. Maybe you look in the mirror and see someone you don’t want to be anymore. You might be so fed up that you’re ready to throw in the towel at work or in a friendship or relationship.

Behind the scenes, thousands of smart, capable, amazing people like you feel the exact same way.

In There Has To Be More, Rachel shares the methods and tools she created to genuinely grow and build a life that reflects what makes her happy.

Source: amazon.com.au

About the author

Rachel Service is the CEO of Happiness Concierge and the author of There Has To Be More: The Essential Guide to Personal Growth.

After experiencing an aha moment at a Beyonce concert (true story!), with $300 in her bank account, entrepreneur Rachel Service started Happiness Concierge™, the company empowering thousands of people across the globe.

Since then, she has saved companies millions by empowering their people, partnered with ASX listed companies, retail banks, universities and government departments and shifted the dial on workplace culture.

Rachel’s award-winning approach to personal and professional growth has been featured in the BBC, Financial Review, Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Her TED talk, ‘How to Break Up With Your Public Identity’, was internationally syndicated on the official TED website in 2020.

Rachel’s belief is when we create our own version of success, we take control of our life and work.

Source: https://www.rachelservice.com/rachel-service

Big idea #1 — The Growth Cycle

The main structure of the book is around the growth cycle, Rachel’s on model on how to take your goals and reach them.

The five stages of the growth model are… Own it; doing an audit and really checking yourself on what’s really happening, including how you’re getting in your own way at the moment. Find your way back; reflecting on what’s changed and what those trigger points were. What do you want; defining what you want and really being clear on what’s important and what’s not important. Game plan; the people, the actions, the roadblocks, and then prioritizing the goals. Take the first step; acknowledging the small wins, finding little ways to fail, and setting a bit of a commitment to yourself.

There’s lots of reflection questions and frameworks throughout the model and book. One I particularly liked was looking at behaviour and communication patterns where we fall into the trap of our own outdated beliefs and how we reinforce them, and therefore ending up going in a bit of a cycle. Which is not particularly useful for actually achieving our goals and breaking some of those patterns and habits and ways of thinking.

Big idea #2 — Choose your people

There’s a really strong theme in the book about the people around you and that you surround yourself with and choosing them wisely. Rachel shares that some people might freak out when you make a big change, or when you decide that you’re going to commit to yourself and make and achieve a goal.

You might even be concerned trolled, which was a term that I had never heard before, but I really enjoyed as a description. It is when you get a back handed comment or false curiosity from someone when you share your goal or actions with them.

Eg;Concern troll: how was your morning?You: Great, I did a fitness class.Concern troll: oh I would never do that of kind of jumping around.You: well, you know, it’s not for everyone. Concern troll: don’t you ever worry about getting injured?

That sort of backhanded comments or false curiosity/concern is something that you probably hear, and do, on a regular basis. And I had never thought of it as being a bad thing; just different preferences / opinions. So it was a useful reminder how in some cases, it might make people feel bad or feel like they shouldn’t do the thing because they’ve been concerned trolled.

There’s also a useful section in the book so that if you do find you need to edit some relationships, there’s also advice in here around saying no, establishing boundaries, and potentially distancing yourself from certain individuals or certain groups or relationships that aren’t serving you.

Big idea #3 — Reflect, reflect, reflect

This is more of an overall theme of the book as there’s a huge amount of questions, practical activities, sections you can fill in, and even an associated workbook that comes with the book.

Quite a few of the reflection questions involve looking backwards; thinking back to a time you felt excellent or you felt at your best and then asking yourself what’s changed to get you here, where maybe things aren’t working as well for you, or there’s something a little bit missing.

The hardest thing is often knowing what you do want. So the book asks you what you want to; feel or be have achieve

Which is quite a nice way of breaking it down for the little prompts that can help you define what success looks like. And then from there you can set up timelines, stepping stones, habits required, and the people you need around you to actually achieve those things.

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About the author

James Nestor is an author and journalist who has written for Scientific American, Outside Magazine, BBC, The New York Times, The Atlantic, National Public Radio, Surfer’s Journal, The San Francisco Chronicle, and more.

He’s spent the last several years working on a book called Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. It released through Riverhead/Penguin Random House on May 26, 2020 and spent 18 weeks of the New York Times bestseller list in the first year of publication.

At home in San Francisco, James runs his 1978 Mercedes-Benz 300D on used cooking oil whenever he can and used to zip around town (correction: breakdown all over town) in a Sebring-Vanguard CitiCar, the first-ever American-made production electric vehicle, which barely ever worked and was later offloaded on some dude with purple suspenders in Eugene, Oregon.

Source: https://www.mrjamesnestor.com/about

About the book

There is nothing more essential to our health and well-being than breathing: take air in, let it out, repeat 25,000 times a day. Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences.

Journalist James Nestor travels the world to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. The answers aren’t found in pulmonology labs, as we might expect, but in the muddy digs of ancient burial sites, secret Soviet facilities, New Jersey choir schools, and the smoggy streets of Sao Paulo. Nestor tracks down men and women exploring the hidden science behind ancient breathing practices like Pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya, and Tummo and teams up with pulmonary tinkerers to scientifically test long-held beliefs about how we breathe.

Drawing on thousands of years of medical texts and recent cutting-edge studies in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry, and human physiology, Breath turns the conventional wisdom of what we thought we knew about our most basic biological function on its head. You will never breathe the same again.

Source: https://www.mrjamesnestor.com/#/breath-book/

Big idea #1 —Our changing faces

There are over 5,400 known species of mammals, but humans are the only ones with regular misaligned jaws, under and overbites, and snuggled teeth. Evolution isn’t always better, it’s just change. And we are at a point now, and have been for several thousands of years, where we’re passing down these unhealthy and unhelpful deformities to future generations.

This change started before homo-sapiens were even sapiens. There’s a full timeline in the book, but over the last hundred of thousands of years, our species changed, we ate different food, which made our brains grow much, much bigger, which in turn meant that they needed more space in our skulls. Our brains stole this space from our sinuses, our airways and our mouths, which then shrunk our faces. You can see this in comparing the skulls of modern homo-sapiens to prehistoric sapiens.

By processing and cooking food, even in a very primitive way, we started chewing less, which resulted in our jaws were getting looser, weaker, and changed the shape of our face. Learning to speak dropped our larynx and pushed our tongues back, creating too much space at the back of our throat, meaning that we are the only mammals, and the only sapiens that can choke. We even do that in our sleep; through snoring and sleep apnea.

As we evolved, those in colder climates developed long, thin noses, which were able to warm up the cold air before it reached out lungs. Those in warm and humid climates had flatter noses, which is much more efficient for processing that humid air ready to hit the lungs.

But look at us now. We are not breathing well, we’re snoring, we stop breathing altogether as we sleep with sleep apnea, and never mind our teeth. These things are all unique deformities of the human race, rather than something that is prevalent in mammals more generally. So our big old brains haven’t been that good for us.

Big idea#2 — We’re breathing wrong

First things first; mouth breathing is very bad.Mouth breathing, it turns out, changes the physical body and transforms airways all for the worse. Inhaling air through the mouth decreases pressure, which causes the soft tissues in the back of the mouth to become loose and flex inward, creating less space and making breathing more difficult. Therefore mouth breathing begets more mouth breathing.

Our small mouths cause our teeth overcrowding, and many other issues. Sleeping with an open mouth makes it even worse, because gravity blocks the airways and therefore that’s when we get snoring and sleep apnea.

In the book, James talks about his experiment (which sounds absolutely horrific) where he had his nose blocked up with padding for 10 days, to test exactly what happens when you can only breathe through your mouth.

By the end of the experiment, his snoring was 4,800% worse than it was at the beginning of of the experiment, and he was having 25 apnea episodes a night. Some were so bad that he actually dropped below 90% oxygen, which on an ongoing basis can cause all sorts of issues.

Some studies show that sleep apnea and snoring (ie poor breathing / mouth breathing at night) lead to things like bed-wetting, ADHD, diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancers. The Mayo Clinic now says that chronic insomnia is actually a breathing problem, not a psychological one. One Japanese study, showed that mouth breathing reduces oxygen to the prefrontal cortex, which is associated with ADHD.

Another bad breathing habit we have is holding our breath, particularly when we’re maybe sat at our desks at work and having a bit of a stressful day.

There was some really interesting research and studies that have been done of indigenous groups of people who are living in a less modernised way, and some of their practices around breathing. Even though these groups of people are in completely different continents, they all had really similar techniques and ways of breathing, which were much more unfettered by some of the modern ways of living that we have. And their dental structures, facial shapes, and respiratory health are much better for it.

James talked about one particular Native American group of people who wouldn’t even smile with their mouth open in case some dirty unfiltered air crept into their mouth. They felt so strongly that nose breathing is the clean way to breathe, and mouth breathing was quite a dirty way to breathe because you’re not filtering the air.

Big idea #3 — How to breathe better

You may have already gathered the breathing better way is through your nose as a starting point.

(Note: all of the following techniques and ideas are covered more thoroughly in the book and here on James’ website, this is obviously a very high level overview and NOT medical instruction, so don’t do anything silly)

At night one option to train yourself to breathe through your nose is to put a little piece of medical tape over your lips, which starts to tease them closed at night.

The other thing we can be doing is increasing our lung capacity, there is some quite interesting research into the link between lung capacity and longevity / health. We can increase our lung capacity by taking really long out breaths, and accessing the full lung capacity, rather than just the little, short, shallow breaths. This technique is a used lot by athletes, particularly around better using the exhale.

We’ve also become over breathers. In today’s modern age is between 12 and 20 breaths per minute, taking in about half a liter each time, which is almost twice as much as it used to be at the high end of that range. So we can practice slower breathing. Aiming for around 5.5 breaths per minute, practicing fewer inhales and exhales at a smaller volume.

Another way of improving our breathing is by chewing more. Now you don’t need to go and start eating bark and sticks like some of our prehistoric ancestors did, but even using gum (particularly chewy gum, rather than the soft squishy ones) will help. It can strengthen our facial bones and jaws and help open up the airways.

There’s also various yoga breathing techniques, for example, alternate nasal breathing, and box breathing, which you may be familiar with from yoga or meditation practice.

There’s also some quite advanced methods as well, which come with a whole plethora of different warnings and caveats, such as the Wim Hof method, some of which you can not practice if you have heart conditions, are driving, operating heavy machinery, or are anywhere near some water!

James’s website contains a whole little video section with some of these techniques that you can practice at home and build your breathing repertoire.

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About the book

The average human lifespan is absurdly, outrageously, insultingly brief: if you live to 80, you have about four thousand weeks on earth. How should we use them best?

Of course, nobody needs telling that there isn’t enough time. We’re obsessed by our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, the struggle against distraction, and the sense that our attention spans are shrivelling. Yet we rarely make the conscious connection that these problems only trouble us in the first place thanks to the ultimate time-management problem: the challenge of how best to use our four thousand weeks.

Four Thousand Weeks is an uplifting, engrossing and deeply realistic exploration of this problem. Rejecting the futile modern obsession with ‘getting everything done,’ it introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life, showing how the unhelpful ways we’ve come to think about time aren’t inescapable, unchanging truths, but choices we’ve made, as individuals and as a society — and its many revelations will transform the reader’s worldview.

Source: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/four-thousand-weeks-9781847924025

About the author

OLIVER BURKEMAN is the author of The Antidote: Happiness for People who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking and Help! How to Become Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done. He wrote a long-running column for the Guardian, This Column Will Change Your Life, and has a devoted following for his writing on productivity, mortality and the power of limits.

Source: https://www.oliverburkeman.com/books

Big idea #1 — In the long run, we’re all dead

There’s no escaping this fact. But we try to constantly, from measuring everything, hacking our time, choosing convenient options, and practicing every time management trick in the book, we’re constantly trying to control the uncontrollable.

But what are we really doing with all this time we’ve hacked and supposedly saved from using the dishwasher, rather than doing the washing up, or getting takeaways or meal boxes, or smoothie-ing all of our different meals so we don’t have to waste time eating or chewing?

We’re still being churned in the machine. We’re burnt out, stressed, with a to do list that we’ll never get done. And we’re living for an imaginary time in the future (time which isn’t guaranteed) where we’ll magically have time for all of the things we say we don’t now, despite how important we say these things that we never get round to are to us.

We’re also attaching our self-worth to how we spend our time, which is a of a fool’s errand. The system is rigged. We are not machines. Time management is a lie, no list of ‘10 things to do before 7am’ will fix the systemic issues of spending our time on the wrong things, because our idea of being fully optimised and living our best lives is impossible.

But this is excellent news because by admitting it we can then let go and can take the first steps to spending our time actually in a better way.

Big idea #2 — Finitude and FOMO

We need to embrace our insultingly short time on earth and stop trying to do the impossible, which is everything, and controlling our time. But what do we need to do next?

Firstly, we need to ditch FOMO. We need to accept that almost everything that happens in the world, we will miss out on. What we need to do after that, is think about procrastinating better, which means saying no to things that we do want to do. In order to be able to spend better time on the things that we really do want to do.

This means starting the projects, even though we know they won’t be good enough (because they won’t be) because ultimately we only have one chance to do them.

There’s an idea in the book of paying yourself first. To do these things that we say we really want to do, and we want to happen, we need to do those first. We need to make the time in our days a month to do them, and accept the consequences of doing so. It might mean we need to reduce our client workload, or reduce our hours at work, or say no to other things in order to do the things that we say we really want to do, and that are important.

This will it be helped if you limit your work in progress. Oliver only allows himself to have three tasks/projects in progress at one time. And he has a one in one out policy on those. Limiting your work in progress means you have to make sure that those three things really are the most important things, no middling priorities allowed.

Of course, these priorities may change over time. Some will draw to a natural conclusion and allow for a new one to take its place, others will become less important (or fail) and be replaced by another.

He likens this to the adage of the rocks and the bucket. The problem with that particular anecdote, Oliver argues, is that the teacher turns up with only enough big rocks fit in the bucket in the first place. Whereas in our lives, we are overwhelmed by the opportunities and the possibilities of all the big rocks. There’s a whole beach full of big rocks. The skill is not about fitting them in the bucket, but choosing which big rocks to put in there in the first place.

And finally, he says that we should do some things just to feel good. Not everything has to be a means to an end.

Big idea #3 — Five questions and ten antidotes

In the book Oliver shares five reflective questions to help you decide if you’re living a way that helps you make the most of your four thousand weeks, and ‘ten tools for embracing your finitude’. Here they are:

The questions Where in your life or your work are you currently pursuing comfort, when what’s called for is a little discomfort? Are you holding yourself to, and judging yourself by, standards of productivity or performance that are impossible to meet? In what ways have you yet to accept the fact that you are who you are, not the person you think you ought to be? In which areas of life are you still holding back until you feel like you know what you’re doing? How would you spend your life differently if you didn’t care so much about seeing your actions reach fruition?

The tools Adopt a ‘fixed volume’ approach to productivity (ie create better time boundaries to your daily work) Serialise, serialise, serialise (one or two big things at a time) Decide in advance what to fail at Focus on what you’ve already completed, not just on what’s left to complete Consolidate your caring Embrace boring and single-purpose technology Seek out novelty in the mundane Be a ‘researcher’ in relationships Cultivate instantaneous generosity Practice doing nothing

What would you do differently with your time, today, if you knew in your bones that salvation was never coming — that your standards had been unreachable all along, and that you’ll therefore never manage to make time for all you hoped you might?

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This week, it's time for another quarterly check in on my favourite reads from the last three months.

If you missed the first part of the 2021 'best books', you can listen to it here, and the second instalment here.

This time I'm talking about... Everyday Creative by Mykel Dixon 4000 Weeks by Oliver Burkeman Breath by James Nestor Find Your Artistic Voice by Lisa Congdon The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath What are your favourite books of the year so far? Let me know by connecting on:

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About the author

Guy Raz is an independent producer who has been described by the New York Times as “one of the most popular podcasters in history.”

He’s the founder and CEO of Built-It Productions and the creator and the creative force behind How I Built This. He’s also the former host and co-creator of TED Radio Hour.

Guy is also the co-founder of Tinkercast, a children’s media company that produces audio podcasts and educational content for kids. Guy co-created and hosts one of those programs, Wow in the World — the number one kids podcast in English.

Together, Guy’s programs are heard by nearly 19 million listeners a month.

Source: https://www.npr.org/people/6597623/guy-raz

About the book

Based on the highly acclaimed NPR podcast, How I Built This with Guy Raz, this book offers priceless insights and inspiration from the world’s top entrepreneurs on how to start, launch, and build a successful venture.

Great ideas often come from a simple spark: A soccer player on the New Zealand national team notices all the unused wool his country produces and figures out a way to turn them into shoes (Allbirds). A former Buddhist monk decides the very best way to spread his mindfulness teachings is by launching an app (Headspace). A sandwich cart vendor finds a way to reuse leftover pita bread and turns it into a multimillion-dollar business (Stacy’s Pita Chips). Award-winning journalist and NPR host Guy Raz has interviewed more than 200 highly successful entrepreneurs to uncover amazing true stories like these. In How I Built This, he shares tips for every entrepreneur’s journey: from the early days of formulating your idea, to raising money and recruiting employees, to fending off competitors, to finally paying yourself a real salary. This is a must-read for anyone who has ever dreamed of starting their own business or wondered how trailblazing entrepreneurs made their own dreams a reality.

Source: amazon.com

Big idea #1 — Dangerous or just scary?

Despite the amazing stories of growth and entrepreneurship in the book, it’s important to see the underlying theme of calculated risk in many of the stories.

Very few of the founders went into create the mega brands that they ended up creating. They started with an idea, they started with an audience and they developed, tested and created. They created a following and then they made steps to growth gradually. Of course there’s always exceptions; the people who do make the big, risky leaps.

But many of the big leaps in the book are made with a “fully packed parachute”. There’s some risk mitigation that has happened. Some people stayed in that full-time or part-time jobs for a long time after the company was successful. They use their own money rather than borrowing. They started and stayed small until growth sustained their next step; the next product line, the next city, or the next bricks and mortar outlet.

Now, of course, there’s always a point where there is an element of risk. And for every Lisa Price (Carol’s Daughter founder) who grew slow and steadily, there’s the Airbnb co-founders sat in their tiny apartment eating noodles every night for dinner. But really, they’re all human, just like you and me. They’re all just normal people who created something and they’ve all just approached it in a different way. Similarly, they all come from different backgrounds, different upbringings, different levels of luck and privilege and being in the right place and the right time, and have things going for them and others against them.

But ultimately, it comes down to this:Failing is scary. Wasting your life is dangerous.

Big idea #2 — Find a friend

Many of the entrepreneurs in the book found a business partner pretty quickly, if they didn’t start with one. This allowed them to spread their particular skills, and tackle different parts of the business. In many cases, someone was the maker and someone else was the marketer.

But there was a bit of a recurring theme about the impact on a relationship that a starting a business can have. Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohani, co-founders of Reddit, had been through a hell of a lot by the time they exited after selling to Condé Nast. And by that point, there wasn’t actually much of a business partnership or a friendship left.

They hadn’t had the hard conversations. They didn’t set boundaries, discuss roles, and set have the hard talks around decisions.

Similarly, Adam and Eric, co-founders of the household cleaning products brand Method, bought totally different skills and styles. One of them was the scientist, the other was the product designer, but they didn’t always approach or appreciate each other’s differences, or see the differences as strengths. After several years, these differences became a point of tension rather than a point of strength.

There are heaps of similar stories in the book from couples who started businesses whose relationship then broke down, friends who started businesses but left the business no longer on talking terms.The similarity is that they grew a business together, but in building the business, they forgot to grow their relationship or friendship along the way.

Some of them specifically said that looking back they could see it happening They stopped hanging out, they stopped talking, they stopped having fun together, and all the things that made the relationship work initially and in the early days or before starting the business just stopped happening.

Big idea #3 — The side door

There’s lots of information in this book about different funding options for a startup, from credit cards to venture capital. But this is really the mechanics of business/startups, which is worth reading if you’re interested in those areas.

But the one area I did want to call out is this one around going in through the side door. There’s this chapter specifically dedicated to this, but also you see this theme coming up a few times in the founders stories.

Ultimately, the front door is often very crowded, with your competition, gatekeepers, and also with very high barriers. And even in 2021, for some people, unfortunately, the barriers are still even higher.

So often, the side door is actually bigger, less guarded and just generally less crowded. One of the side door examples in the book was Peter Rahal, the founder of RX Bars, a paleo energy bar.

When Peter started the business he went into Wholefoods (the holy grail of where to sell such a product) and saw box after box, and bar after bar of similar products. The competition was huge and getting a conversation with a buyer from Wholefoods about yet another another sports bar or another energy bar was just going to be impossible.

So instead, he thought about who he was really making the product for. And it was people like him; CrossFitters who eat in a paleo way. So that’s how he went on to sell directly into CrossFit gyms/boxes. In this environment he was the only product being sold (so zero competition), and given he was a small business, this niche market was big enough to sustain his business.

Plus, these were his people; he understood them and they understood what he was selling. Peter ultimately sold to Kellogg’s for $600 million, which goes to show that starting small does not need to mean you stay small.

Side doors could include things like how you position your product, who you sell through, the product itself, or access to funding. There’s plenty of different ways to think about the side door, but the important thing is that you do think about the side door.

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About the book Do you find yourself swamped by everyone landing problems on your desk, for you to solve? Do you wonder why your team members hand over issues for you to sort out, rather than sorting them out themselves? Even issues that you think they should be able to sort out themselves? Are you getting so bogged down in solving other people’s problems that you aren’t getting time to focus on your own work?

If so, The Manager’s Dilemma — How to Empower Your Team’s Problem-Solving is the book for you. This book starts by exploring the manager’s dilemma — be good at problem-solving or focus on developing other people’s problem-solving skills? You will explore how escalation habits contribute to the overload. You will then consider the problem-solving process, discover how to identify at which step a team member might be getting stuck and how to develop and coach them towards empowering their own problem-solving skills.

Source: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09FZV3Q8L

About the author

Irial O’Farrell is endlessly curious by what drives performance in business. She has 10+ years direct management experience, and 20+ years experience of coaching and developing managers and leaders. The Manager’s Dilemma is based on initial direct observations Irial made of behaviours she saw in her own team and how she responded.

While mentoring a group of senior managers, she realised they had similar issues within their teams, so she tested her theories with them, which resonated with them. She realised that while managers tend to be very good at problem-solving, they tend to be less good at developing other people’s problem-solving skills, so she designed and delivered a well-received workshop. This book is based on the insights she gained through those workshops. She lives in Dublin with her husband, three kids and two cats.

Source: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09FZV3Q8L

You can find out more about Irial's work here.

Big idea #1 — The Manager’s Dilemma

This is the tricky situation you find yourself in when you’re promoted to a manager role, because you’re good at problem solving, but you find yourself solving everyone else’s problems, leaving your little time for your own. This creates a dynamic of dependence and learned helplessness, which Irial talks about throughout the book. She emphasises the fact that the manager’s role is really to empower others, and to let go your need to fix other people’s problems, instead investing that into developing your management skills.

Other than being quite stressful, this way of working is also hugely inefficient when the wrong people, spending the wrong amount of time on the wrong problems. It means no one’s getting developed in the right skills, and it can actually diminish trust in teams too.

Ideally, you want to get to a point where there’s only three reasons for escalation; True escalation; someone more senior needs to sign off on or input to the task. A sounding board, or where someone genuinely needs some help. Being kept in the loop (which can be done more efficiently).

These are obviously three quite broad reasons for escalation, but you would use this framework and tailor them to be more specific to your own needs of the project / team / organisation.

Big idea #2 — The eight steps of problem solving

I thought this is one of the most useful parts of the book, to see the eight stages of problem solving in a very clear way for you to evaluate where each of your team members gets stuck along the steps (including you as the manager).

The eight steps are; Identify and recognise the problem Evaluate the size of the problem Research the cause of the problem Identify potential options Evaluate the potential options Decide on the best solution Implement the best solution Review the outcomes

Whilst some of this might feel intuitive, you sometimes identify that a team member isn’t great at problem solving, but it’s hard to break down to exactly what they struggle with. This also gives you an explicit, logical process that your team could work through as a bit of a checklist, and set an expectation of the questions you will ask them if they do come to you.

Big idea #3 — The coaching approach

A large chunk of the book is dedicated to the manager having a conversation with her coach about the problem solving problems each of her team are having, and how to approach them. Together they come up with a bit of a plan of action.

It’s a bit meta as Trish is having a coaching conversation with her coach, so that she can then go back to her team and coach them. What’s really clear is that questions are at the core of this — both Trish asking questions of herself, the coach asking questions to Trish, and Trish planning the questions to ask the team.

Note: this section of the book is written as an exchange between the coach and Irial, almost like a script, which was a useful way of seeing the level of detail that you need to go into when you’re doing this level of coaching with a team member. It can help you to see some of the questions, considerations, perspectives from other people that you may miss if you just dive straight into trying to solve other people’s problems, solving problems.

This coaching approach allows for better problem solving, as it allows for input from the team members and to prompt their thinking, rather than giving them the answers. Especially relevant given the context of this challenge.

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The Manager's Dilemma : How to Empower Your Team's Problem-Solving (Performance Development Series)

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About the author

Holly Cardamone is a Melbourne-based author, communications specialist, writer and all round Word Nerd who works with people to tell their story and grow their business using beautiful communications.

Through her consultancy, Blue51 Communications, Holly provides specialist communications support and mentoring and business writing services.

She writes anything and everything, and almost always with a smile on her face and a coffee within grasp. She’s a water baby, a voracious reader, an almost fearless box jumper (Google it) and is hands down the person you want on your table at a trivia night.

Source: https://www.blue51.com.au/my-story/

About the book

People in business often have massive creativity, impeccable services and unique ideas, but a lot of business writing is bad. Excruciatingly so.

This book is for people who: Feel too close to their work for the objectivity to share their message accurately and effectively in writing. Know that their written words aren’t working as hard as they should. Love what they do but need help to polish their message. Find it really difficult to explain on paper both what they do, and the benefits they could genuinely bring to peoples’ lives.

The perfect book for people who are in the business of growing their brand, be it personal or professional, this super-actionable, solutions-focused guide provides motivation and practical support by the bucketload. It’s a funny, fresh and clever guide to communications, writing and branding storytelling. As readable as a novel, it’s packed from introduction to conclusion with ideas, suggestions, tips and strategies to tell your story and grow your business or influence with beautiful communications.

Source: https://www.blue51.com.au/shop/tell-your-story/

Big idea #1 — Don’t be boring

Early on in the book, Holly looks at some of the common issues in business writing. These include mistakes such as weak structures, introductions that don’t make sense, repetition, sentences that are just too long or too short, passive writing, jargon (bleugh), dense and difficult to read content, a lacks substance, and no call to action.

The content in his book will help you overcome many of the common pitfalls that people fall into, as Holly shares how to craft compelling content, which keeps your readers reading.

Holly recommends having five different touch points with your audience and that across these, you are consistent, accurate, and compelling. Much of this comes back to knowing your audience and how you want them to feel as a result of your communications.

Side point: early on in the book, Holly talks about her experience and how she’s always loved writing as a child/teenager. Before she went to university, her English teacher at school suggested that the best writers have interesting life experiences. Therefore, maybe Holly should go and study something other than English, which was going to give her a pathway to stories.

So Holly studied nursing. This isn’t something she necessarily wanted to do, but knew that this was the exposure she needed to a vast range of different people, at incredibly difficult times in their life, and would give her a huge amount of life experience (ie story material) for her future writing.

She didn’t just studying nursing, but worked in that field before going back to university later to do a degree in communications and writing, which would then give her the additional chops and skills that she needed to then bring that life experience to life. And to go on to do the other types of writing that she does too.

I think this is such an incredible investment to not being boring, and being a better writer. (And also, what great mentorship from that English teacher).

Big idea #2 — Make a plan

The crux of the book is really about having a tight plan for your communications. And your plan doesn’t need to be complex or overwhelming, it is essentially taking the what you do, and who you do it for, marrying those things together, and then putting it into a content plan.

Throughout the book, Holly emphasises the importance of clarity in your writing,

Holly also shares the usefulness of having a house style. This improves the consistency of your writing, and stops you having to make decisions all the time.

A house style includes things such as whether you capitalise the first letter in your headings and subheadings (this tends to be a more American style) or they are in sentence case, where you only capitalise the first word and then any proper nouns the heading/subheading. A style guide would also include which spelling/dictionary you use (eg British English or American English), deciding which versions of words to use, whether you use hyphens or not, having a consistent format for times, dates, and numbers and your brand pronoun; I or we.

The more decisions are covered in your style guide, the more consistent your writing will be, and therefore the more clarity it will have and the easier it will be to write.

Big idea #3 — Sort to your structure

To write compelling copy, the structure needs to work hard.

Holly talks about hooking people in at the beginning, and offers ways to start a piece of writing with impact, be it a quote, a statement, a statistic, or a shocking fact. You need something that is going to encourage people to keep on reading.

The middle of your piece of writing is where you make your case, and where you keep your reader reading. It’s the substance, so it’s important to make sure you actually do have some substance in order to write something of substance!

And then finally at the end, you need a call to action. This is the ‘so what’, the response you want from your audience, or the link back to you that the piece of content is making.

Holly also included some specific structures in the books, such as about pages, bios, emails, and landing pages, but you can use this in really any piece of writing, there’s just some particular nuance for certain contexts.

And yes, in the book she does talk about SEO. The most important point here is that it shouldn’t override an interesting of a good piece of writing. We’ve all been to food blogs, for example, where all we want is that damn recipe, but we’ve got to wade through 2000 words about the weather, because people have put the, at their SEO needs above the reader experience. Don’t do that.

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About the author

Austin Kleon is the New York Times bestselling author of a trilogy of illustrated books about creativity in the digital age: Steal Like An Artist, Show Your Work!, and Keep Going. He’s also the author of Newspaper Blackout, a collection of poems made by redacting the newspaper with a permanent marker. His books have been translated into dozens of languages and have sold over a million copies worldwide. He’s been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, PBS Newshour, and in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. New York Magazine called his work “brilliant,” The Atlantic called him “positively one of the most interesting people on the Internet,” and The New Yorker said his poems “resurrect the newspaper when everybody else is declaring it dead.” He speaks for organizations such as Pixar, Google, SXSW, TEDx, and The Economist. In previous lives, he worked as a librarian, a web designer, and an advertising copywriter. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and sons.

Source: https://austinkleon.com/about/

About the book

A book for people who hate the very idea of self-promotion, Show Your Work! is the followup to my New York Times bestselling guide to creativity, Steal Like An Artist. If Steal was a book about stealing influence from others, Show is about influencing others by letting them steal from you.

In ten tight chapters, I lay out ways to think about your work as a never-ending process, how to build an audience by sharing that process, and how to deal with the ups and downs of putting yourself and your work out in the world.

This book is not just for “creatives”! Whether you’re an artist or an entrepreneur, a student or a teacher, a hobbyist or a professional, it’s time to stop worrying and start sharing.

Source: https://austinkleon.com/show-your-work/

Like this episode? You might want to hear the three big ideas from Austin's first book Steal Like An Artist.

Big idea #1 — Show Your Work

The idea here is that your work doesn’t have to be done or perfect, or you don’t have to be an expert, in order to share something. Austin shares a quote that says “the real gap is between doing nothing and doing something”. As opposed to the real gap being between being good and great work.

Without showing your work, it’s harder to find your own voice, your own style and refining these as they’ve never really been exercised enough.

This isn’t about just self promotion, but about being findable by showing your work and being visible. This allows space for opportunities to happen, it allows people to stumble upon your work and find you.

You don’t even have to show a finished product. You can share a question you’re pondering, a behind the scenes process, something that didn’t work out, or an idea that’s in progress. And who knows who you might inspire by doing this.

This is really how punk started, as people saw others getting up on stage, playing terribly and saying, ‘I want to be terrible on stage too!’, or ‘I can do better than that’, and embracing the DIY way of expression.

Importantly, this isn’t just unique to creative projects or creative pursuits. This is absolutely relevant if you’re a thought leader on leadership, or an accountant who’s thinking about the future of financial reporting. Whatever you do, your way of thinking, doing things, operating, is worth sharing in some way, shape or form.

Big idea #2 — Show others how to do it

Teaching is a great way to show your work. And sometimes it feels less like self promotion, so it can be a nice gateway into showing your work more often. Showing your work is a gift, but even more so when you teach someone something.

Austin encourages us to share our secrets, our techniques, and our operating manuals of how we do what we do.

And before you worry about ‘copying’, just because you’ve shared, it doesn’t mean that people will put in the required time / effort / money to copy you. So we should be much less concerned about people copying us, and much more concerned about being invisible.

Some experts in the secretive art of barbecue are bucking the traditional trend and embracing this mindset. They’re sharing their secrets and will teach you everything. By doing that, many people are then very happy to pay the $10/$15/$20 to go eat the expert’s food because they realise the time and the effort that has gone into it, having seen the behind the scenes process. This is much more likely than them wanting to do it themselves, or certainly at a commercial level.

Austin also says the minute you learn something, you should share it. And we don’t have to be experts in order to share and start teaching things. In fact, amateurs are usually the best place to actually help other amateurs because they don’t have the curse of knowledge. Amateurs can actually be more helpful to another amateur who’s facing the same problem because they’ve experienced that same problem more recently.

Teaching is a constant cycle; share, learn, share, learn, share, that we need to make a habit.

Big idea #3 — Show up

Austin publishes something daily, and then he shares these daily posts in his excellent weekly newsletter. He is a big proponent of the compound effect or not breaking the chain, doing something daily, which sharpens your thinking and builds momentum, consistency, and improvement.

This is not an invitation to become human spam as he calls it. There’s a line between contributing and spamming and Austin suggests that the difference is that contributors will ‘shut up and listen’. They’ll connect with people through sharing their work, and stop to have conversations, rather than just pumping stuff out.

Most importantly though is that we shouldn’t quit. Those with long careers stick with it. They roll one project into the next one. They create, they assess, they think what worked well or what didn’t, and roll those lessons into the next project. They ride the highs and the lows, and remain focused on the work in front of them rather than the overwhelming thought of what’s next or the idea of doing this forever.

That said, we obviously need to find ways to recover and to restock our creative reserves and brain power through appropriate levels of rest, and also from finding inspiration from other places.

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About the author

Marc Brackett, Ph.D., is the Founder and Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and a Professor in the Child Study Center of Yale University.

As a researcher for over 20 years, Brackett has focused on the role of emotions and emotional intelligence in learning, decision making, creativity, relationships, health, and performance. He has published 125 scholarly articles and received numerous awards and accolades for his work in this area. He also consults regularly with corporations, such as Facebook, Microsoft, and Google on integrating the principles of emotional intelligence into employee training and product design. Most recently, he co-founded Oji Life Lab, a corporate learning firm that develops innovative digital learning systems on emotional intelligence.

Brackett’s mission is to educate the world about the value of emotions and the skills associated with using them wisely. “I want everyone to become an emotion scientist”, he says. “We need to be curious explorers of our own and others’ emotions so they can help us achieve our goals and improve our lives.”

Source: https://www.marcbrackett.com/about/about-marc-brackett-ph-d/

About the book

The mental wellbeing of children and adults is shockingly poor. Marc Brackett, author of PERMISSION TO FEEL, knows why. And he knows what we can do.

This book combines rigour, science, passion and inspiration in equal parts. Too many children and adults are suffering; they are ashamed of their feelings and emotionally unskilled, but they don’t have to be. Marc Brackett’s life mission is to reverse this course, and this book can show you how.

Source: amazon.com

Big idea #1 — Be an emotion scientist

There is a science to understanding emotion. Yes, some of us may have previously (or may still) think it’s all just the fluffy stuff or it’s nonsense. But with the right skills we can uncover that we can learn to understand and appropriately respond to our own, and other people’s, emotions and see emotions as information. That information when taken with a scientific mindset, gives us something to consider or to analyse, especially noticing when certain emotions arise more than others.

Chronic stress impacts learning, processing memory and overall health. So knowing how we feel, and maybe helping others understand how they feel, has bigger implications in life too.

And yes, these skills are best learned young, but it’s better late than never. Marc and his late Uncle Marvin tried to bring these skills to schools in the late 90s, but failed. Not because the kids couldn’t handle it or couldn’t have those conversations, but because the teachers (the adults in the room) couldn’t, and wouldn’t see the importance of it. They weren’t equipped to handle their own emotions, and therefore were deeply uncomfortable with having any conversation about emotions with the kids in their classes.

Which goes to show that unless the adults in the room, or in society, are equipped with these skills, there’s no hope for the younger generations coming up.

Big idea #2 — The five skills of emotional intelligence

And these skills sit under the acronym of R U L E R.

R — Recognise: recognising in ourselves and others, through verbal and nonverbal cues, what emotion is being felt.

U — Understand: understanding those feelings and more importantly, the source of them.

L — Label: this requires us to have a better vocabulary in terms of our emotional awareness and being able to label emotions.

E — Express: learning to express our emotions in a healthy way that informs others of how we’re feeling and maybe what action/support we need.

R — Regulate: regulating your emotions rather than letting them regulate you.

By practicing these regularly, you get better at them and may find situations people (and maybe just your general days) easier to deal with. Especially if you practice them in conjunction with in your partner, family unit, or work team.

Understanding is probably one of the hardest ones to master, as we need to be able to ask why in the heat of the moment; why is that person, or why am I reacting like this or feeling this way? Which when you’re in the heat of the moment, maybe in a high emotion situation might be hard to do.

Labeling might be a good skill to start building, because that we can do it in isolation with a list of emotions and improving our emotional vocabulary from the limited ‘mad, sad, glad’ and recognise more subtle, nuanced emotions.

Big idea #3 — bring emotional intelligence home or to work

It’s so incredible how much people deeply want, and need, to share their feelings, but yet how much we’re hiding from each other, for fear of ridicule or some kind of repercussion for sharing how we feel.

There’s so many examples in the book, particularly teachers and groups of parents, that Marc has run workshops with. Given a chance, they release an outpouring of stress, shame, guilt, and all these other deep emotional states that people just don’t have the opportunity, or feel safe to share in other situations.

So along with being an emotion scientist, and using the RULER skills, we can bring emotional intelligence into our homes or workplaces by doing four things. Set yourself up for success by setting some kind of charter, and consistently role modeling, healthy emotional management. The book shares examples of families or school classrooms that have set a charter for how they will treat each other, how they will deal with emotions, the conversations they will have, the language they will use, which sets a consistent baseline for emotions and relationships. And how having these charters, or agreements, helped then later on in conversations when things do get a bit heated. Explore, using the emotion scientist mindset, being a learner, not a knower, and helping others label their emotions, and not trying to fix or minimise how other people are feeling. Strategise, once you know how the other person is feeling, you can help them move forward. This might just actually be by being there for them, or it could be a hug (if appropriate!), or potentially helping them seek some more professional help, if required. Follow up with them a little bit later, ask them how they’re feeling now, help them reflect, and help them to identify any emotional patterns repeating over time as well.

Further listening:Marc Brackett on Brené Brown’s Unlocking Us podcast.

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About the author

By some accounts, Roy Peter Clark is America’s writing coach, devoted to creating a nation of writers. A PhD in medieval literature, he is widely considered the most influential writing teacher in the rough-and-tumble world of newspaper journalism. With a deep background in traditional media, Clark has illuminated the discussion of writing on the internet. He has gained fame by teaching writing to children and has nurtured Pulitzer Prize-winning authors. He is a teacher who writes and a writer who teaches.

For more than three decades, Clark has taught writing at the Poynter Institute, a school for journalists in St. Petersburg, Florida, considered among the most prominent such teaching institutions in the world.

Clark has authored or edited nineteen books about writing, reading, language, and journalism. Humorist Dave Barry has said of him: “Roy Peter Clark knows more about writing than anybody I know who is not currently dead.” He plays keyboard in a rock band. He lives with his family in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he has become famously fond of pelicans.

Source: https://roypeterclark.com/#about

About the book

With writers of the digital age in mind, this book looks back on the enduring power of short writing from the beginning of written texts. Looking at both the craft and purposes of short writing — the how and the why — I offer hundreds of examples of the best short writing, from sonnets, proverbs, aphorisms, marginalia, and song lyrics to blog posts, text messages, and tweets.

Source: https://roypeterclark.com/books2/#row2

Big idea #1 — Write shortIf you want to write long, begin with writing short.

There’s a whole section at the start of the book about how writing short is not necessarily a means to an end in itself. It can actually be a means to other types of writing. It includes a quote from The Notebook author, Umberto Eco that says “it’s everyday writing that inspires the most committed works, not the other way round”.

So even if you have ambitions to write a tome, or really long particular type of text, that doesn’t mean that the lessons from this particular type of short writing are irrelevant to you. In fact, a lot of the time it’s that type of writing that will lead to longer, more committed work.

In the book, Roy talks a lot about keeping a daybook dedicated to short writing and collecting examples of great short writing. Finding clever writing on the back of your shampoo or cereal.

He encourages us to practice writing interesting sentences, to play with haiku, play with Tweets, and find little phrases that punctuate a short sentence.

The book is full of these types of practical activities and prompts that you can pick and choose from next time you’re writing an article, social media post, email, or a speech. The lessons in this book that are applicable to all sorts of writing, and not just writing that is going to stay as writing, but writing that is going to become speech or another type of communication.

Most of these activities are things that you wouldn’t necessarily think of doing by yourself, but are the things that are going to stretch your brain to think a little bit cleverly, and more laterally about your writing and the message you’re trying to get across.

Big idea #2 — Subtract, subtract, subtract.

Roy talks about applying a rule of 75%, or trying to deliver your work in three quarters of the expected length.

He asks you to think about how you feel when someone speaks for just 10 minutes, rather than 20 minutes. You are probably incredibly grateful, particularly if you’re sat in an uncomfortable conference room in an uncomfortable chair. So he invites you to give that gift to your audience too.

You can surprise, and delight, with brevity.

The book itself is a beautiful example of writing short. The chapters are short and it feels like the words in there are all so intentional.

By surprising and delighting with brevity, you can make every word feel like it’s meant to be there. There’s no flabbiness to it.

Roy talks about the difference between two types of writers; The putter-inners; put everything in and revise and take things out. They’ll start with 500 words and they’re edited back to 300. The taker-outers; take it all out as they’re writing and then add back when they think that things need a little bit extra. They might write 200 words, but take it up to 300 words.

There should be an editing process, and in the editing process shouldn’t happen simultaneous to the writing process.

Subtraction is not a case of relentless slash and burn, but we do need to consider what doesn’t serve the purpose of the statement, and what needs more space to stand out a little bit more.

Professor William Strunk, Jr. is evangelical about ‘omitting needless words’. But we need to be conscious of ‘at what cost’. There comes a point where we take so much out, that we’ve lost a little bit of meaning or impact. Or as E B White said, ‘will leave you with nothing more to say, but time to fill’.

There is a fine balance, and there’s no exact rule, but what it should do is encourage you to pause, stop, and think about where does that line of ‘too much / not enough’ sits with your copy that you are writing.

Big idea #3 — Think like a poet and an advertiser

Poetry comes up regularly in the book, and offers a structure for playing with short writing. The patterns of three, the rhyming couplets and specific forms like the limerick or the haiku force an efficient use of words.

Similar to poetry, advertisers have mastered the art of the punchiness. Advertisers have been forced into this by minimal space, which comes at a premium and needing to appeal to the simpler parts of our brains, they reduce things into the three word slogan or the tagline.

I’m lovin’ it

The real thing

Breakfast of champions

You can use this by thinking about your own structure, looking at where you can add a compelling, short, first sentence and then follow it up with a similarly short and second sentence as an invitation to keep on reading.

This is another element of the book that I really enjoyed, looking at all these different types of writing. Roy shares examples from the greater orators in history, the ones who have written speeches which have gone down in history the ones where key statements, made up of carefully chosen words, are repeated for generations. Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill. But then at the other end of the spectrum, you’ve got junky types of advertising slogans. Both memorable, and both using the same concepts, patterns and lessons.

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About the author

Dr. Marshall B. Rosenberg was the founder and director of educational services for The Center for Nonviolent Communication.

Growing up in an inner–city Detroit neighborhood Dr. Marshall Rosenberg was confronted daily with various forms of violence. Wanting to explore the causes of violence and what could be done to reduce violence, he chose to study clinical psychology and received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Wisconsin in 1961. In 1966 he was awarded diplomat status in clinical psychology from the American Board of Examiners in Professional Psychology.

Nonviolent Communication training evolved from Dr. Rosenberg’s quest to find a way of rapidly disseminating much needed peacemaking skills. The Center for Nonviolent Communication emerged out of work he was doing with civil rights activists in the early 1960’s. During this period he also mediated between rioting students and college administrators and worked to peacefully desegregate public schools in long-segregated regions.

Worldwide reactions have been inspiring. Evaluations indicate that this training vastly strengthens the ability to connect compassionately with oneself and others, as well as to resolve differences peacefully. Reports also indicate that the benefit of the training is not only stable over time, but actually increases.

Source: https://www.cnvc.org/about/marshall

About the book

Non-violent Communication is an enlightening look at how peaceful communication can create compassionate connections with family, friends, and other acquaintances, this international bestseller uses stories, examples, and sample dialogues to provide solutions to communication problems both at home and in the workplace.

Guidance is provided on identifying and articulating feelings and needs, expressing anger fully, and exploring the power of empathy in order to speak honestly without creating hostility, break patterns of thinking that lead to anger and depression, and communicate compassionately.

Practical nonviolent communication skills are partnered with a powerful consciousness and vocabulary that can be applied to personal, professional, and political differences. Included in the new edition is a complete chapter on conflict resolution and mediation.

Source: www.amazon.com

Big idea #1-Observe, feel, need, and request

The nonviolent communication process is made up of four key stages. Observing concrete actions that affect your wellbeing Knowing how you feel as a result of what you observe.

Recognising the needs and the values and the desires that create the feelings that you are feeling.
The concrete actions you request in order to enrich your life.

Going through this process allows you to express yourself better and notice the needs in others, more empathetically. It also allows more space for compassion, and allows you to reframe situations and feelings in a different way.

By noticing the needs of others, more empathetically, you’re able to actually connect with them a little bit more, rather than simply assessing how wrong they are for what they’re saying or doing at the time. Because our analysis of others is often an expression of our own needs or values, not necessarily what the other person is thinking, or what they are needing at the time.

Big idea#2 — Responsibility and expression

Marshall says that we are particularly dangerous when we deny personal responsibility, and attach our feelings and actions to other people’s or other group’s actions.

So essentially if we blame our actions or blame how we feel on what someone else does, we then deny personal responsibility for our own feelings and attach them to other people.

There are several examples in the book that include situations like; Blaming the actions of others on how we react; (eg. I hit my child because he ran into the street). So the action of another person has caused your reaction. And we’re blaming them, rather than taking our own responsibility for what we did. Using group pressure (eg. I started smoking because my friends did). Blaming vague impersonal forces on what you do (eg. I cleaned my room because I had to) rather than assuming you have any control over what you choose to do.

On the topic of expression, there’s stories in the book of people who have been angry at their partners for decades and decades for not meeting their needs. But having gone through the nonviolent communication training, they realise they’ve never actually made their needs clearly known. Instead, they’ve been stuck in resentment and anger and let these unmet and uncommunicated needs take over and really undermined their relationships. If we do not value our needs, and express them in a healthy way, we can’t expect others to do the same.

Big idea #3-The root of feelings

Marshall says that underlying our feelings, are our needs. We need to uncover these in ourselves and others, and we need to listen to what other people are needing, not what they are thinking.

One of the techniques he uses for helping to uncover others’ feelings is paraphrasing.

In one example in the book, Marshall was doing a bit of coaching or mediation, between a husband and a wife who are not communicating very well.

Husband: “what good does talking to you? You never listen.”

Now, if you had received/heard that from your partner, there’s probably a million different things you would respond with, some that are much more helpful than others.

With some coaching, what the wife actually came back, using paraphrasing, was this:

Wife: “are you feeling unhappy because you need to be heard?”

Rather than attacking his position, or asking something that brings the responsibility to her, such as “are you unhappy with me?” she instead came back to that core underlying need.

What is the need that is causing that reaction or statement or action from the other person or that statement from the other person?

There’s so much nuance here, but the paraphrasing allows for a better conversation. It’s okay to be wrong when guessing the need, because by getting it wrong, you get closer to them helping you uncover the need. And it’s unlikely that you’re going to be right the first time. There’s usually going to be a bit of an uncomfortable exchange between the starting point and getting to that need.

Importantly, this conversation isn’t about fixing, which is one of the traps we can fall into, it is about trying to understand the need and then the request or desire.

We also need to distinguish between feelings and non feelings.

One of the non-feelings examples of the book is:

“I feel inadequate as a guitar player”

In that statement, you’re assessing your ability as a guitar player rather than clearly expressing your feeling or your need. The actual feeling might be, I feel disappointed in myself as a guitar player, or I feel impatient with myself as a guitar player.

It’s important in order to do this well, both with ourselves and with other people, to have a better vocabulary of emotions and be able to spot what is an emotion, and what is not.

There’s another couple of examples here when you’re attaching a feeling to other people. We have to distinguish the feeling we have and remove the connection to other people. For example:

“I feel unimportant to the people with whom I work”

The word unimportant describes how you think others are evaluating you, rather than actually what you’re feeling. Maybe you feel sad or you feel discouraged.

Similarly something like:

“I feel misunderstood”

That is an indication of other people’s level of understanding of you, rather than your own feeling. You might be annoyed or anxious.

Words like bullied, cheated, abused, attacked, betrayed all related to our interpretation or judgement of someone else’s thinking or behaviour, rather than our own feeling. It’s such a subtle difference between between the two, and comes back to splitting out our own feelings and taking personal responsibility for them.

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About the book

We don’t need better speakers. We need more effective leaders.

This book isn’t a primer on becoming a better speaker, though if it helps you nail your next presentation that’s great. The real goal is to help you become a more effective leader. In ‘Lead The Room’ you’re invited to think bigger and aim higher than the idea of presentation skills. To think holistically about how you can communicate and connect more effectively. This book will give you the tools to raise your visibility, leverage your leadership platform and lead with more impact at scale.

Source: https://shanemhatton.com/

About the author

Shane works with organisations to develop remarkable people leaders. The kind that you talk about and remember.

Put simply he helps shift people leaders from high potential to high performance and from great to remarkable so that executive leaders can move from transactional to strategic.

His clients tell him that his‘secret sauce’ is the ability to bring clarity to their thinking and simplicity to complexity.

Shane is an author, trainer, coach and speaker based out of Melbourne, Australia and works online, onstage and in person.

He’s a member of the Forbes Global Coaches Council, a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach and the author of ‘Lead The Room — Communicate a Message That Counts in Moments That Matter’ (available in all good bookstores).

Source: https://shanemhatton.com/

Big idea #1 — Who, what, and when

This goes to the idea that a great presentation or great communication is all in the preparation. Shane says “there’s more to leading a room than being a great speaker or delivering a polished presentation”. He shares a couple of examples in the book of where he saw two different speakers at a conference. One of them had a super polished presentation, but the audience looked bored and disengaged. The second presenter, was visibly a little bit nervous, probably less experienced as a presenter, but had everyone leaning in and enraptured by their energy and the engagement.

Most of us worry about how to present. We worry about things like ‘what to do with our hands’ and ‘where to stand’ or ‘how to move’, without actually thinking about the who and the what of a presentation or communication.

The who is who you are, what’s your reputation, how credible are you?

The what is what you say? Is it clear, succinct, and valuable?

How is delivering in a way that connects, and using the appropriate medium or the method that connects.

Big idea #2-positioning, messaging and developing

This is the core idea and provides the structure of the book. It’s the ‘three big obsessions’ of great communicators.

Positioning is all about developing your character, leading your narrative, and building your credibility. This allows you to position yourself as someone who can be trusted in a particular topic. This requires you to manage your reputation, making sure that you’re showing up consistently and being authentic in your values and your behaviours.

Messaging is determining your value. Shane describes this as comparing the the ‘boardroom versus the bedroom’ problems that your audience might be worrying about. Boardroom problems might be things like ‘I’m worried about our staff attrition’, or the slightly more surface topics. Whereas the bedroom problems are what you might only admit to your closest confidants. Things like ‘I’m worried that I’m not relevant anymore’, or ‘I’m worried that my job is at risk’. By determining your value, you can make sure that you actually get to the heart of the problem, likely the ‘bedroom’ problems, rather than the surface issues. Then you can define your message, and think about the structure of any presentation or communication that you are putting together.

Finally, developing is the evolution of the craft and getting better at thinking, investing, asking, and failing so that your communication skills and style continues to evolve and develop.

Big idea #3 — The flight path

For the rough structure of presentation or a communication, Shane uses the analogy of the flight path, or the preparation, takeoff, in-flight, and the landing.

The five parts of the flight path are; Attention; getting people’s attention upfront by asking a question, making a statement (maybe a controversial one), or telling a story. Tension; giving people a reason to stay engaged by painting a picture of a vision of the future, or really getting into the pain points people are feeling. Perspective; sharing some stats or some research, or key thoughts on the idea or the topic. Resolution; the ‘what then’ question, or the big idea you’re sharing. Action; what should people do next? What is the one thing that they could go and do as a result of you sharing this particular idea?

You can listen to me talking to Shane about learning on his podcast Phone Calls with Clever People, here.

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About the book

These experiences of overwhelm can be a common part of a normal day or week in our life. Yes, the world can be an overwhelming place. We might have an emotional experience of being overwhelmed. We can experience the ‘too much on’ of workload — too much to do and not enough time in which to do it. Or we might feel like we’re submerged under an endless pile of information, reports, books and reading.

At other times we can just be plain ‘drowning in’ it from a wicked combination of all three: emotions, workload and information.

In today’s world, it’s these three that can be the cause of repeated and unending overwhelm. And it’s not good for us. Burnout and health issues are waiting. We need to find ways to acknowledge our emotions, manage our workload … and filter all of that information.

Our overwhelm CAN be outsmarted. Once you get the powerful techniques explained by Lynne Cazaly, you’ll find new ways to make sense of overwhelm, new ways to work, and new ways to cope with information. You’ll be all over overwhelm… it won’t be all over you.

Source: https://www.lynnecazaly.com.au/

About the author

Lynne Cazaly helps individuals, teams and businesses transition to better ways of thinking and working.

Lynne is an international keynote speaker, multi-award winning author and a master facilitator.

She is an experienced radio broadcaster, presenter and producer having presented more than 10000 hours on-air. Her background is as a communication specialist, having lectured in under-graduate and post-graduate programs in several of Australia’s Universities and consulting to different industries and sectors on change and transformation.

Lynne can help you think better, make sense of information and handle the realities of workplace overwhelm and information overload with her clever hacks and ingenious processes, tools and methods.

Lynne is an experienced board director and chair and an #avgeek, loving everything aviation, helicopters and air traffic control.

Source: https://www.lynnecazaly.com.au/

Big idea #1 — The three types of overwhelm.

Overwhelmed has become the new busy, a bit of a catch all for when we’re feeling up against it.

But we need to get better and dig a little bit deeper to understand the type of overwhelm we’re experiencing, and therefore better be able to create strategies to fix it or overcome it.

Lynne suggests that there are three types of overwhelm; Overwhelmed, which is the emotional overwhelm.

Once you’ve identified you can help redefine it by digging in a little bit deeper and find out which emotions are overwhelming and are they positive or negative? We can be overwhelmed in a positive way, with excitement or joy.

Overloaded

Identifying this means we can redirect our attention to understand how we’re doing it and how else we can do it.

Overworked

By identifying this, we can redesign the work to take back control of what we, what we’re doing and what we’re working on.

Big idea #2 — Write it down

Without oversimplifying or trivialising the overwhelm you might be feeling, a lot of this can be alleviated by writing down everything that’s going on and using this list or this brain dump to make sense of what’s going on.

Sense-making is another core theme of this book. By asking the question ‘what’s going on and what do I need to do about it?’ we can move forward.

Because otherwise it’s easy to sink into overwhelm and let it fester without actually doing anything about it. (And let’s face it, often we avoid doing anything about it, because we then would have to do something about it!)

Lynne offers some models and frameworks to help sort everything in your brain and actually work out what’s going on.

(Note: this reminded me a little bit of a light version of Getting Things Done by David Allen. You can read or listen to my three ideas from that book.)

Once everything in your brain is all sorted and out on paper (paper is better,so grab a pen or pencil and a piece of paper and write everything down) you can then work out, what’s important, what’s junk and what’s someone else’s problem.

Lynne shares a great little tip from a lady she used to work with called Patsy (a name which obviously immediately makes me think of Absolutely Fabulous). Patsy always had four folders on her desk and that contained everything she needed to do. The folders were labeled sooner, later sometime and never.

A few times a day, Patsy would go through those folders, working her way through the sooner stuff, keeping an eye on what was in the later folder to see if anything needed to move from later into sooner. When she had some extra time, she’d go to sometime and some stuff eventually made it into the never folder (and then straight in the recycling bin from there).

You can also obviously use things like the Covey/Eisenhower matrix as well to help organise your brain dump of things into more manageable chunks of how they need to be dealt with, and when they need to be dealt with as well.

Big idea #3 — Where did it go wrong?

One of my favourite models in the book is this 2x2 matrix that helps you work out why you got to the stage of overwhelm in the first place, in order to help you avoid it next time.

In the top left-hand corner, it has ‘I created it’. Maybe you just kept on taking more and more work and created your own bed of overwhelm.

In the bottom left-hand corner, it says ‘I allowed it’. Maybe you didn’t say no to something and you allowed the overwhelm to happen.

In the bottom right corner, you’ve got ‘I ignored it’. Maybe you’ve been procrastinating on this particular thing for a while, and by ignoring it, it’s now become a bit of a problem and you’re overwhelmed by it.

Finally, in the top right corner is ‘I outsmarted it’. This is ideally where we want it to be, where we have outsmarted our overwhelmed by putting the strategies in place by saying no, prioritising, asking questions, asking for help, and generally managing it in advance.

Going through this process and working out what went wrong in the first place isn’t to beat ourselves up, but it helps to identify what happened and means we can reverse engineer this for future situations.

This level of self-awareness will show us how likely we are to fall into overwhelm, know how it feels, how it shows up, so that we can identify in advance next time.

Lynne suggests it’s good to build this kind of reflection into the end of our daily routine, not just in those moments where we’re already overwhelmed when it’s probably a bit too late.

At the end of the day you can go back and just think about what you’re ignoring, what future overwhelm you might be creating, assess how you’re feeling like and where creeping overwhelm might be lurking, in order to take remedial actions.

If you liked this episode, you might also like Ish, also by Lynne Cazaly

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About the author

Robin Sharma is a globally respected humanitarian who, for over a quarter of a century, has been devoted to helping human beings realize their native gifts.

Widely considered one of the top leadership and personal mastery experts and speakers in the world, his clients include NASA, Microsoft, Nike, Unilever, General Electric, FedEx, HP, Starbucks, Oracle, Yale University, PwC, IBM Watson, and the Young Presidents’ Organization. As a presenter, Robin Sharma possesses the rare ability to electrify an audience while delivering uncommonly original and tactical insights that lead to individuals doing their best work, teams providing superb results and organizations becoming unbeatable.

His #1 international bestsellers such as The 5AM Club, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, and Who Will Cry When You Die? have sold millions of copies in over ninety-two languages and dialects; making him one of the most widely read authors in the world.

Source: https://www.robinsharma.com/about-robin

About the book

The 5AM Club is Robin Sharma’s masterwork, blending his original insights into legendary leadership, uncommon creativity and exponential productivity with battle-tested tools to help you produce work that allows you to dominate in your field — while you live a life that inspires the world.

Source: https://www.robinsharma.com/books

Big idea #1 — Incremental changes for big results

Ultimately, this is a book about small changes, or one small change in particular, getting up early, being the catalyst for numerous other changes, benefits, and positive results in your life.

It’s also a bit of a nod to the compound effect, which if you’ve read anything else on habit building, you’ll know that the impact of the compound effect on habits (both good habits and not so good habits) is significant.

There’s a quote in the book that says ‘the smallest of implementations is always worth more than the grandest of intentions’. The important points here are that 1) you have to start, and 2) you have to accept a level of discomfort when changing. There’s several points throughout the book where he talks about the fact that we need to get used to the discomfort we face when trying to implement a new change into our life, be it a new habit, or a way of doing things.

And as you’ll see in the next big idea, there are a number of small changes that are suggested in the book which revolve around getting up early being the start of change.

Big idea #2–20/20/20

This is the main method in the book. Yes, it’s a list of things to do at a certain time of the day, but it’s really more about the discipline of consistently taking these particular healthy actions.

The three elements of 20/20/20 are; (05:00–05:20) Move for 20 minutes (get sweaty, hydrate, breathe to cleanse your early morning cortisol and boost your energy, serotonin and dopamine for the day) (05:20–05:40) Reflect for 20 minutes (journal, meditate, contemplate to practice gratitude, raise your awareness, and set intention for the day) (05:40–06:00) Grow for 20 minutes (read, listen to a podcast, practice a skill, or take a course to build your knowledge and skills)

Yes, maybe you want to do more of each of those activities, but see this as your minimum effective dose, and something that’s easy to stick to every day.

It’s easy to see that these are all good things to do, and doing them at a quiet undistracted time of the day, with a disciplined routine to them, is the main idea here.

These are all activities that might fall by the wayside. We all know that if we wait until later in the day to do them, we’ll either talk ourselves out of them, forget to do them, or just not get round to them. And that can easily happen for days in a row if we don’t build a habit and get them done early.

Big idea #3 — Own your story

This flows through a few different places throughout the book, as an overall idea of not letting an imperfect past ruin your future.

Robin argues that people who do extraordinary things aren’t different or special, they just act differently, and have better habits and systems. But if you tell yourself that you can’t, or you won’t, do something, then likely that will become true.

It’s all an inside game. We need to own our story, and be the authors of that particular story or that book that we are, we are creating through our lives. And therefore, we can’t let what has happened previously, influence what happens next.

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Hey! I'm taking a two week mid-year break from fresh episodes, so ICYMI, here's a rebroadcast of the most popular episode of 2021 so far (which incidentally is my favourite book of the year... so far).

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About the book

A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making—from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy.

In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency-a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.

A Promised Land is extraordinarily intimate and introspective-the story of one man's bet with history, the faith of a community organizer tested on the world stage. Obama is candid about the balancing act of running for office as a Black American, bearing the expectations of a generation buoyed by messages of "hope and change," and meeting the moral challenges of high-stakes decision-making.

About the author

Barack Obama was the 44th president of the United States, elected in November 2008 and holding office for two terms. He is the author of two previous New York Times bestselling books, Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope, and the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Michelle. They have two daughters, Malia and Sasha.

Extracts from https://www.penguin.com.au/

IDEA 1 - The best answer won’t be perfect

There are countless examples in the book of hard policy, people and political decisions that Obama had to make. And the commonality in all of them was the messiness of getting to an answer.

Even things that seem like a no-brainer on the service (free / affordable healthcare for everyone) turned into painful, watered-down versions of the original vision. But, these sacrifices and compromises meant that something moved forward, even if it was a far cry from the dream.

In other situations, such as the activities in Iraq and Afghanistan, and dealing with the Global Financial Crisis and its impact on America and Americans, all options seemed to balance towards being ‘bad’. But as POTUS, Obama had to find the ‘least bad’ options and make sure the decisions were made on as-good-information as was possible at the time. And of course, balance the public optics of a situation, with the reality of what happens behind the scenes.

Obama was especially good at sitting in the ‘grey’. Dealing with ambiguity and being able to hear different sides of an argument, actively seeking out Republican/opposing views, was one of his strengths as a leader. Even so, you could sense the incredible frustration of working with a system that seemed to force the status quo, and squash change or good ideas.

This quote summed it up:

“I didn’t like the deal. But in what was becoming a pattern, the alternatives were worse.”

IDEA 2 - Know your values

The book features numerous situations where Obama, when faced with hard decisions, had to come back to his values. The recurring values were; What he had promised whilst campaigning What was true What his friends and family would say (especially his Mum and Grandma)

These were also what he judged himself against. There were lots of questions of self-doubt amongst his introspection and reflection; had he been naive and overly hopeful and promised too much? Was there anything else? Had he done enough to push for change for those who needed it most?

He actively kept these values front of mind - regularly reading and responding to letters from American residents and paying many visits to the military hospital where wounded soldiers were treated and rehabilitated. On the latter, he was criticised, being told that it would cloud his judgement. He disagreed, saying that if he was going to send more young people to war, he had to be acutely aware of the cost of it.

His constant revisiting and evaluation of what was most important served as a yardstick throughout his life, not just his presidency. And it allowed him to critically assess what was wrong and the mistakes made - his own, and America’s.

IDEA 3 - Surround yourself with good people

Politics aside, this is really a book about leadership and relationships. A significant part of the book is spent talking about, praising, forgiving, thanking, describing and sometimes, criticising, the people around him.

From his family to his early friends and the people he worked with, the descriptions of friendship are personal and human. He also demonstrates the ability to rebuild relationships; having Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton as key members of his administration when the three of them had stood against each other in the Democratic nomination race.

(Side note: I felt quite a tinge of sadness when Obama describes the loneliness of his role, especially earlier on during the transition when suddenly people he’d known and worked with for years stopped calling him Barack and started calling him Mr President).

Of course, you can’t talk about the people around Barack Obama without mentioning Michelle Obama. He shares his fears about the impact on Michelle, their marriage and the lives of their daughters of him running, and becoming president, questioning the inherent selfishness of it. The pride and respect he has for Michelle in the book is tangible, talking about her health initiatives and work with young people, encouraging them to dream bigger.

“The time chooses you. Either you seize what may turn out to be the only chance you have, or you decide you’re willing to live with the knowledge that the chance has passed you by.”

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This week, it's time for another quarterly check in on my favourite reads from the last three months.

If you missed the first part of the 2021 'best books', you can listen to it here.

This time I'm talking about...

Turning Right by Kay Bretz

(hear more about this book here)

Rare Breed by Sonny Bonnell and Ashleigh Hansberger

(hear more about this book here)

Effortless by Greg McKeown

(hear more about this book here)

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackesy

What are your favourite books of the year so far? Let me know by connecting on:

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About the book

A compelling, un-put-downable account of recreational marathon runner Kay Bretz’s transformation into one of the best ultra runners in the world. The reader follows the author during his physical, mental and professional challenges and celebrates his hard-fought wins as he discovers the motivation to succeed, leaving behind his former motivation to avoid failure.

It all started by turning right when his entire perspective on what he was capable of started to shift. Turning Right will inspire readers to find their own magic.

Source: https://www.amazon.com.au/Turning-Right-Inspire-transform-aspirations/dp/0648980324/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=turning+right&qid=1624142447&sr=8-1

About the author

Dr Kay Bretz, a 42-year-old German-Australian, lives in Melbourne, Australia, with his partner Rebecca. Kay is a corporate leader, elite athlete, and explorer. Since childhood, he felt the urge to explore the world. He spent a year in a Scottish boarding school, followed by three years at the University of Seville, Spain. After his Master’s Degree in International Business, he took what he would now call a right turn, and received a Doctorate in European Law. Kay has more than 15 years’ corporate leadership experience across the globe as an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company and as a member of senior leadership teams in major Australian retailers.

Source: https://www.amazon.com.au/Turning-Right-Inspire-transform-aspirations/dp/0648980324/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=turning+right&qid=1624142447&sr=8-1

Big idea #1 -Expect the unexpected

One of the biggest lessons Kay grappled with was relinquishing control, something he’d used for years as a way of operating and achieving everything he had achieved. But at certain times, this desire for control had also been his downfall.

Kay started working with Gavin Freeman after seeing Gavin speak at an event. Gavin’s first lesson to Kay was that he was too planned, something that Kay thought wasn’t even possible, let alone being a bad thing.

One of the suggestions that Gavin had to start to wean Kay off of his need to plan everything, was to ask a friend to take him on mystery runs. So Kay asked his friend, Corey (who sounds like someone that everyone needs in their life) to take him on mystery runs. The idea of the mystery runs was Kay wouldn’t know where they were going, how long they were going out for, or what the route was. Making it impossible for him to plan.

The first thing Corey did when he came to Kay’s house for the first mystery run, was to turn right at the end of Kay’s garden gate. Something that Kay had never actually done. He had always turned left out of his gate when he went for a run. This was enough to make Kay realize that he really needed to let go of some of his intensive planning.

His training to let go of control was tested months later when flying to remote Australia for an ultra-marathon event, and being told that his bag wouldn’t make the flight, due to the small flight being overweight. The meticulous planning that Kay had done to make sure that his clothes, food, and other supplies were packed for the event, was out of the window, and he had to control what he could control.

(Kay’s bag actually did make the flight when the crew realised that the passengers were almost all very slim ultra-maraton runners, and therefore the passenger weight was much lower than the typical flight, meaning there was weight for all the bags.)

Ultimately, all of this was about recognizing the difference between technical challenges and adaptive challenges. Because ultra-marathon events are really adaptive challenges. Once you’ve got the baseline level of running, it’s really an adaptive challenge — can you react appropriately to the ever-changing situations, and the things that will happen over the multiple days.

Big idea #2 — Manage your mindset

A lot of this book is really around a change of mindset and a change of attitude.

Some of the self-talk that Kay shares in the book is as relatable as it is brutal. And it was his mindset was what made him, but also what broke him at different times.

In Berlin, whilst taking on the Berlin marathon, he felt unwell halfway through and nearly let the fear overcome him. But by practicing some of the techniques he’d been working with Gavin on, he ended up calming himself down and getting back into the rhythm of the race, even achieving a personal best of 2 hours and 44 minutes for the marathon.

Later at the Big Red Run, a 250km run through the desert, he had built the self-awareness that allowed him to relax into the run over the multiple days, go with the flow, to trust himself and his methods. He was also able to hear when his ‘whingeing self’ was taking over and being able to work with it, rather than letting it take over, and get himself back into a different mindset and a different frame of self-talk.

Big idea #3 — Let go of success

One of the fantastic questions that Gavin asked Kay was ‘which part of your personality will you have to let go of in order to step up to the new challenges?’.

Kay’s answer was his identification with success.

It was this identification that had made him blow up in the Christchurch race. It held him back, took him over, given him negative self-talk, the need to win, and actually made him quite an unpleasant person to his support crew that were with him. He had this need to be the ‘successful ultra marathon runner’ and therefore couldn’t fail.

Chasing this external validation was doing nothing for him. It would only emphasising this ‘need’ to only ever win, or successfully get through these races.

The process of overcoming this identity with success also helped him to work through some childhood wounds, and see how ‘being good’ at things had protected him early on as it would maybe help avoid some of the problems at home.

Ultimately he knew he needed to change himself, and accept the discomfort and the lows that he’d been avoiding. He realised that, like many of us, a lot of what he was doing was to help him avoid pain or discomfort or uncomfortable feelings. But if he was going to truly be successful and achieve bigger things, discomfort and was part of the deal. So he might as well get good at managing it!

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Turning Right - Inspire the Magic: How to transform who you think you are to reach your highest aspirations

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About the book

We can all be more creative. John Cleese shows us how.

Creativity is usually regarded as a mysterious, rare gift that only a few possess. John Cleese begs to differ, and in this short, immensely practical and often very amusing guide he shows it’s a skill that anyone can acquire. Drawing on his lifelong experience as a writer, he shares his insights into the nature of the creative process, and offers advice on how to get your own inventive juices flowing.

Not only does he explain the way your mind works as you search for inspiration, he also shows that, regardless of the task you’ve set yourself, you can learn to be better at coming up with a promising idea, refining it and knowing when you’re ready to act on it.

We can all unlock new reserves of creativity within ourselves. John Cleese shows us how.

Source: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/creativity-9781786332257

About the author

John Cleese was born in 1939 in Weston-Super-Mare. He studied Law at Cambridge University and has enjoyed a successful career in comedy, theatre and film and television.

He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report. In the late 1960s, he co-founded Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show Monty Python’s Flying Circus and the four Monty Python films: And Now for Something Completely Different, Monty Python and the HolyGrail, Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life.

In the mid-1970s, Cleese and his first wife, Connie Booth, co-wrote and starred in the British sitcom Fawlty Towers. Later, he co-starred with Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis and former Python colleague Michael Palin in A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures. He also starred in Clockwise, and has appeared in many other films, including two James Bond films, two Harry Potter films, and the last three Shrek films.

Source: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/creativity-9781786332257

Big idea #1 — You can learn to be creative

(…but you probably won’t be taught it in school)

Creativity is not something that’s discussed much in school, certainly when John Cleese was at school. There, the focus tends to be on grades, logic, on reason, on analysis, and getting the right answer.

It was only when he arrived at Cambridge University and he joined Footlights, that he realized that he was actually creative. This came as quite a surprise to him because it was never something he considered previously.

But he immersed himself in the creative field of writing in particular, because it was fun, and he liked the people he was doing it with.

He was studying to become a lawyer, so pursuing a creative vocation was never something he intended. But because of this experience of joining Footlights, spending time with people he liked, and going through that creative process, he ended up learning to be more creative. He surrounded himself with other people, he tested what made people laugh, and he put himself out there with monthly smoker (open mic) sessions.

Big idea #2 — Slow down

Early on in his writing career, John noticed this phenomenon of coming up with ideas overnight. He would get stuck on something in the evening, go to bed, wake up and generally have it solved, or at least know the next step to be able to progress and move it forward. He continued to use this particular technique throughout his career, and still does today.

Once he lost a whole sketch he’d written down. Much to the annoyance of his co-writer, and he had to rewrite it from memory. When he eventually found the original version, he realized that the rewrite was actually better because he’d mulled on it a little more, he’d slept on it, and the idea had evolved for the better as a result.

He references a particular study about creative architects, or what makes some architects more creative than others.

One of the trends they found is that the more creative architects will delay decisions for as long as they were allowed, which gave them the time to play and to explore their ideas further.

He goes on to talk about how we have to get comfortable with the discomfort of leaving things open and incomplete, in order to make them better.

(Something I definitely need to remind myself)

This also links to a later idea in the book about getting a second opinion. We should allow time for that extra layer of feedback, and the power of collaboration, to help take your idea to that next level. Again, it adds a little bit more time and forces us to slow down, but it will mean a better outcome in the end.

Big idea #3 — Get your panic in early

In this little section on getting your panic in early, John talks about the benefit of a bit of panic. It gives you energy, so you might as well use it, and use it early. You can harness that panic to get something down on paper — even if it’s just scrappy notes that are going to go into the bin later — but it creates some much needed momentum that is necessary to move forward.

Once you’ve made this first panic-driven move(!), you can feel better about making that first tiny, tiny step, and then get onto the important questions like who you’re writing for, or whatever the context is for what you’re creating.

In a separate section in the book, he says that creativity isn’t an emotion, it is a frame of mind. And therefore we need to prepare ourselves to be creative, and not be worried about, or distracted by, other things. So this idea of getting your panic in early, getting all those weird negative, messy feelings out of the way early on in the process, will mean you can move on to the more important things that you actually need to do to create something.

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About the book

Throughout our decade of aligning leaders, we witnessed an alarming lack of acceptance for unique people and “crazy” ideas that don’t fit the mold. We responded with our book Rare Breed to tear up the rule book and succeed on your own terms.

Readers will learn how to resist constant pressure to conform, plus: How being rebellious has the power to move mountains — if you know what you’re rebelling against. How being audacious makes you a visionary — unless it spirals into reckless hubris. How being obsessed creates detailed masterpieces — or dooms you to failure. How being hot-blooded brings fiery ideas to the table — but can also lead to burnout and destruction. Plus, how to be weird, hypnotic, and emotional for maximum impact…and so much more.

Source: www.wearemotto.com

About the authors

Sunny Bonnell and Ashleigh Hansberger are the authors and founders of Rare Breed — a new kind of leadership thinking which takes up arms against conformity and dismantles business-as-usual. Described as “iconoclastic thinkers,” Sunny and Ashleigh dropped out of college to start Motto and not play by the rules.

They’ve worked with innovative organizations like Google, Microsoft, and Twentieth Century Fox to build brands and bring Rare Breed thinking to drive change. They’ve been featured in Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur, The Breakfast Club, and have graced such lists as Inc. 30 Under 30 and GDUSA’s Top 25 People to Watch.

Source: www.wearemotto.com

Big idea #1 — The traits of a rare breed

The book is based around the traits of rare breeds. The people that make things happen, change the course of progress, make a stand and create a difference either to their industry or to the wider world.

This is based on the idea that things that make us different, the things that other people consider to be weaknesses or vices, can in fact, be the sources of our greatest strengths. The traits are the virtues, as they call them in the book, are rebellious audacious obsessed hot blooded weird hypnotic, and emotional

All of these put together can create change, amazing inventions and innovations, and creations that make a difference in the world.

For each of the virtues, there are some kind characteristics that make them up.

Rebellion includes things like violating etiquette or righting a great wrong, rebelling against the status quo and societal norms.

Being audacious is doing what can’t be done, or at least what others have said can’t be done. You might need to kill your darlings / drive the horses into the sea to achieve these unachievable things, and have a bit of an unusual dream, which others maybe have discounted or thought of as impossible.

Obsession is what drives you to put the work in; finding your 4:00 AM time to get up and work. Trying and trying and trying again, and in many ways, falling in love with the extreme grit required for the process of creating something truly great and truly different.

Being hot blooded involves saying yes to things that are big and scary and chasing down the passion that it is necessary for you to do what you do. There’s also a concept in this section of pouring hot sauce on your brain, or igniting something in you to get things moving.

I loved the section on being weird. It’s choosing the things that make you you, maybe the things that people bullied you for in the past, and turning those quirks into your marketing plan or your message.

Being hypnotic is being able to influence others and bring them on board. Creating that magic that people need to see to buy into your idea, particularly if you’re doing something a bit out there and a bit different.

Finally, being emotional, which is all about using your feelings and harnessing those in a productive way to care.

Big idea #2 — Beware of the dark side

Whilst the seven virtues can be incredibly productive, they can help you get things done and create something amazing, but they can also be dangerously destructive. And there is a line where it often will tip from one to the other. The same the thing that helps you create something could also be the thing that burns it down, burns your relationships and burns you out.

Here’s the dark sides of each virtue; Rebellion — rebelling for the sake of malice, or in service of yourself, not others. (eg Robin Hood was a good rebel — he fought the system to give to the poor, not to line his own pockets). Audacity — ignoring the reality of your own limits, or the reality of the world, and being reckless. Obsession — can lead to extreme overwork and stress. It can also terrify others with your unrealistic expectations. Hot blooded — rage or flying off the handle for no good reason, and in a really unproductive way, that becomes dangerous for yourself and those around you. Using this as an excuse for inexcusable behaviour. Weird — doing it for the sake of being weird, and alienating yourself from others in the meantime. This will likely muddy your message, rather than actually making it clearer, or attract others. Hypnotic — manipulating for your own ends, and using the influence you can have over others for negative reasons. Emotional — not being able to regulate those emotions, resulting in high levels of heartbreak, being thin-skinned, and maybe naive in the process.

Big idea #3 — The virtues alone won’t do it

If you’re reading this and you’re taking these boxes, you might be feeling great. However, possessing the virtues alone is useless if they’re laying dormant.

If you’re not putting them to good use and channeling them into something useful (or worse, using them destructively) then you might as well not have them.

You might also fall into the trap of thinking you need to be loud, expressive and extroverted to use these virtues, and do something amazing. However, that’s not true. There’s plenty of examples in the book who have people who have quietly used those virtues to make a huge impact. People like Rosa Parks, who had a huge impact in the civil rights movement, by not getting up from her seat on a bus, and leveraging all of these virtues in the process, to create real change.

So the virtues alone won’t do it. Go and be exceptional.“Ultimately there’s more to being exceptional than wanting to be.”

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Something different this week on the podcast.⁠ ⁠ I've had a lot of conversations recently with leaders who are struggling to adapt to hybrid working, who are facing challenges in their teams, or who are just feeling overwhelmed.⁠ ⁠ So this week on Steph's Business Bookshelf, I'm sharing three essential books for leaders to read (yes, it was a tough list to whittle down to three).⁠ ⁠ The three are...⁠ ⁠1) Dare to Lead by Brené Brown⁠ 2) The Coaching Habit and The Advice Trap by Michael Bungay Stanier⁠ 3) The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni⁠ ⁠ Yes, I know that's four books. As usual, my podcast, my rules 😉⁠

Listen to me discuss these books in more detail:

Dare to Lead

The Coaching Habit

The Advice Trap

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

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ABOUT THE BOOK

As high-achievers, we’ve been conditioned to believe that the path to success is paved with relentless work. That if we want to overachieve, we have to overexert, overthink, and overdo. That if we aren’t perpetually exhausted, we’re not doing enough. Getting ahead doesn’t have to be as hard as we make it. No matter what challenges or obstacles we face, there is a better way: instead of pushing ourselves harder, we can find an easier path. Effortless offers actionable advice for making the most essential activities the easiest ones, so you can achieve the results you want, without burning out.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Greg McKeown has dedicated his career to discovering why some people and teams break through to the next level — and others don’t.

The definitive treatment of this issue is addressed in McKeown’s New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. As well as frequently being the #1 Time Management book on Amazon, this book challenges core assumptions about achievement to get to the essence of what really drives success.

His writing has appeared or been covered by The New York Times, Fast Company, Fortune, HuffPost, Politico, and Inc. Magazine.

Originally from London, England, McKeown now lives in Calabasas, California with his wife, Anna, and their four children. He did his graduate work at Stanford University.

Source: https://gregmckeown.com/

Big idea #1 — Effortless State

This is essentially the mindset of effortlessness. And the being of effortlessness; always asking the question, ‘how could this be easy’? Or even taking it further, as Greg does in chapter two, with the question of ‘how could this be fun?’.

It’s averting the hurried and distracted and everything-worth-doing-must-be-hard approach to life that we get trapped in. And instead being rested, at peace and focused.

The book has a whole section on rest and recovery. And the rule of rest is to never do more than you can recover from in that day or that week. So you should never do more in a day than you can recover from in a day, and never do more in a week that you, then you can recover from that week.

This way you achieve sustained effort and consistency, which can be maintained, rather than big sprints, followed by burn out; running hard and then collapsing in a heap, running really hard again and collapsing in another heap. (Admit it, you’ve done it too).

This approach might mean stopping while you’ve still got gas in the tank, rather than going to failure every single time. So you’ll need to stop pulling all nighters and instead, stop work at a sensible time each day, which means you can do good work again the next day, and the next day, rather than needing several days to recover.

Big idea #2 — Effortless action

Effortless action is accomplishing more by trying less.

It’s taking those first steps towards whatever it is you’re trying to do, reducing inevitable procrastination and overthinking. The elements of effortless action are defining what needs to happen, and what tiny step needs to happen next. Because we can’t eat the proverbial elephant all at once, we need to take a first little bite.

We can then simplify, and think about what could you not do. The simplest steps, or the easiest steps, are the ones you don’t need to take. So start from zero; how could we take out as many steps as possible from this process? There’s some good UX and UI examples of this idea in the book.

Next we need to think about how to keep moving and make progress. In the book is the concept of the ‘zero draft’. It’s not even a first draft, it’s a zero draft, it doesn’t count, it is a messy, terrible, rubbish dump of ideas that you write down. It doesn’t even have to be coherent. But by doing this you’ve starting some progress, which in turn helps you to move forward.

Big idea #3 — Effortless results

This is the ability to achieve and replicate effortless results again and again, through some kind of consistent and maintainable systems.

The elements of effortless results include learning; with real focus on learning principles or mindsets and mental models that allow you to make easy decisions over and over again, without having to over analyze everything every single time.

The next element is lift, using leverage such as teaching to accelerate your own learning, but also spread knowledge so others can help you achieve the results, or help them achieve their results.

The next element is automation, freeing up your brain space and time by using the tools available such as automated transfers to savings accounts, food preparation or delivery, or even your toilet paper subscriptions. Something that you just don’t want (or need) to think about doing every time it needs doing.

Next is trust, which Greg talks about as the ‘oil for frictionless relationships’. And then finally in effortless results is prevention. Investing time, maybe some money, up front to avoid something happening later. Especially if that could happen over and over again.

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About the book

The unauthorized story of lululemon. This is a book about ordinary people who took an opportunity to be creative, to be innovative, and to maximize their potential.

Chip Wilson's part in this story comes from the learnings of thousands of mistakes. He set the culture, business model, quality platform, people development program and then got out of the way. Lululemon's exponential growth, culture, and brand strength has few peers and it is because of those who employees who choose to be great. This book is also about missed opportunity - five years of missed opportunity. Chip was playing to win, while the directors of the company he founded were playing not to lose.

About the author

Chip Wilson is an entrepreneur, philanthropist, loving husband and a father to five boys. As the founder of Westbeach and yoga-inspired clothing company lululemon athletica, Chip is a globally recognized innovator in the field of technical apparel. He is widely credited with starting the "athleisure" retail category, now a $100-billion-a year global business.

At lululemon, Chip was known for his people-before-product leadership approach. He surrounded himself with like-minded individuals; creative, driven, athletic locals with a love for work-life balance inspired by the West Coast. This cohesive culture fueled the innovation and growth of the brand. In 2007, lululemon athletica was taken public and Chip remains its largest individual shareholder and biggest cheerleader.

Source: amazon.com

Big idea #1 - See into the future

A recurring strength of Chip’s was his ability to spot a trend a few years off. And not just a spot, a trend, but to do something about it.

From the move towards baggy shorts for skateboarders, the move to snowboarding from skiing, and the attraction of a different audience with different aesthetic wants, through to a huge movement of yoga and mindfulness, and more technical active wear (or ‘athleisure’ wear) for women.

He also saw where those trends were coming from largely from California, so he built connections there, first by supplying those brands into Canada and by by spending time there to better observe and get a feel for what was happening in the particular scenes and subcultures. He was then able to bring these into Canada, knowing that it was only really a matter of time until those trends started to move up north.

This ability to see trends in advance, allowed Chip to get ready, get ahead, think deeply, and try things out in the meantime. You can see this in his ‘slow build’ approach – he started slow, particularly with Lululemon, really taking the time to build himself into the community of the demographic that he was looking to attract. By going to yoga himself, spending more time with yogis, and finding out what it was that they wanted and really putting them at the heart of the business and the products.

When he had his Westbeach brand and was designing the snowboarding technical apparel, he again, was spending time with the people in that scene to understand them. This was central to his ability to see into the future, hearing what they would want and being able to then extrapolate that into a business.

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Big idea #2 – Be different on purpose

Almost everything about Chip’s businesses had strong purpose, and this made it very clear who it was for (almost to a cult-like effect in Lululemon) and also who it wasn't for.

His principles and purpose were clear even early on at Westbeach, he would stop people coming into the store who were smoking. In the eighties, this was quite a big deal because everyone was smoking at the time, but he knew it was not a habit he wanted his brand associated with so wouldn't let people who were smoking into his store.

This strength of purpose was also behind the genesis of the bags, the famous Lululemon store bags with their manifesto written all over them. These bags themselves became quite a cult item, and people would use them to take that lunch in or use in their everyday lives, not just to carry their Lululemon goods home from the shop. The words / mantras printed on the bags resonated with the ‘super girl’ market that Lululemon was designed for, showing how much the values of the brand resonated.

Purpose also came to life in their technical attire, with an intense focus on quality and details. Women's active wear was a pretty sorry offering in the 90s/00s. Nasty see-through leggings made of cotton, not particularly sweat-proof, and probably a baggy t-shirt, which wasn’t always the most practical for activities like yoga. Typically, men's sportswear had a lot more on offer with a lot more technical elements, and generally was much more fit for purpose. By focusing on their demographics and knowing that there was a better way, meant they could offer something that hadn’t been seen before.

And finally, in the business itself there were differences. They offered yoga in the Lululemeon stores, you didn't see Nike or Adidas doing something similar. They also used an education model in the stores for assistants; they weren't called shop assistants / sales assistants, they were called educators, they had a huge amount of autonomy. The store managers had control over the window dressing, store layout, events, and local yoga/wellbeing community engagement.

The vertical business model and owning their own manufacturing were unheard of in the industry at that point, but they did it, which allowed them to keep both control and ultimately more margin, because they weren't giving money away to suppliers or third parties.

Interestingly, it was a lot of these purpose-led elements of the business and culture that really slipped as private equity took ownership of the business after the IPO. Lululemon were no longer allowed to be as controversial or bold in their ad campaigns, the quality slipped as the focus turned to profit and preservation rather than quality and innovation.

Big idea #3 – Fail, learn, repeat

Chip is pretty open in the book about his failures, there's actually whole specific sections dedicated to the various failings and learnings that he had, in particular around the IPO process and experience. And also lessons from Kit and Ace, the business he started with his family after Lululemon. Many of these lessons are around structure and governance. There's a few themes, largely around control and structure, which recur throughout the book.

There's also great examples in the book of fail, learn, repeat in the constant innovation and improvement in their thinking. They were taking the offcuts of the pants and turning them into the headbands and other little accessories that you can also buy in Lululemon. Chip was constantly asking himself ‘if I was to compete against Lululemon, what would I do?’ and looking around at the competition, to see where the opportunities to do something different were.

Chip was very focused on personal development, and an ongoing quest to avoiding mediocrity. He was allergic to the idea of living an average life, or doing an ‘ok’ job, and he really wanted to avoid that slipping into the company. He put everyone through the Landmark course (which is somewhat controversial in itself) which certainly at the time was a huge investment to put all of his management team through it. But it allowed them to have a common language and common expectation of the level which Lululemon operated on.

Again, this is something that changed after the IPO. Chip describes this as the difference between the wanting to win, and wanting not to lose, mentality. When Chip was running the business it was very much around being the best and going out and doing things differently, being a bit controversial at times, in order to make a mark. Whereas the private equity management wanted more of a preservation state. ‘The PR machine’ controlled what could and couldn’t be said (eg Chip’s views on Coke or Pepsi) and they played not to lose; playing it safe rather than doing the things that led to Lululemon's success in the first place, and why they appealed to the people that they did.

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About the author

Cal is a computer science professor at Georgetown University. In addition to my academic research, he writes about the intersection of digital technology and culture. Cal is particularly interested in our struggle to deploy these tools in ways that support instead of subvert the things we care about in both our personal and professional lives.

He’s a New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including, most recently, A World Without Email, Digital Minimalism, and Deep Work. He’s also the creator of The Time-Block Planner.

Cal’s books have been published in over 35 languages and has been featured in many major publications, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New Yorker, Washington Post, and Economist and has a long-running blog Study Hacks.

Source: https://www.calnewport.com/about/

About the book

Modern knowledge workers communicate constantly. Their days are defined by a relentless barrage of incoming messages and back-and-forth digital conversations–a state of constant, anxious chatter in which nobody can disconnect, and so nobody has the cognitive bandwidth to perform substantive work. The “hyperactive hive mind” workflow has become a productivity disaster, reducing profitability and perhaps even slowing overall economic growth. Equally worrisome, it makes us miserable. Humans are simply not wired for constant digital communication.

The knowledge sector’s evolution beyond the hyperactive hive mind is inevitable. The question is not whether a world without email is coming (it is), but whether you’ll be ahead of this trend. If you’re a CEO seeking a competitive edge, an entrepreneur convinced your productivity could be higher, or an employee exhausted by your inbox, A World Without Email will convince you that the time has come for bold changes, and will walk you through exactly how to make them happen.

Source: https://www.calnewport.com/about/

Big idea #1 — The hyperactive hive mind

This is a term that Cal uses throughout the book as the description of the way that most organisations work and are plugged into constantly.

It’s the ongoing conversation, the structured and unstructured messages by email, Slack, Teams, or the many other available channels. They just don’t stop. There’s just a tirade all day of these messages interrupting your ability to work.

Various studies have shown that the average worker is checking their email every six minutes(!) on average. Which increases exhaustion and absolutely decreases efficiency.

There’s some interesting stats in the book around the psychological impact of all these unread messages. It dates back to our prehistoric brain and it triggers a threat of neglected social obligation; that we’ve got others depending on us and we have failed to do what they need us to do. Possibly therefore putting our place of belonging in danger.

In the book, Cal talks about the fact that we are spending more time communicating about tasks than actually doing them. There’s a whole chapter dedicated to how miserable this makes us.

And we often work this way in this hyperactive hive mind, this constant battle of email after email, because counter-intuitively, it’s easier. Especially if everyone else is working the same way. But is it really easier given the cost to our productivity, our quality of work, our happiness, and ultimately our health.

It’s it’s not great, is it?

Big idea #2 — Attention capital

Cal argues that we are where industrial manufacturing was in 1900, just on the cusp of the major shifts happening, that changed everything. The point just before production lines and some of the revolutionary processes that were put into place by companies such as Ford, that changed the face of manufacturing.Most organizations remain stuck in the productivity quicksand of the hyperactive hive, mind, workflow, content to focus on tweaks meant to compensate for its worst excesses.

At the moment, we’re just making tiny little tweaks, maybe introducing a new tool, but we haven’t actually changed the fundamental way that work is done. We are often just replacing one problem with another (ie using Slack instead of email).

Attention capital is creating workflows that optimise the human brain ability to add value to information. Not just to chase our own tails and send and receive more emails.

He says that we need to get serious about how we work and really make the most of that attention capital. We need to understand that we work best sequentially, not simultaneously. Therefore, we need to minimise the constant switching between tasks and projects that inevitably happens when we’re working from our inboxes.

In the book, Cal regularly references Peter Drucker’s work which talks about how knowledge workers need autonomy. Cal adds to this and says that they also need their workflows managed. He splits the work into two elements;

1) work execution, which requires more autonomy and is where knowledge workers use their brains and skills 2) work flow, which is where you need less autonomy, because is is the structure and coordination of the work

He talks about the fact that most organisations have reduced the head count of their support staff and place the responsibilities and tasks back on their knowledge workers. Cal talks about how this has decreased specialisation. You’ve got these specialists knowledge workers, in all different fields and industries, having to also know how to best organise their travel or deal with booking a workshop day, all of which detracts from their ability to do their best work (that they’re likely employed to do). There’s case studies in the book of places who have reversed this and actually increased their support staff head count. They quickly saw productivity and output increase, in a way that offset the cost of employing these extra staff members.

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Big idea #3-Focus on the process

This comes back to the idea of the workflow, rather than the work execution. We need better systems and processes to work to.

There were several examples of companies moving to a more Kanban or card based system (eg Trello or Asana). Set up like notice boards, these systems allow you to focus on one project at a time. The columns might represent projects or different stages of a project. All the information related to that particular task or project is stored in the cards in the board and means that people can just work from there. They can then easily avoid working out of their inbox all the time, being distracted by other projects or messages.

There was a couple of examples in the book of people who have moved to that particular format of working in their organisation. They almost never use email, certainly not internally. They still do use it with suppliers and clients, but all of the information for projects is stored in the boards. So internally they can just go to the board, see progress and ask questions, and they’re not constantly emailing to ask for updates etc because it’s all available for team members to see.

It’s so important to get them the system right, and the communication right. Again, there’s examples in the book of teams using standup meetings. Rather than endless email updates, companies started to do a simple stand up meeting every couple of days for 10 to 15 minutes with the project team. Key questions are asked answered; what’s happening, what you working on today, what problems do you need help with? This saves hours of emails back and forth getting those updates.

You probably have more control to make some of these changes than you think. And it doesn’t always have to be public. For example, you don’t have to put an auto responder on to say ‘I’m only gonna be checking my emails between 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM and then 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM’.

Side note: Cal said that this became popular after the Tim Ferriss’s Four Hour Work Week came out and everyone started doing this, but it put people’s backs up and they tried to find ways around that system, such as calling you, even though the thing might not actually be urgent because they’re just trying to find ways or loopholes around the visible barrier you’ve put up.

If you just did that quietly, started checking your email twice a day, stayed out of your inbox the rest of the time, and had some really good blocks of deep work set up to do your work, people wouldn’t probably even notice. There might be a couple of people who are used to you responding immediately, who it might take them a little bit of getting used to, but it probably won’t be as painful or as difficult as you think it might be.

And there was a point in the book, which I quite enjoyed, that if you’re good at what you do, you’re allowed those kinds of idiosyncrasies. And people probably won’t even bat an eyelid, if they even notice at all.

We certainly shouldn’t be afraid of the inconvenience of change because the benefits of it is so much greater than the way we are working at the moment. You know it’s not working. I know it’s not working. We all know it’s not working, but why are we so resistant to even trying something a little bit different?

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I’m talking about something a little bit different this week, it’s not a book, but an essay. And one that is talked about and referenced regularly on podcasts and in other books.⁠ ⁠ I have quite strong feelings about the fact that more books should be essays. Some of the books I’ve enjoyed the least, would have been very fine essays. But no, they had to go and stretch it beyond its capacity over a mediocre 250 pages.⁠ ⁠ Luckily, Kevin Kelly didn’t do this. He either has more sense, or doesn’t need the money (or both).⁠

You can read the essay right here.

About the Author

Kevin Kelly is Senior Maverick at Wired magazine. He co-founded Wired in 1993, and served as its Executive Editor for its first 7 years. His most recent book is The Inevitable, which is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller. His other books include the best-selling New Rules for the New Economy, the classic Out of Control, and his summary theory of technology in What Technology Wants. From 1984–1990 Kelly was publisher and editor of the Whole Earth Catalogs. He co-founded the Hackers’ Conference, and was involved with the launch of the WELL, a pioneering online service started in 1985. He also founded the popular Cool Tools website in 2003.

Source: https://kk.org/biography

Also check out Kevin’s blog: https://kk.org/thetechnium/

Big idea #1 — You don’t need millions

This is the fundamental idea that you don’t need millions of fans or dollars to do good work and make a living. You just need 1,000 true fans who will pay you say $100 a year for your work, which gives you a very good living of $100,000 per annum.

These are your super fans. They will follow you, buy your books. Maybe they even buy the audio book and the hard back. They’ll come to all your workshops, and they’ll drive a hundred miles to see you perform.

It’s important to note here that it’s easier to reach or sell to your existing fans, and give them something new, than to find new fans. Of course, you will also have ‘other’ fans who may pay you for your work, but probably less consistently.

The numbers aren’t absolute, there’s plenty of examples in the essay where the dollars maybe go up, if you can make more than a hundred dollars profit per fan, and therefore the number of fans go down and vice versa. And if you know that you have an expensive lifestyle and you need $500,000 a year to live on, then you would of course need to redo the maths and work out the numbers based on what you need and what you charge for your work.

Big idea #2 — Go direct

This essay was originally written in 2008 (back in the dark ages) before lots of the current social media, websites and tools were available, Kevin has updated the essay relatively recently, which is most relevant to going direct to your fans.

Kevin says you need to hold the relationship directly with your fans, cut out the middle person of the old models of publishing or stores or labels etc. This is even easier today, and we’re seeing this in everything from music, or book distribution through to beds. Many of the old model intermediaries didn’t have the richness of audience data and relationships that most creators do today.

You’ve also got new funding models, for example, Kickstarter. Interestingly, the average Kickstarter campaign gets 241 backers in order to be fully funded, which is a lot less than 1,000 true fans. We’ve also got things like Patreon and even more recently, NFTs (non fungible tokens) which are making creators and artists serious money through the way of distributing the ownership of art.

The internet has also meant that more obscure needs can be met for both the creator and the consumer, and matched in a way that wouldn’t have been possible even just 20 years ago.

Big idea #3 — The magic in the long tail

You may have heard of the long tale in the context of sales numbers for a company, or from an aggregator like Amazon. You’ve got the head, which if you imagined the bar graph of sales, will probably be a small number of big, chunky lines that go up the left hand side. And then the tail, which is everything else. It comes back to the 80/20 rule; 20% of the products might create 80% of the sales.

Companies often talk about ‘chopping off the tail’ because maybe the return on the investment isn’t quite there. You might as well put more effort into the top selling products or services. However, this tail is where the magic is for creators, as the area of the tale is often the same or greater than the area of the head, it’s just more distributed.

This means that there is more to go around, and you can spread those sales across a lot more people. This is where those more obscure needs and tastes will create tiny, profitable, niches for you to find your 1,000 true fans.

It’s worth mentioning that this is not binary. You don’t ‘do the 1,000 true fan thing’ or not. You can mix and match; maybe 50% of your work is funded by the 1,000 true fans with a direct to consumer relationship. But you might also write a book through traditional publisher.

And Kevin Kelly shares his own examples of this, where he has self published some work, but he’s also done some books through traditional publishers. He’s crowdfunded projects, but he’s also had projects sponsored. It’s a case of choosing the best approach for your project and fan base.

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About the book

At last, a book that shows you how to build—design—a life you can thrive in, at any age or stage

Designers create worlds and solve problems using design thinking. Look around your office or home–at the tablet or smartphone you may be holding or the chair you are sitting in. Everything in our lives was designed by someone. And every design starts with a problem that a designer or team of designers seeks to solve.

In this book, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans show us how design thinking can help us create a life that is both meaningful and fulfilling, regardless of who or where we are, what we do or have done for a living, or how young or old we are. The same design thinking responsible for amazing technology, products, and spaces can be used to design and build your career and your life, a life of fulfillment and joy, constantly creative and productive, one that always holds the possibility of surprise.

https://designingyour.life/

About the authors

Bill Burnett is the Executive Director of the Design Program at Stanford. He directs the undergraduate and graduate program in design at Stanford, both interdepartmental programs between the Mechanical Engineering department and the Art department.

He got his BS and MS in Product Design at Stanford and has worked professionally on a wide variety of projects ranging from award-winning Apple PowerBooks to the original Hasbro Star Wars action figures. He holds a number of mechanical and design patents, and design awards for a variety of products including the first “slate” computer. In addition to his duties at Stanford, he is a on the Board of VOZ (pronounced “VAWS – it means voice in Spanish) a social responsible high fashion startup and advises several Internet start-up companies.

Dave Evans is a Lecturer, Product Design Program at Stanford, Management Consultant, and co-founder of Electronic Arts.Having participated in forming the corporate cultures at Apple and EA, Dave decided his best work was in helping organizations build creative environments where people could do great work and love doing it. So he went out on his own; working with start-up teams, corporate executives, non-profit leaders, and countless young adults. They were all asking the same question. “What should I do with my life?” Helping people get traction on that question finally took Dave to Cal and Stanford and continues to be his life’s work.

https://designingyour.life/about/

Big idea #1 - You have multiple options

This is one of my favourite ideas in the book, and it is the myth-buster of the assumption that there's only one right thing or one right path for us to take, or thing for us to do.

The reframe they use in the book is that there isn't just one solution and that's actually a good thing. They ask the question or reframe the question from “what do you want to be when you grow up” into “what, or who, do you want to grow into?”. The very important point is that this is not about a destination, it's about the journey.

Your life is not a thing, it is an experience. The fun that comes from designing and enjoying the experience.

Once you design something, it creates multiple different futures. And overall, it's about creating a portfolio of opportunities that you can take and explore, and test, and try, and prototype, and then maybe take into action.

One of my favourite exercises in the book (and one that caused a good conversation over dinner with myself and my boyfriend) is one where you create multiple different realities, or odysseys, for the next five years of your life.

They give three prompts for these potential odysseys: Expanding your current reality: maybe you are still doing what you're doing, but you are doing it in a more senior position or in a different company or in a different country. Or maybe you're doing what you're doing now, but you've achieved something else. You’ve entered the Ironman that you've always wanted to do, or you have travelled to Antarctica. Is what your reality would be if the thing you do doesn't exist anymore. Your industry suddenly disappears, what do you do instead? Money is no object. You’ve got all the money you need, what would your reality look like? What would you do? What would you not do?

I think the most important part for this exercise, and for each of these realities you come up with, is what questions does it raise for you?

Big idea #2 - No passion required.

You might already know that I'm a big fan of ignoring this whole passion rhetoric that goes around in the world, so I especially enjoyed this idea in the book.

Dave and Bill say that passion takes time to develop. It's an output, not an input to life design. Many people have multiple passions. So how do you start to build a life around passion (based on what we’re told we have to do) if you have multiple passions? And just because you have a passion doesn't mean you should actually do it as your job.

Equally many people don't know what their passion is, and particularly younger people. So asking these young people, who are maybe only just finishing their studies and haven’t experienced much in life yet, what their passion is and that they should follow that, is not a useful question.

The passion advice is unhelpful at best and harmful at worst.

Bill and Dave say that you should find your passion through doing; through trying, experimenting, failing, and learning along the way. You don't need to know what your passion is in order to make a first step, or to take a small action in a direction and to see what happens.

Big idea #3 - Try it on (aka Grok it)

It'd be very easy to overanalyse everything if you feel stuck, and look for more and more and more information. But that likely won't help you beyond a certain point. Instead, they say, you need to Grok it.

Quick definition: Grok, in case you're wondering, comes from the 1960s, sci-fi classic, Stranger in a Strange Land. It's used to describe a way of knowing that martians/aliens used, and it actually means to understand something so deeply and completely so much so that you feel that you've become one with it. This has entered more common parlance and ‘I grok that’ is similar to, ‘I get that’, but much deeper than that.

So, to really understand our potential realities or possible decisions (as in big idea #1), we need to try on (or grok) our realities. To act as if we've made that decision, without any commitment.

In the book they talk about living for one to three days as if you’ve made a decision, to see how it feels. You go about your daily life, knowing that you've made a particular decision. Maybe it's that you want to move to New York, you want to change career and become a photographer.

Either way, you walk around for a couple of days to see how it feels to ‘try on’ a decision. You don't have to tell other people about it, but when you're cleaning your teeth in the morning, you think, yep. I'm going to be a photographer. I'm going to quit my job, and I'm going to become a photographer.

Just see how it feels. The idea of this is to use all of the different knowledge we have in our body and in our brain. To help us make a decision through feeling, because it's probably not just something we can only think about. We need to feel it. It's therefore important that we're not living as ourselves thinking about those options or that decision, but as a person who's already made that decision, there's a bit of a subtle nuance there.

You do this for all of the different options, a couple of days at a time, but you do a little bit of a reset in between each of them. You can test the different emotions that are revealed, and see what might need tweaking (or abandoning, or levelling up) from each of the options as you try them on.

I think this is such a fun way of getting to do a little bit of play pretend. You might even start looking into different things, just to see how that feels as well. You might then start researching where you might live in New York, because you've made that decision in your mind. You don't necessarily commit to anything, but you act as if you've made the decision and that that is what you're going to do.

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In this episode I mention a podcast which I've recently recorded with my friend Shane Hatton, all about learning. You can find the links to listen to it here, or search Phone Calls with Clever People on your podcast player.

About the book

What if everything you did was your choice, including how you spend your time, how much money you make, with whom you have relationships, and only doing work that aligns with your purpose?

Sound hard? It’s as simple as changing the core question you ask yourself.

When you want to accomplish something, stop asking, “How can I do this?”

Legendary entrepreneur coach Dan Sullivan teaches you to ask instead, “Who can do this for me?”

This question at the heart of the Who Not How philosophy may seem simple, but don’t let the lack of complexity fool you. By mastering Who Not How, you will quickly learn how billionaires and successful entrepreneurs like Dan build incredible businesses and personal freedom, along with massive success.

About the authors

Dan Sullivan is the world’s foremost expert on entrepreneurship and has coached more successful entrepreneurs than anyone on the planet. He is the co-founder of Strategic Coach®, the leading entrepreneurial coaching program in the world, and author of more than 50 publications on entrepreneurial success. Over the past 30+ years, Strategic Coach has provided teaching and training to more than 20,000 entrepreneurs.

Dr. Benjamin Hardy is an organizational psychologist and best-selling author of Willpower Doesn’t Work and Personality Isn’t Permanent. His blogs have been read by more than 100 million people and are featured on Forbes, Fortune, CNBC, Cheddar, Big Think, and many others. He is a regular contributor to Inc. and Psychology Today and from 2015 to 2018, he was the #1 writer—in the world—on Medium.com.

https://whonothow.com/

Big Idea #1 - Who not how

Essentially, this is a book about delegation. Most of us, when faced with a challenge, ask ourselves, how will I do this? Whether it's fixing our website planning meals for the week or booking a trip. But instead of asking how we should really be asking who. Because there is likely someone out there who can do it better, faster with less stress, more scale, and potentially cheaper, than we could do it ourselves.

This book itself is actually a who not how project. Benjamin Hardy saw Dan Sullivan speak about this concept at an event and Benjamin decided he wanted to write the book on it. He asked Dan and Dan let him.

Having this mindset of who not, how, as a default, allows you to create bigger things than you could do alone and focus on doing other things, which are maybe the things that you are better at.

Ultimately, it comes down to putting results above effort and working on tasks where you can get the better outcome, rather than necessarily where you can put the most effort in.

Big idea #2 - Let the who do the how

For this to work, you need to let the who do the how. That's why they're there in the first place. You need to get out of their way and give them permission to do what it is that they do best.

Your role in the relationship is to set the vision. Dan actually uses something called an ‘impact filter’, this document covers why the particular project or the task is important, what the success criteria would look like, what's at stake, and what could go wrong or any potential problems that might come up.

The book suggests looking at your goals for the next 90 days and running a ‘who audit’ over them. Ask yourself who can help you achieve those goals? You could even do this on a weekly, or even a daily basis, using your to-do list and asking yourself who can help you.

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Big idea #3 - Freedom

Freedom is one of the core ideas in the book. The book is structured around the four types of freedom you can access when you use this, who not how approach.

The four types of freedom are;

Time - if you're not doing something you free up your time to do other things.

Money - yes, finding someone else to do those particular things might cost you money but you’re entering a different value exchange, as you’ll free up your time to create more money by focusing on higher value activities

Relationship - you can create transformational relationships by being a who to other people, as well and finding good who's for yourself. You can then foster those relationships so that everyone ends up doing the work that is most valuable to them and allows them to operate at their best.

Purpose - this allows you to do the bigger things you might want to do in life that maybe won't happen otherwise, because you don't have the skills or the time or the resources to do it.

There was a great example of freedom of purpose in the book. A lady called Karen wanted to write her grandmother's biography. This was something that had been on her life to do list for a long time. Her grandmother was an important civil rights activist in the 1920s and actually helped get certain segregation laws changed in the USA. For Karen, this was a really important and very personal project.

Karen had started the book, had written some pages but had realised that writing a biography is almost like a full-time job in itself to do it well, especially if you are not an accomplished biographer. Karen had her own very busy job and therefore this biography wasn’t going very far, very fast.

Funnily enough, Karen was approached by another person who also wanted to research and write a book about Karen's grandmother. This person was researching African-American civil rights activists and had come across Karen's grandmother's details and wanted Karen's help in writing the book.

Karen's initial response was one of threat. She wanted to the one to write the book about her grandmother, and saw this other woman as competition. However, after conversation with Benjamin, Karen realised that a collaboration with this biographer could actually mean the book got written. And likely to a higher quality, because the other person was an accomplished biographer and had published books previously. She realised that the purpose was sharing her grandmother’s story, not writing the book herself.

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About the book

Getting rich is not just about luck; happiness is not just a trait we are born with. These aspirations may seem out of reach, but building wealth and being happy are skills we can learn.

So what are these skills, and how do we learn them? What are the principles that should guide our efforts? What does progress really look like?

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant is a collection of Naval’s wisdom and experience from the last ten years, shared as a curation of his most insightful interviews and poignant reflections. This isn’t a how-to book, or a step-by-step gimmick. Instead, through Naval’s own words, you will learn how to walk your own unique path toward a happier, wealthier life.

Sources, links and more information: https://www.navalmanack.com/

About the Authors Naval Ravikant is an entrepreneur and Investor. He is founder of Angellist, Epinions, and Vast.com He is an Angel investor in Twitter, Uber, Yammer, and 100+ more. Naval has become widely followed for his thoughts on startups, investing, crypto, wealth, and happiness.

Eric Jorgenson is the author of the book. He’s a product Strategist at Zaarly and writer. His business blog, Evergreen, has educated and entertained more than one million readers since 2014. He is also on a quest to create—and eat—the perfect sandwich.

Big idea #1 - Develop mental models

These are your foundation. And this foundation is critical. Naval describes mental models as compact ways to recall your own knowledge and having those solid fundamental truths will allow you to think more clearly, make fewer decisions and therefore act faster. These can be in all different domains; it could be wealth and happiness or health or work or time, whatever it happens to be. But you might have some that actually are fundamental across almost any domain.

Side note: wealth is very different to being rich. This is defined in the book.

The best way to build mental models is to read, especially from some of the baseline ideas such as science, maths, and philosophy. Particularly science and maths, where there’s generally a true or false, or basic fundamentals such as the laws of physics, etc. And yes, of course there's still things we don't know, but findings the underlying mental models means that you're going to have high quality ideas as a starting point and a solid foundation to build on.

Naval actually goes as far as to recommend an hour a day of reading on those particular topics, particularly science, maths, and philosophy. But also says that you should read what you love until you love to read, if you don’t already have a reading habit.

The book is filled with these mental models and principles that Naval uses. One of them for example, is that if you can't decide, the answer is no. (Note, this reminds me of Derek Sivers’ work of ‘hell yeah or no’). Similarly, he says, if you can't split between two different decisions, you should take one with the most short-term pain on the basis that things with short-term pain are probably going to have greater long-term benefits. Having that mental model of ‘greater short-term pain = greater long-term benefits’ means that it helps him make decisions faster when he's trying to pick between two different things. You can then overlay this with other basic principles such as compound interest or evolution, and you've then got momentum to start making decisions in a much faster, clearer, and more rational way.

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Big idea #2 - find your leverage

This runs across the two main topics in the book of wealth and happiness. One of the key ideas he talks about is time. He talks about time in the sense of wealth, and how you're using time to build wealth, and happiness, by having control of your time.

So leveraging your time, your brain power, your effort, and essentially working smarte, is the key to wealth and happiness. He says the year he became the most wealthy, he worked the least. This is because he had got to the point where he could maximise his leverage, and he had learned what he needed to leverage to do so.

But, what should you leverage for the greatest gains, and how that has changed from previous generations? For Warren buffet, for example, capital was where you could find maximum leverage. But now it's things like code and media and attention. Naval says that this comes down to ‘learning to sell or learning to build’. You need to be able to do one or the other, and if you can do both, that is amazing.

With that in mind, he talks about the idea of ‘earning with your mind, not with your time’. So not just trading hours for time, because that does have a ceiling, but the more you can earn with your mind in and reach multiple different people asynchronously, the better.

And yes, unsurprisingly, he believes that 40hour work weeks are a relic of the industrial revolution times and need to be left where they belong.

There is an important point that underlines all of this. He says that no one is going to value you more than you value yourself… which is a useful reminder.

Big idea #3 - embrace death

There is an overwhelming sense of calm perspective in this book and in Naval’s writing. He comes across like someone who has found what works and is just having fun, living life, learning, reflecting, and repeating.

Fittingly, at the end of the book, there is a section on acceptance, especially being able to accept the things you can't change (very relevant and useful right now). And a particular, a piece on embracing death.

This is all right before the section of the book about taking responsibility for yourself and your own actions and own happiness, so it’s interesting how accepting death, or accepting things you can’t control, will help you take more responsibility.

“You're going to die one day. And none of this is going to matter. So enjoy yourself.”

It’s a great way of looking at life more generally, but also particularly at work, because we often do take it a little bit too seriously, don't we? But actually, so little of that is going to matter, and that fact should free us, rather than depress us. Because maybe we can have a bit more fun and maybe there is less risk in failing than we think, because none of it's going to really matter.

(I mean, don't do anything really bad, just take things less seriously).

Naval is only 47, so it's not like he's coming at this with 90 years or 100 years behind him. I think that is quite inspiring, that you can find that level of acceptance and peace and ability to have fun and enjoy things, without necessarily having lived your whole life to have that perspective.

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HEY! It's the Easter long weekend so I'm enjoying a short break and sharing this popular episode from the back catalogue that you may have missed. It's also one of the books I've shared the most over the last ten years - The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris. Enjoy...

About the author

Russ Harris is a doctor, therapist, father, trainer of health professionals, and author of The Happiness Trap (plus eight other books).

Russ started his career as a newly-graduated doctor back in 1989, and soon discovered that most of his patients were expressing a significant degree of dissatisfaction in life; stress, anxiety and unhappiness were widespread. He strongly related to their struggles, because he was experiencing something similar.

He just couldn’t understand why he felt this way. Russ had achieved all the goals that society says tells us will make us feel happy. But it wasn’t working. And he wanted to know why. One thing was for sure, simplistic stories that it was all due to an unhappy childhood or too much negative thinking or a chemical imbalance in the brain were definitely not the answer.

So Russ set off on a journey to find out a) what makes people unhappy, and b) far more importantly, what creates genuine and lasting happiness. That journey took him down a lot of blind alleys and dead ends. But eventually, it lead him to ACT – Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

Source: https://thehappinesstrap.com/my-story/

About the book

Russ Harris explains that the way most of us go about trying to find happiness ends up making us miserable, driving the epidemics of stress, anxiety, and depression. This empowering book presents the insights and techniques of ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) a revolutionary new psychotherapy based on cutting-edge research in behavioural psychology. By clarifying your values and developing mindfulness (a technique for living fully in the present moment), ACT helps you escape the happiness trap and find true satisfaction in life. The techniques presented in The Happiness Trap will help you to: Reduce stress and worry Handle painful feelings and thoughts more effectively • Break self-defeating habits Overcome insecurity and self-doubt Create a rich, full, and meaningful life

Source: https://www.amazon.com/

Links

Videos, articles, 8 week course and more from Russ here: https://thehappinesstrap.com/

Liked this one? You might also like the Courage to be Disliked or Everything is F *cked episodes of Steph’s Business Bookshelf.

BIG IDEA 1 (6:37) – Happiness is not the goal.

In the book, Russ dispels some myths we have, one of them being that happiness should be our default or natural state. This makes people think that if you’re not feeling happy then you must be defective and therefore to create a positive life you need to reduce any negative feelings.

All of these things result in a vicious cycle, because if you’re not happy, you feel defective which makes you even less happy. These stems from thinking that happiness is the natural state that we should all be aiming for.

Another myth is that belief that we should all be controlling our feelings, which shouldn’t be the case as that often works against us in practice (see big idea #2).

There’s also an argument in the book against positive psychology; about telling ourselves all the positive things all the time and lots of positive affirmations. This takes a lot of energy and distracts us from what we are really trying to achieve and makes us less present.

Once we realise that happiness is not the goal, we will save ourselves a lot of time, energy and angst which we can spend on other things.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:19) – Control is not the answer.

Control is okay in some situations but not when used excessively or in a situation where it won’t work, because it will stop you from doing what you value. When we try and control our feelings too much, eventually it will all come out… and probably in a fairly unproductive way.

It also distracts us and does not solve anything. Trying to control our feelings, telling ourselves other stories instead, trying to rewrite stories in our head towards scenarios that will make us feel a certain way is not helpful and wastes a lot of energy.

BIG IDEA 3 (10:16) – Change your story to change your mind.

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is all about accepting, seeing and hearing the negative thoughts that pops into your mind. Accepting that a lot of that is a narrative that we have created ourselves. But this isn’t about rewriting a story, simply taking away its power.

Russ gives a lot of methods in the book on how to depower a story / voice; from creating a persona for it to turning it into a song. Some things might not work for you and that’s okay but try some of the suggestions out, adapt them and do what you need to do that makes it stick for you to use it.

Another element of ACT is diffusion which is seeing a story and realizing that it’s not reality. For example, when you feel like you’re failing, understanding you’re just actually making mistakes and learning, which is normal.

The important thing is depowering the story. Questioning, hearing, experiencing, thinking about the work you are doing and ultimately accepting it as part of life but not letting it take over.

Music By: The Future Is Now – Instrumental Version Song by MARLOE.

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A slightly different episode this week as I wrap up the first quarter of 2021 (I know, how did that even happen?!) with a round up of the five best books I've read so far.

Some are new books, some are not new books. But there might be something you haven't read yet.

What have you read so far this year? Let's connect...

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About the book

In Thriving Mind. Dr. Jenny Brockis has draws on deep research and 30+ years of helping people solve persistent and serious problems to provide science-based strategies for overcoming them as well as the habits to help avoid them in the future.

Walking you through common issues, such as loneliness, stress, relationship breakdown, loss of social connection and mental health issues. Dr. shows us that there are practical ways to alleviate or even banish these difficulties. And to reclaim a sense of meaning and vitality, you might not have felt in years.

Whatever your worries, it is important to remember you’re not alone. And that by using the tools and strategies outlined in thriving mind, you can take real scientific steps toward reclaiming your humanity and start doing the things today that will bring a brighter tomorrow.

About the author

Dr. Jenny Brockis is a medical practitioner and board certified lifestyle medicine, physician specializing in brain health and mental performance. She works to inspire others to become the best versions of themselves by translating the findings of the nearest science and positive psychology into simple practical tools that enable people to work smarter. Not harder.

With three decades experience of working with people, she understands that while intentions may be good, changing behaviors is not always easy. As an international speaker trainer and author of three books, including the best selling smarter, sharper thinking. Jenny is frequently sought after, as a commentator in the media and has many articles published in a variety of magazines and journals.

And when she’s not speaking, researching or writing, Dr. Jenny loves to spend her time with her family traveled to new destinations, and continues to challenge her long standing fear of heights.

Source: https://www.drjennybrockis.com/

Big idea 1: the mindful keys to happiness

The first part of the book is dedicated to happiness. And much of it is actually internal to you.

It comes from having a strong sense of purpose of practicing gratitude of having humor, practicing mindfulness, a healthy, positive mindset, and from helping others.

It’s an important reminder when you read that particular part of the book around happiness, that the context is around burnout. Jenny talks a lot about her personal experience with burnout, which drove her to end up having her “gap year”, as she calls it. Most of this is caused by work. And it is work that often drives us to think that the next promotion, the next pay rise, the next job, the next thing to buy or the next nice holiday, are the answer to happiness. But it is usually short-lived bursts of happiness that come from those more material, external things.

Reading this book shows that really it’s the things that are internal to us, and being able to build practice and habits around those, will give us anti-fragile and resilient happiness, that is able to withstand shocks and external pressure.

Big idea 2; eat, move, play, sleep repeat

In the second section of the book (thriving) you’ll find the brainy benefits of activities like sleep, healthy food and exercise, and why these are performance enhancing habits and not time detractors, just for soft people who can’t cope with life.

Some of the things there in terms of sleep are quite frightening. For example, sleep deprivation increases our risk of, death from, heart disease by 45%.

That’s right. 45%.

And the even more frightening thing is that most studies around sleep, consider fewer than six hours sleep as the threshold for sleep deprivation or prolonged sleep deprivation. So if you’re getting fewer than six hours sleep on a regular basis, yes you’ll have increased heart disease risk, but that comes after it’s already made you less effective in decisions, impacted your memory, made you more dangerous (particularly if you’re driving), more grumpy, less likable and less likely to make healthy choices.

Because sleep deprivation also makes you feel hungrier, and probably hunting for the less nutritious options when you want to satiate that hunger.

Beyond sleep, food, and exercise, Jenny also talks about the importance of things like play, getting into nature and music, and the proven benefits of these on your work and your brain function.

Big idea 3; be more human.

We are wired to connect. We have evolved that way. It is good for us, and it’s sadly often one of the early things to go when we’re feeling tired or stressed or busy, even though we know it will make us feel good.

Building trusting relationships, asking for help, helping others and being part of some kind of community (whether that is with friends, with family or from a broader perspective, whatever that that particular word means to you) not only makes us happier and less susceptible to loneliness, but also can make us more effective.

Empathy is a big part of these particular types of human connection and empathetic leaders and professionals are often rated as more effective. For example, empathetic doctors are actually less likely to be sued.

Now that’s all great, but there is a really important part in this section of the book around humanness, about starting with ourselves. Being kind to ourselves, extending compassion to ourselves and connecting with our own needs and emotions. Because again, stressed and burnt-out people are often not taking good care of themselves.

So whilst the big idea is about being more human. We also need to be more ourselves or be more human with ourselves and be kinder to ourselves as well.

This is a really good reminder, particularly in 2021, when we’re maybe out of the habits of connecting with some people. Maybe there’s some people we haven’t been able to connect with yet because they’re overseas or interstate, or people we’ve just not had the chance (or not made as much effort) to connect with. Whoever those people are, and wherever they are, it’s a wise reminder to reconsider reconnecting.

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[00:00:00] Welcome back to Steph's Business Bookshelf. And this week's episode; the book Think Like a Rocket Scientist by Ozan Varol.

Keep listening to find out why you need to fail more successfully.

Welcome back. I'm your host, Steph Clarke. And as usual, every week. I'll be sharing with you the three big ideas from the best nonfiction books that I've been reading and doing the reading so you don't have to. This week is the book think like a rocket scientist, and I'm going to be sharing with you the three big ideas from this book.

It's pretty cold, rainy weekend here in Naarm/Melbourne. So it's a good weekend to be curled up with the book and recording some podcasts and of course drinking some tea.

If you're doing something similar this weekend, and maybe even looking at buying some new books, I'd love for you to head over to one of my affiliate stores with Bookshop or Book Depository, depending on which country you're in, to stock up on some new books.

It's a great way of [00:01:00] filling up your bookshelves and supporting the podcast at the same time, the links are in the show notes, so you can bookmark those ready for when you are next, stocking up your bookshelf.

All right. Let's get into this week's book. Think like a rocket scientist, a little bit about the book. If you haven't heard of it.

In this book, a former rocket scientist reveals the habits, ideas, and strategies that will empower you to turn the seemingly impossible into the possible.

But fortunately you don't have to be a rocket scientist in order to think like one. In this accessible and practical book, Ozan Varol reveals, nine simple strategies from rocket science that you can use to make your own giant leaps in work and life. Whether it's landing your dream job, accelerating your business, learning a new skill or creating the next breakthrough product.

Today thinking like a rocket scientist is a necessity. We all encounter complex and unfamiliar problems in our lives. And those who can tackle these problems without clear guidelines and with the clock ticking, enjoy an extraordinary advantage.

Think like a rocket scientist will inspire you to take your [00:02:00] own moonshot and enable you to achieve liftoff. Yes, there we go. There was plenty of rocket related puns in that. A little about wasn't that. And that's taken from Ozan's website; ozanvarol.com. There is a link to that in the show notes. One of the things I found particularly helpful on his website is there are some resources that help to summarize the book and the various chapters. So head over there, if you'd like more information.

Now a little bit about the author. Ozan Varol is a rocket scientist, turned award-winning professor and author. A native of Istanbul, Turkey Ozan grew up in a family of no English speakers, he learned English as a second language and moved to the United States by himself at 17 to attend Cornell university and major in astrophysics. Whilst he was there, he served on the operations team for the 2003 Mars exploration rovers project that sent two rovers, spirit and opportunity, to Mars.

He built stuff that then went on to the red planet and wrote code that snaps photos of the Martian surface. He then [00:03:00] pivoted and went to law school. He graduated first in his class, earning the highest grade point average in his law school's history. He's been called a true original by Adam Grant and dubbed a superhero by Daniel Pink.

His work has been described as must read by Susan Cain and featured in the Wall Street Journal Time, BBC, CNN, Washington Post, and more.

And again that was taken from ozanvarol.com. Link is in the show notes.

Alright, let's get into it. The three big ideas I took from the book, think like a rocket scientist by Ozan Varol. Big idea number one is embrace uncertainty. It probably goes without saying, but there is little point trying to do or create something new if you can't take a little bit of uncertainty.

He says in the book that "where certainty ends progress begins". I think that's a great quote. Writing down some of your fears, your uncertainties and the negative outcomes you might think could happen. Doing a bit of a pre-mortem can really help take the edge off of these uncertainties or the things you're worried about. And it also helps you prioritize them. And he talks about [00:04:00] going through this process in various projects that he has worked on.

It also allows you to build in the margins of safety and the redundancies to mitigate some of the risks. And even sometimes to realize that maybe some of them aren't so bad because the results of those things going wrong might not be the end of the world. This extends also into the practice of 'test as you fly and fly as you test', because sometimes it's only through doing, testing and breaking stuff that the uncertainty starts to clear, at least for the next step to take.

He also suggests that you start with multiple hypothesis. And this also helps because it creates multiple potential outcomes and options that you can play with. And in some ways, whilst it creates more options, it can, in some ways also reduce uncertainty because you can think, Oh, okay, well, there's multiple different ways that this could happen or multiple different things and outcomes that could happen. So it gives you more to play with. And in some ways less uncertainty.

That was big idea number one; embrace uncertainty.

Big idea number two is stretch your thinking [00:05:00] and your comfort.

In the book Ozan talks about various different ways that we can stretch our thinking to think more like a rocket scientist. We look for opposites. We look back in history. We test for first principles. We look for alternative uses for existing bits of equipment. We go big. We go small. We play, we find people to disagree with us. Work with new people, change your mind more often and sketch before you create.

The book shares multiple ways to think differently. And some of the activities and intentional things that we can do in order to stretch our thinking and get out of our comfort zone a little bit.

These things, and these approaches have all resulted in people finding something new by, by taking them, testing something out. And obviously that you can do that too. They all require though attention and intention. You can't just be like a rocket scientist without doing any of this stuff. All comes from this as the fundamental mindset and principles of being a rocket scientist is stretching your thinking.

And there's examples where even at places like NASA, they let stuff get in [00:06:00] the way. Things like bureaucracy or being stuck in ways of thinking and how sometimes it was only when someone new joined a team or asked a wild question or made it bigger suggestion, that problems that had existed for a while became unstuck.

One of the things I really enjoyed about the book was the Ozan can share some really different examples of, of thinking like a rocket scientist and be able to share his experience of working on the Mars Rover project and how some of these particular techniques either came to life or were missed and opportunities were missed to think differently, and therefore problems took longer to solve for example.

So I really enjoyed his first person experience of using this on a project that isn't something I was aware of. Yeah, I know that it happened, but was unaware of the behind the scenes stuff. So that was really interesting. So that's big idea. Number two, stretch your thinking and your comfort.

Finally big idea. Number three is fail successfully.

Now, Ozan actually challenges this fail [00:07:00] fast approach that we hear a lot from the tech world, particularly the Silicon Valley tech world. And he says that sometimes this can miss the point of reflection and learning that is required for failure to actually be useful. So it's no use failing fast if you're not actually learning from that failure.

He talks about focusing on the inputs of failure to be able to analyze and make future decisions from that. It's a perfect opportunity to, or perfect prompt for using your curiosity. Similarly, but, but opposite, we should also do the same with success. If it's working, do we actually know why it's working?

It's really easy to fall into the trap of success and thinking, Oh, well, everything's going well. So everything's fine, without actually knowing why that is the case.

And of course it goes to that saying that we need to fail well. We need to tell people about our failures so that they can also learn from them. And we also need to help them to feel comfortable to share their own failures too, and creating that psychological safety in a team or an organization. So that failure is an option and failure is done in a really successful way.

Now, of course, this also links back [00:08:00] to big idea number one about embracing uncertainty. And making sure that you're linking some of the pre-mortems that you're doing with the postmortems potentially of a failure and being able to link the two and see where those assumptions may have been wrong. So coming back to that first principles, thinking to think, well, what did we assume early on and what was right or wrong about that in order to then fail better or fail more successfully and make a better attempt next time.

So that's big idea. Number three, fail successfully.

So there we go, three big ideas from the book think like a rocket scientist, by Ozan Varol. Big idea number one, embrace uncertainty. Big idea number two, stretch your thinking and your comfort. And big idea number three, fail successfully.

Now I quite enjoyed the writing style of this book. It's very accessible. It It's not a particularly heavy read, which is always nice. And it is really useful. I would say that if you have read anything about innovation or more creative thinking, you'll probably find this [00:09:00] book a little basic. So I definitely would recommend it for someone who wants a bit of a one-stop shop on all of the things around creative thinking or thinking differently and innovative thinking. And , the design thinking type process, this would be a great first book for that, if you've not really read anything or learn anything about that before.

But if you're pretty familiar with some of those concepts, I'd say you probably won't learn too much new stuff in here. That said if you're particularly interested in the rocket science elements and Ozan's role in the Mars Rover projects, then yeah, from that perspective, this may be an interesting read for you, but there are probably other books that go into a little bit more depth or more nuanced or different applications of creative or innovative thinking that might be a better next step book for you if you already have some of that information and knowledge already.

So there we go, episode 115. I don't know how we've got that far. That's pretty cool. Isn't it? And the book, think like a rocket scientist. If you enjoyed this episode, I'd love to hear from you as usual. Contact details are all in the show notes. But otherwise until next time. [00:10:00] Happy reading.

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About the book

Your brand is the stories people share about you when you’re not in the room, and it’s these brand stories that determine if people buy from you, employ you, work for you or invest in you. When the stakes are that high, wouldn’t you want to take control of it? In Magnetic Stories, business storytelling expert Gabrielle Dolan reveals how you too can create and share stories that stick.

Learn how to: define and distinguish your brand stand out from the competition implement brand storytelling effectively strengthen your presence online by sharing magnetic stories make your employees and customers your greatest advocates.

In a world of inauthentic brands, Magnetic Stories is a must read for anyone who wants their brand to be relatable, believable and create long-term brand loyalty.

Source: https://gabrielledolan.com/resources/magnetic-stories/

About the author

Gabrielle, prefers to be called Ral – especially by those she has previously met. She is a highly sought-after keynote speaker, educator and author, she is also happily married with two lovely teenage daughters that keep her honest. She has an MBA and has also completed studies at Harvard which is arguably to compensate for when she failed final year English.

It was while working in a senior leadership role at National Australia Bank that she realised the power of storytelling in effective business communication. Since that epiphany, Gabrielle has found her calling as a global thought leader on authentic leadership and business storytelling.

In 2020, her dedication to the industry was recognised when Gabrielle was awarded Communicator of the Year by the International Association of Business Communicators Asia Pacific region. The ultimate expression of her passion for the cause is her Jargon Free Fridays movement jargonfreefridays.com.

Source: https://gabrielledolan.com/about/

Idea 1 – The five types of story

In the book, Ral talks about the five different types of story that most businesses need, these are; Creation: how the business started / the story of the founders Culture: how do you do things and bring your values to life? Customer: showcase your customers, their success and their stories Challenge: how have you responded to any internal/external challenges? Community: how have you contributed to the wider world?

Idea 2 – Find the stories that aren’t stories

Once you’ve defined and identified the types of stories, you need to go and find them. However, most of the time, people won’t even think of these things as stories – more ‘things that have happened’. Therefore, Gabrielle talks about the process for bringing these stories out of hiding. Through a facilitated process, she gathers people from the organisation and asks bigger questions like ‘tell me about a time when…’ or ‘describe how…’. These questions often create a waterfall of great stories from employees. These can then be collected, refined and the themes found and shared.

The process is also powerful for engaging people in the power of stories – especially any sceptics. It can also be an eye opening process when the themes maybe don’t show the values or behaviours you were expecting; potentially revealing a delta between the desired values of the organisation and the real ones.

Idea 3 – Share your stories

Your website, short videos, social media, pitch documents, coffee cups* and packaging are just some of the vehicles you can use to share your stories. However, it should be done in a way that is authentic, and forms part of your brand messaging and voice, not just an ‘add on’ to your comms strategy. It’s critical to have the most senior members of the organisation as part of this approach in order to role model and help it stick. This creates a story culture.

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About the book

Intelligence is usually seen as the ability to think and learn, but in a rapidly changing world, there’s another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and unlearn. In our daily lives, too many of us favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt. We listen to opinions that make us feel good, instead of ideas that make us think hard. We see disagreement as a threat to our egos, rather than an opportunity to learn. We surround ourselves with people who agree with our conclusions, when we should be gravitating toward those who challenge our thought process.

As an organizational psychologist, Adam Grant is an expert on opening other people’s minds–and our own. With bold ideas and rigorous evidence, he investigates how we can embrace the joy of being wrong, harness the surprising advantages of impostor syndrome, bring nuance to charged conversations, and build schools, workplaces, and communities of lifelong learners.

Source: adamgrant.net

About the author

Adam Grant is an organizational psychologist and TED speaker who helps people find meaning and motivation at work.

Adam Grant has been Wharton’s top-rated professor for 7 straight years. As an organizational psychologist, he is a leading expert on how we can find motivation and meaning, and live more generous and creative lives. He has been recognized as one of the world’s 10 most influential management thinkers and Fortune’s 40 under 40.

He is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 5 books that have sold millions of copies and been translated into 35 languages: Give and Take, Originals, Option B, and Power Moves.

Adam is the host of WorkLife, a chart-topping TED original podcast. His TED talks on original thinkers and givers and takers have been viewed more than 25 million times. He has more than 3 million followers on social media and features new insights in his free monthly newsletter, GRANTED.

Source: adamgrant.net

Idea #1 — The prosecutor, the politician and the preacher (aka, be more scientist)

This is not career advice, but advice on how to put your message across. Positioning yourself as a prosecutor (trying to prove the other person wrong), politician (seeking to win over the audience’s approval) or preacher (protecting and promoting our beliefs with sermons) mostly fails to influence anyone, and certainly doesn’t help us open our minds.

Instead, we need to be more scientist in our ways of thinking. Embrace the joy of being wrong and the fact you now know better, remaining constantly aware of the limits of your own knowledge and understanding and being actively open-minded in our pursuit of the truth.

All of this requires an important reframe of our identity: identifying ourselves by our values, rather than our beliefs. Loosening our grip on our beliefs and untangling them from our identity allows us to observe them more objectively, challenge them and change them, without feeling like we’ve fundamentally departed from who we are.

Idea #2 — Ask better questions

Asking people how, rather than why, is a great way of unlocking limitations of their understanding. When people describe why they believe something (especially when it’s on the extreme), they often commit even more to that belief. By asking them how they would operationalise their views, they will likely quickly realise the limitations of the extremes and start to tame their views. Asking how they originally formed an opinion is also a useful tool.

Adam talks about the idea of being a ‘logic bully’, or assaulting people with cold, hard, rational facts. We’ve likely all had situations where we’ve tried this and know that it doesn’t work to change anyone’s mind (usually it makes them resist and hold onto their views even tighter. Before peppering someone with the evidence, ask them the question ‘what evidence would change your mind’.

Idea #3 — Rethink your life

It’s so easy to get sucked into the tunnel vision of life, wrapping our identity in decisions made in a different time and context — especially with our profession. From a young age, we’re asked ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’ and our careers turn into something we ‘be’ rather than something we ‘do’.

In the book Adam says that ‘kids might be better off learning about careers as actions to take rather than as identities to claim.’. He suggests scheduling a twice-yearly life checkup with yourself to assess what you’re learning, how you’re evolving and whether there’s anything that needs a rethink or a course correction. Similarly, setting regular time in your day or week to think, rather than do, and forcing a prompt for constant unlearning and rethinking, rather than getting stuck in the way you always do things and the way you always think of things.

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About the book

The only person you need to start and run a highly profitable and sustainable company is you

What if the real key to a richer and more fulfilling career was not to create and scale up a new business, but rather, to be able to work for yourself, determine your own hours and become a (highly profitable) and sustainable company of one? Suppose the better-and smarter-solution is simply to remain small?

Company of One is a refreshing new approach centered on staying small and avoiding growth, for any size of business. Not as a freelancer who only gets paid on a per piece basis, and not as an entrepreneurial start-up that wants to scale up as soon as possible, but as a small business that is deliberately committed to staying that way.

By staying small, you can have freedom to pursue more meaningful pleasures in life, and avoid the headaches that result from dealing with employees, long meetings, or worrying about expansion. Company of One introduces this unique business strategy and explains how to make it work for you, including how to generate cash flow on an ongoing basis.

Source: Penguin Books

About the Author

PAUL JARVIS is a veteran of the online tech world, and over the years he has had corporate clients such as Microsoft, Yahoo, Mercedes-Benz, Warner Music and even Shaquille O'Neal. These days, he teaches courses online and does consulting from his home on a remote island off of Vancouver.

Source: Google Books

Idea #1 – Start small, define growth, keep learning

First, you need to be clear on what a company of one is, and isn’t.

The most important thing for a company of one is knowing what constitutes ‘enough’. Enough revenue, enough customers, enough profit. This was demonstrated in the book when Paul met a friend surfing who told him that he’d made enough money to now take the rest of the year off to go climbing.

This clarity on ‘enough’ meant the friend’s business fit into his lifestyle. Knowing what is sufficient will aid your decision making and in turn build, and retain, your resilience and autonomy in your business.

The overall aim is to become smaller, smarter, more efficient and more resilient. Many companies solve problems by doing MORE. Throwing more money or people at a problem, which generally results in more problems in the long term.

A company of one ultimately has small as an end goal, it’s a company that questions growth, rather than chases it.

A couple of notes;

Freelancers aren’t technically companies of one, although this is a good model to start with. As they are usually still trading their (finite amount of) time for money, this doesn’t provide the efficiencies or resilience required for a company of one.

Contrary to the name, a company of one mindset doesn’t have to just apply to companies of one person. The book gives the example of Buffer, which had ~70 employees at the time of the book being written, who have rejected typical start-up style growth goals and work with a mindset of better, not bigger.

Idea #2 - The company of one mindset

The question should always be ‘how do I make my company better, not bigger’. It’s a focus on stability, simplicity and independence. This might mean avoiding external funding and favouring internally generated / organic growth when it’s self-sustaining, not just spending in the hope it will fuel growth.

There was a painful example in the book of Pets.com who paid $17m for an advertising campaign in 2000, a year they made just $8.8m in revenue. They were over-spending in the hope it would fuel growth.

This same mindset also requires rejecting unnecessary overheads such as fancy offices.

And only when you find yourself at capacity of work (which will happen at some point), is it the time to consider sourcing additional help. This could be in the shape of employees (if sustainable) or contractors/freelancers. Raising prices is another very effective way of bringing work back to sustainable levels. The bonus of raising your prices is that it forces you to focus on becoming better not bigger, to justify the new prices.

Idea #3 – Be fascinating

I love this idea. A company of one is more likely going to be a small fish in a big pond, and therefore needs to stand out. It needs to be more like pistachio ice cream, and less like vanilla ice cream (which often happens as companies grow).

Retaining your independence and creative control by staying small, means you can make best use of this approach; identifying what makes you quirky, unique and fascinating and using this to stand out. Amplify these traits in your business and don’t be a ‘one size fits all’ type of business / service / product.

“Don’t just ask consumers to pay attention to your business. Instead, start doing the kinds of unique and unusual things that attract attention in order to make your business distinct.”

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About the book

A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making—from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy.

About the author

Extracts from https://www.penguin.com.au/

IDEA 1 - The best answer won’t be perfect

There are countless examples in the book of hard policy, people and political decisions that Obama had to make. And the commonality in all of them was the messiness of getting to an answer.

This quote summed it up:

“I didn’t like the deal. But in what was becoming a pattern, the alternatives were worse.”

IDEA 2 - Know your values

IDEA 3 - Surround yourself with good people

“The time chooses you. Either you seize what may turn out to be the only chance you have, or you decide you’re willing to live with the knowledge that the chance has passed you by.”

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About the book

"Only staying active will make you want to live a hundred years." --Japanese proverb

According to the Japanese, everyone has an ikigai--a reason for living. And according to the residents of the Japanese village with the world's longest-living people, finding it is the key to a happier and longer life. Having a strong sense of ikigai--the place where passion, mission, vocation, and profession intersect--means that each day is infused with meaning. It's the reason we get up in the morning. It's also the reason many Japanese never really retire (in fact there's no word in Japanese that means retire in the sense it does in English): They remain active and work at what they enjoy, because they've found a real purpose in life--the happiness of always being busy.

In researching this book, the authors interviewed the residents of the Japanese village with the highest percentage of 100-year-olds--one of the world's Blue Zones. Ikigai reveals the secrets to their longevity and happiness: how they eat, how they move, how they work, how they foster collaboration and community, and--their best-kept secret--how they find the ikigai that brings satisfaction to their lives. And it provides practical tools to help you discover your own ikigai. Because who doesn't want to find happiness in every day?

About the authors

Héctor García is a citizen of Japan, where he has lived for over a decade, and of Spain, where he was born. He is the author of several books about Japanese culture, including two worldwide bestsellers, A Geek in Japan and Ikigai. A former software engineer, he worked at CERN in Switzerland before moving to Japan.

Francesc Miralles is the award-winning and internationally bestselling author of books about how to live well, together with the novels Love in Small Letters and Wabi-Sabi.

Sources: Amazon and Penguin books

Idea #1 - The mindset of longevity

Living a long time isn’t just about eating well and staying physically active (although they’re also important elements) the mind has a big influence on our longevity too. One study suggested that two dispositions particularly contribute to a long life: A positive outlook A high degree of emotional awareness

Beyond these elements, the book heavily focuses on the idea of finding meaning and purpose, and also connecting with others. These elements come up time and time again with the conversations the authors have with the residents of the Blue Zones.

There’s also an interesting note on stress. We all know that high levels of stress are bad for us; it actually damages our DNA, shortening both our telomeres and as a result, our lives. However, a longitudinal study showed that a certain amount of stress is actually good for us. It showed that those who worked until an older age and lead more ‘intense’ lives actually lived longer than those who retired early and had more relaxed lives.

Idea #2 - The meaning of life

The book references Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy work, which is focused on helping people find meaning, even when they’re in pain. It’s important to remember that we don’t create meaning, we discover it. And we should hold it lightly, letting it evolve over time.

Much of the meaning in our lives comes from other people, and connection and community was a fundamental part of the centenarian’s lives. Being part of a community or volunteer group gave many of them meaning and identity.

Idea #3 - The ten rules for a long life

Throughout the authors’ interviews, there were ten clear recurring themes in the advice from the Ogimi residents: Stay active, don’t retire Take it slow Don’t fill your stomach (only eat until you’re 80% full) Surround yourself with good friends Get in shape for your next birthday Smile Reconnect with nature Give thanks Live in the moment Follow your ikigai

Easy as that.

One of my favourite quotes from the Ogimi residents was this:

“There’s no secret to it. The trick is just to live.”

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Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

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About the book

Matthew McConaughey has been keeping diaries for 35 years as a way of recording his thoughts and “trying to work out the riddle of life”. These diaries formed this book. As he puts it he “took a one-way ticket to the desert and wrote this book: an album, a record, a story of my life so far. This is fifty years of my sights and seens, felts and figured-outs, cools and shamefuls. Graces, truths, and beauties of brutality. Getting away withs, getting caughts, and getting wets while trying to dance between the raindrops.”

https://greenlights.com/

About the author

Matthew McConaughey is an American actor and producer. He was born in Uvalde, Texas. He is of Irish, Scottish, English, German, and Swedish descent.

He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin (originally studying law, before switching to acting) and got his first big break with the 1993 film Dazed and Confused. He later starred in A Time to Kill (1996) and Amistad (1997), among many others. Named People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" in 2005, McConaughey also starred in Mud (2012) and Dallas Buyers Club (2013), which earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor. McConaughey came on strong in 2014 with his starring role on the TV series True Detective, a project that propelled him even further on his star trajectory.

He lives with his wife, Camila, and children in Austin, Texas.

Sources: Biography.com, wikipedia and imdb

BIG IDEA 1 - CHOOSE YOUR WORDS

Matthew learnt at a young age to choose his words carefully. The biggest tellings off he received from his parents were for using two words; ‘can’t’ and ‘hate’. Because they were words that could hurt him. This early lesson stuck with him, he respected language, thought about it carefully and intentionally, and avoiding ‘can’t’ and ‘hate’ became more a value, rather than just a rule. He said in the book “words are momentory, intent is momentous”.

His family were quite ‘old testament’ in their parenting, he was also screamed at by his Mum for once answering to ‘Matt’, being told ‘you weren’t named after a doormat’. Again, showing the importance of words (and why the consequences of getting things wrong were high!).

This attention to his internal and external language served him well. Removing ‘can’t’ from his vocabulary gave him the grit to try new or bigger things before he may have been ‘ready’ or experienced enough.

BIG IDEA 2 - DON’T HALF ASS IT

This mentality turned ‘I would if I could’ to ‘I can and I am’. The attitude of not half-assing things lead Matthew to create his own opportunities, putting himself forward for leading roles when he’d been cast as a secondary role (or even a bit-part) and do whatever he did to the best of his ability.

This was the advice (well, more of an instruction) his Dad gave him when Matthew called to say that he wanted to switch from studying law, to studying acting.

He came back to this advice at several points in his life. From those early days of studying and initial acting roles, through to when he made the decision to stop taking rom-com roles, and wait for more serious acting roles to come up.

BIG IDEA 3 - ESCAPE

Every few years, Matthew would get the call of the wild and would need to go on an adventure. To escape and reset. He went across America in his van with his dog, Ms Hud. He rode across Europe on motorbikes with his friends. He went to South America for an adventure down the Amazon river and he travelled to Africa, to try and find one of his favourite musicians.

Each of these experiences allowed Matthew the time to create some distance between his daily life and time to reflect on his values and what was next. Each trip served almost a transition point between various stages of his life and career, and offered important new perspectives and insights through the experiences he had and the reflections they allowed. It’s an important reminder of how we all need to create these spaces in life - on a micro and macro level.

BONUS IDEA - JOURNAL

Hiding in the book was one more big idea - journaling. Matthew is a fantastic storyteller, but the richness of his experiences really came from the fact that he had 35 years of experiences, lessons, fears, pains and realisations written down. Meaning that when he disappeared off to a cabin in the woods to write Greenlights, he had plenty of material to work with. It was a good and timely reminder of the importance of keeping a journal and what you might want to look back on in years to come.

NOTE TO GREENLIGHTS EBOOK READERS

I read this on my Kindle (one of the older style ones) and unfortunately the ebook hasn’t been formatted for the device - many of the photos / handwritten notes included were illegible on the Kindle. They are readable if you use the Kindle app on your phone or iPad. Also, you may want to consider trying this book as an audiobook and enjoying the stories told by Matthew with added acting ability and in his trademark Texan drawl.

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About the book

In this book, Derek tells you everything he learned from starting, growing, and selling CD Baby, compressed into an entertaining and useful one-hour read.

No secrets held back, Derek shares the biggest mistakes, keys to its success, and the philosophies behind the big decisions.

Called “40 lessons for a new kind of entrepreneur”, it’s 10 years of experience in one hour, designed to be immediately usable for your own business or project.

(You can buy the book and support the podcast at the same time by buying through Book Depository (Aus+Global) by clicking HERE or Bookshop (US) HERE.)

About the author

Derek has been a musician, producer, circus performer, entrepreneur, TED speaker, and book publisher.

He’s a monomaniac, introvert, slow thinker, and loves finding a different point of view.

A California native, he now lives in New Zealand.

Some useful links

More about Derek here.

Read Derek’s book summaries here.

Watch his TED talk.

Listen to him on the Tim Ferriss podcast

BIG IDEA 1 - START SMALL

This is one of the biggest lessons that flows throughout the book. Derek talks about how there is no funding required, no MBA required, no fancy office required just to start your business. The most important thing is that you start. Because he says that most people “wait for the finish line to appear whilst they’re still at the starting line” and never take action.

Starting small also means you can 100 percent focus on solving a problem for a customer, which is ultimately the most important thing we should all be doing in our businesses. It also gives a stronger foundation to build from. As if you start small, if you know you can operate at that small level, you are able to leverage and build on this strong base later on.

So before you build an empire, teach one person something, cook something for one person, make something for one person, put something out online. Whatever it is you do, start with one person, one customer who has the problem that you solve.

There's also strength in having many little customers. Many businesses dream of landing that ‘one big customer’. But he says that having many little customers or clients means the acquisition process is easier and losing a client isn't a catastrophe. You also don't have to make as many compromises, which often those bigger clients or big companies will force you to do, which then is often at the detriment of your other clients or other customers.

Starting small means you're also able to maintain creative control. For example, to send quirky order confirmation emails which CDBaby were famous for. You can stay casual. You can embrace that ‘Hell yeah or no’ mentality. You can focus on the little things that make a big difference.

One of the quotes I loved in the book was “when you start a business, you get to start a universe where you set all the laws. This is your utopia”. But you can only do that successfully if you start small, if you're only answering to your clients, your customers and to yourself.

BIG IDEA 2 - IT’S ALL ABOUT YOUR CUSTOMER

This is where you start to push against conventional wisdom.

Derek talks about growth quite a lot in the book and asks the question ‘would your customers really want you to grow?’

Now, of course, they want to you to get to the point where the business is sustainable, where the systems work and everything's slick, but they possibly don't want you to grow too much. That can mean that they become much less important. Maybe as you get bigger, the service would actually decline rather than rather than improve because it gets slower as you deal with more customers. It might also mean that prices go up, too.

Derek talks about the decisions that he made for CDBaby always came back to ‘what would the customers want?’ He didn't take the significant amounts of money he was offered by other companies or venture capitalists or investors to invest in the business. And they would always ask, “but don't you want to grow”? And he would say, no.

They also pushed conventional wisdom by charging flat rates, not accepting pay to promote offers (so if you were a band with a bit more money, you couldn't pay extra to get your album on the front page of CDBaby) because he thought that was unfair. He offered no fuss returns, even when people would ask for returns or refunds for reasons that maybe weren't particularly reasonable. And in a move that feels quite alien now, he wouldn't let any ads on the website because he intimately knew his customer and that they wouldn’t want it.

Because let's face it, when we go to a website, do we ever say ‘oh, brilliant, this website has got loads of ads and I can't click on anything without having to actually try and turn off an ad that keeps moving and I can’t find the X button’. No. Nobody wants that.

The litmus test for all decisions Derek made was ‘will this benefit the customers’? So when he was fitting out their early office, and his friends were spending $10,000 on new desks, and he spent $1,000, and it was perfectly adequate, he was really asking, who is that fit out really for? Does it benefit your customers if you have the fanciest furniture? This also means rejecting some of the formalities that other people try and scare you into doing for your business, especially if they add no value.

And remember, it's the little things that do make a difference to your customers. Answering the phone in two rings. Coding into their website the time left until 5pm, when they sent the FedEx shipments out of the of the daily orders, so people could see how long they had to put their order in. And little silly things like putting a stick of cinnamon gum in with an order, because a customer had requested it.

The quote from the book that sums this up is “even if you want to be big someday, remember that you never need to act like a big, boring company. Over 10 years, it seemed like every time someone raved about how much he loved CDBaby, it was because of one of these fun little human touches”.

It's all of these things that you can use to grade yourself. It may not be that you need to always be looking at how much money you're making to actually sense whether you're doing a good job or whether you're doing enough. The little things like putting your customer first, hearing their feedback, seeing what people's experiences are, can be a much better measure of success and how you grade yourself.

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BIG IDEA 3 - YOU DON’T NEED A PLAN

Again, another bit of a conventional wisdom kick here. He argues that it's perfectly OK to roll with it, to keep a focus on helping people and customers today because things change. Derek once wrote to one of his team in the early days of CDBaby, when things were growing and they were doing well. He said, you know what, if we have a thousand artists signed up with us one day and we might need three employees or four employees.

Now over time, that email became quite laughable because they grew so far beyond that. They had 85 employees at the point that Derek sold the company. So this is the point, that things change and the things that you think are your plan or your vision may become less relevant over time. You may exceed that. Or you might change course.

There's also so many options, all good and all different, and we should stay open to them. There is not one way or one single path.

So not having a plan allows you to change and respond when you hear feedback from your customers. Derek says that it's most important to focus on today. To ask who needs you today, rather than getting sucked into what's next or what's five years or ten years down the line.

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ABOUT THE BOOK

(By the way, you can buy the book and support the podcast at the same time by buying through Book Depository (Aus+Global) by clicking HERE or Bookshop (US) HERE.)

New York Times bestselling author Dan Heath examines how to prevent problems before they happen, drawing on insights from hundreds of interviews with unconventional problem solvers.

So often in life, we get stuck in a cycle of response. We put out fires. We deal with emergencies. We stay downstream, handling one problem after another, but we never make our way upstream to fix the systems that caused the problems. Cops chase robbers, and doctors treat patients with chronic diseases, and call-center reps address customer complaints. But crime and chronic disease and customer complaints are preventable! So why do our efforts skew so heavily toward reaction rather than prevention?

Upstream explores the psychological forces that push us downstream—including “problem blindness,” which can leave us oblivious to serious problems in our midst. And Heath introduces us to the thinkers who have overcome these obstacles and scored massive victories by switching to an upstream mindset, including a online travel website prevented 20 million customer service calls every year by making some simple tweaks to its booking system and a European nation that almost eliminated teenage alcohol and drug abuse by deliberately changing the nation’s culture.

About the Author

Dan Heath is the co-author, along with his brother Chip, of four New York Times bestsellers: Made to Stick, Switch, Decisive, and The Power of Moments. The Heaths' books have sold over 3 million copies worldwide and been translated into 33 languages. Heath is a Senior Fellow at Duke University's CASE center, which supports entrepreneurs who are fighting for social good. A graduate of the University of Texas and Harvard Business School, he lives now in Durham, NC.

BIG IDEA 1 - A CULTURE OF DOWNSTREAM

The book starts with a story about a river; a couple of guys are sat on the river bank doing some fishing, hanging out, and suddenly a child appears in the river in front of them and is struggling. So one of the guys jumps in and pulls the child out.

A few minutes later, another child comes down the river, so they jump back in, pull out the child. And this keeps happening. After a little while, the guys are getting pretty exhausted of pulling these kids out. So one of the guys starts walking up the river. The other guy shouts to him to ask where he’s going, to which he replies “I'm going to go and find the person who's throwing these kids in the river”.

This is such a perfect analogy that most organisations/ countries are dealing with. We are busy saving the kids in the river without actually going and finding out who on earth is throwing them in in the first place.

But the other problem is the culture part, as it’s the downstream heroes we celebrate. It's those guys pulling the kids out on the river that get the celebration. They get the parade thrown for them. Those are the ones that we celebrate. This is obviously not to say that those working in those front lines, the firefighters, the paramedics, etc, who are reacting to downstream issues, shouldn't be applauded for what they do. But we're probably over relying on that reactive response to situations that could be prevented.

So we see this in our organisations. We see in our lives. We certainly see it in policy and government and public practice. So why don't we do more about it?

BIG IDEA 2 - THE BARRIERS TO UPSTREAM

Dan sets out three barriers to upstream thinking.

The first one is problem blindness; if we can't see the problem or we accept it is the inevitable reality of doing that type of business work in the industry of life. We probably won't try to change it because we are blind to the problem.

The third barrier is tunnelling, which basically comes from overwhelm. We want to feel like we’re moving forward so we make a bad decision, which then creates a chain of problems and bad decisions. For example, taking a high interest loan to avoid today's problem, but the impact quickly compounds and creates a bigger problem over time.

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BIG IDEA 3 - THE QUESTIONS TO ASK

Dan sets out the questions we need to ask for better upstream thinking. If I was to summarise all of them, it would be the power of collaboration and finding unity. Some of the most amazing challenges that were overcome in the book came from government agencies actively working together on complex problems, like homelessness or domestic violence, on a person by person basis.

Some of the questions you should be asking are; How will you unite the right people? How would you change the system? Where can you find a point of leverage? How will you get early warning of the problem? How will you know you're succeeding? How will you avoid doing harm? And who will pay for what does not happen?

That last question is really interesting and very relevant, because for some reason it's often hard to justify proactive spending on things that might not happen. Like extra personal protective equipment in case a pandemic breaks out, or training in case of a hurricane off of the Gulf Coast.

The extension of this is that it’s also hard to sometimes prove the link of what did or didn’t happen, with the proactive, upstream, action which took place.

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Happy new year! This episode is a relaxed start to the new year with a short chat about books and reading goals. I’ll share a couple of fiction books I’ve read over the break, why I’m reducing the number of books I’m planning to read in 2021 and why we need to get back to reading for fun in 2021 (and my anti-challenge #readforfunin21).

Let’s go!

Steph

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Best books of 2020

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REBROADCAST – over the December/January break I’m re-sharing two older episodes that are by far the most downloaded episodes of the podcast. If you missed them first time around, this is your perfect chance to catch up. Enjoy!

https://mailchi.mp/1119b1358a84/thebookmark

About the Authors

Ichiro Kishimi was born in Kyoto, where he still lives, in 1956. He has aspired to become a philosopher since his days in high school. Since 1989, while specialising in Classical Western philosophy, with a special focus on Platonic philosophy, he has researched Adlerian psychology; he writes and lectures on the subject, and provides counselling for “youths” in psychiatric clinics as a certified counsellor and consultant for the Japanese Society of Adlerian Psychology.

Thereafter, Koga made numerous visits to Ichiro Kishimi in Kyoto, gleaned from him the essence of Adlerian psychology, and took down the notes for the classical “dialogue format” method of Greek philosophy that is used in this book

Source: https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/general-books/self-help-practical/The-Courage-to-be-Disliked-Ichiro-Kishimi-and-Fumitake-Koga-9781760630492

About the Book

In this fable-style book, the core concepts of Adlerian psychology are explored and applied to everyday scenarios. It’s a huge bestseller in Asia, with over 3 million copies sold.

The book is all about being the person you really want to be – by being less concerned with the opinions of others, your doubts or your past experiences. As more and more people seem to be paralysed in the limbo-land between their truest self and assumptions of others, this book provides refreshing alternative mindset and views.

If you suffer with the need to please others, imposter syndrome, the joy-thief of comparison or a tendency to attribute your current situation to your previous experiences then this will provide a challenging and worthwhile perspective.

Buy the book from The Book Depository - https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Courage-to-be-Disliked/9781760630492/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

Would you like to take better notes from the books you read? Get your copy of Archley's beautiful book journal, the Book of Books here: https://www.archleys.com/?ref=JamVyS-U4mVR

BIG IDEA 1 (2:56) – Denying determinism.

This is the concept of denying trauma – even from awful life events – and recognising your have the choice on how to respond to it. For instance, just because something bad happened to you it doesn’t mean that your life will be bad as a result of it. We often see this in our own lives, or those around us today, but by denying the idea of determinism, we realize that our past does not determine our future.

In some cases, we behave in a certain way to achieve a goal or live according to other people’s view. One of the biggest points shared in this book is that most of us lack the courage to be happy – because it requires change. This is why some people choose to live a miserable or unhappy life because being happy requires challenging changes.

BIG IDEA 2 (6:24) – Own your tasks.

Each one of us has our own tasks and we should not interfere with other people’s tasks. These three tasks are work, friendship and love. One of the most important ideas here is not looking for or seeking recognition from others – just focusing on your own tasks and our contribution to others/society.

If we need other people to interfere with us, recognize us or celebrate our achievement, we are worried about what other people think about us and not who we truly want to be.

This idea comes down to freedom, or the courage to be disliked. This is about not needing other people’s recognition, reward or validation to feel like we have contributed. Focus on your own tasks – work, love and friendships.

BIG IDEA 3 (7:33) – All problems are all interpersonal relationship problems.

Most interpersonal relationship problems (think comparison, jealousy, imposter syndrome, regret etc) are solved by first accepting yourself as you are. When we do not accept ourselves, sometimes this is used as an excuse to dislike or make assumptions about what others think.

The great idea here is that you are the only who is worried about you! If we think about it, when we are only worried about ourselves, we can do more of what we really want to do. One great quote shared in the book is “We cannot alter objective facts but subjective interpretations can be altered as one likes.” Most of the things around us are purely subjective, so if someone does not like something, it’s their opinion and doesn’t matter.

The book is very clear that it is not about doing things that would purposely hurt others, but that the subjective opinions of others aren’t as important and defining as we often make them out to be.

Music By: Paper Airplanes By Cody Martin

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LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steph-clarke

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REBROADCAST - over the December/January break I'm re-sharing two older episodes that are by far the most downloaded episodes of the podcast. If you missed them first time around, this is your perfect chance to catch up. Enjoy!

https://mailchi.mp/1119b1358a84/thebookmark

About the Author

Dr. Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston where she holds the Huffington Foundation – Brené Brown Endowed Chair at The Graduate College of Social Work. She has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy and is the author of five #1 New York Times bestsellers: The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, Rising Strong, Braving the Wilderness, and her latest book, Dare to Lead, which is the culmination of a seven-year study on courage and leadership.

Brené’s TED talk – The Power of Vulnerability – is one of the top five most viewed TED talks in the world with over 35 million views. Brené lives in Houston, Texas with her husband, Steve, and their children, Ellen and Charlie.

(Source: https://brenebrown.com/media-kit/)

About the Book

Dare to Lead is the fifth New York Times bestseller from Brene. In the book she digs into what it means to be human and how at work this fact is (too) often avoided. We regularly settle for comfort over courage and avoid the real conversations that make progress possible.

She builds on her previous work on empathy vs sympathy, shame vs guilt and vulnerability vs oversharing to bring them into a leadership and workplace context. Brene shares multiple examples of ‘tough crowds’ she’s worked with from those in military uniforms to those in corporate suits and made the concepts real to them in their organisations.

Because ultimately we’re all just people, people, people.

Buy the book from The Book Depository - https://www.bookdepository.com/Dare-to-Lead/9781785042140/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

Would you like to take better notes from the books you read? Get your copy of Archley's beautiful book journal, the Book of Books here: https://www.archleys.com/?ref=JamVyS-U4mVR

BIG IDEA 1 (2:32) – Empathy connects us.

A vital part of empathy is curiosity. You don’t have to have to experienced the same exact scenario to be empathetic with someone. Everyone of us has experience so many emotions in our life , whether we are aware of it or not, we’ve all experienced loss, grief, embarrassment, shame or guilt. Through curiosity we can connect with people.

Brene also makes a point that empathy is the antidote of shame because when we become empathetic, we remove shame.

BIG IDEA 2 (4:51) – Grounded confidence.

This is not being ‘big headed’ but knowing what you are capable of, come back to that, reflect and move forward. It is also self compassion; knowing you are enough and taking away the judgement of yourself. When you have the confidence to know how you feel in a certain situation, then you’ll be able to move forward.

Knowing and having confidence in your own values also helps you overcome challenging situations. It’s the awareness of these values that helps you decide how to react in certain situations. When teamed with curiosity and empathy, grounded confidence will help you have better conversations with those around you.

BIG IDEA 3 (6:12) – Rumbling with vulnerability.

This is about ’embracing the suck’ because there’s no courage without vulnerability. Brene’s work shows that vulnerability is not about gratuitous oversharing but about putting yourself out there in such a way the you may be subject to criticism or challenge. Which might suck. Opening yourself that allows you to be brave by showing courage; and courage creates more courage.

Useful Links

Brene’s feedback checklist for more meaningful feedback conversations (and other downloads)

The Dare to Lead Hub featuring videos, assessments, resources, recommended reading and plenty of other inspiration to make you a more daring leader.

Music by: Hera ByVis Major

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LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steph-clarke

Instagram: @stephsbizbookshelf

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Five best books for 2020

Range by David Epstein

Listen to the episode: Range by David Epstein: why you need to stop specialising

Buy the book: https://www.bookdepository.com/Range/9781509843503/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Listen to the episode: I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou: How powerful stories can change your life

Buy the book: https://www.bookdepository.com/I-Know-Why-Caged-Bird-Sings-Maya-Angelou/9780345514400/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

The Power of Ritual by Casper ter Kuile

Listen to the episode: The Power of Ritual by Casper ter Kuile: How wizards and gyms will make you more spiritual

Buy the book: https://www.bookdepository.com/I-Know-Why-Caged-Bird-Sings-Maya-Angelou/9780345514400/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

Infinite Game by Simon Sinek

Listen to the episode: Infinite Game by Simon Sinek: Why playing to win will make you lose

Buy the book: https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Infinite-Game/9780241295595/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Listen to the episode: What I talk about when I talk about running by Haruki Murakami: What you can learn about life from running

Buy the book: https://www.bookdepository.com/What-I-Talk-about-When-I-Talk-about-Running/9780307473394/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

Five best podcasts for 2020

Tim Ferris

Listen to the podcast: https://tim.blog/podcast/

Two of my favourite episodes

Brian Koppelman on Making Art, Francis Ford Coppola, Building Momentum, and More (#424)

Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify — Habits, Systems and Mental Models for Top Performance (#484)

Wind of Change

Listen to the series: https://crooked.com/podcast-series/wind-of-change/

Clever

Listen to the series: http://www.cleverpodcast.com/

Two of my favourite episodes

Ep. 77: Jessica Hische

Ep. 119: Lettering Artist Lauren Hom

Broken Record Podcast

Listen to the series: https://brokenrecordpodcast.com/

One of my favourite episodes

TOM PETTY’S WILDFLOWERS II WITH ADRIA PETTY

Murder Ballads Podcast

Listen to the series: https://open.spotify.com/show/13uPg0t3QrwppCHTNQ3aRW

One of my favourite episodes

In The Pines

Five other good things I liked in 2020

Two cookbooks

Flavour by Yottam Ottolenghi

Buy the book: https://www.bookdepository.com/Ottolenghi-FLAVOUR-Yotam-Ottolenghi/9781785038938/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

Falastin by Sami Tamimi and Tara Wrigley

Buy the book: https://www.bookdepository.com/Falastin-Cookbook-Sami-Tamimi/9781785038723/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

One fiction book

Honeybee by Craig Silvey

Buy the book: https://www.bookdepository.com/Honeybee-Craig-Silvey/9781760877224/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

Two random things that have got me through

Udemy

Les Mills On Demand

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LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steph-clarke

Instagram: @stephsbizbookshelf

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https://mailchi.mp/1119b1358a84/thebookmark

Listen to the full speech here: https://fs.blog/2012/04/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/

About the Book: This is Water

In this rare peek into the personal life of the author of numerous bestselling novels, gain an understanding of David Foster Wallace and how he became the man that he was.

Only once did David Foster Wallace give a public talk on his views on life, during a commencement address given in 2005 at Kenyon College. The speech is reprinted for the first time in book form in This is Water. How does one keep from going through their comfortable, prosperous adult life unconsciously? How do we get ourselves out of the foreground of our thoughts and achieve compassion? The speech captures Wallace’s electric intellect as well as his grace in attention to others. After his death, it became a treasured piece of writing reprinted in The Wall Street Journal and the London Times, commented on endlessly in blogs, and emailed from friend to friend.

Writing with his one-of-a-kind blend of causal humor, exacting intellect, and practical philosophy, David Foster Wallace probes the challenges of daily living and offers advice that renews us with every reading.

Source: Amazon

About the Author

David Foster Wallace wrote the acclaimed novels Infinite Jest and The Broom of the System and the story collections Oblivion, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, and Girl With Curious Hair. His nonfiction includes the essay collections Consider the Lobster and A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, and the full-length work Everything and More. He died in 2008.

Buy the book from The Book Depository - https://www.bookdepository.com/This-Is-Water-David-Foster-Wallace/9780316068222/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

Would you like to take better notes from the books you read? Get your copy of Archley's beautiful book journal, the Book of Books here: https://www.archleys.com/?ref=JamVyS-U4mVR

Source: Amazon

BIG IDEA 1 (4:23) – How to think

This is about the things in our life that we don’t often talk about. Liberal arts degrees are often surrounded by the cliche that they teach you ‘how to think not what to think’. David said that we first need to decide what to think about, therefore not being taught about how or what to think.

Closed-mindedness drives arrogance and leads to wrong ideas or thoughts. We get to choose what we pay attention to or what to think about, but too much time inside our head is a bad thing. Over analysing things is one of the bad things about liberal arts degree or any kind of higher education, because it often leads to over-intellectualising and getting stuck in your thoughts.

BIG IDEA 2 (6:36) – Things look and feel different to everyone.

We need to ask more questions around why. Why do things look and feel different to everyone? Why is our experience in life different from what other people think and other people’s experience of life? We should also explore where we get our meaning from – the experiences or stories that lead us to believe one things over another.

David talks about how we are the center of our own world, everything we’ve ever experienced has us at the centre. When we start putting our life in the center of everyone else’s life, it’s a problem. We need to free ourselves from the thought that we are the center of the actual universe, despite what our experience tells us. We have to have compassion for what other’s reality might be.

BIG IDEA 3 (8:15) – It’s within your power

You get to decide. We have to learn to choose what gets our attention and what has meaning to us. We need to choose what we worship, whether it’s power, intellect, beauty or money. These things drive our behaviour and we will never feel satisfied or like we have enough of them, especially ones that diminish over time.

Freedom is attention and discipline and the opposite is unconsciousness. Living by the standard set without the awareness of what’s going on. Real education is knowing what’s real. Knowing this is water.

Music By: Is this hip hop by LightBeats

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About the Book The Practice

Creative work doesn’t come with a guarantee. But there is a pattern to who succeeds and who doesn’t. And engaging in the consistent practice of its pursuit is the best way forward.

Based on the breakthrough Akimbo workshop pioneered by legendary author Seth Godin, The Practice will help you get unstuck and find the courage to make and share creative work. Godin insists that writer’s block is a myth, that consistency is far more important than authenticity, and that experiencing the imposter syndrome is a sign that you’re a well-adjusted human. Most of all, he shows you what it takes to turn your passion from a private distraction to a productive contribution, the one you’ve been seeking to share all along.

With this book as your guide, you’ll learn to dance with your fear. To take the risks worth taking. And to embrace the empathy required to make work that contributes with authenticity and joy.

Source: https://www.amazon.com/

Buy the book from The Book Depository - https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Practice/9780593328972/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

Would you like to take better notes from the books you read? Get your copy of Archley's beautiful book journal, the Book of Books here: https://www.archleys.com/?ref=JamVyS-U4mVR

About the Author

Seth Godin is the author of nineteen international bestsellers that have been translated into over 35 languages, and have changed the way people think about marketing and work. For a long time, Unleashing the Ideavirus was the most popular ebook ever published, and Purple Cow is the bestselling marketing book of the decade.

He’s a recent inductee to the Marketing Hall of Fame, and also a member of the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame and (go figure), the Guerrilla Marketing Hall of Fame.

In addition to his writing and speaking, Seth was founder and CEO of Squidoo.com,. His blog (find it by typing “seth” into Google) is the most popular marketing blog in the world. Before his work as a writer and blogger, Godin was Vice President of Direct Marketing at Yahoo!, a job he got after selling them his pioneering 1990s online startup, Yoyodyne.

LINKS

Previous Seth Godin books covered on the podcast

Seth on Tim Ferriss talking about The Practice https://tim.blog/2020/10/26/seth-godin-the-practice/

Seth on Tim Ferriss talking about how how he manages his life, rules, principles and obsessions: https://tim.blog/2016/02/10/seth-godin/

BIG IDEA 1 (6:02) – Build a practice.

Build a practice of your work, and practice it everyday with the mindset of a professional. Practice it even when you don’t know what the result will be. Success or good results are not guaranteed but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work towards it on a daily basis. We need to show up.

Seth doesn’t believe in writer’s block. He believes that inspiration doesn’t show up unless we do. We have to turn up professionally, take things seriously on a daily basis, and that momentum and practice will avoid us feeling stuck. We need to start with a problem that we need to solve and then find out what the answer is. Without having an assertion or point of view we won’t do anything.

By putting creative work out on a schedule, things like writer’s block don’t have time to exist, because we are showing up.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:16) – Don’t be a hack.

It’s not just about empathy or deeply knowing your customer but knowing WHO you’re even aiming to create value for. Because if you aim for the masses, you lose your point of view, your authenticity and quickly become a hack.

So you need to know what market you’re in. You need to have a voice. You need to constantly ask who it is you’re creating for, and what will help your work become more appropriate for your audience. Don’t be a hack, know who you’re talking to and don’t worry about the rest.

BIG IDEA 3 (10:24) – Be generous.

Worry less about what other people think. Many of us allow our output or work to define us, meaning that any criticism of our work becomes a criticism of us personally. We need to become like lifeguards, they are not worried about what others think or say or worry about imposter syndrome when they jump into the ocean to save someone. They just do the work they need to do and do it in a generous way.

It is also about not hiding yourself because you will miss the opportunity to be generous. We need to embrace discomfort, show up and do the difficult work. Just put yourself out there so others can benefit.

LINKS

Also listen to Whatcha Gonna do With That Duck: Just keep shippin’

Seth on Tim Ferriss talking about The Practice https://tim.blog/2020/10/26/seth-godin-the-practice/

Seth on Tim Ferriss talking about how how he manages his life, rules, principles and obsessions: https://tim.blog/2016/02/10/seth-godin/

Music By: Is It Hip Hop by LightBeats

Let’s Connect

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steph-clarke

Instagram: @stephsbizbookshelf

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About the Book

"Own Your Career Own Your Life'' is an incredible reference manual for every person who wants to design a life they are truly proud and joyful to live! With stories that will engage you and make the book impossible to put down, resources that will become a part of your daily life, and ideas that will spur you on to a more successful life and career, this is the very next book you need to read!

About the Author

Andy Storch is an author, consultant, coach, speaker and facilitator specializing in helping clients turn strategy into action and people doing the best work of their lives. Andy’s purpose is to love and support his family and to impact the world by inspiring people to stop drifting, take control and live life with intention.

Andy is also the host of two podcasts, including The Talent Development Hot Seat and Own Your Career, Own Your Life (previously the Andy Storch show), and the co-founder and host of The Talent Development Think Tank Conference and Community.

Andy is also the author of the book, Own Your Career Own Your Life.

Andy has taught strategy, sales, leadership, finance, and innovation to business leaders all over the world including companies like Salesforce.com, Oracle, Google, Box, Toyota,, State Farm, Red Bull, Deloitte, EY, KPMG, HP, Sony, Bechtel, Cisco, Tiffany & Co and others.

Andy is a partner with Advantage Performance Group. He holds an MBA from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business where he served as President of the MBA program in 2008 and a BS from the University of Florida (Go Gators!)

Most importantly, Andy is a husband, father and friend who is on a mission to get the absolute most out of life and inspire others to do the same.

Buy the book from The Book Depository - https://www.bookdepository.com/Own-Your-Career-Own-Your-Life-Andy-Storch/9781736020906/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

Links:

Listen to Andy Storch Podcast

First Time Facilitator Podcast Episode 118: They arrive for the content (and stay for the connections) with Andy Storch

Would you like to take better notes from the books you read? Get your copy of Archley's beautiful book journal, the Book of Books here: https://www.archleys.com/?ref=JamVyS-U4mVR

BIG IDEA 1 (5:25) - Ask for help

Nobody is building a career or life alone. You need to ask for advice from mentors and coaches or look for informal ways of asking for help, such as asking people specific questions by email. The important thing is you have to take initiative, as you never know where it might lead.

In the book, Andy shares examples of some of the challenges he’s overcome and how he did that by asking for help. There was a time Andy asked for sales advice from his friend and he ended up getting a whole new job.

The important thing is you want to know what help you are asking for, and ask for it well. Go in with a plan, structure an outcome you’re looking to get and then ask the right person for help. This means you might need to expand your network.

BIG IDEA 2 ( 7:33) - Prioritise what matters

You need to prioritise the actions you need to achieve the change you’re looking for. Andy gave examples of exercises, activities or thought provokers at the end of each chapter. He also talks about the important steps of setting goals, vision and strategy to achieve what it is you want to create.

What you need is to prioritise the action that you need to take to create that change and improve something in your life. It comes down to the idea that nothing changes if you don’t. And what got you here, won’t get you there.

BIG IDEA 3 - Take responsibility

This is the fundamental message throughout the whole book. Without responsibility, things will just happen to you. During the time of COVID, Andy looked at what he could control. What are the things that clients need now? How can I still serve them and do a great job?

He also gave some examples in the book of some of the toughest feedback he received earlier in his career. His managers thought that it might not be the right role for him or the company structure might not be a fit for him. But he thought about how he can improve and what he can do about it, rather than just feeling like a victim.

In the book there was a ‘no complaining challenge’. How much stuff are you complaining about that you could either ignore, let go or do something about? There are plenty of examples in the book about taking more responsibility like learning new skills before you need them, building your network, and doing things before you’re told to.

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Time for something a little different.

This week, to celebrate the 100th episode of Steph’s Business Bookshelf (yes, you read this right, there was an episode zero, so episode 99 is the 100th episode) AND my birthday, I’ve invited a guest host onto the podcast… introducing, Kelly Irving.

Kelly is an author coach who helps you unlock what’s inside your head, so you plan, write and publish your best book as fast, fun and pain-free as possible. She is obsessed with helping experts, CEOs and thought leaders, author work that matters and makes an impact. As a bestselling-book coach, editor, and creator of The Expert Author Academy, Kelly nurtures authors from idea to implementation. Her unique Write Book method, results in book awards and major publisher deals (she has never had a book rejected), and transforms businesses from 6 to 7-figure turnovers.

Find out more about Kelly’s work here: https://www.kellyirving.com/

Join Kelly and I talking books, and tackle some of these questions: What books did you read as a child that gave you a feeling of belonging? How did you develop your reading habit? How do you find so much time for reading? How many books have you read since episode zero? How do you not get bored of reading? How important do you think ‘story’ is to non-fiction books? Do you think there’s a place for both professional writers and aspiring authors? What makes a book unfinishable? How quickly do you judge a book? You’re in a bookstore, and you’ve got five minutes to find a book, how would you do that? What would you look for? How do you make notes? What’s your system for revisiting your book notes? If you were a book cover, what would you look like?

Would you like to take better notes from the books you read? Get your copy of Archley's beautiful book journal, the Book of Books here: https://www.archleys.com/?ref=JamVyS-U4mVR

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About the Book

With their trademark blend of captivating storytelling and unconventional analysis, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner take us inside their thought process and teach us all how to think a bit more productively, more creatively, more rationally.

In Think Like A Freak, they offer a blueprint for an entirely new way to solve problems, whether your interest lies in minor lifehacks or major global reforms. The topics range from business to philanthropy to sports to politics, all with the goal of retraining your brain. Along the way, you’ll learn the secrets of a Japanese hot-dog-eating champion, the reason an Australian doctor swallowed a batch of dangerous bacteria, and why Nigerian e-mail scammers make a point of saying they’re from Nigeria.

Levitt and Dubner plainly see the world like no one else. Now you can too. Never before have such iconoclastic thinkers been so revealing—and so much fun to read.’

Source: https://www.amazon.com/

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About the Authors

Steven and Stephen are co-authors of the “Freakonomics” book series, which have sold millions of copies in 40 languages, and host of Freakonomics Radio, which gets 15 million global monthly downloads and is heard by millions more on NPR and other radio outlets.

Steven D. Levitt is the William B. Ogden Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago, where he directs the Becker Center on Chicago Price Theory. In 2006, he was named one of Time magazine’s 100 People Who Shape Our World. In addition to his academic and Freakonomics pursuits, he is a founding partner of TGG Group consulting firm. He lives in Chicago with his wife Jeannette and their four children.

Stephen J. Dubner is an award-winning author, journalist, and TV and radio personality. Dubner’s journalism has also been published in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Time and elsewhere. He has taught English at Columbia University, played in a rock band and, as a writer, was first published at the age of 11. He lives in New York with his wife, the docu mentary photographer Ellen Binder, and their children.

Source: https://freakonomics.com/about/

Would you like to take better notes from the books you read? Get your copy of Archley's beautiful book journal, the Book of Books here: https://www.archleys.com/?ref=JamVyS-U4mVR

LINKS

Freakonomics podcast

No stupid questions podcast Dubner and Levitt revisit the abortion research and its challenges: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/abortion/

BIG IDEA 1 (5:27) – Correlation is not oranges.

There are many examples in the book around correlation not equaling causation. A lot of things require second order thinking, the question of ‘what else’. One example in the book is the famous connection between falling crime rates and the legalisation of abortion, 18-20 years earlier. This shows that answers might be uncomfortable but it doesn’t mean they should be ignored or unexplored.

By digging in a little bit deeper, we make better choices and decisions by using the right information. The authors say that we sometimes need to put away our moral compass when trying to find out what’s really happening. Because we might miss things that we don’t like, but it doesn’t mean they are not true.

BIG IDEA 2 (7:46) – Ask the right questions.

The right questions might include – what will happen next? There are some examples in the books around unintended consequences as a result of (what seemed like genius) problem solving. We need to ask what else could be causing this, or what else is contributing to this situation.

There was an example in the book about children who are having difficulties at school. Initial thoughts were that these kids weren’t very smart or even lazy. Turns out they just couldn’t see the board at the front of the room. A quick and cheap fix of giving them glasses meant they were able to contribute in class and do much better.

There was a whole chapter in the book about understanding the root cause of problems. And understanding whether the cause is really the effect, and whether you helped a symptom or cured the actual problem.

This requires the ability to say ‘I don’t know’ because if you don’t, you won’t be able to ask better questions. And in turn, won’t get better answers and better solutions.

BIG IDEA 3 (9:56) – Quit more.

The very core of thinking like a freak is the ability to let go. It is letting go of the system, limits, of saying you don’t know and of first order thinking. This can also involve quitting bigger things like jobs, relationships or alcohol, whatever it happens to be. If in doubt whether to quit something or not, toss a coin.

It turns out that tossing a coin on a decision can take away the idea of failure, because we didn’t fail and quit, the coin told us to do it. Importantly, by quitting more, we can offset the opportunity of carrying on with things that aren’t serving us anymore and waste time that could be spent on other opportunities, tasks, relationships and activities.

Music: Is It Hip-Hop by Lighbeats

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About the Book

A journey through science and history to understand incredible teams and what makes them tick.

In Dream Teams, award-winning journalist Shane Snow takes us on an adventure through psychology, neuroscience, business and more, revealing what separates groups that simply get by together from teams that get better together. You’ll meet rap groups, pirate gangs, buddy cops, pioneering women in journalism and the FBI, soviet hockey teams, outrageous artists and city planners, and the people behind social movements that changed the world. And much more!

Source: https://www.shanesnow.com/dreamteams

About the Author

Shane Snow is an award-winning entrepreneur, explorer, and journalist who has helped expose gun traffickers and government corruption, explored abandoned buildings and sewers around the world, eaten only ice cream for weeks in the name of science, and taught hundreds of thousands of people to work better through his books, including the #1 business bestseller Dream Teams.

Snow speaks globally about innovation and human behavior, has performed comedy on Broadway, and has been in the running for the Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism.

His writing has appeared in GQ, Fast Company, Wired, The New Yorker, and more. He is currently a board member of the media technology company Contently, and the investigative journalism nonprofit The Hatch Institute.

Source: https://www.shanesnow.com/about

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BIG IDEA 1 (4:05) – Re-look at problem mountain

Heuristics are the mental models or ways of thinking that we evolved to have in our minds. They impact how we perceive problems, people and our range of potential solutions. Our different experiences growing up, who we grew up with, where we grew up, languages we speak, gender or disability inform just some of the mental heuristics that influence our decision, behaviour and problem solving approach.

Shane says that different people’s mental models or heuristics affect their perspective of a problem. And therefore we need to ‘cast the right crew’ to solve different problems. Our differences may be more or less relevant in different situations or types of problems.

So it’s not about casting the same crew for every problem, but what is important is knowing what type of problem you are solving first, and then picking the best mix of people to solve it.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:20) – The conflict paradox

Conflict can be a predictor of progress in a relationship. A lack of conflict can indicate organisational silence, which can end up as inertia, inaction and halt progress. But what we need to know is what it is we’re actually fighting for, how to harness that and what we are trying to get to as a result of conflict, otherwise it becomes toxic and unhealthy.

An example in the book is the Wright brothers who are known for their loud arguments as they were trying to solve their flying machine problems. They would switch sides regularly and argue really well which lead to them finding the right answer and solving the complex problems.

Make sure that conflict is done in a healthy way, not personal attacks but a focus on getting to the right outcome and answer.

BIG IDEA 3 (11:45) – Play for belonging

Play creates points of connection, similarity and an opportunity for trust.

In Argentina, the immigration of Jewish people and Europeans created significant tensions. However, it was a shared love of football that ended up bridging some of the cultural and religious barriers to bring people together. Despite not looking like each other, having different cultures and languages, customs and religions, they all loved football.

It goes to show that something neutral can transcend generations, cultures, countries and languages can be the thing that connects people. Play breaks down barriers and allow people to have a point of similarity even when sometimes it seems like there’s none.

Music: Is It Hip-Hop by Lighbeats

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About the Book

An inspiring guide to creativity in the digital age, Steal Like an Artist presents ten transformative principles that will help readers discover their artistic side and build a more creative life.

Nothing is original, so embrace influence, school yourself through the work of others, remix and reimagine to discover your own path. Follow interests wherever they take you—what feels like a hobby may turn into you life’s work. Forget the old cliché about writing what you know: Instead, write the book you want to read, make the movie you want to watch.

And finally, stay Smart, stay out of debt, and risk being boring in the everyday world so that you have the space to be wild and daring in your imagination and your work.

Source: https://www.amazon.com/

About the Author

He’s been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, PBS Newshour, and in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. New York Magazine called his work “brilliant,” The Atlantic called him “positively one of the most interesting people on the Internet,” and The New Yorker said his poems “resurrect the newspaper when everybody else is declaring it dead.”

He speaks for organizations such as Pixar, Google, SXSW, TEDx, and The Economist. In previous lives, he worked as a librarian, a web designer, and an advertising copywriter. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and sons.

Source: https://austinkleon.com/about/

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BIG IDEA 1 (5:33) – Nothing is original

It is a fact that all new things are combinations or revisits of old ideas. And constantly wanting to do something original will stop you from doing anything, because you’ll be paralysed by the idea of needing to make something different, and likely end up doing nothing.

So stop trying to create from nothing. And a little bit of intentional copying can be good, especially during the learning process. But start thinking about and analysing the thinking behind an idea, not just the final output or a piece of work (which will just be plagiarism).

Nothing is original. You will undo yourself trying to create something new, which will be unhelpful and stop us from creating anything, never mind anything good.

BIG IDEA 2 (6:42) – 10 rules to unlock creativity

The book is split into ten sections, or the ten underlying rules that Austin believes are at the heart of creativity and important to bear in mind. Steal like an artist Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started Write the book you want to read Use your hands Side projects and hobbies are important Do good work and share it Geography is no longer our master Be nice Be boring Creativity is subtraction

BIG IDEA 3 (8:09) – Don’t throw any of yourself away

During your life you have likely given a part of you away, to do your job or live the way you do. It might have been stopping a hobby or something you loved doing as a child. You may or may not notice how missing they are from your life until you start doing it again.

It’s important to have hobbies to keep yourself sane. You might find special connections between the hobbies and the work you do. You may start seeing things in a different way, which can even help you do better work.

Music: Days of light by Simming

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About the Book

An essential part of any marketing professional’s tool kit – this strategic and actionable guide shows you how to apply the renowned StoryBrand framework to your brand.

Every day, brands lose millions of dollars simply because they do not have a clear message that tells consumers who they are and what value they will add to their customers’ lives. To solve this dilemma, Donald Miller wrote Building a StoryBrand, which has become the quintessential guide for anyone looking to craft or strengthen their brand’s message.

Now, Don is taking it a step further with this five-part checklist that helps marketing professionals and business owners apply the StoryBrand messaging framework across key customer touchpoints to effectively develop, strengthen, and communicate their brand’s story to the marketplace.

Source: https://www.amazon.com/

About the Author

Donald Miller is the CEO of StoryBrand and every year helps more than 3,000 business leaders clarify their brand message. Combined, Don’s books have spent more than a year on the New York Times Bestsellers list. His books include: Blue Like Jazz, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, and Scary Close.

Don is widely considered one of the most entertaining and informative speakers in the world. His audiences are challenged to lean into their own story, creatively develop and execute the story of their team, and understand the story of their customers so they can serve them with passion. Don’s thoughts on story have deeply influenced leaders and teams for Pantene, Chick-fil-A, Steelcase, Intel, Prime Lending, Zaxby’s, and thousands more.

Don lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife, Betsy, and their chocolate lab, Lucy.

Source: https://www.amazon.com/

LINKS

STORY BRAND PODCAST

Buy the book from The Book Depository - https://www.bookdepository.com/Marketing-Made-Simple-Donald-Miller/9781400203796/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

Would you like to take better notes from the books you read? Get your copy of Archley's beautiful book journal, the Book of Books here: https://www.archleys.com/?ref=JamVyS-U4mVR

BIG IDEA 1 (4:06) – Have a marketing plan

There are five steps to Don’s recommended marketing plan:

Brand script
One liner
Landing page
Lead generation PDF
Email list

Don said that the more of these you put into place the better. The whole concept is helping your audience understand you. Don rebuilt his name, audience and influence by developing and putting this plan into place after losing everything he’d made from selling his first successful book.

BIG IDEA 2 (5:48) – Three stages of relationship

The three stages of relationship are curiosity, enlightenment and commitment. Curiosity is when people wonder who you are and how you can help them. They are curious about ‘what’s in it for me?’

Curiosity leads to enlightenment on how the product helps them. This stage is about educating your potential customers to reduce confusion. Because confused people are not going to buy your product or service. Enlightening / educating also helps build trust and influence.

The lead generation PDF stage of the marketing plan is generally when you start the enlightenment phase of relationships, which is education.

The final part is when the person is ready to make a decision and ready to commit. This could be providing their email address to join a mailing list or buying your product to solve their problem.

Many businesses are still starting with the ‘why’ while this marketing model starts with the ‘what’ and the ‘how’. It is how you pique someone’s curiosity by talking about the difference you want to make to them and their business.

BIG IDEA 3 (9:22) – Execute the plan

More execution equals more results. There are examples in the book showing that execution of this approach works with both B2C and B2B business models. Don also shares how people who applied the method more, got bigger results because all of the elements work together instead of cherry picking from the five steps.

If you don’t put them into place, you don’t consistently stick to it. You can use them not just on your website but also on social media channels and profiles. But as with anything, if you don’t execute the plan, it’s not going to work.

Music: Chill Cool Driving Music by Sun Channel Music via Envato

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About the Book

For a quarter century, more than a million readers—scribes and scribblers of all ages and abilities—have been inspired by Anne Lamott’s hilarious, big-hearted, homespun advice. Advice that begins with the simple words of wisdom passed down from Anne’s father—also a writer—in the iconic passage that gives the book its title.

An essential volume for generations of writers young and old, Bird by Bird is a modern classic.

Source: amazon.com

About the Author

Anne Lamott is the New York Times bestselling author of Help, Thanks, Wow; Small Victories; Stitches; Some Assembly Required; Grace (Eventually); Plan B; Traveling Mercies; Bird by Bird; Operating Instructions, and the forthcoming Hallelujah Anyway. She is also the author of several novels, including Imperfect Birds and Rosie. A past recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and an inductee to the California Hall of Fame, she lives in Northern California.

Source: amazon.com

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BIG IDEA 1 (3:46) – Bird by bird, buddy

This book was inspired by Anne’s father who helped her brother who had months to do an essay project at school about birds but inevitably left it to the last minute. Overwhelmed by the size of the task and the short amount of time left, her dad told her brother “Just take it bird by bird buddy, bird by bird”.

However big the challenge is you just have to break it down, take it bird by bird and just get through. She said that in the context of writing, no writer she knows sits down feeling enthusiastic and confident but they do it – word by word, page by page.

Anne said there’s treasure in the piles of chaos and mess, and we need to make that mess to find out who we are. She also said that nobody is reading your first draft or nobody needs to read it. So if you’re putting pressure on yourself to show your first draft (on social media / to friends or family), you’ll find it too overwhelming – keep it for yourself.

On the topic of writer’s block she argues that you actually are not blocked but empty. So you need to fill yourself back up. It’s all about the process. Sit down at your desk and tackle your book, essay or anything, bird by bird.

BIG IDEAS 2 (7:19) – Write to tell the truth

Anne always encourages her students in writing classes to start with their childhood and write anything and everything they remember. The Christmas celebration where your Uncle got drunk, the dress that your Grandma used to wear, the smell of cooking coming through the door, everything you remember. Write it down.

Anne says that you need to write as people talk. And to do this well, you need to go out and listen to people really talking. In your mind, think how you would write that conversation as narrative so it sounds like people really talking. By helping your characters create their own narrative, you find things out about your characters as you go along.

The point of good writing is to create real characters with hopes and dreams. As a writer, you need to think as a writer and constantly observe and listen – you need to write the true representation of people. Observing and listening and capturing can be anything – from a snippet of a one-sided conversation when someone walks past you whilst on the phone, or the colour of someone’s hat at the supermarket.

BIG IDEA 3 (10:11) – Be weird

This book is full of irreverence, neurosis, quirks, hypochondria and general human weirdness. Anne gives voice to the weird things that we all say, feel, think and do but don’t always show or tell anyone.

Because if something inside you is real, someone will probably find it interesting.

This book is a perfect example of writing as a person that you really are not the person that you think you should be to write a book. This is very relevant to non-fiction writing where it’s likely easy to slip into the idea of who you ‘should’ be to be a non-fiction author, rather than writing from who you are.

On Writing by Stephen King: Why boredom is the key to great writing

Music: In Pulse by Assaf Ayalon via Artlist

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About the Book

The True Story of Paul Evans written by Carolyn Coe – is one man’s inspiring story of starting rough, making mistakes, personal suffering and the raw grit it takes to get back up when life deals the heaviest blows. Told with his authentic humour and frank wit, this is an upfront and personal account of a life of full of jaw-dropping, gut-wrenching and heartwarming events that will leave you reeling in disbelief and full of admiration for one man’s spirit to survive and live life to the full.

Source: https://www.wheniwokeup.com/my-book/

About the Author

A passionate, ambitious go-getter, Paul began his career in the financial services sector. Recognised as GE Capital’s “Golden Boy” of sales, a coincidental meeting with club entrepreneur Freek Teusink on a Hurghada beach saw him make the bold decision to move to Egypt permanently in 2001.

It was here the two formed the pioneering, multi-award-winning Solutions Leisure group. Re-inventing Egypt’s nightlife scene through the introduction of house music and European bands to the region, Paul and Freek Teusink developed and grew the Hurghada Marina Boulevard to become the number one destination in the Red Sea.

Following the violence and disruption of the Arab Spring and the Egyptian revolution, Paul re-established Solutions Leisure in Dubai, UAE in 2011. Today, the group is the most heavily-awarded in the region, having owned and operated over 34 venues internationally.

Having created a multi-million-dollar business, Paul’s perseverance to his vision, dedication and loyalty to his goals and objectives have significantly set him apart from the fierce competition he faces daily.

Source: http://www.wheniwokeup.com/my-story/

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BIG IDEA 1 (4:01) – Find opportunity

Paul had an eye for seeing and seizing the emerging trends and gaps in the market. This trend and gap spotting started early in his life, as a teenager in college in the UK. Him and his friends started a stall at the back of one of their cars selling clothes to other students. The opportunity for selling to his college friends who couldn’t afford the top labels but could afford the (potentially knock off) clothes that Paul was selling. So it started young and small started to big size of things to multi-million dollars – when he saw what the nightlife of Egypt could be like from what he’d seen in other countries and seized the opportunity.

He knows what the people want because he stays very close to people or clients coming to his resorts. He talks about observation and connection being critical skills to find more opportunities, knowing the trends, speaking to people on a regular basis and understanding what the people want.

His method of education was getting out there, trying things, making mistakes and learning along the way. There’s a quote in the book that says, “Opportunity is everywhere when you open your eyes”, but you have to have the right action oriented mindset when you see that opportunity arrive.

BIG IDEA 2 (6:47) – It’s meant to be hard

Paul said that life, work, success are meant to be hard and hard is what makes it great. He had two close calls to death, two stints in prison, a fire in one of his clubs, legal issues (including him having to go into hiding for a period of time), relationship breakdowns and he was close to being caught up in a terrorist attack in Egypt.

Despite all of these incredible challenges, his attitude was that everything can be overcome. And noone can come out of of the hardships that he experienced without having that mindset.

BIG IDEA 3 (9:02) – Relationships can save your life

His parents, one of his teachers, and friends in Egypt all helped him overcome challenges and literally saved his life at various points of his life.

All of his relationships are built on reciprocity and trust. And even when he was making some questionable decisions or trying to outrun his problems, it was always the people around him who made him come to his senses, made him realise what he was doing or came to his rescue. They helped him stand back up again and make things a bit better, fix things up and helped him move forward.

Music: Anthem of a Quirky Hipster by Rex Banner (via Artlist)

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About the Book

You too can find direction and build a roadmap to take your life and career further faster, even if you are feeling a little under-equipped for the journey ahead.

“‘Further Faster’ is an actionable guide full of important steps for those who want to make the most of their career” – Nir Eyal, bestselling author of ‘Hooked‘ and ‘Indistractable‘

Come on a journey of self-discovery with Warren James, The Rapid Mentor, to uncover: Who you are and where you want to go The pillars you can use to build your own robust, balanced lifestyle The tools you need to succeed at any level in life How to easily master the life skills that most others learn the hard way The strategies you need to help accelerate your journey and get you where you want to be faster

‘Further Faster – The Ultimate Guide To Accelerating Your Career’ is for you, whether you are just starting out in your career; ready to really go after some serious life goals; or feeling stuck and overlooked despite the hard work you are already putting in.

Source: amazon.com

About the Author

Warren James is the founder of the Rapid Online Mentoring Company. He has devoted the latter part of his career to helping the brightest graduates and young professionals from across the world take their life and career further faster. An engineering Honours graduate himself, he has spent over ten years in corporations, advancing his career as an engineer and later a project manager, responsible for budgets in excess of $50M. He found though that his greatest satisfaction came from mentoring teams and individuals, and has now made this his life’s work.

Source: amazon.com

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BIG IDEA 1 (4:15) – Have a plan

This idea is more around the direction and mindset of career and life planning over being fixed to a set outcome. It’s ultimately about avoiding floating and getting stuck in a rut. Having a flexible plan which can also be applied to other parts of your life as well will help that.

Warren talked about the specifics of smart goals to avoid things passing you by. For example, can put a time scale on activities or ambitions and life planning exercises using sticky notes with the things you want to do, achieve or places you want to go to in the different decades of your life.

This helps provide direction and can help you take the first important steps. He encourages you to think about those initial tiny steps that can help you move forward.

BIG IDEA 2 (7:28) – Four buckets

The four buckets that Warren mentioned in this book are:

Career
Finance
Bucket list
Personal

You use these four buckets to plan. It helps you think about the things that you can do today or this to help one of these things move forward. It can also help you set your career goals. This can influence your plan and create balance.

BIG IDEA 3 (9:05) – Know your numbers

Warren shared some of his numbers and his solid approach to his personal finance and the impact of that. This also avoids you getting stuck and making poor financial decisions early on in your career and then ending up over-leveraged and tied to your salary.

One idea is working out your hourly rate helps you understand and get a better appreciation of how much things really cost. For example if you want to buy a shirt, think about how many hours of work it will cost.

This helps you set priorities and plan your career goals, financial goals, bucket list and personal goals. It helps you prioritise where to spend your money and the kind of lifestyle you want to create.

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About the Book

Tim has interviewed more than 200 world-class performers for his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. The guests range from super celebs (Jamie Foxx, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc.) and athletes (icons of powerlifting, gymnastics, surfing, etc.) to legendary Special Operations commanders and black-market biochemists. For most of my guests, it’s the first time they’ve agreed to a two-to-three-hour interview. This unusual depth has helped make The Tim Ferriss Show the first business/interview podcast to pass 100 million downloads.

This book contains the distilled tools, tactics, and ‘inside baseball’ you won’t find anywhere else. It also includes new tips from past guests, and life lessons from new ‘guests’ you haven’t met.

Tim said “I created this book, my ultimate notebook of high-leverage tools, for myself. It’s changed my life, and I hope the same for you.”

Source: Amazon.com

About the Author

Tim Ferriss has been listed as one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and one of Fortune’s “40 under 40.” He is an early-stage technology investor/advisor (Uber, Facebook, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ others) and the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers, including The 4-Hour Workweek and Tools of Titans.

The Observer and other media have called Tim “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast.

Source: https://toolsoftitans.com/

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BIG IDEA 1 (6:50) – Success comes from beliefs and habits.

Tim summarises the ideas in the book by saying that success comes from beliefs and habits applied consistently. And it’s not always the big things, for example, over 80% of the interviewees have some kind of meditation or mindfulness practice.

One of the questions he asked almost everyone was ‘how do you define success?’. It’s interesting to see the different perspectives of people about what success means to them, and what beliefs and habits they contribute their relative success to.

Tim also mentioned in the book that you should look at people who have done things like you want to, not necessarily exactly like you want to. If you want to conquer Mars, don’t go and look for someone who conquered Mars but look for someone who conquered an industry or even a country. You can borrow from this ‘collective DNA’, without needing the other person to have done exactly what you want to do.

BIG IDEA 2 (9:10) – Maximise your strengths.

Tim says that everyone struggles and practically everyone is a mess (at least at a point in time). But people don’t succeed because they have zero weaknesses. They found one or two strengths and developed habits around them to maximise them.

They brought those strengths to life and used them to their advantage. For some people this was a physical strength (particularly athletes) whereas for others it could be their ability to focus or apply themselves to a particular field.

This is only possible with self-awareness. You can only use your strengths by working out what they are before using them to the advantage of yourself, your company or your team, whatever it happens to be.

BIG IDEA 3 (11:07) – Learn from others.

This is the fundamental reason why the book exists – to learn from others. Most of the people Tim interviewed in the book mentioned the mentors, peers or other people they have learned from. They’ve either lived with them, worked with them, collaborated with them or indirectly learnt from them through their books, writings or podcasts.

The question that Tim often asks at the end of the interviews is ‘which book have you gifted the most?’. There’s a whole section at the end of the book dedicated to all their answers.

It goes to show that success is not a solo pursuit. None of these people achieved what they have achieved alone. They all have other people around them. Many of them talked about people from other fields who are at the top of their game. Who they can learn successful habits, mindset and behaviours from.

When you find these good people to learn from, ask new and different questions. And questions that will help you understand what makes them successful – not just what the ‘answer is’.

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Tools Of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

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About the Book On Writing

Immensely helpful and illuminating to any aspiring writer, this special edition of Stephen King’s critically lauded, million-copy bestseller shares the experiences, habits, and convictions that have shaped him and his work.

Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King’s advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported, near-fatal accident in 1999—and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower and entertain everyone who reads it—fans, writers, and anyone who loves a great story well told.

Source: amazon.com

About the Author

Stephen King is the author of more than fifty books, all of them worldwide bestsellers. His first crime thriller featuring Bill Hodges, MR MERCEDES, won the Edgar Award for best novel and was shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger Award.

King co-wrote the bestselling novel Sleeping Beauties with his son Owen King, and many of King’s books have been turned into celebrated films and television series including The Shawshank Redemption, Gerald’s Game and It.

King was the recipient of America’s prestigious 2014 National Medal of Arts and the 2003 National Book Foundation Medal for distinguished contribution to American Letters. In 2007 he also won the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He lives with his wife Tabitha King in Maine.

Source: amazon.com

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Also listen to other episodes:

What I talk about when I talk about running by Haruki Murakami: What you can learn about life from running

The 12 Week Year by Brian Moran & Michael Lennington: How to stop wasting your time and your years

BIG IDEA 1 (6:39) – Be ready.

Stephen argues that good ideas come from nowhere. It might be two unrelated ideas in your brain that will suddenly collide and create something beautiful. Your job is not to find these ideas but to recognise them when they show up. So you need to be ready, to listen, look around and see where those ideas might appear.

This means turning off the TV and putting away other screens to start noticing things in order to be ready for the good ideas to arrive. He also talks about readiness by taking writing seriously, being intentional and approaching the blank page with meaning.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:21) – Kill your darlings (and your adverbs).

Creating a space between the original writing and your final draft can make a world of difference. When it comes to editing, Stephen said that when you write a story, you are telling yourself the story. But when you re-write, your main job is to take out the things that are not the story.

Editing involves killing the words, paragraphs and even characters that you put in and that you are so attached to, but you have to let go of in order to tell the best story. One of the quotes in the book says that “writing is refined thinking.” It is not just talking on paper.

This also includes killing your desire to use longer words than necessary. He said that the best words you should use are the first ones that come to your mind, if they do the job.

And whilst you are busy killing your darlings, you should be killing your adverbs too. They are a lazy way of describing an action or dialogue which should have been made obvious by the preceding prose.

BIG IDEA 3 (12:13) – Read a lot, write a lot.

Reading equals writing. Stephen said that if you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time, or the tools, to write. Reading broadly let’s you work out what you do and don’t like and can help you find your style.

Joining writing classes might not give you the silver bullet to writing, but helps you find good critics. There is no secret ingredient, just read a lot and write a lot. This goes back to the big idea number one about being serious and not coming lightly to the blank page. It takes intent and a lot of practice to write well.

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About the Book

From the author of the New York Times bestselling phenomenon The Power of Habit comes a fascinating new book that explores the science of productivity, and why, in today’s world, managing how you think—rather than what you think—can transform your life.

A young woman drops out of a PhD program and starts playing poker, a group of data scientists at Google embark on a four-year study of how the best teams function, a Marine Corps general, faced with low morale among recruits, reimagines boot camp and the filmmakers behind Disney’s Frozen are nearly out of time and on the brink of catastrophe.

What do these people have in common?

They know that productivity relies on making certain choices. The way we frame our daily decisions; the big ambitions we embrace and the easy goals we ignore; the cultures we establish as leaders to drive innovation; the way we interact with data: These are the things that separate the merely busy from the genuinely productive.

Drawing on the latest findings in neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics—as well as the experiences of CEOs, educational reformers, four-star generals, FBI agents, airplane pilots, and Broadway songwriters—this painstakingly researched book explains that the most productive people, companies, and organizations don’t merely act differently.

They view the world, and their choices, in profoundly different ways.

About the Author

Charles Duhigg is a reporter for The New York Times. He’s also the author of The Power of Habit, about the science of habit formation, as well as Smarter Faster Better.

He has worked at the Times since 2006. In 2013, he was part of a team that won the Pulitzer Prize for a series about Apple named “The iEconomy”. Before that, he contributed to the NYT series about the 2008 financial crisis, how companies take advantage of the elderly and national violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

He’s also a native of New Mexico. He studied history at Yale and received an MBA from Harvard Business School. He now lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children and, before becoming a journalist, he was a bike messenger in San Francisco for one terrifying day.

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BIG IDEA 1 (5:08) – Doing more with less.

This book was inspired by Charles Duhigg not getting a hold of Atul Gawande, the author of Checklist Manifesto as he happened to be enjoying time with family. Charles wondered how such a busy and popular man (Atul) was able to have leisure time.

This inspired Charles to write this book about the fundamental principle of doing more with less. What we need to do is to be able to bring this to life is recognise that choices fuel productivity.

Motivation, working effectively with teams, focus, goal setting, managing others, decision-making, innovation, and absorbing data are the chapters in the book that have stories that help you do more with less.

BIG IDEA 2 (7:53) – Embrace control, relinquish certainty.

There were studies mentioned in the book that those who have an ability to take control of their lives live longer, live happier, are more confident, and resilient.

The best way to embrace control is by making decisions or taking actions, this might include small acts of defiance. The good news is that being able to take control can be learnt.

You can teach this to both children and adults through feedback. Studies have found that kids who were given feedback “you worked very hard, well done” after being given a maths challenge versus “you are really good at maths” were more resilient when faced with harder challenges.

An important thing about taking control is knowing the odds. If you’re after certainty in your decisions, you’ll never make a good decision. You have to think of the future as numerous possibilities of outcomes while still being able to make decisions as a result.

Knowing your odds, embracing control and relinquishing your need for too much certainty.

BIG IDEA 3 (12:39) – Building a productive culture.

The book shared a fascinating story about the General Motors plant in Fremont, California who had a terrible working culture before Toyota took over. When Toyota did take over, they invited the employees to submit ideas and more importantly, created the environment where the workers could take pride in their work.

Build the trust in action and not just with what’s written in a contract or on a wall is imperative. Empowering people to make decisions and take pride in their work rather than doing things for the sake of just doing it.

There was another example in the book about bag checks from a company with problems about theft. The unintended consequence was productivity dropped because people would leave earlier to get through the bag check line and get home a decent time.

The fundamental part of building a productive culture is building trust and pushing things down to the lowest level of decision making possible. You’ll start to see new ways of doing things emerge.

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About the Book

“After half a decade of research and hundreds of conversations with people around the country, I am convinced we are in the midst of a paradigm shift. That what used to hold us in community no longer works, and that the spiritual offerings of yesteryear no longer help us thrive.”–Casper ter Kuile

What do Soul Cycle, gratitude journals, and tech breaks have in common? For ter Kuile they offer rituals that create the foundation for our modern spiritual lives.

We are in crisis today. Our modern technological society has left too many of us—no matter our ages—feeling isolated and bereft of purpose. Previous frameworks for building community and finding meaning no longer support us. Yet ter Kuile reveals a hopeful new message: we might not be religious, but that doesn’t mean we are any less spiritual.

The Power of Ritual reminds us that what we already do every day matters—and has the potential to become a powerful experience of reflection, sanctuary, and meaning.

Source: amazon.com

About the Author

Casper ter Kuile is helping to build a world of joyful belonging.

He's the author of The Power of Ritual (2020), and co-host of the award-winning podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. Casper is a Ministry Innovation Fellow at Harvard Divinity School and holds Masters of Divinity and Public Policy from Harvard University.

With his team at Sacred Design Lab, he co-authored the seminal paper How We Gather (2015) and his work has been featured in the New York Times, Atlantic Magazine, and Washington Post.

He and his husband Sean Lair live in Brooklyn, NY.

Source: amazon.com

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BIG IDEA 1 (5:34) – Ritual is for everyone.

We all may already be partly doing ritual, but that doesn’t mean you’re already getting the benefits from it because ritual needs to be intentional and repeated. When we cook, eat, read, exercise or travel, all of these things can be turned into meaningful rituals.

Ritual is about the gaps you’d like to fill or identifying the connection or habits you lack. In the book, it says that rituals are for everyone because you don’t have to believe in anything to enjoy and create a ritual. It is about connection which is a necessity, not a luxury.

BIG IDEA 2 (7:53) – The four types of ritual. Connection with self – this can include sacred reading which is generally picking a fiction book and reading it and analysing it as if it is a sacred text. The other idea in this book is the Sabbath, or taking a weekly period of time to connect with yourself, preferably offline. Connection with others – there are two ideas in this ritual – eating with others and working out with others - and using these mediums to better connect with other people. Connection with nature – pilgrimage, celebrating seasons and reimagining us and our relationship with the natural world are three ideas you can use to connect with nature. Connection with the transcendent – this is really the idea of rethinking the practice of prayer. This doesn’t need to be a prayer to someone, but a conversation with yourself. Similar to journaling or doing your gratitude out loud.

BIG IDEA 3 (13:52) – The permission to be creative.

Convention is the death of tradition. It is where old ways of being have lost their relevance and stayed too strict to their methods. Tradition, however, shows us how to live and it allows for tweaks and changes along the way.

The good thing about being creative with rituals is that it gives us permission to take things from different places and make them our own to better connect. It could be a religious activity you want to unbundle from it’s religious context, or an old routine from your childhood. The rituals you have growing up with your family that you want to re-enact or restate. Change it to what you need and make it happen to create the meaning and connection.

Also listen to the episode: The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin: How to learn anything

Music By: After the Movie (by Plaid) - Remix Version Song by Ricardo Tobar

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About the Book

Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and has to live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love for herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare”) will allow her to be free instead of imprisoned.

Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.

Source: amazon.com

About the Author

Maya Angelou was an American author, actress, screenwriter, dancer, poet and civil rights activist best known for her 1969 memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which made literary history as the first nonfiction bestseller by an African American woman. Angelou received several honors throughout her career, including two NAACP Image Awards in the outstanding literary work (nonfiction) category, in 2005 and 2009.

Maya Angelou has been a waitress, singer, actress, dancer, activist, filmmaker, writer and mother. As well as her autobiography she has written several volumes of poetry, including ‘On the Pulse of the Morning’ for the inauguration of President Clinton. She now has a life-time appointment as Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.

Source: https://www.biography.com/writer/maya-angelou

Links

Also listen to the episode: What I talk about when I talk about running by Haruki Murakami: What you can learn about life from running

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BIG IDEA 1 (5:42) – The power of books.

This book takes us through Maya’s childhood, from the time that her and her brother, Bailey, were packed off to live with her grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. From a young age, books were her companion and gave her comfort particularly during the lonely moments of feeling like their parents abandoned them. Maya would read books with her brother Bailey during evenings in front of the fire as they escaped into the new worlds that books invited them into.

Reading books also gave her empathy and understanding of others. Classic books by white authors such as William Shakespeare gave her access to people and cultures she didn’t otherwise have access to.

Books also connected Maya to others. A neighbour, Mrs Flowers, took Maya under her wing and introduced her to poetry. The impact of this moment, of hearing poetry for the first time was pivotal and the style became a big part of her life.

BIG IDEA 2 (9:13) – The power of connection.

The connection made through relationships can be the thing that makes a world of difference, especially in challenging situations and even when those relationships are fleeting. It’s the importance of having people that believe in you. Maya spent a month living in a junkyard in San Francisco after an ill-fated trip to visit her father. She built camaraderie with other kids there as they went dancing, joined dance competitions and all other adventures they had in a short period of time. They looked after each other and believed in each other, no matter their backgrounds or reasons for being there.

There’s also the lasting relationship with her Grandmother, despite her Grandmother not always being able to express her love for them, she clearly was a very strong loving figure in Maya’s life. Her relationship with her brother was heartwarming, particularly how they looked after each other in Stamps, but also challenging as they got older and went through teenage emotions and strain in their respective relationships with their parents. Even the connection despite the confusing relationships with their parents was evident.

BIG IDEA 3 (13:33) – The power of story.

This book will take you to another place and open your eyes to the power of a story of someone’s life and show you beauty and horror at the same time. It’s a very evocative way of gaining empathy for people who have lived a very different experience than you. Throughout the book, you’ll find yourself always on the edge of your seat worrying about their safety and the sad reality of how they were treated in many situations.

A book like this will give you a perspective of a life you didn’t have. An important conversation about the way people live, lived and are treated and the impact at a global scale.

Music By: In Pulse Song by Assaf Ayalon

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About the Book

Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl’s memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished.

Based on his own experience and the experiences of others he treated later in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl’s theory-known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos (“meaning”)-holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful.

At the time of Frankl’s death in 1997, Man’s Search for Meaning had sold more than 10 million copies in twenty-four languages. A 1991 reader survey for the Library of Congress that asked readers to name a “book that made a difference in your life” found Man’s Search for Meaning among the ten most influential books in America.

Source: amazon.com

About the Author

Viktor E. Frankl was professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of Vienna Medical School until his death in 1997. He was the founder of what has come to be called the Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy (after Freud’s psychoanalysis and Adler’s individual psychology)–the school of logotherapy.

Born in 1905, Dr. Frankl received the degrees of Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Vienna. During World War II he spent three years at Auschwitz, Dachau and other concentration camps.

He was a visiting professor at Harvard, Duquesne, and Southern Methodist Universities. Honorary Degrees have been conferred upon him and he was a guest lecturer at universities throughout the world and made fifty-one lecture tours throughout the United States alone. He was President of the Austrian Medical Society of Psychotherapy.

Source: amazon.com

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BIG IDEA 1 (4:12) – Choose your attitude.

The situations in the Nazi concentration camps and working camps were unimaginable. There was dangerous work with limited tools, non-existent equipment or appropriate clothing, insufficient nutrition, disease and violence and the daily occurrence of death. Despite these extreme conditions that everyone was subjected to, Viktor talks about the amazing acts of kindness that he saw and experienced.

Because whilst everything else was taken from them, they could still choose how to act.

People shared their last tiny bit of bread, which given the amount of work they did and conditions they lived in, the lack of food could mean life of death. There was a quote in the book that says, “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing, the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.”

He also talks about the space between stimulus and response, and it’s our choice on how we use that space. He also talks about when struggling is inevitable, he said to suffer unnecessarily is masochistic rather than heroic. Suffering Is unnecessary to finding meaning but meaning is possible in spite of suffering.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:42) – Focus on the future.

Viktor noticed during his experience at the camp that the men who couldn’t see past their imprisonment, started to decay both physically and emotionally. They lived a provisional life with no future or goals.

This led to Viktor’s work on therapy being future-focused. It’s about finding meaning in what’s going to happen next and the future, rather than the current suffering. For him, it was about the idea of reuniting with his wife and family and being able to complete the research work he had started.

There was also an idea around how people noticed the physical, natural beauty of things which was so heightened given what they had taken away from them. Which comes back to their focus on the future and being able to see and experience those beautiful things again in freedom.

BIG IDEA 3 (13:25) – The meaning of life.

If your meaning in life is unknown, this is where the existential crisis happens. When we don’t have the meaning, we don’t know who we are.

According to logotherapy, we can discover the meaning of life in three different ways: by creating a work or doing a deed (an achievement focus), by experiencing something or encountering someone (and the beauty or love as meaning), and by the attitude we take towards unavoidable suffering (giving meaning to the suffering).

Having a different perspective allowed him to put his own, and his patient’s, suffering in a different context and meaningful place for them to be able to move on. There was a quote in a book that says,“We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life and instead think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answers to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.”

Our meaning in life is to respond to what life throws at us.

Also listen to the episdes:

Courage to be Disliked: denying trauma & having the courage to be happy

Strive by Adam Fraser: Why you need to start struggling more

The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris: Happiness is not the goal

Music By: Love Song by Yehezkel Raz

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About the Book

An intimate look at writing, running, and the incredible way they intersect, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is an illuminating glimpse into the solitary passions of one of our greatest artists.

While training for the New York City Marathon, Haruki Murakami decided to keep a journal of his progress. The result is a memoir about his intertwined obsessions with running and writing, full of vivid recollections and insights, including the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer. By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, here is a rich and revelatory work that elevates the human need for motion to an art form.

Source: amazon.com

About the Author

Haruki Murakami was born in Kyoto, Japan, in 1949. He grew up in Kobe and then moved to Tokyo, where he attended Waseda University. After college, Murakami opened a small jazz bar, which he and his wife ran for seven years.

His first novel, Hear the Wind Sing, won the Gunzou Literature Prize for budding writers in 1979. He followed this success with two sequels, Pinball, 1973 and A Wild Sheep Chase, which all together form “The Trilogy of the Rat.”

Murakami is also the author of many novels, three short story collections, an illustrated novella, several works of nonfiction and series of personal essays on running, entitled What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

The most recent of his many international literary honors is the Jerusalem Prize, whose previous recipients include J. M. Coetzee, Milan Kundera, and V. S. Naipaul. Murakami’s work has been translated into more than fifty languages.

Source: http://www.harukimurakami.com/author

Buy the Book from The Book Depository - https://www.bookdepository.com/What-I-Talk-about-When-I-Talk-about-Running/9780307473394/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

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BIG IDEA 1 (4:09) – Process and rhythm.

In the book, Murakami says we need to know our priorities to work out where to spend our energy. He applied the same level of thought and dedication to both running and writing – but that was it. He embraced the process and momentum for both activities and designed his life around these pursuits.

He applied the methodology of stopping when you feel like you have more to go. Stopping running when you feel like you can keep going and are still having a good time, and stopping writing when you’re in a good flow.

He also talks about the idea of rhythm – set your pace and the rest will follow. He focuses on the quality of what he’s doing and meeting his own expectations, not winning awards or races. This gave him the freedom to write and to only associate with the people he wanted to.

He said in the book, “No matter what, I keep up my running. Running everyday is a kind of lifeline for me. So I’m not just going to lay off just because I’m busy. If I use being busy as an excuse not to run, I’d never run again.” Something that many of us could learn from, as often our own well-being activities are the first thing to get cut when we’re busy.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:17) – It’s never too late to start.

Murakami was 33 when he sold his jazz bar and started running and writing seriously. He built his life and maximised doing those things. He talks about how he bought his previous skills as a business owner with him, particularly in his writing career. For example, keeping his customers happy. He thinks of his audience as customers and wants to write in a way they would enjoy.

BIG IDEA 3 (10:34) – Reflect and learn.

In the book, there’s an impressive level of detail as he talks about the runs he’s completed, all from the journals he kept about them. His journals capture how he prepared for different races, the training plans and how he felt before/during/after both practice runs and official races. He referred to these journals regularly to learn from so he wouldn’t make the same mistakes again.

His dedication to his practice and this detail is a testament to his commitment to learning and improving. To meet his own standards of writing and running. The level of dedication, reflection and learning he gave in these pursuits is impressive and something to reflect on and learn from ourselves.

Music By: Ryefield Song by Out of Flux

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About the Book

The New York Times bestseller Hit Refresh is about individual change, about the transformation happening inside of Microsoft and the technology that will soon impact all of our lives—the arrival of the most exciting and disruptive wave of technology humankind has experienced: artificial intelligence, mixed reality, and quantum computing. It’s about how people, organizations, and societies can and must transform and “hit refresh” in their persistent quest for new energy, new ideas, and continued relevance and renewal.

Microsoft’s CEO tells the inside story of the company’s continuing transformation, tracing his own personal journey from a childhood in India to leading some of the most significant technological changes in the digital era.

Source: amazon.com

About the Author

Satya Nadella is a husband, father and the chief executive officer of Microsoft – the third in the company’s 40-year history.

On his 21st birthday, Nadella emigrated from Hyderabad, India to the United States to pursue a master’s degree in computer science. After stops in America’s Rust Belt and Silicon Valley, he joined Microsoft in 1992 where he would lead a variety of products and innovations across the company’s consumer and enterprise businesses. Nadella is widely known as an inspiring, mission-oriented leader who pushes the bounds of technology while crafting creative and sometimes surprising deals with customers and partners globally.

Nadella’s life is a journey of learning deep empathy for other people, which he brings into all he does personally and professionally. As much a humanist as an engineer and executive, Nadella defines his mission and that of the company he leads as empowering every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. In addition to his role at Microsoft, Nadella serves on the Board of Directors for Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Starbucks. Satya and his wife, Anu, personally support Seattle Children’s Hospital as well as other organizations in the Seattle area that serve the unique needs of people with disabilities.

Source: amazon.com

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BIG IDEA 1 (4:20) – Hit refresh.

We need to change how we do things. It is not a case of better products or working longer hours but the need for culture change, and the underlying way of working that needs to be refreshed.

The culture change that Satya championed was about regaining the soul of Microsoft; the reason that people wanted to work there in the first place. This also meant shaking up his senior leadership team as he knew that any culture change has to be driven by the top, shown and demonstrated by the most senior positions. Getting things right at the top meant challenging the current ways of working so things could change.

He said that often we assume that people have more power over us than we do. But this isn’t true, and by empowering the individual and taking control of situations ourselves we get better outcomes.

BIG IDEA 2 (7:51) – Build for humans.

Ultimately this is about empathy – something that is central to how Satya works and leads. Ironically, it was empathy that almost stopped him getting his job at Microsoft. During his interview, Satya was asked what he would do if he saw a baby crying on the street. He said he would call 911. The interviewer told him that he should pick up a baby because it needs comforting.

It was from this question that he realised that he needed to build some more empathy and human connection into how he works. This was brought to life even more when his son Zain, was born with serious health issues – including cerebral palsy, meaning he needed to use a wheelchair. Satya quickly saw for himself that users have very different needs, the way they interact with technology and the needs they have that are unique to them.

He injected the need for empathy into the team as part of the culture change. He actively meets with Microsoft users around the world to see the real stories and how the technology is impacting the people and shares this throughout the organisation.

BIG IDEA 3 (10:57) – Build for the future.

You have to think longer term. In his travels around the world, Satya sees that there’s huge opportunities for technology, education and economic benefits. There’s also huge inequality due to lack of investment in technology and education in certain countries.

Some of these are driven by short-term thinking of governments or companies. He talks about the need for systemic change through investment longer than election terms or budget cycles.

Businesses also have an important position to create bigger change by innovating, investing in different ways for something that benefits the wider society. He states that it’s no good just sharing your surplus within your own ‘patch’, these surpluses need to filter into the global community.

Satya has design principles for Microsoft that sets them up for the next industrial revolution; one that is going to be driven by software.

Also listen to the episode: Shoe Dog: Values, working for fun and building one of the biggest brands in the world

Music By: Contraluz Song by Tomas Novoa

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About the Books

Losing my Virginity

In little more than twenty-five years, Richard Branson spawned nearly a hundred successful ventures. From the airline business (Virgin Atlantic Airways), to music (Virgin Records and V2), to cola (Virgin Cola), and others ranging from financial services to bridal wear, Branson has a track record second to none. Many of his companies were started in the face of entrenched competition. The experts said, “Don’t do it.” But Branson found golden opportunities in markets in which customers have been ripped off or underserved, where confusion reigns, and the competition is complacent.

Finding my Virginity

Twenty years after his iconic memoir Losing My Virginity, the world’s ultimate entrepreneur is back with the rest of the story.

Richard Branson’s Losing My Virginity shared the outrageous tale of how he built Virgin from a student magazine into one of the greatest brands in history. No challenge was too daunting, no opportunity too outlandish to pursue. And each new adventure started with five simple words: “Screw it, let’s do it.”

Now, fifty years after starting his first business, Branson shares the candid details of a lifetime of triumphs and failures and what he really thinks about his unique life and career. Finding My Virginity is an intimate look at his never-ending quest to push boundaries, break rules, and seek new frontiers—even after launching a dozen billion-dollar businesses and hundreds of other companies.

Source: amazon.com

About the Author

Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is an English business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is best known as the founder of Virgin Group, which comprises more than 400 companies.

Branson expressed his desire to become an entrepreneur at a young age. At the age of sixteen his first business venture was a magazine called Student. In 1970, he set up a mail-order record business. In 1972, he opened a chain of record stores, Virgin Records, later known as Virgin Megastores. Branson’s Virgin brand grew rapidly during the 1980s, as he set up Virgin Atlantic and expanded the Virgin Records music label.

In March 2000, Branson was knighted at Buckingham Palace for “”services to entrepreneurship””. In July 2015, Forbes listed Branson’s estimated net worth at US $5.2 billion.

Source: amazon.com

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BIG IDEA 1 (6:15) – Screw it. Let’s do it.

There’s a theme of adventure and fun throughout the two books and Branson’s life. At the back of the more recent book, Finding my Virginity, there are even 75 near death experiences that he has encountered, all listed in chronological order!

He is famous as the founder of the Virgin brand but is maybe equally famous for his extreme sports adventures.

Between the two books, Losing my Virginity has more of the ‘Screw it. Let’s do it.’ feel because this is what fuelled the early endeavours Richard built and his approach to his way of living and the way he runs his businesses.

It also goes to his desire to get into and shake up the industries who’ve been complacent and have forgotten their customers; particularly airlines and telecommunication.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:11) – Challenges are there to be overcome.

When you read even the first 50 pages of the first book Losing my Virginity, you feel that so many people would have given up with the challenges Branson faced. But, he is the master of overcoming challenges. From how he started his first student magazine to the huge endeavour of Virgin Galactic, and everything in between, there have always been challenges.

This also includes some of the ‘failures’, such as when market forces turned against him and the impact of the change in online media and music consumption rather than people going to record stores.

There was also examples of challenges with competitors (eg BA dirty tricks campaign) and regulators in the early days of Virgin airlines and even some tragedies that happened in his brands and business ventures over the years.

In all of these challenges, he always rolls with the punches, gets back up and keeps fighting.

BIG IDEA 3 (10:36) – Find your people and take care of them.

Both books talk a lot about those people who were behind his success. From his parents, his wife Joan, to all of his teams who developed with him the Virgin brands.

Everyone thinks that Branson is a crazy risk taker but when you read the book and see the thinking behind certain ideas, you’ll see that he is actually very measured.

He knows his strengths and skills and he surrounds himself with people who offset them or add to them. The book Finding my Virginity is a bit more reflective, a lot more about space exploration and around the idea of passing on and giving back – including one of the founding members of Nelson Mandela’s ‘the elders’. He is also heavily involved in charity work and helping people create opportunities through entrepreneurship.

Music By: Pretty Painting – Instrumental Version Song by James Gardin

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About the Book

Is happiness really the key to a meaningful and fulfilling life?

We are all obsessed with happiness. There are thousands of books, presenters, and courses trying to teach us how to be happy. But are we more happy? No! We are the most depressed, anxious and medicated group of people in history. The happiness movement has failed us.

Strive turns our ideas of happiness upside down and reveals why challenge, struggle and setbacks are the keys to living a profoundly satisfying life that fosters authentic happiness. Dr Adam Fraser shows that the practice of striving towards a goal is vital to achieving fulfilment and peak performance, without needing to sacrifice your relationships and physical and mental wellbeing along the way.

Strive is a must read for anyone who wants to transform their lives and find fulfilment, one struggle at a time.

Source: https://www.dradamfraser.com/shop-content/strive

About the Author

Dr Adam Fraser is a heavy metal loving, car racing, daughter raising, gym junkie, geek researcher. Up til now the greatest moment in my life is being front row at an Iron Maiden concert.

His company conducts cutting edge research with different universities all over the world and then disperses that information in a practical form through books, keynote presentations, workshops, training programs, online programs and customised consulting projects.

He believes everyone has a superpower. Some people can cook, some people can create amazing works of art, others can hug with the appropriate amount of pressure for the right length of time. His superpower is the ability to make the complex, simple and engaging. He takes the latest science and translates it so that people can immediately apply it to their own situation.Source: https://www.dradamfraser.com/about

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BIG IDEA 1 (4:25) – We need more struggle.

We need to stop the happiness obsession. It’s not achieving of things that makes us feel good (this is the completion myth) but the work we put in on the way to achieving something. This means that it’s not helpful (or true) to think ‘when you get this then you’ll be happy’, ‘when you lose weight then you’ll be able to get on with your life’ or ‘when you find true love etc’, these things don’t really make us happy but only for a few moments, couple of days or weeks. The real fulfilment is in the strive.

According to Dr. Adam Fraser’s study, it’s actually the struggle and strive of getting to our goals that makes us feel accomplished. It gives us a sense of purpose and less about the idea of happiness.

People want personal journey and development, which is why we see people doing what some might consider crazy, like signing up for Ironman races or Tough Mudders. Because we know we need more struggle, something to work for.

There’s an interesting point in the book around the idea of skill and confidence building compared to the characteristics of flow. The characteristic of something that will build confidence is that the challenge level and skill required have to be high but the enjoyment level is low.

The difference between flow and strive is that with strive, you’re not enjoying the process at the moment.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:48) – Change your struggle mindset.

We have to see struggle as an opportunity for development. This means that we are not always going to feel good.

Adam says there are three foreground ways to allow us to embrace struggle: Accept that struggle sucks and be okay with that reaction We need to connect to meaning and purpose. Achievement of a goal Mastery of skill Contribution to others Marveling at your own courage.

By embracing these behaviours, we can overcome the inherent feelings of discomfort that will come from doing something that feels hard.

BIG IDEA 3 (13:05) – Build struggle rituals.

Struggle rituals are the background behaviours which is the basis from which we strive. Focus – focus on what is important and don’t multi-task Gratitude – think about what is going well and what you are grateful for Connecting with others and getting support – knowing who your support team is Relax – have a practice for daily, weekly and monthly moments of mindfulness Celebrate

These healthy rituals, or habits, will give us the mental and emotional ability to embrace struggle on a regular basis.

Links:

Also listen to:

Grit by Angela Duckworth: How to dig in and get more done

The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris: Happiness is not the goal

Watch Adam’s talk about The Third Space here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpk_dssZXqs

Music By: Jell-O – Instrumental Version Song by Egozi

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About the Book

The guide to shortening your execution cycle down from one year to twelve weeks

Most organizations and individuals work in the context of annual goals and plans; a twelve-month execution cycle. Instead, The 12 Week Year avoids the pitfalls and low productivity of annualized thinking. This book redefines your “year” to be 12 weeks long. In 12 weeks, there just isn’t enough time to get complacent, and urgency increases and intensifies. The 12 Week Year creates focus and clarity on what matters most and a sense of urgency to do it now. In the end more of the important stuff gets done and the impact on results is profound.

Turn your organization’s idea of a year on its head, and speed your journey to success.

Source: Amazon.com

About the Authors

Brian Moran, President and Founder of The 12 Week Year, has 30 years of expertise as a corporate executive, entrepreneur, consultant and coach. His background as a corporate executive combined with his experience as an entrepreneur positions him with a unique skill set to help individuals and organizations grow and prosper.

Brian’s corporate experience includes management and executive positions with UPS, PepsiCo, and Northern Automotive. As an entrepreneur he has personally launched and led successful businesses and been instrumental in the success of many others. In addition, he has consulted for dozens of world-class companies.

Michael Lennington’s most important roles are as father, husband, and most recently grandfather. When he is not with his family, or working, his favorite personal pursuits include attending music festivals, downhill skiing, and sampling good Kentucky Bourbon.

Michael, has been a consultant for most of his adult life and has worked in the Americas, Asia, Europe, and The Middle East. Currently, he spends his professional time coaching his entrepreneurial clients, writing about leadership and business execution, and building simple tools for people seeking to accomplish more.

Source: Amazon.com

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BIG IDEA 1 (5:52) – Execution is the problem.

There’s a quote from the book that says “execution is the single greatest market differentiator.” Your ability to execute your ideas is what will set you apart. A lack of ideas is not generally a problem in the organisation, it is the ability to execute on the ideas and what is most important.

We procrastinate and delay, but there’s less room to hide in a 12 week year, so every day becomes more important. Each day you have to focus on the key activities. We also have a tendency to re-do the plan before we’ve ever really executed it. Unless you’ve actually executed the plan, you’ll never know how good it is or not.

BIG IDEA 2 (7:31) – 12 months is too long.

The book says that the annual process limits performance. Most of the year, people are behind and waiting to catch up and then scrambling at the end. We need to rethink the year and think of it as 12 weeks instead of 12 months. This creates urgency and the need to focus on fewer things.

This then allows you to focus on executing the core activities and creates more clarity on what you say yes and no to. The deadline is also more visible with 12 weeks. This approach creates more productivity and helps you keep control of your time. Because if you don’t have control of your time, you don’t have control of your outcomes.

They talk about three types of time blocking; The strategic block – three hours of uninterrupted for pre-planned, strategic and money making activities. The buffer block – emails, finances, making calls and the ‘stuff’ required in running a business. Breakout block – three hours interrupted time doing anything other than work. This is your thinking, reflection and play time. And it’s not the same as your weekend – this happens during your working week.

Making a strategic plan for the weeks forces you to make decisions on priorities. You’re also forced to think about when you are at your best and planning the right block for the right time of day.

BIG IDEA 3 (12:26) – Three principles and five disciplines.

Three principles in this book are accountability; ownership and focus on the time for continuous improvement. Commitment; keeping the promises that you make and staying true to your intent and greatness in the moment; making every day count.

The five disciplines that you need are vision, planning, process control, measurement and time use. Applying these principles and disciplines will allow you to achieve amazing results in less time.

Links:

Also listen to:

Getting Things Done by David Allen: why you need to stop using your brain

Infinite Game by Simon Sinek: Why playing to win will make you lose

When by Daniel H. Pink: How You’re Not Spending Your Day the Best Way

Atomic Habits: environment architecture and crisps at airports

Find out more about [ r e a d t r e a t ] events here: www.readtreat.space

Music By: If I Were King – Instrumental Version Song by Low Light

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About the Book

In 2009, Simon Sinek started a movement to help people become more inspired at work, and in turn inspire their colleagues and customers. Since then, millions have been touched by the power of his ideas, including more than 28 million who’ve watched his TED Talk based on START WITH WHY — the third most popular TED video of all time.

Sinek starts with a fundamental question: Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over?

START WITH WHY shows that the leaders who’ve had the greatest influence in the world all think, act, and communicate the same way — and it’s the opposite of what everyone else does. Sinek calls this powerful idea The Golden Circle, and it provides a framework upon which organizations can be built, movements can be led, and people can be inspired. And it all starts with WHY.

Find Your Why picks up where Start With Why left off. It shows you how to apply Simon Sinek’s powerful insights so that you can find more inspiration at work — and in turn inspire those around you.

With detailed exercises, illustrations, and action steps for every stage of the process, Find Your Why can help you address many important concerns, including:

What if my WHY sounds just like my competitor’s?
Can I have more than one WHY?
If my work doesn’t match my WHY, what should I do?
What if my team can’t agree on our WHY?

Source: amazon.com

About the Author

Described as “a visionary thinker with a rare intellect,” Simon teaches leaders and organizations how to inspire people. With a bold goal to help build a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every single day feeling inspired, feel safe at work, and feel fulfilled at the end of the day, Simon is leading a movement to inspire people to do the things that inspire them.

Simon is the author of multiple best-selling books including Start With Why, Leaders Eat Last, Together is Better, and Find Your Why and The Infinite Game.

Source: https://simonsinek.com/about/simon-sinek

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Start with Why - https://www.bookdepository.com/Start-With-Why/9780241958223/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

Find your Why - https://www.bookdepository.com/Find-Your-Why/9780143111726/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

BIG IDEA 1 (7:39) – What you do is boring.

Whatever you do, whether it’s selling shoes, making clothes, preparing accounts, cooking food or defending tax evaders is boring. (Unless you are an astronaut or epidemiologist).

When we attempt to only differentiate ourselves based on what we do, we end up blending into the beigeness of that job title or industry. This is relevant to teams, companies, and individuals. The ‘what’ and ‘how’ are of course important because ‘why’ can be abstract and big. But your ‘what’ and ‘how’ become much more interesting when you start with ‘why’.

Using your ‘why’ is a great way to pique curiosity and encourage people to start asking more questions about what you do.

BIG IDEA 2 (9:39) – More questions = more clarity.

Finding your why and being able to articulate it is about making the intangible, tangible. For companies, it can help you define the problems that you solve and for whom, and the impact that you make. It can set the purpose for teams and describe how you can help bring the company’s purpose to life.

For individuals, it can help you make hard decisions around the type of work you want to do. It differentiates you and helps set your brand both internally and externally. Asking ourselves the questions that help find our why, will create that level of clarity. So you can understand and articulate who you’re serving, what impact you’re making, where you best operate and how you can make those kinds of decisions.

BIG IDEA 3 (11:25) – It’s all in the stories.

Finding your why is quite challenging, sometimes involving days or even months of reflection. When you get into finding your why as an organisation, team or individual, it all comes down to your stories. What are the big stories that define you?

We’ve communicated and made sense of the world for millennia through stories. It is the way we connect, and stories trigger an emotional reaction in the old, less evolved part of our brains.

The story generation activities are all about finding the memorable stories – the legends of the organisation, things that define you, the ups and downs – these are where your why lives. Identifying your why is in the threads that run through all of your different stories. The Find Your Why book sets out the facilitation instructions and questions for organisations, teams and individuals to do this important reflection work.

Links:

Find out more about [ r e a d t r e a t ] events here: www.readtreat.space

Infinite Game: Why playing to win will make you lose

Leaders Eat Last: Employees are people too

Simon’s TED Talk https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en

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About the Book

Business was simple; now it’s competitive. Clients were easy; now they’re demanding. Communication was straight forward; now it’s overwhelming. Resources were limitless; now they’re stretched. Employment was secure; now it’s uncertain.

Often the world feels like it’s all too much. It’s exhausting trying to work out ‘what to do’!

We want to be successful. So we spend a fortune on stuff, on shit, that we think will make us ‘better’ — that will help us achieve more, or simply ‘fix us’. But all it does is fuel feelings of loneliness, depression, undue stress, and further disconnection.

The thing is, that we are all like diamonds with lots of facets and flaws. And it takes artistry on ourselves to bring out our unique brightness. We are all rare gems designed to shine, created under enormous pressure.

‍We all have to get better at being ourselves. The world is asking us to be extraordinary, this is our calling.

Are you ready to embrace the challenge?

Source: https://bebrilliantbook.com/

About the Author

Janine Garner’s whole world revolves around helping others reclaim and reignite their influence.

A highly sought-after keynote speaker, educator and author, Janine works with high profile global leaders and teams, and helps many of Australia’s top 50 ASX companies and multinationals — EY, CBRE, DXC Technology, Hewlett Packard, Micro Focus, Optus and CBA, to name a few.

Janine believes we need people, teams and companies to be absolutely brilliant to lead today’s complex environment into tomorrow’s unknowns.

This requires collaboration, transformation and leverage and it demands better conversations, training and connection.

That’s the power you have when you are your brilliant self.

https://bebrilliantbook.com/#Author

Links

Read extracts, download extras and order the book here: www.bebrilliantbook.com

Listen to Janine’s podcast here: https://janinegarner.com.au/business-podcast/

Listen to episode 12 of SBB about Janine’s last book, It’s Who You Know here: It’s Who You Know: Networking without the cringe-factor

Would you like to take better notes from the books you read? Get your copy of Archley's beautiful book journal, the Book of Books here: https://www.archleys.com/?ref=JamVyS-U4mVR

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BIG IDEA 1 (5:06) – You’re already imperfectly brilliant.

We’ve all got what it takes but we tend to underestimate ourselves with demons like self-doubt or imposter syndrome. But if we only let certain bits of ourselves catch the light, the bits we think are acceptable, then people will not only see through us but also miss the other parts of us that can bring value.

The model in the book includes the focus on both inner and outer confidence plus the impact we have on ourselves and others.

BIG IDEA 2 (6:57) – The four laws of brilliance.

Janine sets the four laws out in her diamond model; be you be ready be together and be heard

Each of these four laws is brought to life with three different facets which you can self assess against to know where you are at the moment.

Many of these aren’t groundbreaking or new ideas, but the real question is are you already doing the things? Are you really owning your potential brilliance?

BIG IDEA 3 (10:54) – Beware of the shadows.

These are the things that we do to sabotage ourselves. In ‘be you’, you might let self-doubt get in the way of you owning your spotlight. For ‘be ready’, blaming others and letting ourselves burnout will stop us from shining. In ‘be together’, you might want to be on the lookout on your networks for ‘dream-stealers’. And for ‘be heard’ some of the shadows you might need to look out for are things like treading water and not really doing much to being heard and magnify your influence.

Links:

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About the Author

Pat is one of the founders of The Table Group and is the pioneer of the organizational health movement. He is the author of 11 books, which have sold over 6 million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages.

As President of the Table Group, Pat spends his time speaking and writing about leadership, teamwork, and organizational health and consulting with executives and their teams.

Prior to founding the firm in 1997, Pat worked at Bain & Company, Oracle Corporation and Sybase. Pat lives in the Bay Area with his wife and four boys.

Source: https://www.tablegroup.com/pat/

About the Book

In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team Patrick Lencioni once again offers a leadership fable that is as enthralling and instructive as his first two best-selling books, The Five Temptations of a CEO and The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive. This time, he turns his keen intellect and storytelling power to the fascinating, complex world of teams.

Throughout the story, Lencioni reveals the five dysfunctions which go to the very heart of why teams even the best ones-often struggle. He outlines a powerful model and actionable steps that can be used to overcome these common hurdles and build a cohesive, effective team. Just as with his other books, Lencioni has written a compelling fable with a powerful yet deceptively simple message for all those who strive to be exceptional team leaders.

Source: www.amazon.com

BIG IDEA 1 (4:44) – The five reasons why teams don’t work.

We have all experienced having or being in a team that doesn’t work, but haven’t always been able to name why it’s not working. Lancioni developed this hierarchical model to show the reasons and symptoms for team dysfunction.

The five reasons that team don’t work are: The absence of trust The fear of conflict The lack of commitment The avoidance of accountability Inattention to results

You can see the link between them, without trust, you can’t have any healthy conflict. The lack of healthy conflict does not drive people to commit to things. And if you can’t commit to things, you can’t be held accountable for anything. Without all of these things, you can’t achieve results.

Would you like to take better notes from the books you read? Get your copy of Archley's beautiful book journal, the Book of Books here: https://www.archleys.com/?ref=JamVyS-U4mVR

Buy the book from The Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Five-Dysfunctions-of-a-Team/9780787960759/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

BIG IDEA 2 (7:35) – Get personal.

The more we understand that people are people, the more we will trust them and have more open conversations with them. You need the ability to be vulnerable without the fear of repercussions. Trust is the ability to put yourself out there and disagree with an idea, or challenge someone with something without the fear of being sacked!

The lack of trust will result in everything from only having surface conversations without deeper, meaningful connection to full toxicity at its extreme. Ultimately without it, teams are not able to reach their full potential.

BIG IDEA 3 (9:30) – Weigh in to buy in.

There is such a strong relationship between trust, conflict and commitment. When you can trust that nothing bad is going to happen to you when you challenge an idea it means that in a meeting you can have a creative, constructive conversation. And because of that, even if your idea is not chosen, you can still commit to the decisions and actions of the team.

As a leader this might mean you need to choose who are the right people for the team. The leader has to be the role model of this kind of behaviour by building trust and encouraging healthy conflict.

Speed of Trust by Stephen Covey: Why trust is at the heart of everything

Links:

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About the Book

Stephen M. R. Covey, widely known as one of the world’s leading authorities on trust, asserts that it is “the most overlooked, misunderstood, underutilized asset to enable performance. Its impact, for good or bad, is dramatic and pervasive. It’s something you can’t escape.” Thankfully, it is also the thing that can dramatically improve your personal and professional success.

Why trust? The simple, often overlooked fact is this: work gets done with and through people. The Speed of Trust offers an unprecedented and eminently practical look at exactly how trust functions in every transaction and every relationship—from the most personal to the broadest, most indirect interaction. It specifically demonstrates how to establish trust intentionally so that you and your organization can forego the time-killing, bureaucratic check-and-balance processes that is so often deployed in lieu of actual trust.

Source: amazon.com

About the Author

Stephen M. R. Covey is co-founder of CoveyLink and of the FranklinCovey Global Speed of Trust Practice. A sought-after and compelling keynote speaker and advisor on trust, leadership, ethics, and high performance, he speaks to audiences around the world. He is the New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Speed of Trust, and coauthor of the #1 Amazon bestseller Smart Trust.

Over the years, Stephen has gained considerable respect and influence with executives and leaders of Fortune 500 companies as well as with mid- and small-sized private sector and public sector organizations he’s consulted. Clients recognize his unique perspective on real-world organizational issues based on his practical experience as a former CEO.

Stephen currently serves on the board/advisory board of several entities and is a Top Thought Leaders in Trust Lifetime Achievement Honoree from Trust Across America-Trust Around the World. Stephen resides with his wife and children in the shadows of the Rocky Mountains.

Source: www.speedoftrust.com

Would you like to take better notes from the books you read? Get your copy of Archley's beautiful book journal, the Book of Books here: https://www.archleys.com/?ref=JamVyS-U4mVR

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BIG IDEA 1 (4:54) – Speed of trust

Trust impacts everything. And we see that come out as a result of speed and cost, so when trust is low, speed is low and the cost is high. On the flip side, when trust is high, speed is high and cost is low.

This can be applied to relationships – if you think of leaders and managers who you haven’t got along with because there’s lack of trust, you’ll see this impact on speed and cost. You will have to go and double check things, send emails to cover your back, rather than just having a quick conversation.

There’s a concept in the book about smart trust. It’s about not being gullible and having blind faith, but also not being over skeptical and not trusting anyone. This drives our relationship quality which all comes down to low trust.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:12) – The components of trust.

In the book Stephen talks about the two components of trust – character and competence. There are four cores of trust within these components. In character, there is integrity and intent while with competence, there is capability and results.

It’s interesting to think about why we don’t trust someone – is it because we don’t trust their character or their competence (or both?!).

Competence is a test of their ability to do whatever they need to do and get the results while character is a bit more human and integral to them.

Stephen describes a trust ‘account’ that we hold with other people. Every interaction is an opportunity to build trust (or deposit trust) or break trust (or withdraw trust) – and not just with the person you’re directly talking to. If other people see your relationship or interaction with other people it can also impact their level of trust towards you.

BIG IDEA 3 (11:25) – Trust looks different to everyone

How trust looks and feels to one person, may be different for another person, which means there are different ways of building trust with different people. In the book there are 13 trust behaviours, containing details of what they look like and how to build or restore them.

Here are the 13 behaviours mentioned in the book: Talk straight Demonstrate respect Create transparency Right Show loyalty Deliver results Get better Confront reality Clarify expectations Practice accountability Listen first Keep commitments Extend trust

Doing these things can build trust. They can be practiced and changed. Withdrawal of trust is larger than deposits so can take some time to rebuild trust if you’ve withdrawn too much from the trust account.

Links

Videos, resources and more information here: https://www.speedoftrust.com/

Music By: Around Again – No Backing Vocals Song by Ian Post

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About the Book

Plenty of experts argue that anyone who wants to develop a skill, play an instrument, or lead their field should start early, focus intensely, and rack up as many hours of deliberate practice as possible. If you dabble or delay, you’ll never catch up to the people who got a head start. But a closer look at research on the world’s top performers, from professional athletes to Nobel laureates, shows that early specialization is the exception, not the rule.

David Epstein examined the world’s most successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors, forecasters and scientists. He discovered that in most fields—especially those that are complex and unpredictable—generalists, not specialists, are primed to excel. Generalists often find their path late, and they juggle many interests rather than focusing on one.They’re also more creative, more agile, and able to make connections their more specialized peers can’t see.

Source: https://davidepstein.com/

About the Author

David Epstein is the author of the #1 New York Times best seller Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World , and of the New York Times best seller The Sports Gene, both of which have been translated in more than 20 languages. (To his surprise, it was purchased not only by his sister but also by President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.)

He was previously a science and investigative reporter at ProPublica, and prior to that a senior writer at Sports Illustrated, where he co-authored the story that revealed Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez had used steroids.

David has given talks about performance science and the uses (and misuses) of data on five continents; his TED Talk has been viewed 8.5 million times, and was shared by Bill Gates. Three of his stories have been optioned for films.

David enjoys volunteering and as an avid runner, he was a Columbia University record holder and twice NCAA All-East as an 800-meter runner.

Source: https://davidepstein.com/

Would you like to take better notes from the books you read? Get your copy of Archley's beautiful book journal, the Book of Books here: https://www.archleys.com/?ref=JamVyS-U4mVR

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BIG IDEA 1 (4:18) - Roger vs. Tiger

Roger Federer and Tiger Woods have both defined their respective sports. Tiger Woods hyper-specialized since he was a child - his parents believed he was going to be the best golfer in the world. Whilst the young Roger Federer just liked playing sports. Eventually in his teens he picked tennis, at an age when many of his peers had been specialising since a very young age and were already working with elite coaches and nutritionists ec.

The Roger story is actually much more common, but we worship the Tiger story. Research also shows that elite performers actually practice less at a very young age, compared to the near-elite performers who specialise and practice more, earlier.

BIG IDEA 2 (6:25) - Kind vs. Wicked

The world's problems are becoming more wicked and much more complex. Therefore, to tackle them, we need the fundamental conceptual reasoning skills that we can transfer across different fields. When you have a narrow view of the world, you’ll only have a look for one thing in your field to answer the question or solve the problems.

This type of development of thinking was explored during some fascinating research in remote villages where the villagers still lived in a pre-modern age. Those with a very narrow view of the world, could only look at things from the perspective of what they had experienced before. So whilst some of their ideas were more creative (their descriptions of colours), their ability to think conceptually and abstractly was almost completely limited.

The Roger Federer approach is much better for wicked problems - one that brings the skills and experience of different sports (or fields). The Tiger Woods approach is better for kind problems or the more complicated, replicable challenges. If there is a high likelihood that you know what’s going to happen next, being Tiger Woods can help.

BIG IDEA 3 (13:05) - The Power of Analogy

If we need to have better conceptual thinking, the ability to think in analogies will help. A study on problems solving says that successful problem solvers are more able to determine the deep structure or problem before they proceed and match a strategy to it. And a lot of the time, the deep structure of a problem isn’t limited to the same field of that particular problem - it takes going beyond the context and into the concept.

Less successful problem solvers are more likely to mentally classify problems only by superficial features (ie, it’s a medical problem or an engineering problem).

Sometimes the more you know about the area, the worse you are about making decisions. Companies, including NASA, have had some of their longest standing problems solved by amateurs with no, or limited, scientific knowledge but who are able to see the similarity from something else they have seen before in another field.

Links:

Learn more about being a multipotentialite here: https://www.ted.com/talks/emilie_wapnick_why_some_of_us_don_t_have_one_true_calling?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

Watch David’s TED Talk here: https://www.ted.com/talks/david_epstein_are_athletes_really_getting_faster_better_stronger

Music By: Bluerise Song by Oliver Michael

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About the Author

Ryan Holiday is a writer and media strategist. When he was 19 years old, he dropped out of college to apprentice under Robert Greene, author of The 48 Laws of Power.

He had a successful marketing career at American Apparel and went on to found a creative agency called Brass Check, which has advised clients like Google, TASER, and Complex, as well as many prominent bestselling authors, including Neil Strauss, Tony Robbins and Tim Ferriss.

He is the author of ten books, including Ego Is the Enemy, The Daily Stoic, Conspiracy and Stillness is the Key which have sold more than 2 million copies in thirty languages and have a following among NFL coaches, world-class athletes, TV personalities, political leaders, and others around the world. He spends most of his time on a ranch outside Austin, Texas where he does his writing and work in between raising cattle, donkeys and goats.

Source: https://ryanholiday.net/about/

About the Book

The Obstacle is the Way has become a cult classic, beloved by men and women around the world who apply its wisdom to become more successful at whatever they do.

The book draws its inspiration from stoicism, the ancient Greek philosophy of enduring pain or adversity with perseverance and resilience. Stoics focus on the things they can control, let go of everything else, and turn every new obstacle into an opportunity to get better, stronger, tougher.

Ryan Holiday shows us how some of the most successful people in history—from John D. Rockefeller to Amelia Earhart to Ulysses S. Grant to Steve Jobs—have applied stoicism to overcome difficult or even impossible situations. Their embrace of these principles ultimately mattered more than their natural intelligence, talents, or luck.

If you’re feeling frustrated, demoralized, or stuck in a rut, this book can help you turn your problems into your biggest advantages. And along the way, it will inspire you with dozens of true stories of the greats from every age and era.

Source: https://www.amazon.com/

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BIG IDEA 1 (5:47) – Invoke the reverse clause.

There’s a quote from the book that says, “The impediment to action advances action, what stands in the way, becomes the way”. Ultimately the obstacle is the way.

Marcus Aurelius, who is talked about in the book, suggests that we need to turn our obstacles upside down and have a way to find another path if necessary.

Stoicism suggests that we have a choice, whether we will move over, around or through the obstacles that appear in our life. One concept in the book is the flank attack on an obstacle – stepping back and finding a new path. Take the line that is least expected which is not always the ideal one but gets us around, over or under the obstacle that is in our way.

BIG IDEA 2 (7:06) – Behaviours and virtues.

If an emotion can’t change the situation, it’s probably unhelpful. This doesn’t mean you can’t feel the emotion – vent, rant or even cry. It is about how you control (or domesticate) your emotions.

Stoicism is about emotional regulation or control. We need to tame emotions; train them and use them to our advantage.

The virtues of stoicism include patience, courage, humility, resourcefulness, justice, reason and creativity. These are the virtues that you need to have to overcome the obstacles in your way.

BIG IDEA 3 (8:37) – Act.

The root to overcoming the obstacles is through action. Despite the situation you find yourself in, you have the courage to take action.

If you fail, that is okay, that’s just feedback that you need a different path and you just have to find a new way. Problems are our chance to do our best. And we shouldn’t assume everything will go well; we should do pre mortem and plan for problems so we know how to react.

External factors influence that path but not the direction. We should always be moving forward.

Links:

See my post about how I use my copy of Archley’s Book of Books here: https://www.instagram.com/p/B_OIycvobxU/?igshid=uoytldajyc1d

Listen to the Daily Stoic here: https://dailystoic.com/podcast/

Music By: Arcade Song by Generation Lost

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About the Book

Jerry Colonna helps start-up CEOs make peace with their demons, the psychological habits and behavioral patterns that have helped them to succeed—molding them into highly accomplished individuals—yet have been detrimental to their relationships and ultimate well-being.

Jerry has taught CEOs and their top teams to realize their potential by using the raw material of their lives to find meaning, to build healthy interpersonal bonds, and to become more compassionate and bold leaders. In Reboot, he inspires everyone to hold themselves responsible for their choices and for the possibility of truly achieving their dreams.

Work does not have to destroy us. Work can be the way in which we achieve our fullest self, Jerry firmly believes. What we need, sometimes, is a chance to reset our goals and to reconnect with our deepest selves and with each other. Reboot moves and empowers us to begin this journey.

Source: https://www.reboot.io/book/

About the Author

Jerry Colonna is the CEO, and co-founder, of Reboot.io, an executive coaching and leadership development firm whose coaches and facilitators are committed to the notion that better humans make better leaders.

For nearly 20 years, he has used the knowledge gained as an investor, an executive, and a board member for more than 100 organizations to help entrepreneurs and others to lead with humanity, resilience, and equanimity. Previous to his career as a coach he was a partner with JPMorgan Partners (JPMP), the private equity arm of JP Morgan Chase. He joined JPMP from Flatiron Partners, which he launched 1996 with a partner, Fred Wilson. Flatiron became one of the most successful, early-stage investment programs in the New York City area. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.

Source: https://www.reboot.io/about/founders/

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BIG IDEA 1 (7:55) – Do your own work.

The most important role as a leader is to ‘get yourself in order’. Jerry’s fundamental belief is that better humans make better leaders. He also said that leadership is the art of growing up. It’s about getting over what happened to you before, putting aside some of those demons, and growing up.

However, we often avoid doing our own work (ie working on ourselves) for the fear of what we might find. We keep ourselves busy, moving, distracted, and tired. We blame circumstances, our past, our lack of time, the company that we work for, and anything else to avoid stopping to reflect. And so, continue to be controlled by our unconscious, our leftover fears and out old patterns of behaviour.

BIG IDEA 2 (10:29) – Ask important questions.

The book is full of incredible reflective questions. There were three particular questions that Jerry talks about in the book; What am I not saying that needs to be said? What am I saying that’s not being heard? What’s being said that I’m not hearing?

Asking ourselves, and other people, these questions help us understand what’s really going on.

BIG IDEA 3 (12:19) – Stop the sabotage.

There’s another critical question in the book; how am I complicit in creating the conditions that I say I don’t want?

We are often contradicting ourselves between our actions and speech. Saying we do/don’t want something but acting in the total opposite way.

Ask yourself some of these questions to see how, where, and why you’re stopping yourself in reaching your potential, succeeding, and uncovering what’s true to you. It may be the irrational stories we tell ourselves, but without understanding this, they will continue to control and sabotage us.

Links

Check out Kelly Irvine’s work helping people get their books out of their heads: https://www.kellyirving.com/ Listen to Jerry on the Tim Ferriss podcast here: https://tim.blog/2019/06/11/jerry-colonna/

Music By: Ancient Sailing Song by Ziv Moran

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About the Book

Creativity, Inc. is a book for managers who want to lead their employees to new heights, a manual for anyone who strives for originality, and the first-ever, all-access trip into the nerve center of Pixar Animation—into the meetings, postmortems, and “Braintrust” sessions where some of the most successful films in history are made. It is, at heart, a book about how to build a creative culture—but it is also, as Pixar co-founder and president Ed Catmull writes, “an expression of the ideas that I believe make the best in us possible.”

Source: https://www.creativityincbook.com/about/

About the Author

As a young man, Ed Catmull had a dream: to make the first computer-animated movie. He nurtured that dream as a Ph.D. student at the University of Utah, where many computer science pioneers got their start, and then forged a partnership with George Lucas that led, indirectly, to his founding Pixar with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter in 1986.

Ed Catmull is co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios and president of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation. He has been honored with five Academy Awards, including the Gordon E. Sawyer Award for lifetime achievement in the field of computer graphics. He received his Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Utah. He lives in San Francisco with his wife and children.

Source: https://www.creativityincbook.com/catmull/

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BIG IDEA 1 (3:38) – Leadership creates creativity.

One of the things that drove the Pixar leadership team of Ed Catmull, Steve Jobs and John Lasseter was protecting Pixar from the forces that ruined many businesses. They had seen business grow, only to implode upon themselves, and they wanted to avoid this happening at Pixar.

They therefore focused on helping smart people work better together. They worked on methods for better collaboration and creativity for better outcomes. Ed said that to do this effectively, you have to assume that the people you’ve hired are talented individuals.

He talked about the idea that good leaders can help creative people stay on the path to excellence, no matter what business they’re in. This is breaking the idea that to be creative or solve problems you have to be in the arts or technology.

Also as a leader you need to admit that you might be wrong or that you don’t know the answer. You need to see yourself as a teacher and put your ego aside to help people learn.

BIG IDEA 2 (6:08) – Find the right team.

You can’t possibly understand everything and therefore you need as many viewpoints as you can. Once you have the great people and expertise in the team you need to give them the autonomy to do their best work – getting the right team means getting ideas right. There is no hierarchy in Pixar, they really value the work of the creatives and pride themselves on being filmmaker-led.

In order to find the right team and nurture them, you have to be open about the problems you are facing. That is why it is important to be open to learning about solving those problems.

BIG IDEA 3 (9:04) – Challenge everything.

PIxar is famous for their ‘braintrust’ process for feedback. They fully embrace the fact that everything sucks at the start. The braintrust makes the breakthroughs for films because of their candid and regular feedback – it’s saved many of the films we know and love from being disasters.

They embrace the fact that everyone gets stuck but the braintrust is not about solving the problem, it’s about asking the questions and providing the right challenge to make things better. It shows the importance of peer review and collaboration. In the book Ed states that “ideas only become great when they’re challenged and tested”.

Music By: Monomer – No Backing Vocals Song by Leroy Wild

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About the Book

Long hours, an excessive workload, and a lack of sleep have become a badge of honor for modern professionals. But it should be a mark of stupidity, the authors argue. Sadly, this isn’t just a problem for large organizations—individuals, contractors, and solopreneurs are burning themselves out the same way. The answer to better productivity isn’t more hours—it’s less waste and fewer things that induce distraction and persistent stress.

It’s time to stop celebrating Crazy, and start celebrating Calm, Fried and Hansson assert.

Source: https://books.google.com

About the Authors

David Heinemeier Hansson is the cofounder of Basecamp and NYT bestselling coauthor of REWORK and REMOTE. He’s also the creator of the software toolkit Ruby on Rails, which has been used to launch and power Twitter, Shopify, GitHub, Airbnb, Square, and over a million other web applications. Originally from Denmark, he moved to Chicago in 2005, and now lives between the US and Spain with his wife and two sons. In his spare time, he enjoys 200-mph race cars in international competition, taking cliche pictures of sunsets and kids, and ranting far too much on Twitter.

Source: https://www.amazon.com/David-Heinemeier-Hansson/e/B001JS19Y8/

Jason Fried is the co-founder and President of 37signals, a privately-held Chicago-based company committed to building the best web-based tools possible with the least number of features necessary.

37signals’ products include Basecamp, Highrise, Backpack, Campfire, Ta-da List, and Writeboard. 37signals also developed and open-sourced the Ruby on Rails programming framework. 37signals’ products do less than the competition — intentionally.

Jason believes there’s real value and beauty in the basics. Elegance, respect for people’s desire to simply get stuff done, and honest ease of use are the hallmarks of 37signals products. Source: https://www.amazon.com/Jason-Fried/e/B002MQ13PQ/

Would you like to take better notes from the books you read? Get your copy of Archley's beautiful book journal, the Book of Books here: https://www.archleys.com/?ref=JamVyS-U4mVR

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https://www.bookdepository.com/It-Doesnt-Have-Be-Crazy-at-Work-Jason-Fried/9780008323448/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

BIG IDEA 1 (4:55) – Re-think the basics.

The book challenges so many of the concepts that we assume are a given at work or running a business. The authors argue with goal setting (at Basecamp there is no revenue target, no retention goals or other meaningless targets). The only goal they have is to do the best work everyday and make things better.

They also argue that there is no need to change the world with your business and they throw away the idea of comparing yourself to the competition. Just do your best work everyday to create great products for your customers. They say that the idea of comfort and calm is fine, and you can still do good and meaningful work without chaos – and probably even more so. Oh and they make it VERY hard to hold a meeting – because meetings are generally terrible ways of getting things done.

Redesigning the way we work and get back to the basics. All of these human-made constructs of work can be redesigned.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:46) – Protect what matters.

David and Jason say that what matters most is the time and attention of employees. The time that employees spend at work has to be quality time – not a ‘mess of minutes’ as people find cracks of time between meetings and other interruptions to try and do their work.

According to them, dedication to asynchronous communication protects the time and attention of employees. Everyone has to have a good night sleep, no pulling all nighters, and they are not stealing people’s weekends. They also apply the library rules in their offices – it’s quiet, because distraction spreads like a virus; once one person has it, everyone becomes infected.

BIG IDEA 3 (11:56) – Forget family like cultures.

Family like cultures often excuse bad behaviour and are used to excuse power plays, weekend stealing (because you’re doing it for ‘the family’), rudeness and ineffective decision making by consensus. We shouldn’t need to pretend to be family to show respect, care and to do the right thing.

Any leader, especially the owners, must be conscious of their role modeling. Everyone is looking at the leader and looking for social cues to see what’s accepted and what’s not. Fundamentally, bad habits beat good intentions. Bad habits are hard to break and can quickly stay as the new normal – from allowing chaos to creep in, bringing bad habits from previous companies or engaging in something suboptimal in your interactions with others.

Links

Find out more about the book here: https://basecamp.com/books/calm Find out more about Basecamp here: www.basecamp.com

Music By: Autumn Wind Song by Yehezkel Raz

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About the Author

Sent to the most violent battlefield in Iraq, Jocko Willink and Leif Babin’s SEAL task unit faced a seemingly impossible mission: help U.S. forces secure Ramadi, a city deemed “all but lost.” In gripping firsthand accounts of heroism, tragic loss, and hard-won victories in SEAL Team Three’s Task Unit Bruiser, they learned that leadership―at every level―is the most important factor in whether a team succeeds or fails.

Willink and Babin returned home from deployment and instituted SEAL leadership training that helped forge the next generation of SEAL leaders. After departing the SEAL Teams, they launched Echelon Front, a company that teaches these same leadership principles to businesses and organizations. From promising startups to Fortune 500 companies, Babin and Willink have helped scores of clients across a broad range of industries build their own high-performance teams and dominate their battlefields.

Source: https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs/dp/1250067057

About the Book

Detailing the mindset and principles that enable SEAL units to accomplish the most difficult missions in combat, Extreme Ownership shows how to apply them to any team, family, or organization. Each chapter focuses on a specific topic such as Cover and Move Decentralized Command, and Leading Up the Chain, explaining what they are, why they are important, and how to implement them in any leadership environment.

A compelling narrative with powerful instruction and direct application, Extreme Ownership revolutionizes business management and challenges leaders everywhere to fulfill their ultimate purpose: lead and win.

Source: https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs/dp/1250067057

Links

Listen to Jocko’s podcast here: https://jockopodcast.com/

Would you like to take better notes from the books you read? Get your copy of Archley's beautiful book journal, the Book of Books here: https://www.archleys.com/?ref=JamVyS-U4mVR

Buy this book from The Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Extreme-Ownership-Jocko-Willink/9781250183866/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

Before we dive into the three big ideas, the biggest idea in the book is ‘extreme ownership’. The fact that everything is your responsibility (and your fault) in some way – and the more you look at everything as your responsibility, the more effective you’ll be. Waving goodbye to blame and circumstance and all the things that get in the way of us taking control of situations. This idea on its own is incredibly powerful and would make a huge difference in many organisations (and lives).

BIG IDEA 1 (5:42) – Belief is key

To convince and inspire others to follow you, you must truly believe in the mission. This is challenging in a lot of organisations because sometimes when you ask other people (or you yourself are asked) to do something, you’re not sure if it is the right direction or action. But to inspire others you have to truly believe in that mission.

To better understand the mission (and therefore believe in it), you have to challenge it, question it, and therefore understand it. It comes back to a purpose or ‘why’ you’re trying to achieve what you’re trying to achieve. Of course, it is not just you who should believe in what needs to happen or what the overall vision is but as part of communicating that with others you need to give them the chance to question, challenge, and help them understand it.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:38) – Decentralise

This whole book could be called ‘extreme delegation’. A huge amount of ideas in the book come down to decentralisation and delegation. Jocko and Leif argue that humans can only manage 6 to 10 people – especially when things are going wrong. Organisations, therefore, have to push down as much authority as possible to make sure decisions can be made and action taken. To do this, however, you have to put the ego away – you won’t be able to delegate with an ego and whilst trying to control everything yourself.

It comes back to big idea #1 – if everyone truly understands and believes the mission (and you have the right people), they should be able to make decisions accordingly. As a leader, if you are taking on all the work, ownership, and responsibility, you’re losing situational awareness to see what’s going on and be able to plan strategically.

BIG IDEA 3 (11:52) – Plan

Nothing can be achieved without a plan. Some of the items in their leader’s checklists for planning are analysing the mission, understanding the overall purpose, identifying the people you need, resources and time, determining the course of action, contingency planning, mitigating any risks and communicating the plan to relevant parties.

The idea of decentralisation is actually built into the planning process to embed this discipline and thinking into all missions and activities.

Finally, part of the planning is doing a post-operational debrief after the activity has happened – something that’s not done often enough in organisations.

The planning process put forward by Jocko and Leif is quite intense but this is the crux of their mindset of ‘discipline equals freedom’. By having the discipline of plans, processes, and systems, you then have the freedom to focus on the things that matter, to flex and adapt when needed.

Music By: Cave Dweller Song by When Mountains Move

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Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win

View Details

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About the Author

“My name is Michael. I can hop. Do you want to see me hop?” That’s how Michael introduced himself to bemused strangers at the supermarket when he was three.

Michael Bungay Stanier is at the forefront of shaping how organizations around the world make being coach-like an essential leadership behavior and competency. His book The Coaching Habit is the best-selling coaching book of this century and in 2019, he was named the #1 thought leader in coaching, and was shortlisted for the coaching prize by Thinkers50, the “Oscars of management”.

Michael is the Founder of Box of Crayons. Box of Crayons is a learning and development company that helps organizations transform from advice-driven to Curiosity-led.

Michael is a compelling keynote speaker who combines practicality, humour, and an unprecedented degree of engagement with the audience. He has performed around the world in front of crowds ranging from ten to ten thousand.

Source: https://www.mbs.works/about

About the Book

The Coaching Habit gives you seven questions and the tools to make them an everyday way to work less hard and have more impact.

It has been endorsed by people such as Dan Pink, Brené Brown and David Allen, all big names in the world of motivation, authenticity and productivity.

It’s been well received by leaders and managers in organizations all over the world, ranging from A(DP) to Z(urich Insurance).

It’s a Winner in the 10th annual National Indie Excellence Awards in the General Business category. And a Finalist in the “Business: Management & Leadership” category of the 2016 International Book Awards as well as the 2016 Top Sales and Marketing Book.

And, the audiobook version was nominated for Best Audiobook Narration in the Voice Arts® Awards Competition, the international competition sponsored by the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences (SOVAS).

https://boxofcrayons.com/the-coaching-habit-book/

Links

For more resources from this book and from Michael on coaching, check out https://boxofcrayons.com/

Get 15% off your copy of the Book of Books – the perfect book journal accompaniment to your reading habit: https://www.archleys.com/discount/STEPHCLARKE

Buy the book from The Book Depository https://www.bookdepository.com/Coaching-Habit-Michael-Bungay-Stanier/9780978440749/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

BIG IDEA 1 (5:06) – Ask more questions.

This is the fundamental of this book, ask more questions (and then be more quiet) to embrace curiosity and understand rather than give advice.

However, you need to be cautious when asking more questions – don’t ask them all at once with ‘drive-by questioning’ (when you fire multiple questions all at once). You will lose the depth of conversation, momentum, and the other person will be confused as to which questions to answer first.

Also, be aware of asking leading questions, or advice shrouded in a question, instead ask “what else” and then be quiet and let the other person answer.

And finally, just ask it – it’s easy to spend a long time building up a question, giving examples and generally being very long-winded in asking a question rather than just getting on and asking it. One of the benefits of taking a coaching approach is being able to ask the harder questions… so just ask them.

BIG IDEA 2 (9:19) – Identify the three P’s.

Under great questions, you will discover three things, or the 3 Ps.

The project which is the content of the challenge or situations, the people which is really about the relationship between the people, and the patterns – the trends or themes, both positive and negative.

Help people find their AHA! moments, whether it’s negative or positive through your questions and by exploring these three areas. This can help them see their positive patterns that they don’t appreciate enough about themselves.

BIG IDEA 3 (13:02) – Beware the drama triangle.

The drama triangle is taken from more therapeutic models but has a lot of relevance in a coaching context. The drama triangle has three roles – the persecutor, the victim, and the rescuer.

If you see people fall into one of these roles, you can ask – ‘how can I help?’. This question can help stop the drama from unfolding by acting as a circuit breaker. So if you hear someone in victim-mode whining about a situation, asking ‘how can I help’ can snap them into a higher level conversation about what really has to happen next or the real challenge (or admit that they were just whining!).

These types of coaching conversations don’t have to be sitting down, forty-five minutes sessions but you can use a coaching mindset in the micro-interactions we have with other people – and often these can be the most powerful moments to use a coaching approach.

Music By: Big Sky Song by Shuhandz

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About the Author

The “New Guru You Should Know” according to Fortune. BJ Fogg runs the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford. He invested over 20 years researching and teaching insights about human behavior.

His early research on Persuasive Technology has informed the design of products that millions love and use (like Instagram, which his student co-founded).

Now, he is taking everything he knows about behavior change—including his experience personally coaching 40,000 people – to help people lose weight, de-stress, sleep better, or achieve any goal of your choice. You just need Fogg’s behavior formula: make it easy, make it fit your life, and make it rewarding. Whenever you get in your car, take one yoga breath. Smile. Whenever you get in bed, turn off your phone. Give yourself a high five.

Change can be easy—once it starts, it grows.

Source: https://www.tinyhabits.com/about

About the Book

In the widely-anticipated book Tiny Habits: The Small Changes that Change Everything, readers will discover the landmark Tiny Habits method that has helped thousands of people build their ideal lives.

Unlike anything that’s come before, this system—what Dr. Fogg has coined “Behavior Design”—cracks the code of habit formation.

The content in this book is practical, immediately applicable and most importantly brand new. Tiny Habits is not just a summary of existing methods. Each chapter shares breakthrough insights and simple steps you can take to improve your life. All this is based on Dr. Fogg’s groundbreaking research in Behavior Design.

At the heart of this book is a startling truth: Creating a happier, healthier life can be both easy and fun.

Source: https://www.tinyhabits.com/book

Links: https://www.tinyhabits.com/

Listen to BJ’s TED talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdKUJxjn-R8

Order your Book of Books with 15% off here: https://www.archleys.com/discount/STEPHCLARKE

Buy the Book from The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Tiny-Habits/9780753553237/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

BIG IDEA 1 (6:21) – Motivation is not the answer.

A lot of us fall into the trap of relying solely on motivation to force us to do what we want to do (or what we other people think we should do). However BJ talks about the fact that once you build habits, you can do almost anything. Habit building is a superpower.

Motivation runs out quickly, making it an unreliable and unhelpful beast. Instead we need to focus on systems of behaviour design and the emotion we feel when we do a particular action. We need to constantly ask ourselves ‘how could I make this easier’.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:51) – The recipe for habits.

Firstly, we need to be clear on our aspirations; what we want to be better at, do regularly or not do regularly. After this you need to identify the actual actions that would result in that aspiration, or outcome, coming to life. You can then plot these possible actions into a handy 2×2 to map their effectiveness vs your ability to do them.

To build your recipe, you need to make sure you are looking at specific actions (eg ‘stop eating a tub of ice cream every evening’) to find (and then stick to) things you are really able to do. It’s easy to just stay at the aspiration level of ‘get healthy’ or ‘sleep better’ which aren’t actionable and often results in habit failure.

It’s possible you just need a reminder to do things. You can add an anchor to your habit recipe through attaching a new action to old habits. For example, flossing can be anchored to brushing your teeth. The reminder is the previous action which is brushing your teeth.

BIG IDEA 3 (13:48) – Our emotions drive our habits.

We only do the things that make us feel good. Therefore you need to make yourself feel good in order to repeat the behaviour. This is the unique element of tiny habits which is the idea of celebration. BJ proposes we need to celebrate upon completing our new habit. Anything from a smile at ourselves in the mirror to dancing around the living room to hi-fiving your significant other. These celebrations make us feel great, resulting in our brains remembering and associate that great feeling with the habit.

Importantly, the celebration is not an incentive or reward (eg ‘if I workout five times this week, I will go for a massage’). It is critical that the celebration happens IMMEDIATELY after completing the habit action (eg straight after flossing your teeth) and makes you feel good or successful as a result of doing your new habit.

Music By: Brainstorm Song by Rex Banner

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About the Author

Chris Voss has used his many years of experience in international crisis and high-stakes negotiations to develop a unique program and team that applies these globally proven techniques to the business world.

Prior to 2008, Chris was the lead international kidnapping negotiator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as the FBI’s hostage negotiation representative for the National Security Council’s Hostage Working Group.

During Chris’s 24 year tenure in the Bureau, he was trained in the art of negotiation by not only the FBI but Scotland Yard and Harvard Law School. He is also a recipient of the Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement and the FBI Agents Association Award for Distinguished and Exemplary Service.

Source: https://www.blackswanltd.com/our-team/chris-voss

About the Book

Everything we’ve previously been taught about negotiation is wrong: you are not rational; there is no such thing as ‘fair’; compromise is the worst thing you can do; the real art of negotiation lies in mastering the intricacies of No, not Yes.

These surprising tactics—which radically diverge from conventional negotiating strategy—weren’t cooked up in a classroom, but are the field-tested tools FBI agents used to talk criminals and hostage-takers around the world into (or out of) just about any scenario you can imagine.

Throughout the book, Voss draws on his experiences in truly life-or-death situations to illustrate these techniques, and offers scores of examples of how they translate into our working lives.

Source: https://info.blackswanltd.com/library

Links

Find out more about the techniques in the book and worksheets to help plan your negotiations here: https://www.blackswanltd.com/

Buy from The Book Depository https://www.bookdepository.com/Never-Split-Difference-Chris-Voss/9781847941497/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

BIG IDEA 1 (4:14) – Tactical empathy

Tactical empathy is not about agreeing with the other person’s position. Chris talks about the fact that some people are allergic in this concept because the idea of extending empathy to a hostage taker or terrorist is so abhorrent. However, the beauty of empathy is that it doesn’t demand that you agree with the other person but does mean you need to identify their underlying emotion. You don’t need to like the other person or agree with their idea to try and identify what they might be feeling.

There are two ways to better build tactical empathy. First is mirroring, it’s what humans and even animals do to create comfort with others. There are two kinds of mirroring – physical and verbal mirroring. Physical mirroring is moving in sync with the other person (which builds trust and like-ness). Verbal mirroring is repeating back the last 1-3 vital words that the other person said, which allows them to elaborate more – creating deeper understanding and connection.

BIG IDEA 2 (7:46) – NO is your friend.

The big myth in negotiation or sales is we want people to say ‘yes’, and say yes as quickly as possible. However, no is good because it slows things down, helps us get to the real issue and allows people to make better decisions. Mark Cuban once said – “Every no gets you closer to yes”. No also puts the feeling of control back with the other person, which is very important in a negotiation situation.

BIG IDEA 3 (10:13) – Forget fair.

We often fall into the trap of wanting everything to be ‘fair’ whenever we talk about negotiation. ‘Fairness’ is often used to accuse the other party (either implicitly or explicitly) of being either unfair (they’ve made you a horrible offer) or unreasonableness (they have declined your ‘fair’ offer). This is not very useful to a relationship in a negotiation when the idea of fairness is often used as a weapon in order to accuse someone of something that they are not doing.

Chris has discovered that one positive way of using fairness in a negotiation is up front, by making a statement like ‘I want you to feel like you’re being fairly treated at all times, so please stop me at any time you feel we’re being unfair and we’ll address it’. Again, this puts fairness on the table up front (rather than an accusation later on) and gives control and permission to the other party to bring up ‘unfairness’ at the right time.

Music By: Almanac Song by Seth Parson

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We are living in a strange time, one that will be written about, analysed, reflected on and remembered for decades. And everyone’s experience of it is so very different – whilst some are struggling with loneliness or financial insecurity, others are seeing the opportunities that come from adapting and embracing some new ways of working.

Whilst pushing us physically apart, it’s also unifying people – with many people commenting on how they are connecting more with the people who matter most, albeit in a different way.

This week, I’m taking a little break from the usual big ideas from one book and bringing you a little special episode talking about some of the books that I feel are fitting reads for this period in history.

Some of these are books I’ve already talked about on the podcast, others are ones still on the ‘to be recorded’ pile, but all of them will take on a slightly different meaning when read in the context of COVID and everything that comes with it.

Links

Priya Parker on how to gather well remotely https://www.instagram.com/tv/B-iOI_BpUaP/?igshid=1cq12mbxo82fk

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl (4:22) – whilst we can’t compare Viktor’s experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II with what’s happening today, there’s a lot to be taken from his reflections and lessons. During this time he identified his purpose in life and used this to guide and provide comfort to his unimaginable experiences.

Buy the Book from The Book Depository - https://www.bookdepository.com/Mans-Search-For-Meaning-Viktor-E-Frankl/9781846041242/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

Essentialism by Greg McKeown (6:00) – A book about productivity. By thinking more closely about what is essential, we are able to regain control of our own choices and priorities. As many people are reporting a productivity increase as a result of working from home, this book will be food for thought as we look to redesign work ‘post COVID’ and where we channel our time, energy and effort to make the most impact on the elements of our life and work that matter the most.

Listen to this episode - https://www.stephsbusinessbookshelf.com/essentialism-by-greg-mckeown/

The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker (8:07) – The way we gather matters just as much virtually is as it does in person, so we need to get it right. Whatever the gathering or the format, it needs to have a purpose; why are we there? Who do we need to gather with? How do we need to gather better? How do we need to gather more… or less? This book invites you to take a longer look at your role as a host and reimagine what gatherings can be.

Listen to this episode - https://www.stephsbusinessbookshelf.com/art-of-gathering-by-priya-parker/

Lost Connections by Johann Hari (10:23) – This book is about mental health and how what appears to be depression, may actually be loneliness caused by the function of the way we live. Given the loneliness pandemic that could run alongside the COVID pandemic, it’s an interesting book to revisit when thinking about redesigning the way we live, connect and operate as a society after this pandemic is over.

Listen to this episode - https://www.stephsbusinessbookshelf.com/lost-connections-by-johann-hari/

Other Recommended Books

Ryan Holiday’s The Obstacle is the Way

Buy the Book from The Book Depository - https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Obstacle-is-the-Way/9781781251492/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre

Buy the Book from The Book Depository - https://www.bookdepository.com/Bad-Science/9780007284870/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

Music By: Teenage Dream Song by Curtis Cole

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About the author

“My name is Michael. I can hop. Do you want to see me hop?” That’s how Michael introduced himself to bemused strangers at the supermarket when he was three.

Michael is the Founder of Box of Crayons. Box of Crayons is a learning and development company that helps organizations transform from advice-driven to curiosity-led.

En route to today—and these are essential parts of his origin story—Michael knocked himself unconscious as a labourer by hitting himself in the head with a shovel; mastered stagecraft (and stage fright) at law school by appearing in a skit called Synchronized Nude Male Modelling; and his first paid piece of writing was a Harlequin Romance-esque story involving a mis-delivered letter called … The Male Delivery.

Source: https://www.mbs.works/about

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Advice-Trap/9781989025758/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book

The Advice Trap is the much anticipated companion book to the Wall Street Journal bestseller and smash hit, The Coaching Habit. It’s all about how to #TameYourAdviceMonster. And that’s no easy thing.

This book: untangles the difference between Easy Change and Hard Change. tackles the thorny issue of how to change your behaviour so you stay curious longer. provides the tools to make you masterful at focus, and your conversations irresistible. introduces a new way of thinking about leadership that rests on curiosity and invites in empathy, mindfulness and humility. and so much more!

Plus, it’s all written in a clear, funny and practical manner.

Source: https://www.mbs.works/theadvicetrap

Links

Find out more and download the advice trap resources here: https://www.mbs.works/theadvicetrap Listen to Michael giving excellent advice on facilitation on the First Time Facilitator podcast here: https://www.firsttimefacilitator.com/michael-bungay-stanier/

BIG IDEA 1 (6:47) – The perils of advice.

The dysfunctional patterns that repeat themselves between individuals within teams are because of the advice trap. And these bad habits and behaviours and dysfunctional patterns will just keep happening as advice is perpetually carried forward.

Researchers suggest that advice givers are less likeable and are ineffective at developing others. Advice is given by people who were not curious enough to find out what the real challenge is with the person they’re giving the advice to.

Falling into the advice trap also limits change because people can’t identify the real challenge themselves. It stops success being scalable because it sticks people into the status quo.

The trap is keeping on giving advice even though it doesn’t work.

BIG IDEA 2 (9:24) – The types of advice monster.

There are personas of the advice monster – tell it, save it, and control it.

‘Tell it’ loves the spotlight and believes it has all of the answers.

‘Save it’ is the rescuer, who uses the excuse of being helpful to provide advice – with a ‘faint smell of burning martyr’.

The third persona is ‘control it’, it’s always present and has delusions of grandeur and can’t possibly empower others because then it will lose control.

All these personalities are really saying that ‘you are better than the other person’. Which is quite a statement, but this should be confronting; every time you give advice, you are suggesting you are better than the other person.

BIG IDEA 3 (11:48) – Stay curious longer.

The answer is curiosity.

Michael talks about the key principles in the book; be lazy – don’t feel like you have to carry everything and make all the decisions and come up with all the answers; be curious – keep asking questions at all opportunities, and be often – coaching is something that shouldn’t happen only quarterly or annually but it should be your normal way of doing things.

Music By: Almanac Song by Seth Parson

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About the Author

Kim Scott is the author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss without Losing your Humanity and the co-founder of Radical Candor LLC. Kim has been a CEO coach at Dropbox, Qualtrics, Twitter, and several other tech companies.

Previously, Kim led AdSense, YouTube, and Doubleclick Online Sales and Operations at Google. Known for her ability to generate billions of dollars in revenue from millions of small customers while keeping her team happy and margins high, her unofficial title was High Priestess of the Long Tail. After Google, Kim joined Apple to develop and teach a leadership seminar.

Additionally, she was the co-founder and CEO of Juice Software, a collaboration start-up, and led business development at Delta Three and Capital Thinking. Earlier in her career, she worked as a senior policy advisor at the FCC, managed a pediatric clinic in Kosovo, started a diamond cutting factory in Moscow, and was an analyst on the Soviet Companies Fund. Kim received her MBA from Harvard Business School and her BA from Princeton University. She is the author of three novels; she and her husband Andy Scott are parents of twins and live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

https://www.radicalcandor.com/our-team/

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Radical-Candor/9781529038347 /?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

The idea is simple: You don’t have to choose between being a pushover and a jerk. Using Radical Candor―avoiding the perils of Obnoxious Aggression, Manipulative Insincerity, and Ruinous Empathy―you can be kind and clear at the same time.

Kim Scott was a highly successful leader at Google before decamping to Apple, where she developed and taught a management class. Since the original publication of Radical Candor in 2017, Scott has earned international fame with her vital approach to effective leadership and co-founded the Radical Candor executive education company, which helps companies put the book’s philosophy into practice.

Radical Candor is about caring personally and challenging directly, about soliciting criticism to improve your leadership and also providing guidance that helps others grow. It focuses on praise but doesn’t shy away from criticism―to help you love your work and the people you work with.

Radically Candid relationships with team members enable bosses to fulfill their three core responsibilities: Create a culture of Compassionate Candor Build a cohesive team Achieve results collaboratively

Required reading for the most successful organizations, Radical Candor has raised the bar for management practices worldwide.

www.amazon.com

Links

Watch Kim’s video ‘be a kickass boss without losing your humanity’ here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj9GLeNCgm4

BIG IDEA 1 (6:14) – Care personally and challenge directly.

Caring personally is fundamentally about giving a damn. It is about sharing yourself and allowing others to do the same by creating an environment where everyone can build true relationships. It’s about truly caring about your team as people – not just about how good they are in their job.

Create space for conversations about what your team members want to do with their careers, even if people may not want to stay in your team or your organisation. The first important step to caring personally is to decide that it is your job to make your team successful.

Caring personally and challenging directly are what make up the radical candor. Challenging directly is telling people what’s working and what’s not. Whether you are giving feedback or guidance, you can’t effectively care personally without challenging directly. And you can’t effectively challenge directly without caring personally.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:54) – Choose radical candor.

The radical candor model in the book has two axis; at the top of the vertical axis you’ve got caring personally and bottom is ‘you don’t give a damn’ while on the horizontal axis right hand side is challenge directly and on the left is silence.

If you care personally but don’t challenge directly, you display ruinous empathy. If you stay silent and don’t care personally, you act with manipulative insincerity (which usually involves a lot of back stabbing).

If you have no care but you do challenge directly, you act with obnoxious aggression. Interestingly many people rather work with an obnoxious asshole than someone who just says nice things all the time as at least you know where you stand with an obnoxious asshole!

When you care personally and challenge directly, this is radical candor.

BIG IDEA 3 (12:39) – You’ve got to get to give.

You can’t just give out radical candor without being open to receiving it.

Team leaders should be open to receiving radically candid feedback from their teams to be a role model in how to receive such feedback and have these conversations. Therefore you may need to encourage your team to practice it with you in a less public setting (eg in your one on one meetings) until people can feel safe to do so in a group environment.

Music By: Gotta Love – Instrumental Version Song by Yulee

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About the Author

Elizabeth Gilbert was born in Waterbury, Connecticut in 1969, and grew up on a small family Christmas tree farm. She attended New York University, where she studied political science by day and worked on her short stories by night. After college, she spent several years traveling around the country, working in bars, diners and ranches, collecting experiences to transform into fiction.

Elizabeth is best known for her 2006 memoir EAT PRAY LOVE, which chronicled her journey alone around the world, looking for solace after a difficult divorce. The book was an international bestseller, translated into over thirty languages, with over 12 million copies sold worldwide. In 2010, EAT PRAY LOVE was made into a film starring Julia Roberts. The book became so popular that Time Magazine named Elizabeth as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

In 2015, she published BIG MAGIC: CREATIVE LIVING BEYOND FEAR—a book that encapsulates the joyful spirit of adventure and permission that Elizabeth has always brought to her work and to her life.

Elizabeth divides her time between New York City, rural New Jersey, and everywhere else. Source: https://www.elizabethgilbert.com/bio/

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Big-Magic/9781408881682 /?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

Readers of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration.

She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives. Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us.

Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.

Source: https://www.elizabethgilbert.com/books/big-magic/

Links

Check out Liz speaking at an event here: https://www.elizabethgilbert.com/tour/

BIG IDEA 1 (7:34) – Just create.

Don’t wait for permission, inspiration or the right time, just create. And stay in the habit of making. We often put pressure on our creative pursuits to be a ‘thing’ that we lose the sense of doing things for enjoyment. We should be approaching our creativity with a lightness because it will make it a lot less stressful.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:53) – Everyone is creative.

We’ve been making things for generations – to cook, eat, live, connect, move or work. But over time these normal things we’ve been doing for ages have become ‘things’. And we take them too seriously.

We also have fallen into the trap of giving the term ‘creativity’ over to just certain fields or skills. Creativity is much broader than being able to draw or paint as everyone can create. There were a few quotes in the book which are really brilliant, such as “If you’re alive, you are a creative person.” and “If you argue for your limitations, you get to keep them.”

By thinking about creativity in a broader way, as a mindset which all have ownership of, we can have bigger lives, happier lives and more interesting lives. Think of creativity as a way to live our lives – not just a skill.

BIG IDEA 3 (11:35) – Ideas are entities.

Elizabeth thinks of ideas as living, conscious beings that float around looking for someone to bring them to life. You need to treat your ideas well and put them to work to keep them alive. Ideas won’t just wait around for you to be ‘ready’.

Elizabeth also said you can say ‘no’ to ideas if it’s the wrong time, place or idea for you. You can even share the idea with a person better suited to it which means you can let ideas go.

Whilst this idea feels a little ‘woo woo’ and magical, it’s Elizabeth’s way of understanding and thinking about creativity – and the way she shares this as a concept, rather than an absolute statement, is given lightly and with humour.

Music By: Side Road – Instrumental Version Song by Jenny Penkin

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About the author

Emma Isaacs is the founder and Global CEO of Business Chicks, Australia’s largest community for women, and is passionate about encouraging women to be bold, to be courageous and to take risks.

Emma can take something good and turn it into something spectacular with no experience required. After seven years of running her own recruitment business which she acquired at just 18 years old, Emma was invited to a small event run by a group called Business Chicks.

After hearing the business was for sale, Emma took a leap of faith and bought it. And over the next decade, Emma grew the the small Business Chicks group of 250 members into a community of thousands of engaged women.

People often talk about a ‘Business Chicks feeling’ and much of this comes back to Emma.

She is perpetually optimistic and always joking wherever she goes. Emma wants to make people feel special, always. Customer service is at the forefront of everything she does and that is evident in every touch point of a Business Chicks interaction.

Emma currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband and five kids (plus one more on the way). And she’s raising each of them to be proud feminists.

Source: https://businesschicks.com/emma-story/

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Winging-It/9781489439819 /?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book

CEO and entrepreneur Emma Isaacs forgot to draw up her life plan, and she doesn’t have a list of five-year goals. She doesn’t believe in work/life balance.

Like Sheryl Sandberg, who told us to ‘lean in’ to find success, Emma wants to show us that you can’t plan every detail and wait for the confidence to kick in before you begin; instead, take action now, do what feels right and figure the rest out as you go along. In other words, you’ve got to learn how to ‘wing it’ rather than wait.

Drawing on her own life and the stories of the many men and women she has met and interviewed – from Sir Richard Branson to Bill Gates to ‘Girlboss’ Sophia Amoruso – Emma tells us how to turn a dream into a job, turn a job into a business, network like a champion, protect your time for the things that matter and understand that sometimes failure is part of the brief.

Emma shows us that often the only thing holding us back is ourselves; that you can follow your dreams; and that there’s no reason not to start doing so right now.

Source: https://businesschicks.com/wingingit/

Links

Find out more about Business Chicks here: https://businesschicks.com/

BIG IDEA 1 (6:29) – You’ll never be ready.

If not now, then when? You need to find opportunities and seize them, even if (and sometimes especially if) they are unexpected. It’s also about not asking people for permission. Emma started her own recruitment agency at 18 and bought Business Chicks at 26, it didn’t cross her mind to be scared. She just kept on doing the next thing because it felt like a good opportunity.

In the book Emma talks about things that might not go according to plan – things might fail or get hard, but you just need to keep swimming because you will never really be ready for everything that could happen. You just need to start again, move, make traction and keep building momentum. You will never know what’s going to come up and you will never be ready for all those things.

So you just gotta do it and learn along the way (or wing it!).

BIG IDEA 2 (8:13) – Go the extra mile.

Emma definitely embraces the hustle mentality and talks about being obsessed with your business and doing what others are not prepared to. She has pushed herself mentally and physically to make something happen on many occasions but also acknowledges it’s not about being workaholic as you need to know when to switch off without feeling guilty.

An important trait is keeping learning and asking for feedback, especially when it’s uncomfortable. Ask people that you trust who will give you the real deal.

For your customers, go the extra mile and give people something to talk about – make them feel something. Business Chicks create the sense of belonging and togetherness in a very positive way through their events and the experience they create.

BIG IDEA 3 (11:16) – Build great relationships.

This idea starts by doing things to make someone’s day. Emma found a way to get a chocolate cake for her friend who was working in China over her birthday, and it made her friend’s day.

Spend time building trust, Emma shares some good ways of networking by making it less awkward and cringey. She also talks about the importance of building an amazing culture by doing little things such as giving credit to whom credit is due, saying ‘thank you’, and letting people do their best work without getting in their way.

These are all the fundamentals of building great relationships.

P.S. Despite all of this, you can’t please everyone and that is okay.

Music By: Mindplay – Instrumental Version Song by Roza

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About the Author

Jen Oleniczak Brown is the founder of The Engaging Educator (EE), a women-owned and operated company dedicated to helping people find their unapologetic, authentic and best voice, communication style and self through improv-based education.

Since 2012, EE has served over 50,000 students, working with such companies as Viacom, Food Network, The New York Times, Saks Fifth Avenue and CBS.

Aside from her entrepreneurial endeavors, Jen has done three TEDx talks on the power of improv, including one TEDxWomen on uplifting and elevating women.

A firm believer in the idea that Yes, And can change the world – so firm it’s tattooed on her arm, Jen’s personal mission is to empower as many women as possible to stop playing small and know their incredible supernova powers. She currently lives in Winston Salem, NC with her husband Alex, dog Drumstick, and about two-dozen houseplants.

Source: https://theengagingeducator.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Press-kit-THINK-ON-YOUR-FEET.pdf

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Think-on-Your-Feet-Jen-Oleniczak-Brown/9781713524946 /?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

Our professional lives are full of situations outside of our control. A job interviewer asks a question out of left field. A coworker puts you on the spot in front of the boss. Your PowerPoint presentation crashes at a critical moment.

Most people react to the unexpected with anxiety and unease. We get rattled, stumble over our words, and overthink the situation. Others, though, handle it with self-assurance and aplomb. They gain a sense of empowerment and energy when the pressure is on.

Like great improv actors, they’re able to think on their feet.

The great thing is, improv isn’t about winging it or flying by the seat of your pants; improv at its core is about listening and responding. It’s based on rules and techniques, and it taps directly into your soft communication skills.

By incorporating it into your prep work for professional situations, you’ll learn how to retrain your brain for the unexpected and get out of your own way in those unexpected―and expected―professional situations. Practicing improv isn’t about being

funny. Instead, it’s about developing the mental agility to spin any surprise in your favor and to communicate with confidence.

Source: https://theengagingeducator.com/think-on-your-feet/

Links

Find out more about the improv classes that Jen’s company runs here https://theengagingeducator.com/about-ee/

Watch Jen’s TEDx Talk here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yNb5Dhfguw

BIG IDEA 1 (5:44) – Improvisation equals preparation.

It’s easy to think that improv is all about ‘the moment’, but thinking on your feet is only really possible with enough preparation.

Preparation might be a mix of knowing what’s coming up, knowing your audience, and ideas on the potential things that can happen so that you can think on your feet in the moment. The techniques to start and maintain a conversation (important in any type of communication) are all based on listening and responding.

One example of an improvisation technique is called SIT-PROB-SOL – situation, problem, solution. It is talking about the situation, the problem and how you or your team became a part of the solution. It’s great when used in interviews to concisely share your experience and stay on point, rather than disappear on a tangent.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:13) – Need to reflect.

In the book there is constant recurring advice to stop and reflect by asking yourself questions about your own performance. The ‘performance’ can be anything from a small conversation with one other person, a feedback discussion with your team or a presentation to a group. The need to reflect is critical to getting better.

By reflecting it allows us to ask much more objective feedback on what we could do better. It also means we know what elements to practice. You can practice some of the improv techniques in the book to help with more formal communication with your friends or colleagues and use it into the situation that you expect going to be into.

BIG IDEA 3 (10:24) – Improvise to collaborate.

One part of the book is about collaboration and how you can use improv techniques to build creativity and teamwork. This is around the concept of feeding each other’s ‘gifts’. A core principle of improv is that everytime you ask a question or respond to someone, you are actually giving the other person a gift (and they are giving you one in return). So we need to avoid dropping the gifts (or stopping the conversation).

In the book, Jen also talks about using questions effectively by using open-ended questions. She goes as far to say that these are the only types of question we should be asking in a professional context. It is a great way to keep the conversations running to help teams think more creatively or collaborate in a better way.

The improv technique of ‘yes, and’ is also a powerful one for helping teams think beyond the barriers they face. It can effectively be used in a meeting or workshop to build on ideas to find solutions or new angles, rather than endless roadblocks.

Music By: Take It to the Top – Instrumental Version Song by Ofrin

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About the Author

Lynne Cazaly helps individuals, teams and organisations transition to new ways of thinking and working.

Lynne is an international keynote speaker, author and a master facilitator. She is the author of 6 books.

Lynne is an experienced radio broadcaster, presenter and producer having presented more than 10000 hours on-air. Her background is as a communication specialist, having lectured in under-graduate and post-graduate programs in several of Australia’s Universities and consulting to different industries, sectors and fields on engagement, communication and change.

Lynne can help you think better, make sense of information and handle the realities of information overload with her clever hacks and ingenious processes, tools and methods. She is a cognitive load coping expert.

Lynne is an experienced board director and chair and an #avgeek, loving everything aviation and air traffic control.

Source: http://www.lynnecazaly.com.au/

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/ish-Lynne-Cazaly/9780648297314/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

It’s natural to want to do well – at work, in study, in life, to do our best. But what happens when striving for the best becomes something more … the pursuit of perfection?

Perfectionism is on the rise and it has dire consequences for how we think and feel about ourselves and others, how we think, live, and work. Perfectionism has been seen to cause over-thinking, over-working, burnout, sleeplessness, and mental health problems like depression and anxiety.

We can’t keep going like this!

But what’s the alternative if it’s not perfect?

Lynne Cazaly uncovers how to think, work and achieve in clever ways adapted from the productive and creative worlds of software development … and improvisation. How do they get things done? How do they put their ideas out there? And what can we learn from them?

Excellence, quality and continuous improvement are important. But the pursuit of perfection … not so much.

Here’s a helpful alternative that guides you to making great progress and achieving what you want in life.

Source: http://www.lynnecazaly.com.au/

Links

Find out more about the book here: http://www.lynnecazaly.com.au/the-ish-book/

BIG IDEA 1 (6:00) – Nothing is perfect

This is the fundamental of the book and even Steven Hawkins says that perfectionism is not possible and in fact, without imperfection, not of us would exist. The pursuit of it causes frustration, procrastination, and fractured relationships.

Perfectionism is therefore never-ending because it doesn’t exist. It’s like a vicious cycle of pursuing the idea of perfection, hitting the reality that you can’t be perfect, which we then perceive as a failing and berate ourselves… and start all over again.

BIG IDEA 2 (10:10) – Perfectionism comes in different looks

Lynne talks about the research on the three flavours of perfectionism. The first is self-oriented where you hold yourself to very high standards, second is socially prescribed, this is about our expectations of other people towards us (ie, thinking that others hold us to higher standards than they do) and the third is other-oriented perfectionism where we hold other people to very high standards.

But what are we afraid of by letting something be ‘good enough’, whilst still being fit for purpose. By striving for perfection, are you trying to hide what’s really going on? Are you hoping people will envy you rather than you envying other people? Are you trying to prove someone wrong?

It is a human need trying to be met in our strive for perfectionism. What does yours look like?

BIG IDEA 3 (12:56) – Ish is the answer

This is the transition from ‘not good enough to good enough’. It’s about deciding when to stop. Of course, good enough has to be acceptable, feasible and doable – so if you are a surgeon or a pilot, you probably can’t apply ‘good enough’ to all of your work, but there will be tasks or activities where ‘good enough’ is perfectly fine. You can plot your task or project you’re doing against the acceptability, feasibility and doability test in the book.

The important thing is to define what done looks like and what does good enough mean? It’s important to have clear communications and expectations setting to avoid conflicts in ‘the gap’. Ish also has to be intentional by challenging yourself to know when enough is enough and find those perfectionist triggers. Also, try allowing others to be Ish, ask where you are holding other people to higher standards than are necessary.

Music By: Seine River Song by Loya

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About the Author

Simon is an unshakable optimist who believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together.

Simon is the author of multiple best-selling books including Start With Why, Leaders Eat Last, Together is Better, and Find Your Why and The Infinite Game.

Source: https://simonsinek.com/about/simon-sinek

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Infinite-Game/9780241295595/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

In finite games, like football or chess, the players are known, the rules are fixed, and the endpoint is clear. The winners and losers are easily identified.

In infinite games, like business or politics or life itself, the players come and go, the rules are changeable, and there is no defined endpoint. There are no winners or losers in an infinite game; there is only ahead and behind.

The more Simon started to understand the difference between finite and infinite games, the more he began to see infinite games all around us. He started to see that many of the struggles that organizations face exist simply because their leaders were playing with a finite mindset in an infinite game. These organizations tend to lag behind in innovation, discretionary effort, morale and ultimately performance.

The leaders who embrace an infinite mindset, in stark contrast, build stronger, more innovative, more inspiring organizations. Their people trust each other and their leaders. They have the resilience to thrive in an ever-changing world, while their competitors fall by the wayside.

Ultimately, they are the ones who lead the rest of us into the future. Simon now believes that the ability to adopt an infinite mindset is a prerequisite for any leader who aspires to leave their organization in better shape than they found it.

Source: https://simonsinek.com/product/the-infinite-game/

Links

Listen to Simon talking more about the infinite game, and its impact on company culture, on the Culture Amp podcast here.

Join the 48million other people who have watched Simon’s famous ‘golden circle’ TED talk here

The biggest idea in the book is the notion of looking at business and life as an infinite game. Not a game to be played to win, but a game that is played for the sheer objective of staying in the game.

BIG IDEA 1 (5:08) – The need to have a just cause.

Simon is famous for popularising the concept of companies and individuals having a purpose or a ‘why’. In this book he argues that to play an infinite game you also need a just cause.

The difference between your why and your just cause is that your ‘why’ is who you are and your ‘just cause’ is your vision for the future. The five rules to define your ‘just cause’ are it must be for something, it must be inclusive, it must be service-oriented, it must be resilient (or future proof) and it should be idealistic.

Growth or being the best do not equal a ‘just cause’ because they don’t meet many of the rules to define a ‘just cause’. The same thing with your social corporate responsibility activities; it’s a good thing to do but it doesn’t add up to a just cause.

The best example of ‘just cause’ is from Sam Walton the founder of Walmart; having the lowest prices anytime, anywhere and lowering the cost of living for everyday people. It’s has to be something that is infinite, will continue to be relevant and will make you continue to strive for it.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:24) – Find a worthy rival.

Simon and Adam Grant saw each other as worthy rivals. A worthy rival will keep you honest and striving. It doesn’t make you want to cheat but the opposite effect, is makes you want to stay in the game and make you strive to be better. A worthy rival can also be someone you don’t want to be like. You want them to stay in the game to make you want to keep striving.

Another good example is Apple and IBM, sometimes you need your worthy rival to make the market bigger. When IBM entered the personal computing industry, Apple took out a full page advert to welcome them to the revolution. They needed IBM to be in that market to a) increase the size of the market and b) give them something to ‘push’ against and make Apple stand out with their ‘think different’ approach.

BIG IDEA 3 (12:47) – Finite vs infinite leadership.

Simon argues that your CEO should be your CVO or chief vision officer. However a challenge is that CFOs or COOs are often next in line to the key leadership positions. Most of the time they are great managers and excellent at keeping the business moving, but are not great visionaries.

It’s important for the organisation to create an environment for trust and the culture of doing the right thing. Simon says culture = values + behaviours.

There was a concept in the book about ethical fading, when everyone starts doing things that are a bit questionable. What was ultimately rewarded was the wrong behaviour, which then drove further ethical fading. As an infinite leader you need to challenge what is happening, create an environment where people can be honest, think and act for the longer term and play to stay in the game.

Music By: Vuelta al Sol Song by Tomas Novoa

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About the Author

Jim Collins is a student and teacher of what makes great companies tick, and a Socratic advisor to leaders in the business and social sectors.

Having invested more than a quarter century in rigorous research, he has authored or coauthored six books that have sold in total more than 10 million copies worldwide.

Driven by a relentless curiosity, Jim began his research and teaching career on the faculty at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1992. In 1995, he founded a management laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, where he conducts research and engages with CEOs and senior-leadership teams.

In addition to his work in the business sector, Jim has a passion for learning and teaching in the social sectors, including education, healthcare, government, faith-based organizations, social ventures, and cause-driven nonprofits. In 2012 and 2013, he had the honor to serve a two-year appointment as the Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership at the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Jim has been an avid rock climber for more than forty years and has completed single-day ascents of El Capitan and Half Dome in Yosemite Valley.

Source: https://www.jimcollins.com/about.html

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https://www.bookdepository.com/Good-To-Great/9780712676090/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

This book addresses a single question: can a good company become a great company, and if so, how? Based on a five-year research project comparing companies that made the leap to those that did not, Good to Great shows that greatness is not primarily a function of circumstance but largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.

This book discusses concepts like Level 5 Leadership; First Who, Then What (first get the right people on the bus, then figure out where to drive it); the Hedgehog Concept, and the Flywheel.

Source: https://www.jimcollins.com/books.html

Links

Find out more about the research process that Jim and his team use here: https://www.jimcollins.com/books/research.html#articletop Read an article with some of the key concepts of Good to Great here: https://www.jimcollins.com/article_topics/articles/good-to-great.html#articletop

BIG IDEA 1 (5:21) – Good is the enemy of great.

Good and great are not two ends of the same spectrum. What stops most companies or people from being great is because they are satisfied with being good. Great requires you to operate in a different mindset and discipline.

Getting from good to great quickly as a result of one initiative or big push is a myth. The transition is a combination of many different things over time. In the book it talks about the average time a company takes to go from good to great is over five years.

Build up and break through are two phases of getting from good to great.

BIG IDEA 2 (7:32) – Level five leadership

Not just any leader can lead the company from good to great and maintain that greatness. Level five leaders take a longer term view driven by ambition for the company, not for themselves. They have a balance between humility and professional will. They always want to produce sustained results beyond their tenure.

Level four leaders are very effective but lack longer term view and the ability to balance humility with ambition.

Without the right mindset and behaviours it is impossible to build a successful company.

BIG IDEA 3 (10:37) – A culture of discipline.

Like a flywheel, discipline will create the momentum within the organisation to get started. It may be a bit slow at the start because no one’s had the kind of culture before so it feels hard and clunky, but once going the flywheel creates its own momentum and power to push things forward with minimal effort.

The book said a company should limit its growth based on its ability to attract the right people. If you have the right people who are disciplined, have the right culture and are the right fit, they can have the freedom and responsibility within a framework to do what they need to do.

The hedgehog concept is finding the one thing that you are the best in and sticking to that. This is a way of creating the framework to operate in.

Music By: Ambitious Proletariat – Instrumental Version Song by Ian Locke

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About the Author

Jim Collins is a student and teacher of what makes great companies tick, and a Socratic advisor to leaders in the business and social sectors.

Having invested more than a quarter century in rigorous research, he has authored or coauthored six books that have sold in total more than 10 million copies worldwide.

Driven by a relentless curiosity, Jim began his research and teaching career on the faculty at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1992.

In 1995, he founded a management laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, where he conducts research and engages with CEOs and senior-leadership teams.

Jim has been an avid rock climber for more than forty years and has completed single-day ascents of El Capitan and Half Dome in Yosemite Valley.

Source: https://www.jimcollins.com/about.html

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https://www.bookdepository.com/Built-to-Last/9780060516406/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

Coauthored with Jerry Porras and based on their research project at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, this book investigates the question, Why are some companies able to become and remain visionary through multiple generations of leaders, across decades, and even centuries? Among the findings are Preserve the Core/Stimulate Progress, BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals), and the Genius of the AND.

Like Good to Great, Built to Last compares great companies to good ones during specific eras in history, asking, what systematically distinguishes the great from the average?

Source: https://www.jimcollins.com/books.html

Links

Find out more about the research process that Jim and his team use here: https://www.jimcollins.com/books/research.html#articletop Read an article with some of the key concepts of Built To Last here: https://www.jimcollins.com/article_topics/articles/building-companies.html#articletop

BIG IDE 1 (5:47) – Clock building not time telling.

The key idea that lasts through the book is about creating something that outlasts the transaction. It’s about building the clocks so that someone will always be able to tell the time rather than just telling them what the time is in that moment.

There is also the idea of not having celebrity leaders and losing the genius with a thousand followers because generally it is not that kind of leader who builds an organisation that is built to last. A big idea is that the company is the ultimate creation, not a specific idea, product or leader. The leaders aren’t what makes the company, the company makes the company.

This idea is a long term view because you are building the clocks.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:15) – The big hairy audacious goal.

Your BHAG may seem crazy from the outside, and may not even be attainable. However the audaciousness actually makes completely sense from the inside of a great company. It’s this that keeps you moving forward and striving towards something like great visionary companies.

There is no clear correlation as to what needs to be in a core ideology as long a it’s authentic and consistent and helps preserve the core of the organisation

BIG IDEA 3 (11:30) – have a cult like culture.

This idea is ultimately about discipline and sticking to the plan, being consistent and practicing what you preach at all levels. In visionary companies, people know what to do and how to do it- and the how usually stands out as unique compared to other companies. These unique cultures quickly reject those who will not survive this type of ecosystem. This also breeds the future leaders who are home grown. Visionary companies also have a low rate of bringing in external people to take on CEO roles.

There was a great quote in the book that ‘discipline is the greatest thing in the world. Where there is no discipline there is no character and therefore there is no progress’. Food for thought…

Music By: Ambitious Proletariat – Instrumental Version Song by Ian Locke

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About the Author

Nir Eyal writes, consults, and teaches about the intersection of psychology, technology, and business. The M.I.T. Technology Review dubbed Nir, “The Prophet of Habit-Forming Technology.”

Nir founded two tech companies since 2003 and has taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford.

He is the author of two bestselling books, Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products and Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life. Indistractable received critical acclaim, winning a number of awards.

In addition to blogging at NirAndFar.com, Nir’s writing has been featured in The Harvard Business Review, Time Magazine, and Psychology Today. Nir is also an active investor in habit-forming technologies.

Source: https://www.nirandfar.com/nir-eyal-bio/

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Indistractable/9781948836531/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book

Ever get the feeling the world is full of too many distractions? Research shows the ability to stay focused is a competitive advantage, in work and in life. However, in an age of ever-increasing demands on our attention, how do we get the best from technology without letting it get the best of us?

Source: https://www.nirandfar.com/indistractable/

Links

Check out the workbooks and supplemental guidance here: https://www.nirandfar.com/indistractable/

Find more tips on productivity and habit forming here: https://www.nirandfar.com/best-articles/ Listen to Nir on the First Time Facilitator podcast here: https://www.firsttimefacilitator.com/becoming-indistractable-make-traction-on-the-things-that-matter-with-nir-eyal-episode-91/

BIG IDEA 1 (4:26) – Technology is not the problem.

What actually creates the problem is our relationship to technology, to ourselves and our mindset. Nir talks about the fact that the opposite of distraction is traction. Rather than focus on distraction, we need to focus on moving (or traction) towards the things we want to achieve or do.

Constantly reacting to our distraction does nothing. We have to deal with our discomfort, observe it and let it dissolve. Technology is not the problem but our response to whatever it is we are trying to avoid, is. Nir talks about re-imagining the task and adding an element of fun to tasks that feel too much.

Nir said in the book that willpower is just another emotion, no different to sadness or happiness, and like those other emotions it doesn’t just ‘run out’. But we can set ourselves up to maximise willpower in the same way we set ourselves to maximise sadness or happiness.

We need to master our internal triggers, stop trying to escape discomfort and be curious about what’s happening internally instead.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:04) – Hack external triggers.

Most technology is designed for us to keep using it so the question you should be asking yourself is – is this serving me or am I serving it? There are many ways in the book that describe how we can take control of external triggers designed to interrupt us. Settings such as Do not disturb mode, applications such as Forest or tools such as browser extensions to hide your social media feed or set downtime on your phones.

Stop external triggers coming to you that prevent you from achieving what you want.

BIG IDEA 3 (12:32) – Make work indistractible.

You can make your work and your team indistractible by setting clearer ways of working – for example a concentration zone or crown, or tags on computers to show when people are in deep work mode. You need to make the culture value ‘work’ and be using the technology well in service of the outcomes.

You can also set a culture in your team or organisation where no agenda equals no meeting to avoid pointless meetings. To make sure meetings that do happen are as effective as possible, there should be no devices allowed in the meeting – this avoids all the beeps, buzzes and pings that stop us connecting and getting things done.

Setting ground rules as ways of working helps put us back in control.

Music By: Take It to the Top – Instrumental Version Song by OFRIN

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About the Author

Dr Amantha Imber is an innovation psychologist, founder of Australia’s leading innovation consultancy Inventium, and co-creator of the Australian Financial Review’s Most Innovative Companies list. With a PhD in organisational psychology, Amantha has helped companies such as Google, Apple, Disney, LEGO, Virgin Australia, Commonwealth Bank and many others innovate more successfully.

Amantha’s thoughts have appeared in Harvard Business Review, The Huffington Post, Forbes, Entrepreneur and Fast Company and she is the author of two best-selling books: “The Creativity Formula” and “The Innovation Formula”. In 2016, Amantha was inducted into the Australian Business Women’s Hall of Fame.

Source: https://www.inventium.com.au/dr-amantha-imber-bio/

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Creativity-Formula-Amantha-Imber/9780646509624/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book

The Creativity Formula will take you through the latest scientific findings about how you can use your brain to think more creatively and come up with better ideas more easily and quickly. The book will explain: How to instantly ‘switch on’ your creativity Why traditional brainstorming is bollocks How exposing yourself to certain types of images can significantly boost your creativity Why your physical environment may be killing your creativity And much much more

Source: https://www.amanthaimber.com/books/

Links

Check out the How I Work podcast (and it’s seriously impressive guest list) here: https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcast/ I particularly enjoyed this episode with Atlassian’s Work Futurist, Dom Price: https://www.amanthaimber.com/podcasts/atlassians-dom-price-on-how-he-uses-imposter-syndrome-to-his-advantage/

BIG IDEA 1 (5:08) – Identify

This is the need to identify yourself as creative. Having a mindset and identity of creativity allows you to be more creative. In an organization it’s important for team leaders not to refer to some teams as the creative team because it makes it seem like it’s attainable only if you work in that team.

Also within a team it’s important not to identify some as the creative ones and other less creative because it will make them like it’s something they can’t achieve because they are born with it instead of it being nurtured and practiced over time.

It is a mindset more than a skill set.

BIG IDEA 2 (7:13) – Go broad.

This is about finding expansive ideas from multiple fields. Finding new connections and new applications for ideas. You can go to a place you wouldn’t usually go to or work from somewhere new and invite different thinking into your mind.

BIG IDEA 3 (9:05) – Create stimulus.

Almost all of the tips involve manufacturing something to create creativity. You need to think intentionally to switch on or stimulate your creativity. What can you do to mix things up which will stimulate a different environment and conversation.

There is evidence that shows that the things around you can spur or hinder creative thinking. It’s really up to you to create creativity with intent and aligned to what you are looking to achieve.

Music By: A Look Out Song by Assaf Ayalon

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Want to get productive in 2020? This book could be for you.

About the author Productivity king David Allen is considered one of the world's leading authorities on getting things done.

He has spent over three decades researching, teaching and coaching, and has been recognised as one of the top executive coaches by Forbes and the top 100 thought leaders by Leadership Magazine. David has written three books, including the 2001 bestseller, Getting Things Done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity, and his GTD program has received tremendous praise and is in widespread use. Source: https://www.thegrowthfaculty.com/onDemand/author.php?id=001D0000028npfcIAA

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Getting-Things-Done/9780349408941/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book GETTING THINGS DONE® is a personal productivity methodology that redefines how you approach your life and work. In today's world, yesterday's methods just don't work. In Getting Things Done, veteran coach and management consultant David Allen shares the breakthrough methods for stress-free performance that he has introduced to tens of thousands of people across the country. Allen's premise is simple: our productivity is directly proportional to our ability to relax. Only when our minds are clear and our thoughts are organized can we achieve effective productivity and unleash our creative potential. Source: https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free- Productivity/dp/0142000280

Links Read more about the method here: https://gettingthingsdone.com/what-is-gtd/

BIG IDEA 1 (4:02) - Outsource your brain

The fundamental principle of this method is that your brain is not designed to remember much. Every one of us is holding many things in our brain and according to David Allen, our brains can only hold four to seven items as memories.

“Our brains are designed to generate ideas, not hold them”. David wants us to free our brains from the shackles of remembering things and instead use them for what they are designed for; great ideas. Therefore we need to develop external systems to outsource and help our brains with the mental load of remembering things. This helps avoid distraction and overwhelm.

BIG IDEA 2 (5:57) - Collect and clarify

The first step of this method is downloading everything. Clear our brains and download all the things we’re holding on to a piece of paper (or likely multiple pieces of paper!). The in-tray is an important part of his method, this is where all the collation happens as you put all the items from your brain into a physical in-tray.

Next we go to the processing stage. Once you get all the pieces of paper in the intray you need to process them one at a time. An important rule is that you only touch everything once so it gets processed straight away. The next thing to ask for each item in the in-tray is “what’s the next action?”.

David sets out five specific lists which items are collated into. These lists are; 1) projects (things which require more than one action), 2) reference materials (things you need to look back on at some time), 3) someday maybe (for those pipe dreams and big ideas), 4) waiting on (for things that you’re waiting on someone else to action before you can) and 5) next actions (the collation of all the ‘next actions’ you need to take).

This brings us to the point of processing, collecting and clarifying what needs to be done

BIG IDEA 3 (11:28) - Your next action is key

A critical principle of GTD is that everything needs to be boiled down to the next action. In the book, David talks a lot about processing your next actions in between your fixed meetings or hard commitments in your calendar. He also argues that your calendar is ONLY for your hard commitments. So when you have time in between your meetings, you would start working on your next action plan on the list.

I didn’t love this specific element of the model as I feel that ‘doing the work’ (which may well be your next action) needs scheduling in your calendar, as relying on the cracks of time between meetings just won’t cut it. The book was written in 2001 so this could be a reflection on how work has changed in the last 19 years.

Music By: Through the Fire – Instrumental Version Song by Michael Shynes

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PS. This episode sounds a little different as I recorded it as a full video episode - you can catch the video on YouTube or IGTV.

To celebrate 1 year of Steph’s Business Bookshelf and a new decade, in this special episode I am sharing the five top tips I use to read over 30 books a year that you can use to build your own reading habit.

With new years’ resolutions in full swing, and more people wanting to hit the books to increase their knowledge, enhance their career prospects, make a personal improvement or just learn something new, the time is now to build the daily habit of reading.

So here are my five top tips to help you read more books in 2020 (and beyond).

Links

My friend Tammy (who featured on episode 52) recently wrote this great article about the benefits of reading and shared her own tips: https://www.tammytansley.com.au/reading-why-it-matters/

TIP 1 (00:31) – Start small.

Start your habit by making it impossible to fail. Set a goal that is just one page, 1% (if you read on an e-reader) or 5 minutes every day. Make it so easy that you would never be able to not do it. There are so many ways to break it down and make it so easy to do.

TIP 2 (1:10) – Habit stack.

Stick the new reading habit with something you’re already doing. Don’t try to do all the new things at once. If you commute to work by train, add your reading habit to that existing activity. Another example would be going to bed; you can add the reading habit into your bedtime routine and read your 1%, one page, or five minutes.

You can also think of something you want replaced. For example instead of picking up your phone to check on Instagram, you can pick up a book.

TIP 3 (2:26) – Read for fun.

If you’re trying to start reading, do not start with War and Peace. If Harry Potter is what’s going to get you into the reading habit, then read that book. Over time you can start to read the books that you want to read or you feel you ‘should’ be reading ideally, but establish the habit with something fun.

TIP 4 (4:05) – Share.

You can start a book group with some friends, family or colleagues. Some people start a book group at work where everyone is given a month to read a book before the group get together to discuss what they learnt. You could even split the book up so everyone reads a different section of the book and put it all together in your ‘book club’. The idea is to share the learning, make it social and fun – it’s also a great way of combining habits if you want to increase your social activity this year.

TIP 5 (5:00) – Mix it up.

If you know that lugging a book around on the train while you’re commuting is not going to be sustainable for you, then don’t bring a hard copy book but instead invest in a Kindle or e-reader. You might also find that audiobooks are a better option for you if you drive a lot – all of these types of reading are equally valid (don’t let anyone tell you otherwise) – it’s about finding the best one for you for different circumstances.

PS. I highly recommend that the first book you read is Atomic Habits by James Clear which will help set your path for your sustainable habits.

Music: Halation by Evolv https://artlist.io/song/941/halation

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About the author

George Orwell, pseudonym of Eric Arthur Blair was born June 25, 1903 in Bengal, India and died January 21, 1950 in London, England. He was an English novelist, essayist, and critic famous for his novels Animal Farm (1945) and Nineteen Eighty-four (1949), the latter a profound anti-utopian novel that examines the dangers of totalitarian rule.

Orwell never entirely abandoned his original name, but his first book, Down and Out in Paris and London, appeared in 1933 as the work of George Orwell (the surname he derived from the beautiful River Orwell in East Anglia).

In time his nom de plume became so closely attached to him that few people but relatives knew his real name was Blair. The change in name corresponded to a profound shift in Orwell’s lifestyle, in which he changed from a pillar of the British imperial establishment into a literary and political rebel.

Source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Orwell

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Animal-Farm/9780141036137/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book

In 1944 Orwell finished Animal Farm, a political fable based on the story of the Russian Revolution and its betrayal by Joseph Stalin. In the book a group of barnyard animals overthrow and chase off their exploitative human masters and set up an egalitarian society of their own.

Eventually the animals’ intelligent and power-loving leaders, the pigs, subvert the revolution and form a dictatorship whose bondage is even more oppressive and heartless than that of their former human masters. (“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”).

At first Orwell had difficulty finding a publisher for the small masterpiece, but when it appeared in 1945, Animal Farm made him famous and, for the first time, prosperous.

Source: https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Orwell

BIG IDEA 1 (5:43) – Hard work is not always the answer.

Boxer the cart-horse is loyal and his answer to all problems was ‘I will work harder’. He got up earlier each day to work harder. There’s an interesting overlap here with this mentality often rewarded in different companies where the strongest person/people keep doing the heavy lifting with promise of future reward.

Boxer the horse was promised that when he retired he would have access to all the paddocks, apples, hay and grass that he wanted. However over time the paddock was used for a different purpose rather than for the future retirees. But he kept working harder until it got too much. And when he collapsed, instead of being looked after, he was sent to a knacker’s yard to be made into glue.

Hard work is not always the answer, it very much depends on what you’re working towards and who you’re working for.

BIG IDEA 2 (7:38) – Elitism.

The pigs and the dogs had special privileges. At the beginning of the book, when they overthrew the farmer who owns the farm, the animals set commandments. They said that they should never walk on two legs, because ‘four legs are good, two legs bad’. It also included not sleep in a bed and doing other typically human behaviours and activities.

Over time the pigs realised that the human behaviours were actually quite favourable so they started secretly changing the rules. They also adjusted the education of the other animals so they wouldn’t be able to read (and notice the commandments being changed) and only the pigs got these special privileges.

This is relevant in some organisations and even in some countries or societies. Rules are set to maintain equality or democracy. But do these rules change when some groups rise and others become repressed?

BIG IDEA 3 (9:07) – You might become everything you hate.

Initially the pigs were at the front of the queue to overthrow the farmer. They pointed out all the bad things that the farmers and humans do. So it started as the man vs the animals, it became the animals vs the man, then the pigs vs the animals, and then the pigs and man vs the animals.

The power dynamics shifted and the tables kept turning as the pigs started to control things. They got the taste of being ‘above’ the other animals and eventually started to live like humans, ultimately becoming everything they hated.

We see this in organisations and societies when someone gets promoted and quickly forgets that they were once ‘junior’. They evolve to become everything they said they didn’t want and start to do the things they used to complain about their leaders.

Music By: Kalimbo Song by Ethan Rank

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It’s the end of 2019 – which means it’s time to look back on the five best books I read this year.

Join me as I share the non-fiction reads that I applied, shared, learnt from and recommended the most over the last twelve months.

Did these books make it onto your best reads list for the year? Which of them are going into your future reading list?

Grit by Angela Duckworth

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

A book all about how effort, and sticking with something, counts much more than any innate talent. This book made me realise how ‘un-gritty’ I am and (most importantly) what to do about it.

I loved the case studies and the fact that the key lesson isn’t about just working longer hours / ‘knuckling down’, but being smart with how you practice your skills and how to decide what to maintain and what to quit (yes, you can, and should, quit things sometimes).

Hear more on episode 46 – Grit by Angela Duckworth: How to dig in and get more done

Good to Great by Jim Collins

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

The title is a bit of a misnomer because a fundamental principle of this book is that good and great are not two points on the same spectrum, but instead two totally different approaches and mindsets.

It pairs nicely with Grit because to be ‘great’ you need to stay in your lane and focus on the core thing ‘you could be the best in the world at’ (your ‘hedgehog’).

Whilst a few of the ‘great’ companies included in the research haven’t stood the test of time (some of them proved themselves to be rather ‘bad’ around 2008), the concepts remain relevant.

Whether you run a business, or have a leadership role in one, if you find yourself distracted by ‘shiny objects’, this book will help you re-think your success factors and narrow down what you should be keeping your eyes on.

I’ll be sharing more about this book in a future podcast episode.

I Will Teach You to be Rich by Ramit Sethi

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

This is hands-down the book I have taken and applied the most lessons from. Ever. Despite its click-bait sounding title, this is a book packed with solid strategies and mindsets for getting your personal finances in order.

I personally put several methods in place immediately whilst reading the book; from splitting my savings accounts up from two accounts to nine, moving more money into my investing account, cancelling unnecessary subscriptions and looking at where I spend money to realign priorities.

I love that this isn’t another ‘DON’T BUY LATTES/AVOCADO ON TOAST’ book, and it talks about the fact that there’s no upper-limit on your potential earnings, but there is a lower limit on how much you can cut from spending. A great re-frame and forces a different focus on upping your income rather than cutting more and more expenses.

Hear more about this on episode 27 – I Will Teach You to Be Rich: Terrible title, great book

Quiet by Susan Cain

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

Whether you are an introvert who wants to understand yourself better, and why the Western-world is so anti-introvert, or an extrovert who wants to better understand and value your introverted family members/friends/colleagues, this book is a must-read.

My mind was blown at how introverts and extroverts are physically wired differently and their brains respond differently to different stimulants. It gave me a huge level of appreciation and empathy for those around me who seem to wilt at the very idea of talking to a crowd / going for a group dinner / facilitating an all day workshop.

The book does a great job at presenting the science and giving practical tips to introverts and extroverts alike about the values and benefits of having different styles, and how to better work together to get the most from everyone.

Find out the three big ideas from the book here on episode 40 – Quiet by Susan Cain: Why introverts should actually rule the world

When by Daniel Pink

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

Whilst this might sound like ‘yet another’ productivity book, it’s a different take on the usual prioritise this / time block that / use this tool / meditate / don’t touch Instagram in the morning jazz.

Daniel takes you through the fascinating science of WHEN you will operate best for different tasks depending on your chronotype (your biological preference of when you are at your best according to your circadian rhythms).

Cue scary stories of afternoon earnings calls resulting in more arguments and stock misquotations, ‘killing season’ in hospitals when a new intake of student doctors start and the alcohol-like effect on our brain if we’re doing the wrong tasks at the wrong time.

He also shares the recipe for a perfect nap, listen to episode 45 – When by Daniel H. Pink: How You’re Not Spending Your Day the Best Way to plan your own nappucino.

BONUS!

Two wild-cards that ALMOST made it into the top five (and I will include because it’s my podcast and I am in charge).

Tiger Woods Biography

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

What happens when you push a child into a sport and isolate them from the rest of the world. (Spoiler alert: it’s impressive but it’s not pretty).

Listen to more on this book here: 34 – Tiger Woods by Jeff Benedict & Armen Keteyian: The Cost of Being a Master

Creativity, Inc.by Ed Catmull

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

How Pixar became the powerhouse of industry-changing creativity it is, and the very intentional decisions made early on to develop and foster this culture.

I’ll talk about this one in a future episode.

Music By: Anthem of a Quirky Hipster Song by Rex Banner

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It’s almost Christmas, so we have a bit of a different podcast this week. I’ve invited a few of my fellow bookworms and word nerds to share what is on their Christmas reading list.

So whether you’re looking for a new book recommendation to immerse yourself in over the summer or winter break, or you’re starting a new reading habit in 2020, this episode is for you.

Leanne Hughes from First time Facilitator

Recommended book: Infinite Game by Simon Sinek

Shamila Gopalan from HerWit

Recommended book: Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell

Tammy Tansley from Leadership & Workplace Culture

Recommended book: Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed

Jess Leondiou from Archley's Book of Books

Recommended book: Conscious by Annaka Harris

Holly Cardamone from Blue51 Communications

The Testaments by Margaret Artwood

Steph's Book Recommendations:

The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

Music By: Over Easy - Instrumental Version Song by Low Light

Let’s Connect

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steph-clarke

Instagram: @stephsbizbookshelf

Join in the book club conversation all week by joining the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stephsbusinessbookclub

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Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know

The Testaments: The Sequel to The Handmaid's Tale

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About the Author

STEVE GLAVESKI’s mission is to unlock the latent potential of organisations and people to create more impact for humanity and lead more fulfilling lives. He is a respected authority within the corporate innovation and startup space. The journey, however, hasn’t been easy. He grew up in the socio-economically challenged, working-class western suburbs of Melbourne. He was also fired from his first real job. Despite this, he hustled his way into gigs with prestigious firms such as EY, KPMG and Macquarie Bank. Then, just like that, he gave it all up to pursue a life in entrepreneurship.

Since making the leap, and learning some hard lessons with his first web startup Hotdesk, he founded corporate and startup innovation accelerator Collective Campus, now a seven-figure business and one of Australia’s fastest growing new companies. He also founded children’s entrepreneurship program Lemonade Stand, hosts the 300-episode strong Future Squared podcast and is a founding investor in blockchain company, Konkrete

Source: https://www.employeetoentrepreneur.io/

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Employee-to-Entrepreneur/9780730363866/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

Steve wrote this book for people who are dissatisfied at work and are looking for more from life. He wrote this book to increase their chances of making the leap successfully by helping them avoid many common pitfalls faced by first time entrepreneurs, and doing away with many of the self-limiting beliefs and behaviours that one picks up in the corporate world.

A lot of business experts talk about following your passion and being your own boss… but few cover how to make the leap from the corporate world successfully. It is critical you develop the mindset of an entrepreneur and systematically validate and execute on your business ideas. This enables you to reduce stress and radically increase your chances of success.

While people are enamoured by the idea of entrepreneurship, most find themselves stuck in the rat race, miserably comfortable, rationalising a job they hate, living for the weekend and casually browsing job listings and holiday destinations as a form of escape.

Source: https://www.employeetoentrepreneur.io/

Links

Find out more about the book here: https://www.employeetoentrepreneur.io/ Read articles from Steve on Medium here: https://medium.com/@SteveGlaveski Find out more about Steve’s business, Collective Campus, here: https://www.collectivecampus.io/authors/steve-glaveski Know some entrepreneurial kids? Introduce them to the lemonade stand: https://www.lemonadestand.rocks/childrens-book

BIG IDEA 1 (5:25) – Mindset is everything.

There are plenty of tools, technologies and strategies to help with the practicality of starting a new business after working for a company and advice for what you need to do before, during and after transition. The most important thing during this period though is your mindset which Steve covers thoroughly throughout the book. He talks about everything from stoicism to growth mindset, failure to setting your purpose. He also covered physical health as well for looking after yourself through fasting, diet, exercise, cold shock therapy and meditation.

Steve talks about the importance of success in the way you look after yourself so that you can sustain the hard work and mental stress and energy that is needed for running your own business. He also talks about the process of running your business as a mindset of growing, learning, failing; the peaks and the troughs.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:11) – It is an art and a science.

The book is filled with A to Z of building a business- from idea to execution. From moving out of your corporate role and unlearning the bad habits to finding clients and marketing your business. He talks about the judgement calls, risk appetite and patience you need to succeed all the way through. It’s the balance of judgement you need to apply to the science of building a business.

The book goes deep into the funding models, marketing options, how to run a launch, how to find your customers. There’s also several checklists on what you need to do to bring these processes to life.

BIG IDEA 3 (10:23) – Know your customer.

This is not just guessing what your customer wants but getting in front of them and testing ideas. He quotes Seth Godin and the need to be ten times better to get your customer’s attention and be remarkable (a purple cow) to stand out.

There is heaps of great advice, systems, checklists and processes you can use in prototyping and design thinking methodology. It’s so important to use these in the right way by knowing your ACTUAL customer not someone who pretends to be your customer.

Music By: Once and for All – No Backing Vocals Song by Ian Post

Let’s Connect

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steph-clarke

Instagram: @stephsbizbookshelf

Join in the book club conversation all week by joining the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stephsbusinessbookclub

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Most teams aren't having the conversations they need to. We consistently fail to challenge each other, engage in robust dialogue and have the courageous, honest discussions we need to achieve our collective potential.

Along with reading books for you, I've also taken the hard work out of finding new topics In these 2-3 minute 'minisodes' I'll share the team coaching question I took from this week's book for you to use in your own team.

These questions make ideal icebreakers, kick offs for team days, reflections for projects, additions to your weekly team meetings or simply topics of conversation to discuss over lunch.

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

Let's Connect

Email: steph@stephclarke.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steph-clarke

IG: @stephsbizbookshelf

Join in the book club conversation all week by joining the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stephsbusinessbookclub

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

https://mailchi.mp/1119b1358a84/thebookmark

About the Author

Spencer Johnson, MD, is one of the most beloved authors and respected thought leaders in the world. His books have become embedded in our language and culture.

Called “The King of Parables” by USA Today, Dr. Johnson is often referred to as the best there is at taking complex subjects and presenting simple solutions that work. His brief books contain valuable insights and practical tools that millions of people use to enjoy more happiness and success with less stress.

His thirteen New York Times bestsellers include the #1 titles, Who Moved My Cheese, An A-Mazing Way To Deal With Change, and The One Minute Manager ®, The World’s Most Popular Way To Manage Your Work and Life, coauthored with Ken Blanchard.

In a time when many have learned to be skeptical of simplistic answers, readers around the world have found the simple truths in Spencer Johnson’s parables to be invaluable.

Source: http://spencerjohnson.com/books/

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Who-Moved-My-Cheese/9780091816971/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book

Most people are fearful of change, both personal and professional, because they don’t have any control over how or when it happens to them. Since change happens either to the individual or by the individual, Dr. Spencer

Johnson, the coauthor of the multimillion bestseller The One Minute Manager, uses a deceptively simple story to show that when it comes to living in a rapidly changing world, what matters most is your attitude.

Exploring a simple way to take the fear and anxiety out of managing the future, Who Moved My Cheese? can help you discover how to anticipate, acknowledge, and accept change in order to have a positive impact on your job, your relationships, and every aspect of your life.

Source: www.amazon.com

Links

http://spencerjohnson.com/books/

BIG IDEA 1 (5:56) – Cheese is not guaranteed.

The two mice, Sniff, Scurry, and two little people, Hem and Haw all like cheese. They knew that cheese station C, in the maze where they live, had cheese. Because the cheese supply had been so reliable for a long time, Hem and Haw got pretty comfortable and moved closer to the cheese stations, they also stopped their ‘searching’ routine – turning up later and later to the station, safe in the knowledge that the cheese would be there waiting for them.

Until one day, the cheese was not there, it was gone. Sniff and Scurry were there first because they had maintained their searching routine so carried on around the maze until they found some new cheese. Meanwhile Hem and Haw, who turned up late, were disgusted that the cheese were not there. They felt it was unfair because they felt it was theirs and that it would always be there. The little mice noticed earlier that the cheese supply was getting smaller so they expected that this would happen eventually.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:14) – Status quo breeds fear.

The more comfortable you become, the less you learn and try new things. Hem and Haw spent days trying to figure out what happened to the cheese and why it disappeared rather than looking for new cheese. They realised they were out of habit of trying new things and exploring when they started looking for new cheese. The maze they looked different and scary. But it wasn’t, they were just not used to exploring and putting themselves out there. The fear started to take over them.

BIG IDEA 3 (9:49) – Movement in the new direction helps you find new cheese.

Movement allows you to visualise yourself finding and enjoying new cheese. Hem and Haw later on realised that the pursuit of the new cheese could actually be fun. However, Hem thought he didn’t like the new cheese. He’d rather stay hungry and attached to the idea of the old cheese because he felt it was safer than trying out something new.

They also realised that earlier is better; in future they shouldn’t wait until they’re cheeseless before moving in a new direction. New beliefs drive new behaviour. Nobody can change for you – you have to make the movement and change for yourself to move in a new direction and grow the courage to keep exploring.

Music By: Cheesecake – No Backing Vocals Song by Ian Post

Let’s Connect

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steph-clarke

Instagram: @stephsbizbookshelf

Join in the book club conversation all week by joining the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stephsbusinessbookclub

Enjoying the show?

Please hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode and leave a review on iTunes to help others find us.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

https://mailchi.mp/1119b1358a84/thebookmark

These questions make ideal icebreakers, kick offs for team days, reflections for projects, additions to your weekly team meetings or simply topics of conversation to discuss over lunch.

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

Let's Connect

Email: steph@stephclarke.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steph-clarke

IG: @stephsbizbookshelf

Join in the book club conversation all week by joining the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stephsbusinessbookclub

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

https://mailchi.mp/1119b1358a84/thebookmark

About the Authors

Dr. Robert Kegan is the Meehan Professor of Adult Learning and Professional Development at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. The recipient of numerous honorary degrees and awards, his thirty years of research and writing on adult development have contributed to the recognition that ongoing psychological development after adolescence is at once possible and necessary to meet the demands of modern life. His seminal books, The Evolving Self and In Over Our Heads, have been published in several languages throughout the world.

Dr. Lisa Lahey leads the Personal Mastery component of a path-breaking new doctoral program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, designed to produce the public-sector equivalent of the “turnaround specialist.” A developmental psychologist and educator, and coauthor of Change Leadership, she led the research team that created the developmental diagnostic, now used around the world, for assessing adult meaning-systems.

Source: https://www.amazon.com/Everyone-Culture-Deliberately-Developmental-Organization/dp/1625278624

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/An-Everyone-Culture/9781625278623/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book

In most organizations nearly everyone is doing a second job no one is paying them for—namely, covering their weaknesses, trying to look their best, and managing other people’s impressions of them. There may be no greater waste of a company’s resources. The ultimate cost: neither the organization nor its people are able to realize their full potential.

What if a company did everything in its power to create a culture in which everyone—not just select “high potentials”—could overcome their own internal barriers to change and use errors and vulnerabilities as prime opportunities for personal and company growth?

Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey (and their collaborators) have found and studied such companies—Deliberately Developmental Organizations. A DDO is organized around the simple but radical conviction that organizations will best prosper when they are more deeply aligned with people’s strongest motive, which is to grow. This means going beyond consigning “people development” to high-potential programs, executive coaching, or once-a-year off-sites. It means fashioning an organizational culture in which support of people’s development is woven into the daily fabric of working life and the company’s regular operations, daily routines, and conversations.

An Everyone Culture dives deep into the worlds of three leading companies that embody this breakthrough approach. It reveals the design principles, concrete practices, and underlying science at the heart of DDOs—from their disciplined approach to giving feedback, to how they use meetings, to the distinctive way that managers and leaders define their roles. The authors then show readers how to build this developmental culture in their own organizations.

This book demonstrates a whole new way of being at work. It suggests that the culture you create is your strategy—and that the key to success is developing everyone.

Source: https://www.amazon.com/Everyone-Culture-Deliberately-Developmental-Organization/dp/1625278624

Links

Find out more about Kegan and Lahey’s work here: https://mindsatwork.com/

BIG IDEA 1 (7:59) – Be deliberately developmental.

In most organisations, people are working two jobs – one is covering their backs / looking good and the one is doing their job. This is why there is a huge opportunity cost in most organizations because people are too busy covering their backs instead of doing their jobs to their full potential.

The book is based on the theory that adults can change with the right focus and environment. One of the underlying principles of a deliberately developmental organisation is everyone builds a culture and it is everyone’s role is to embody and strengthen that culture.

The culture then becomes your strategy because if you design your culture around what your business is there to do, the best work is done. Culture comes first and everyone is constantly learning; not just the ‘special’ high potential people who are put on the annual programs.

The book talks about three DDOs and how they bring this to life; Bridgewater, Next Jump and Decurion.

BIG IDEA 2 (10:56) – Deliberate design.

There is an intense focus on shared design of work processes in all of these organisations. There was a comment on the book that these companies spent a ‘lavish’ amount of time on designing their processes in order to make sure that they supported the objective of a learning organisation and an ecosystem that worked.

When you look at your own organisations, many of them will not support a deliberately developmental framework. It will not support learning for everyone because the ecosystem will not allow it and most of the problems in organisations are systemic – how people are rewarded, hired or trained and developed their career.

If you look at the deliberately developmental organisations they are completely designed to support ongoing development, daily interaction, reflection and growth. A great quote in the book says – ‘If people are to develop, they require the right process both for doing excellent work and their own growth’.

The three DDOs in the book embody this – they have designed their daily practices and rituals around growth and development. From Bridgewater and their baseball card system where everyone is rated by everyone else against certain characteristics to Next Jump who have daily reflection catch ups between talking partners to debrief their performance to the competency board at Decurion which displays everyone’s development areas for everyone to see and give feedback on.

Due to the ‘extreme’ exposure of everyone’s development areas in the open for all to see and provide feedback on, community is vital and leadership is crucial.

A DDO approach is hard to apply in just one team because at some point you will have to interact with other teams that do not support that. However, as a leader, there are things that you can instigate, even into a broken system.

BIG IDEA 3 (17:39) – It’s not fluffy.

“It’s hard, there’s scratches and bruises”. These are just a couple of the quotes from people who have worked in the DDOs in the book. It’s fairly confronting. Many people might think it’s ‘soft’ to focus on people’s growth but it’s hard to find CEOs and leaders who would be brave enough to take on a deliberately developmental organisation approach. Because it’s not fluffy, not soft but true growth, true learning and a relentless focus on continuous improvement.

Music By: Strangers in Disguise – Instrumental Version Song by Anthony Lazaro

Let’s Connect

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steph-clarke

Instagram: @stephsbizbookshelf

Join in the book club conversation all week by joining the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stephsbusinessbookclub

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Please hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode and leave a review on iTunes to help others find us.

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An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization

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These questions make ideal icebreakers, kick offs for team days, reflections for projects, additions to your weekly team meetings or simply topics of conversation to discuss over lunch.

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

Let's Connect

Email: steph@stephclarke.com

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About the Author

Andre Kirk Agassi is an American retired professional tennis player and former world No. 1 whose career spanned from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. [4] In singles, Agassi is an eight-time Grand Slam champion and a 1996 Olympic gold medalist, as well as being a runner-up in seven other Grand Slam tournaments.

During the Open Era, Agassi was the first male player to win four Australian Open titles, a record that was later surpassed by Novak Djokovic when he won his fifth title in 2015, and then by Roger Federer in 2017. Agassi is one of five male singles players to achieve the Career Grand Slam in the Open Era.

Agassi retired from professional tennis on September 3, 2006. He is the founder of the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, [16] which has raised over $60 million for at-risk children in Southern Nevada. [17] In 2001, the Foundation opened the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, a K-12 public charter school for at-risk children. [18] He has been married to fellow tennis player Steffi Graf since 2001.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Agassi

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Open/9780307388407/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book

He is one of the most beloved athletes in history and one of the most gifted men ever to step onto a tennis court – but from early childhood Andre Agassi hated the game.

Coaxed to swing a racket while still in the crib, forced to hit hundreds of balls a day while still in grade school, Agassi resented the constant pressure even as he drove himself, an inner conflict that would define him. In his beautiful, haunting autobiography, Agassi tells the story of a life framed by conflict.

Yet, despite raw talent, he struggles. We feel his confusion as he loses to the world’s best, his greater confusion as he starts to win. After stumbling in three Grand Slam finals, Agassi shocks the world, and himself, by capturing the 1992 Wimbledon title. Overnight he becomes a fan favourite and a media target.

Agassi brings a near-photographic memory to every pivotal match, and every public relationship. He reveals the depression that shatters his confidence, and the mistake that nearly costs him everything. Finally, he recounts his spectacular resurrection and his march to become the oldest man ever ranked number one.

Source: https://www.amazon.com.au/Open-Autobiography-Andre-Agassi- ebook/dp/B002VYJYR8

Links

Find out more about Andre’s foundation: http://www.agassifoundation.org/

Watch the 10 greatest Agassi ATP shots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxf4W5pPD98

BIG IDEA 1 (7:32) – Doing things other people want you to do, won’t make you happy.

Andre Agassi was pushed into tennis by his father as his last hope of having a pro sporting offspring.

At a young age, Andre was playing tennis against much older children. At thirteen, he was sent to Bollettieri Academy in Florida where he was pushed even more into tennis competitions and doing things he didn’t want to do. He rebelled as a teenager and into his career – most famously against the Wimbledon dress code traditions. He also did not follow some court rules which put him in trouble several times.

Andre spent his life being pushed into things and not knowing how to manage it. As a result he had some famous acts of rebellion such as the clothes he wore, ear piercings and his hair colour (before he lost his hair). He didn’t have control over anything because everything he did in his life was designed by others to make him a tennis player.

This lack of control or choices played out later in his life and throughout his career even in some of the relationships he had. He was deeply unhappy in his career and couldn’t wait for it to be over.

Doing things people want you to do all the time won’t make you happy. There’s clearly a need for give and take – where can you relinquish control and where can you gain control so you get a balance between doing things for yourself and for other people.

BIG IDEA 2 (10:40) – Find your lifeguard.

Andre found a much-needed father figure in Gil who became more than just his trainer. Andre considered Gil his life guard because Gil nurtured, protected and made him feel he could do things that Andre actually didn’t believe he could. Gil made sure Andre was conditioned and in good mental and physical state to compete at the highest level.

He also found another person who understood him and whom he eventually had a relationship with (and married) in Steffi Graf. Steffi understood his life as she had much the same upbringing being pushed into tennis as well from a young age and competing at the highest levels of tennis.

BIG IDEA 3 (12:26) – Give back what you wish you’d had.

Agassi opened a foundation for kids that is designed to create an environment for nurturing education – an experience that Andre didn’t have (and ironically, Andre hated school). Their mantra is all about respect. He was able to give back what he didn’t have and give them the opportunity to enjoy as kids to improve their future prospects.

Even the physical environment of the school is designed to promote aspiration to learn and go to college to further their education. He is incredibly proud of this and it is a huge part of what he stands for as he realises that he is in a unique position to be able to give kids opportunities that he didn’t have when he was young.

Music By: Blue – Instrumental Version Song by Faith Richards

Let’s Connect

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steph-clarke

Instagram: @stephsbizbookshelf

Join in the book club conversation all week by joining the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stephsbusinessbookclub

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Please hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode and leave a review on iTunes to help others find us.

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View Details

These questions make ideal icebreakers, kick offs for team days, reflections for projects, additions to your weekly team meetings or simply topics of conversation to discuss over lunch.

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

Let's Connect

Email: steph@stephclarke.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steph-clarke

IG: w@stephsbizbookshelf

Join in the book club conversation all week by joining the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stephsbusinessbookclub

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

https://mailchi.mp/1119b1358a84/thebookmark

About the author

Angela Duckworth is co-founder and CEO of Character Lab, a nonprofit that use spsychological science to help children thrive. She is also a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and in 2013 was named a MacArthur Fellow. Prior to her career in research, she was a math and science teacher in the public schools of New York City, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. Angela shares research-backed advice for parents and teachers in her Thought of the Week.

Source: https://angeladuckworth.com/

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Grit/9781785040207/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book

In this instant New York Times bestseller, pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth shows anyone striving to succeed—be it parents, students, educators, athletes, or business people—that the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent but a special blend of passion and persistence she calls “grit.”

Why do some people succeed and others fail? Sharing new insights from her landmark research, Angela explains why talent is hardly a guarantor of success. Angela has found that grit—a combination of passion and perseverance for a singularly important goal—is the hallmark of high achievers in every domain. She’s also found scientific evidence that grit can grow.

Winningly personal, insightful, and even life-changing, Grit is a book about what goes through your head when you fall down, and how that—not talent or luck—makes all the difference.

Source: https://angeladuckworth.com/grit-book/

Links

Find out how gritty you are here: https://angeladuckworth.com/grit-scale/ Watch Angela’s TED talk here: https://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_grit_the_power_of_passion_and_perseverance

Read an excerpt of Grit here: https://angeladuckworth.com/grit-book-excerpt/

BIG IDEA 1 (6:27) – Effort counts twice.

Without effort talent is just unmet potential and without effort, skill is what you could have done but didn’t. Effort is the multiplier that opens up your talent, potential and skill. There’s a formula in the book that says skill x effort = achievement.

The effort is grit and grit is a combination of passion and perseverance. Angela talks about the idea that your overall goal (which is the one thing you are gritty about) is fixed but how you get there is fluid.

How you get to your goal can be a bit experimental; trying out different things on how to get there. This means that talent is overrated and over romanticised. We often look up to people who we think have innate talents, however a lot of the time it’s actually talent that has been realised through the application of effort and grit.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:22) – Foster interest over passion.

A lot of people say ‘follow your passion’ however not everyone knows what they’re passionate about. And just because you love something doesn’t necessarily mean you’re good at it or that you will be the best in that field.

What we need to do is to find what interests us and foster that. Interest is also not found through reflection, it is triggered by interaction with the outside world through discovery – and this can be messy.

Before hard work comes into play, you need to find first that thing you will enjoy and will keep you interested. This is how grit is maintained, through curiosity and finding the answers to more questions.

Passion is not like a firework going off, it’s like a smoldering fire that just keeps burning over time and continues to linger. If you are worried that you don’t feel this burning passion inside you, unlike those you follow on Instagram or business people you read about, all of them didn’t have at first either. they just started by getting interested in something and see how that goes.

To be gritty at something you need to find something you’re interested in which may take several attempts. A lot of people who were successful in their fields, whether its research, science, sports or business, have been through this process.

BIG IDEA 3 (13:17) – get gritty.

Dan Chambliss who studies Olympic swimmers said that the real way to become a great swimmer is to join a great team. You need to find a culture of grit where you only have to conform. Being gritty on your own is very hard.

By joining a gritty team you will start to do what everyone else is doing. This requires communication within the team around how do we maintain grit as a team.

They found out that grittier people have higher life satisfaction and self-control. Grit requires the ability to be uncomfortable because you have to stick through things that aren’t fun and you may not be making any progress for a period of time. This talks around the idea of being able to resist temptation to relieve yourself of the discomfort.

Grit also is about focusing on improving and not just doing things you’re already good at. Deliberate practice is the act of working on things you’re not good at and involves setting a stretch goal, practice, feedback and reflection (and then repeat, over and over and over again…).

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About the author

Daniel H. Pink is the author of six provocative books — including his newest, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, which spent four months on the New York Times bestseller list and was named a best book of 2018 by Amazon, iBooks, Goodreads, and several more outlets.

His other books include the long-running New York Times bestseller A Whole New Mind and the #1 New York Times bestsellers Drive and To Sell is Human. His books have won multiple awards, have been translated into 39 languages, and have sold three million copies worldwide. He lives in Washington, DC with his family.

Source: https://www.danpink.com/

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https://www.bookdepository.com/When-Daniel-H-Pink/9781782119913/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book

Everyone knows that timing is everything. But we don’t know much about timing itself. Our lives are a never-ending stream of “when” decisions: when to start a business, schedule a class, get serious about a person. Yet we make those decisions based on intuition and guesswork.

Drawing on a rich trove of research from psychology, biology, and economics, Pink reveals how best to live, work, and succeed. How can we use the hidden patterns of the day to build the ideal schedule? Why do certain breaks dramatically improve student test scores? How can we turn a stumbling beginning into a fresh start? Why should we avoid going to the hospital in the afternoon? Why is singing in time with other people as good for you as exercise? And what is the ideal time to quit a job, switch careers, or get married?

Source: https://www.danpink.com/

Links

Find infographics, videos and guides here to support the ideas in When: https://www.danpink.com/resources/

BIG IDEA 1 (4:58) – Peaks, troughs and why our days all wrong.

This book is about how we design our days the wrong way. Various studies have found most people operate in a peak, trough and rebound pattern. A peak is around 7 am or so, trough is throughout the morning, (with a little rebound around lunch time), trough between 3 to 5 pm again and then rebound in the early evening.

This impacts everything. It is where we find that those afternoon troughs are incredibly dangerous in some industries. For example in the hospitals where there’s a dip in the afternoon in diagnosis, mistakes and errors.

Studies were done in many earnings calls where they ran algorithms over the vocal, tone and the outcome whether they were run in the morning or in the afternoon. Afternoon earnings calls of listed companies resulted in stock misquoting.

Based on the timing alone it was found out that afternoon earnings calls are bad for the business. They also found out that those calls in the afternoon are more tense and combative.

Our cognitive ability changes throughout the day. We are best and worst for certain type of things for different times of day. Most people are better at analytical tasks in the morning while in the afternoon, we are better at insights and creativity problem.

The difference between us at our best and us at our worst is the equivalent of being over the legal limit of alcohol for driving, yet we are regularly forced to work through this in the existing 9-5 model.

BIG IDEA 2 (9:54) – Larks, owls and third birds.

The idea in the book is that everyone has chronotype; our biological preference of when we are at best according to our circadian rhythms. There are three categories that people fall into.

An easy version to test yourself is to think about the day where you don’t have to set an alarm, choose when you go to bed and get up at your own preference. Think about your midpoint, so if you sleep from 10pm to 6am your midpoint is 2am. A midpoint between 12 am to 3 am is a lark (14% of population), 3:30 am to 6am midpoint is a third bird (65% of the population) and a midpoint of 6 am onwards is an owl (21% of the population).

This gives your circadian rhythm or style. Larks and third birds peaks early in the morning while owls are the other around and peak in the evening, often when others are already getting ready for bed. A lot of creators, writers and inventors in history who have recognised these patterns, have used it to their advantage, scheduling their days and work around their best self. Unfortunately, the world is not generally built for owls.

There was also a portion in the book about naps and how they can help us do our best work. Longer naps are good for health and longevity while shorter naps are great for productivity. Check out Daniel’s website for the recipe for the perfect nap… or a ‘nappucino’.

BIG IDEA 3 (15:43) – Beginnings, middles and ends.

There were sections in the book regarding the importance of thinking more about when you are doing something and not what you’re doing. Beginnings are getting off to a good start, choosing a good time and doing a pre-mortem of what could possibly go wrong before you start to avoid your own pitfalls.

Middle is about keeping momentum, this may involve setting yourself midway point in projects and in life, goals and milestones to stop or promote speeding things up or leveling up some more.

Finally is to plan well to end well. For work, spend some time planning what you’re going tomorrow first thing in the morning rather than having to make decisions at that point. Say thank you to someone by giving someone a quick text or call to say thank you for the work they’ve done.

If you’re coming towards the end of your career, think about how you want to be remembered – endings are sticky and a lot of your legacy will come down to how you spend your final months with people.

Music By: Watch Out – Instrumental Version Song by Chaun Davis

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About the Author

Pat is the founder of The Table Group and the author of 11 books which have sold over 5 million copies and been translated into more than 30 languages. The Wall Street Journal called him “one of the most in demand speakers in America.” He has addressed millions of people at conferences and events around the world over the past 15 years. Pat has written for or been featured in numerous publications including Harvard Business Review, Inc., Fortune, Fast Company, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek.

As CEO, Pat spends his time writing books and articles related to leadership and organizational health, speaking to audiences interested in those topics and consulting to CEOs and their teams.

Prior to founding The Table Group, Pat worked at Bain & Company, Oracle Corporation and Sybase. Pat lives in the Bay Area with his wife and four boys.

Source: https://www.tablegroup.com/pat/

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https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Ideal-Team-Player/9781119209591/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

In his classic, best-selling book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni laid out a groundbreaking new approach for attacking the dangerous group behaviors that destroy teamwork. Here, he turns his focus to the individual member of a team, revealing the three indispensable virtues that make some people better team players than others.

The Ideal Team Player presents a powerful framework and easy-to-use tools for identifying, hiring and developing ideal team players in any kind of organization. Whether you’re a leader striving to create a culture of teamwork, a human resources professional looking to hire real team players or an employee wanting to make yourself an invaluable team member, this book will prove to be as practical as it is compelling.

Source: https://www.tablegroup.com/books/ideal-team-player

BIG IDEA 1 (6:00) – Be humble. Be hungry. Be smart.

These are the virtues of the ideal team member. You need to have all three or you will not be an ideal team member.

Being humble is the lack of excessive ego. Being able to share credit and call out other people’s success. You still believe in your own worth though, you have self-confidence and you what you’re good at. But you can put that little ego aside and celebrate other people’s success.

Having only humility will make you a doormat (or a ‘pawn’) which is not good for anyone.

Being hungry is always looking for more, in a healthy way. Not in a selfish way that disrupts and gets in the way of everyone else but looking for more responsibility, taking on more action and development for the good of the team.

You can’t be just hungry otherwise you’ll be a bulldozer.

Being smart is not the IQ or the technical expertise, but your people smarts. It’s being able to read people’s reactions and being able to understand your impact on others.

Being smart alone is just being a charmer, but there’s not much else going for you.

You need to be humble, hungry and smart to be a good team player and a leader. All of these help implement the five behaviours of a high performing team – developing trust, engaging in healthy conflict, being able to commit, being held accountable and focus on achieving results.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:52) – hire slow.

This is the fundamental of finding the right person for the job and the team. This book gives examples about interview questions and how you can be creative with it. Also doing reference checks and speaking to people to ask more interesting questions of those who have previously worked with that person.

This is about going slow with the interview process so that you can go fast later. It’s going to be less of a culture shock for everyone when you bring the right people in because they were hired in a way that is meaningful, personal and a good fit for what you are looking for.

BIG IDEA 3 (10:37) – Know what you’re looking for.

This is knowing what is humble, hungry and smart look like for you in your organisation. How does this show in your culture? What type of person do you need and how will they show humility, hunger and smarts.

You also have to know what your non-negotiables are. What it is you’re prepared to look over some technical expertise or years of service, in order to get the good person for the role. You can apply this principle not just for hiring but for promotion and designing new roles coming up in the organisation.

Music By: On Est Bien – Instrumental Version Song by Sarah Benasouli

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About the author

Malcolm Gladwell is the author of five New York Times bestsellers–The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, What the Dog Saw, and David and Goliath. He is also the co-founder of Pushkin Industries, an audio content company that produces the podcasts Revisionist History, which reconsiders things both overlooked and misunderstood, and Broken Record, where he, Rick Rubin, and Bruce Headlam interview musicians across a wide range of genres. Gladwell has been included in the TIME 100 Most Influential People list and touted as one of Foreign Policy‘s Top Global Thinkers.

Source: https://www.gladwellbooks.com/landing-page/about-malcolm-gladwell/

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https://www.bookdepository.com/Talking-to-Strangers/9780241351574/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book

Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don’t know. And because we don’t know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world.

In July 2015, a young black woman named Sandra Bland was pulled over for a minor traffic violation in rural Texas. Minutes later she was arrested and jailed. Three days later, she committed suicide in her cell. What went wrong? Talking to Strangers is all about what happens when we encounter people we don’t know, why it often goes awry, and what it says about us.

How do we make sense of the unfamiliar? Why are we so bad at judging someone, reading a face, or detecting a lie? Why do we so often fail to ‘get’ other people? No one shows us who we are like Malcolm Gladwell. Here he sets out to understand why we act the way we do, and how we all might know a little more about those we don’t.

Source: Amazon.com

Other Malcolm Gladwell Book Episodes and other Links Outliers Blink https://www.gladwellbooks.com/titles/malcolm-gladwell/blink/9780316172325/ Check out Malcolm’s Revisionist History podcast – http://revisionisthistory.com/ If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy the summary of Outliers, also by Malcolm Gladwell

BIG IDEA 1 (5:01) – It’s a mess.

We can’t read others. We don’t have the right expectation or skills to do so. Even the people we expect (and hope) to be good at reading others aren’t good at all. People like police officers and those who have worked in police interrogations for many years and supposedly good at reading other people, turn out they can’t.

A study showed that Judges at bail hearings who see the accused person to decide if they can be trusted with bail or not, made very poor decisions about who should be sent back to jail or who should be released.

Interestingly AI and algorithms run over the same particular sample of accused were much more accurate at predictions who would reoffend when out on bail. So if the computer had run the algorithm over those people, there would have been fewer re-offenses for those who were out on bail than those decisions made by the judges.

We can’t read other people, we don’t know what they’re thinking, we don’t know what they’re going to do, and yet we make decisions based on this very bad information and assumptions.

The book did not mention anything about what to do about this mess, likely because we can’t do anything about it, because we’re humans.

BIG IDEA 2 (7:59) – The default to truth.

As humans we default to truth. Global markets, financial systems, political systems and everything else that humans rely on the modern age, and even in the pre-modern age, rely on this bias. We would not have gotten this far if we did not default to truth and give people the benefit of the doubt.

Even the people who met Hitler in the 1930s before World War II, trusted him. He was charming and made them believe that he has no bad intentions… later on this clearly didn’t turn out well. Those politicians believed him, even though they were used to dealing with shifty political characters!

It’s not only hard not to default to truth but it’s also hard to challenge it because we end questioning everything and everyone.

BIG IDEA 3 (10:21) – Humans are not see-through.

Transparency was a big part of the book. The idea talks about how if someone does not meet our expectations, particularly how they behave in a certain situation, results in bad decisions.

The Amanda Knox case and trial is an example of this. She was an odd character and didn’t act the way people expected (or wanted) a grieving friend to act in the wake of Meredith’s death. As a result she was found guilty for something she didn’t do, largely because people thought she was a bit weird. Later on it was found out that it was not true and a significant miscarriage of justice.

This also happens when people did something really terrible but because they acted very well, in a way we would expect someone innocent to act, they are then seen to be innocent. Transparency works but only when people are act like in a sitcom… which they don’t. Which brings us back to idea number one, it’s a mess because we are humans and we can’t read other people but we make decisions based on this data.

Music By: Howling at the Moon – Instrumental Version Song by Tomer Katz ft. VIGZ

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About the author

Walter Isaacson, University Professor of History at Tulane, has been CEO of the Aspen Institute, chairman of CNN, and editor of Time magazine. He is the author of Leonardo da Vinci; The Innovators; Steve Jobs; Einstein: His Life and Universe; Benjamin Franklin: An American Life; and Kissinger: A Biography, and the coauthor of The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made.

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Steve-Jobs-Special-Signed- Edition/Walter-Isaacson/9781476776408

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https://www.bookdepository.com/Steve-Jobs--The-Exclusive-Biography/9781408703748/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book

Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.

Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.

Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing off limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Steve-Jobs-Special-Signed- Edition/Walter-Isaacson/9781476776408

Links

If you enjoyed this episode, you might also enjoy the episode on the biography of Elon Musk

BIG IDEA 1 (6:15) – You don’t have to be perfect to be great.

Steve Jobs has a complex, tortured character. His first girlfriend described him as ‘an enlightened being who is cruel’. This shows you that you don’t need to have your stuff together to create something amazing.

A lot of people try to create amazing things, build awesome businesses, try to be perfect or great in all aspects of their life. It’s interesting to see how compartmentalized Steve Jobs was that other aspects of his life didn’t matter that much for him to create something creative and brilliant.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:02) – Get inspired.

Throughout his life, Steve was a constant inventor and experimenter. He was always looking for new ideas, links, creative outputs and inputs to look for clarity, escape and inspiration. He started this at a young age through some of the things that he created at his parent’s house. Later in life he and Steve Wozniak would come together and create games and new electronics.

His trip to India, crazy diets – only eating raw fruits and vegetables and experimental use of LSD, are all listed down as his sources of enlightenment. During college he convinced Reed University to let him stop his tuition but still stay on campus and only go to classes he wanted to ‘audit’ them.

One of the early classes that he went to was the calligraphy class. This famously later inspired the fonts available in Mac. He also had a huge love of music, particularly classical music and Bob Dylan. This also provides a huge inspiration into the works that he did for both the Apple products and rethinking music and its distribution.

BIG IDEA 3 (10:39) – Think different.

The reality distortion field – Steve saw things and possibilities that nobody else could. Many people said they did things that many people believed that they couldn’t do but Steve has a way of making things sound so normal and possible. He would also put incredible faith to people that they could do those things (even if they didn’t think they could). He also believed that people don’t know what they want until you show them.

He was fastidious for details and had an eye for perfection that many people didn’t see to the same extent he did. For example, Apple HQ in California is designed in such a way that people would bump into each other because he believed that’s when the ideas would naturally flow. The ability and vision he had to think different was always within him.

Music By: String of Pearls Song by Vic Davi

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About the author

Gary Vaynerchuk is the chairman of VaynerX , a modern-day media and communications holding company and the active CEO of VaynerMedia , a full-service advertising agency servicing Fortune 100 clients across the company’s 4 locations.

Gary is currently the subject of DailyVee , an online documentary series highlighting what it’s like to be a CEO and public figure in today’s digital world, as well the host of The GaryVee Audio Experience, a top 100 global podcast, and host of #AskGaryVee, a business and advice Q&A show which can be found on both YouTube and Facebook.

As a young child, Gary began his entrepreneurial career by ripping flowers out of his neighbors’ yards and using his natural charm to sell them right back (a profit margin he has still yet to equal). Soon he had upgraded to operating an entire lemonade stand franchise, managing multiple locations and commuting via big-wheel to collect his profits.

Source: https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/biography/

About the book

New York Times bestselling author and social media expert Gary Vaynerchuk shares hard-won advice on how to connect with customers and beat the competition. A mash-up of the best elements of Crush It! and The Thank You Economy with a fresh spin, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook is a blueprint to social media marketing strategies that really works.

When managers and marketers outline their social media strategies, they plan for the “right hook”—their next sale or campaign that’s going to knock out the competition. Even companies committed to jabbing—patiently engaging with customers to build the relationships crucial to successful social media campaigns—want to land the punch that will take down their opponent or their customer’s resistance in one blow. Right hooks convert traffic to sales and easily show results. Except when they don’t.

Thanks to massive change and proliferation in social media platforms, the winning combination of jabs and right hooks is different now. Vaynerchuk shows that while communication is still key, context matters more than ever. It’s not just about developing high-quality content, but developing high-quality content perfectly adapted to specific social media platforms and mobile devices—content tailor-made for Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Tumblr.

Source: https://www.amazon.com.au/Jab-Right-Hook-Story-Social-

Links

Watch Gary’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCctXZhXmG-kf3tlIXgVZUlw (definite language warning!)

Follow Gary on Twitter: https://twitter.com/garyvee Check out the Gary Vee Audio Experience: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-garyvee-audio-experience/id928159684?mt=2

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

BIG IDEA 1 (8:17) Connect through value.

This idea is not about transactional value or merely shouting about your latest thing. These are the connections made through sharing value. It’s about getting the right people on board and building the trust.

Connecting through value is about knowing your customers. What are their problems, what language do they use and how do you uniquely solve that problem? How do you bring value on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. It should be consistent and you don’t just show up when you’ve got something to say.

BIG IDEA 2 (9:30) Social media is a strategy not an after-thought.

If you’re not thinking of a social media strategy, you’re going to be left behind. The book is very practical and balanced with plenty of real life examples (good, bad and ugly) showing that your social media strategy needs to be fully integrated into everything else you do.

You need to have someone allocated who will run your social media, who is trained and is connected to the strategy in the best way they can. They can use the strategy to bring the right people to you at the right time and for the right reasons.

For some people who might think that social media ‘doesn’t work’, they are often not doing it right. It could actually be that you are not on the right platform or you are not using the playform in the right way to connect.

BIG IDEA 3 (12:30) Find the right voice.

Each platform has a unique voice. You can’t just copy and paste content from one platform to another. Each platform has different voices and different contexts – people also expect different things from different platforms.

This is why strategy is important. Not all content can go everywhere. You need to find your voice for each platform. You need to be authentic whilst finding the right voice for each of the platforms.

Music By: Mindplay – No Lead Vocals Song by Roza

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These questions make ideal icebreakers, kick offs for team days, reflections for projects, additions to your weekly team meetings or simply topics of conversation to discuss over lunch.

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About the author

SUSAN CAIN is the author of the bestsellers Quiet Power: The Secret Strengths of Introverts, and Quiet: The Power of Introverts in A World That Can’t Stop Talking, which has been translated into 40 languages, is in its seventh year on the New York Times best seller list, and was named the #1 best book of the year by Fast Company magazine, which also named Cain one of its Most Creative People in Business.

Her writing has appeared in the The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. Her record-smashing TED talk has been viewed over 30 million times on TED.com and YouTube combined, and was named by Bill Gates one of his all-time favorite talks.

Susan prefers listening to talking, reading to socializing, and cozy chats to group settings. She likes to think before she speaks (softly). And until a few years ago, was terrified of public speaking, so is still amazed that such a giant fear is conquerable.

She lives in the Hudson River Valley with her husband and two sons. Visit Cain and the Quiet Revolution at www.quietrev.com.

Source: https://www.quietrev.com/author/susan-cain/

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https://www.bookdepository.com/Quiet/9780141029191/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book

Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking shows how dramatically we undervalue introverts and how much we lose in doing so. Taking the reader on a journey from Dale Carnegie’s birthplace to Harvard Business School and from a Tony Robbins seminar to an evangelical megachurch, Cain charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal in the twentieth century and explores its far-reaching effects.

She talks to Asian-American students who feel alienated from the brash, backslapping atmosphere of American schools. She questions the dominant values of American business culture, where forced collaboration can stand in the way of innovation and where the leadership potential of introverts is often overlooked. And she draws on cutting-edge research in psychology and neuroscience to reveal the surprising differences between extroverts and introverts.

Finally, she offers invaluable advice on everything from how to better negotiate differences in introvert-extrovert relationships and empower an introverted child to when it makes sense to be a “pretend extrovert.”

Source: https://www.quietrev.com/quiet-the-book/

Links

Join the 24 million other people who have watched Susan’s TED talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts?language=en

Find out more tips and advice on living as, or with, an introvert on Susan’s website: https://www.quietrev.com/

Listen to Susan’s podcast here (the first season focuses on giving parents and educators the tools to empower quiet kids): https://www.quietrev.com/susan-cain-quiet-podcast/

BIG IDEA 1 (6:40) – We are all wired differently.

The different parts of the brain light up differently in different situations for introverts and extroverts. For example the reward part of the brain is actually bigger in extroverts and they tend to be very reward driven.

They tested this with babies, toddlers and teens to see if introversion or extroversion is a natural tendency or something nurtured. They put stimulants all around such as lights, sounds and strong smells in the room. They saw some babies threw their arms and legs in the air while other babies just laid there and weren’t bothered by the sounds.

They found that those babies who were thrashing their arms around weren’t having a good time but actually showing a sign of discomfort for all the stimulation. While those babies who were unbothered by all the noise around them and laid there quietly, turned out to be extroverts because they were not over stimulated by the things going on around them.

High or low reactivity is one way of explaining extroversion or introversion. They also found that introverts are more likely to choose intellectual jobs as often you can close the door from unexpected stimulations and enjoy the quiet environment that they need to do the best work to succeed.

BIG IDEA 2 (10:35) – The extrovert ideal.

The ‘extrovert ideal’ was really birthed during the Dale Carnegie era of personal development; public speaking and sales skills linked to the growth economy where those skills were touted as the new way of work. Warren Susman, a cultural historian called this as a shift from a culture of character to a culture of personality.

Interesting, the word ‘personality’ didn’t even exist until the 18th century and wasn’t widely used until the 20th century.

In a country such as the US, that is powered by antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs to try and ‘cure’ introversion, on the basis that to get ahead of work and be promoted, get a sale, or even get married, you seem to need to be extroverted. The book mentioned about inventions from some of the society’s favorite introverts. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have today’s greatest inventions.

What does this mean? There is definitely space for both types and we need to look past this outdated (and misguided) notion of the extrovert ideal.

BIG IDEA 3 (14:15) – Why groups are like drugs.

There is a research in the book about why ideas are better when you come up with them alone first. Research also shows that group brainstorming doesn’t work and performance drops as a result of group size increasing. For teams of more than six to eight people, the output or productivity are probably worse because of the size of your group being bigger than that.

People from the group doesn’t share good ideas either because of fear of being judged or other noise that could potentially mess up a good idea. Interestingly, virtual groups actually perform better because each person is alone.

There’s a quote in the book that groups are like mind altering substances. Working in a group actually lowers the decision making part of the brain and increases the perception part of the brain. It changes the way we perceive a situation.

Music By: Paper Planes by Paper Planes

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https://mailchi.mp/1119b1358a84/thebookmark

About the Author

Malcolm Gladwell is the author of five New York Times bestsellers–The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, What the Dog Saw, and David and Goliath.

He is also the co-founder of Pushkin Industries, an audio content company that produces the podcasts Revisionist History, which reconsiders things both overlooked and misunderstood, and Broken Record, where he, Rick Rubin, and Bruce Headlam interview musicians across a wide range of genres. Gladwell has been included in the TIME 100 Most Influential People list and touted as one of Foreign Policy‘s Top Global Thinkers.

Source: https://www.gladwellbooks.com/landing-page/about-malcolm-gladwell/

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https://www.bookdepository.com/Blink/9780141014593/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant–in the blink of an eye–that actually aren’t as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept? Why do some people follow their instincts and win, while others end up stumbling into error? How do our brains really work–in the office, in the classroom, in the kitchen, and in the bedroom? And why are the best decisions often those that are impossible to explain to others?

Blink reveals that great decision makers aren’t those who process the most information or spend the most time deliberating, but those who have perfected the art of “thin-slicing”–filtering the very few factors that matter from an overwhelming number of variables.

Source: https://www.gladwellbooks.com/titles/malcolm-gladwell/blink/9780316172325/

I read a quote from Malcolm on why he wrote Blink, he said; “to demonstrate that decisions made very quickly can be every bit as good as decisions made cautiously and deliberately; to help decide when we should and shouldn’t trust our instincts; and to show that snap judgments and first impressions can be educated and controlled.”

Links

Check out Malcolm’s Revisionist History podcast – http://revisionisthistory.com/ If you liked this episode, you might also enjoy the summary of Outliers, also by Malcolm Gladwell

BIG IDEA 1 (4:28) – Find the right thin slice of information

This is about pattern recognition “the ability of our unconscious to find patterns in situations and behavior based on very narrow slices of experience”. What are those important bits of information and what can be ignored?

Thin slicing is a key principle in the book and is the reason why some people make good ‘split’ decisions – a lot of this is down to the fact that they’re picking the right ‘slice’ of information to assess – just the important bits.

This was brought to life in the work of John Gottman in analysing married couples to assess if they would stay together or get divorced. There were certain ‘thin slices’ (such as contempt and a ratio of less than 5:1 positive:negative interactions) which were sure signs of relationship failure.

Other studies such as one where strangers had to analyse the personality of someone by looking in their dorm room, and a study on doctors’ tone of voice with a patient as an indicator of whether they would get sued, were other examples of the power of the right ‘slice’ of information as predictors.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:43) – The dark side of blinking.

When we pick the wrong piece of information to thin slice, we can end up making horrible decisions. A great example in the book was a Warren Harding, who essentially became President because he ‘looked’ like a great president. However, he turned out to be one of the worst Presidents that America has ever had.

A great quote from the book is “mediocre people find their way into positions of authority because when it comes to the most important positions, our selection decisions a less rational than we think.”

This still happens today – in the top 500 CEOs, almost 33% of them are over 6ft 2in. However, in the general male US population, only 3.9% of men are over 6ft 2in. This is a perfect example of how we look for appealing visible traits in people as a ‘thin slice’ of information to make unrelated decisions and judgements on.

BIG IDEA 3 (11:49) – Listen with your ears not with your eyes.

In the past, classical orchestras were sexist and believed you could only play a certain instrument if you were male and white. After a lot of protest, the orchestras changed the audition process to put screens up, so the judges couldn’t see the performer, and performers were given numbers rather than names.

As a result, female participation in US orchestras increased five fold. Which means that when people listen with their ears rather than eyes, they bring the right people for the job based on their skills.

It begs the question, in your personal or career, what are you doing or participating in that’s biased? Where are you thin slicing the wrong information? What assumptions are you holding on to which might not be the best predictors of the outcome you need?

Music By: The Future Is Now – Instrumental Version Song by MARLOE.

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https://mailchi.mp/1119b1358a84/thebookmark

About the author

Jenny Blake is an author, career and business strategist and international speaker who helps people move beyond burnout to build sustainable, dynamic careers they love. She is the author of Pivot: The Only Move That Matters is Your Next One, which won the Axiom Best Business Books award in the careers category. Jenny also hosts the popular Pivot Podcast, which CNBC listed among 6 podcasts to make you smarter about your career, and Entrepreneur selected as one of the top 20 female-hosted business podcasts.

After two years at a technology start-up in Silicon Valley followed by five years at Google in Training and Career Development, Jenny moved to New York City in 2011 where she has been running her own consulting business in the years since, helping clients like Google, Microsoft, and Chanel incorporate the Pivot Method into their career development programs.

Her motto: if change is the only constant, let’s get better at it. Today you can find her at PivotMethod.com and on her Pivot Podcast.

Source: http://www.pivotmethod.com/bio

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https://www.bookdepository.com/Pivot/9780241975473/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book

Careers are not linear, predictable ladders any longer; they are fluid trajectories. No matter our age, life stage, bank account balance, or seniority, we are all being asked to navigate career changes much more frequently than in years past. The average employee tenure in America is just four to five years, and even those roles change dramatically within that time.

Our economy now demands that we create businesses and careers based on creativity, growth, and impact. In this dynamic world of work, the only move that matters is your next one.

Drawing from her own experience and those of other successful pivoters, Jenny Blake has created a four-stage process that teaches anyone how to seamlessly and continually: Double-down on existing strengths, interests, and experiences Find new opportunities and identify skills to develop without falling prey to analysis-paralysis and compare-and-despair Run small experiments to determine next steps Take smart risks to launch with confidence in a new direction

Whether you have hit a plateau in your perfect-on-paper job, are considering taking on a new role in your current job, are thinking about starting your own business, or you want to move into a new industry altogether, one thing remains clear: your career success depends on your ability to determine your next best move.

This book is for anyone searching for an answer to the question, “What’s next?”

Source: http://www.pivotmethod.com/about-the-book

Links

Check out all of the Pivot resources here: http://www.pivotmethod.com/

Pick up more valuable career advice on the Pivot podcast: http://www.pivotmethod.com/podcast

Connect with Jenny here: LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/jennyblake Twitter: @Jenny_Blake Instagram: @pivotmomentum Facebook: Facebook.com/JennyBlakeCA

Liked this one? You might also like the So Good They Can’t Ignore You episode of Steph’s Business Bookshelf.

BIG IDEA 1 (6:51) – This is not about passion.

This is about embracing your strengths and experiences and using these to take you forward. It is about intentional shifts in different directions. It is acknowledging that careers are not linear anymore; more like a jungle gym – you’ll go a few rungs on the traditional ladder, swing over to another side, down the slide and back up the climbing net throughout your career.

Passion doesn’t mean that you’re good at something or that a particular career will be satisfying for you. It’s about planning, thinking, testing and moving. It’s not about blindly following your passion and hoping it will take you all the way.

It’s important to recognise the idea that you can pivot within companies or your own business, you don’t have to just become an entrepreneur as your next career move. For example you might be a lawyer who wants to stay being a lawyer but wants to do it in a different market or industry.

Jenny uses a couple of terms throughout the book – people who are ‘high net growth’ are those who always reflect on what they learned, what their contribution was and the value they added. These people are impactors, they have the mindset to be different, are intentional and having discipline.

BIG IDEA 2 (9:18) – You need to plan career moves like a netball player.

Jenny has a five-part pivot method that you can use to plan and implement your next career move. The four main parts are plant, scan, pilot and launch. Plant is about putting a pin on it – where do you want to be a year from now and setting that direction. Looking from within and knowing your values, strengths and experiences and your financial situation.

Part 2 is scan which is about looking at your options. Knowing the people, skills and opportunities that you need to move forward. This is about scanning your skills gap and how to bridge them. A big part of scan is being discoverable and letting people know what you’re doing or considering.

Part 3 is pilot. Pilot is a series of mini experiments to test your move idea in the real world and then reviewing them and reflecting on them – thinking about what works and what doesn’t.

Part 4 is launch, which is setting your criteria and knowing your values. Jenny talks about value hexagon which shows you where your risk tolerance is, how you value and feel about risk and knowing when to hold and when to fold when launching.

Finally, part 5 is lead. This is how you can use the pivot method as a leader in your organization. This helps people better plan their career and helps you have better career conversation with your team members.

These are well thought intentional steps you take to see what works next, to move and pivot in the right direction.

BIG IDEA 3 (13:21) – Experiment.

This requires you to put yourself out there. There’s always things to make and things to change. You just have to try…

Music By: The Future Is Now – Instrumental Version Song by MARLOE.

Let’s Connect

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steph-clarke

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These questions make ideal icebreakers, kick offs for team days, reflections for projects, additions to your weekly team meetings or simply topics of conversation to discuss over lunch.

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https://mailchi.mp/1119b1358a84/thebookmark

About the author

Russ Harris is a doctor, therapist, father, trainer of health professionals, and author of The Happiness Trap (plus eight other books).

Source: https://thehappinesstrap.com/my-story/

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Happiness-Trap/9781845298258/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book

Source: https://www.amazon.com/

Links

Videos, articles, 8 week course and more from Russ here: https://thehappinesstrap.com/

Liked this one? You might also like the Courage to be Disliked or Everything is F *cked episodes of Steph’s Business Bookshelf.

BIG IDEA 1 (6:37) – Happiness is not the goal.

Another myth is that belief that we should all be controlling our feelings, which shouldn’t be the case as that often works against us in practice (see big idea #2).

Once we realise that happiness is not the goal, we will save ourselves a lot of time, energy and angst which we can spend on other things.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:19) – Control is not the answer.

BIG IDEA 3 (10:16) – Change your story to change your mind.

The important thing is depowering the story. Questioning, hearing, experiencing, thinking about the work you are doing and ultimately accepting it as part of life but not letting it take over.

Music By: The Future Is Now – Instrumental Version Song by MARLOE.

Let’s Connect

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steph-clarke

Instagram: @stephsbizbookshelf

Join in the book club conversation all week by joining the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stephsbusinessbookclub

Enjoying the show?

Please hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode and leave a review on iTunes to help others find us.

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These questions make ideal icebreakers, kick offs for team days, reflections for projects, additions to your weekly team meetings or simply topics of conversation to discuss over lunch.

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https://mailchi.mp/1119b1358a84/thebookmark

About the author

Who is Pat Flynn? Pat is a family guy who learned about passive income because he had to. Like so many other people, Pat is on his Plan B career. He graduated from college with an architecture degree and went to work for an amazing architectural firm as a Job Captain. He was thriving in his career and had no plans to leave it—but there are some parts of life we can’t control.

The downturn in the economy hit the industry hard. In 2008, just a few months before his wedding, Pat was laid off from his job.

When Pat started Smart Passive Income (his uber-successful blog and now all-encompassing media enterprise including a podcast, YouTube channel, events and even a conference) back in 2008, his goal was simple: share the strategies that have helped him grow his online business. Since that time, it has become remarkably easy to find advice on internet marketing and starting an online business—but what has gotten harder is finding ethical advice that has been properly tested.

Pat lives in San Diego with his Backstreet Boy loving wife, April, and two kids – Keoni and Kailani, plus their dog, Gizmo.

Source: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/about/

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Superfans/9781949709469/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book

Customers, followers, subscribers.

It’s easy to just look at the numbers. How many likes? How many purchases? How many email subscribers?

But as entrepreneurs, we have to remember that there are people behind all that data. People who are looking to us to be a leader, to give advice, and to care. In this dog-eat-dog world, these are the people who are looking for someone who they can trust, and who they know have their best interests in mind.

These are the people, if you connect with them in the right way, who will become Superfans.

Followers may “like” an Instagram post. Customers may buy a product. But “Superfans” will be your biggest supporters. They will promote you and your products because they know you have made a difference in their lives. They will tell their friends. They will send you encouraging emails.

Whether you’re a shy YouTuber just starting out, or the leader of a Fortune 500 company, your superfans are out there waiting for you to connect with them. You don’t need to change the entire world to build a successful business; you just need to change someone’s world.

People don’t become superfans the moment they find you. They become superfans because of the magical moments you create for them over time.

Source: https://www.amazon.com/

Links

More about what Superfans is about: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/askpat/what-is-superfans-about-and-who-is-it-for/

Check out Pat’s site: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/

Listen to the excellent SPI podcast: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/podcasts/

Pat’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/SmartPassiveIncome

Liked this one? You might also like the Power of Moments episode of Steph’s Business Bookshelf

BIG IDEA 1 (7:06) – Get them involved.

How can you get your audience, people and customers to be more involved in your business? This includes giving them group names (eg Trekkies) which is a powerful way to build a community with an identity.

Other ways to get your audience involved is by polls or surveys by asking them to shape the direction of your product or services.

This is not just about putting your pretend new logo decision on a large Facebook group as a disguise for selling or promoting your business, but it is about how you can connect in a meaningful way with your followers.

Pat mentioned in the book that he spends fifteen minutes each month with ten new email subscribers to find out what they signed up for, what they’re struggling with. This helps him pick up the right language to use to describe the problems he’s solving, which is really important when you are solving other people’s problems.

BIG IDEA 2 (10:18) – Remember the lemons.

It’s about remembering the small things that matter. This drives loyalty. The power of being seen and being recognised is critical in building an audience and people who will come back to you.

Remembering little things like if someone has an event coming up, and dropping them a message to say ‘hope things things go well’ – can go a long way.

And if you are a service provider or consultant and you have clients that you know well, you get the chance to build up a bank in your mind about all the things that go on for that person and leverage on those to build trust, connection and a more personal approach.

Just using the small things that make people feel seen, heard, appreciated and special… which can help them become superfans.

BIG IDEA 3 (13:39) – Make it personal

Pat talks a lot about making your services more personal. There are so many technologies available now to do that. These are the little unexpected touches that helps take people from just liking your post to engaging and connecting with your message, value and you as a person.

This is a very important thing to reflect on your business. How can you make that personal connection?

Music By: Watch Out – Instrumental Version Song by Chaun Davis

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

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These questions make ideal icebreakers, kick offs for team days, reflections for projects, additions to your weekly team meetings or simply topics of conversation to discuss over lunch.

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https://mailchi.mp/1119b1358a84/thebookmark

About the book

The world is changing. Markets have crashed. Jobs have disappeared. Industries have been disrupted and are being remade before our eyes. Everything we aspired to for “security,” everything we thought was “safe,” no longer is: College. Employment. Retirement. Government. It’s all crumbling down.

In every part of society, the middlemen are being pushed out of the picture. No longer is someone coming to hire you, to invest in your company, to sign you, to pick you. It’s on you to make the most important decision in your life: Choose Yourself.

New tools and economic forces have emerged to make it possible for individuals to create art, make millions of dollars, and change the world without “help.” More and more opportunities are rising out of the ashes of the broken system to generate real inward success (personal happiness and health) and outward success (fulfilling work and wealth).

Source: https://jamesaltucher.com/about/

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https://www.bookdepository.com/Choose-Yourself-/9781490313375/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the author

James Altucher is an entrepreneur and angel investor. He’s achieved the rank of chess master and is the author of the Wall Street Journal bestselling book “Choose Yourself.”

He’s started 20 companies, 17 of which have failed. But he’s learned a lot along the way.

If you’ve ever been stuck—in a job you hate, in a house you can’t afford, in a life you don’t want, in your own depressed mind, anything— James wants to help you.

Why? Because he gets it. He’s been there. And he want to tell you how he freed himself so maybe you can start to free yourself, too.

Source: https://jamesaltucher.com/about/

Links

Watch James’ Choose Yourself TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmndCPvXiik

Listen to James’ podcast: https://jamesaltucher.com/podcasts/

BIG IDEA 1 (5:25) – Everything sucks and everyone’s miserable.

James is quite the pessimist. They language he uses in his books even in his podcast has a lot of negativity. In his book he mentions that internet searches of wanting to die or wanting to disappear, often return his name.

As mentioned in the intro, the theme of the book is pretty much about everything getting worse. Work isn’t meaningful or guaranteed and everyone you love will leave you. They’ll probably die or just leave you for someone else. Oh, and the robots are stealing your jobs.

This is consistent all throughout the book. So the only thing you can do is to love yourself, choose yourself. By putting yourself first, not in a selfish way, can really turn things around for you.

There are stories in the book about very successful entrepreneurs that you may have heard of who had a lot of challenges, but when they choose to love themselves, things started to improve.

This is more around mindset and thinking about what you are doing every single day or week, who do you surround yourself with and what can you do to choose yourself. Because if everyone else leaves you, then might as well like yourself and do things that look after you!

BIG IDEA 2 (8:05) – Have a daily practice.

James mentioned about the four elements to look after yourself and build a foundation to build your house of success. The four elements are physical, which about eating well, sleeping well, not feeding yourself junk food, and everything about the physical well-being.

Emotion – surround yourself with positive people .

Mental health – making your brain work. Constantly learning and improving yourself. How you use your brain to be creative and create content rather than just consuming it. The idea is that you need to use the idea muscle in your brain. This can be done by writing ten ideas down about a topic.

The fourth idea he mentioned in the book is spiritual – about focusing on the present. It’s about what you can and cannot control. It is thinking about being in the present because you can’t control the future and the past is gone. Dwelling on these things isn’t going to change anything and distracts you from moving forward.

BIG IDEA 3 (12:31) – Choose yourself.

There’s so many opportunities to change things. Even though the book talks a lot about negative things it also has a lot of great ideas and practical things. He gives ideas about step by step guide on how to publish a book, how to make a billion dollars and lots of different business ideas.

All of these ideas you can use to choose yourself; create work that is meaningful and how to look after yourself. The book shows how many ideas you can use to change things if you choose yourself.

Music By: Cookie Dough – Instrumental Version Song by Egozi

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

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LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steph-clarke

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Join in the book club conversation all week by joining the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/stephsbusinessbookclub

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Please hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode and leave a review on iTunes to help others find us.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

View Details

These questions make ideal icebreakers, kick offs for team days, reflections for projects, additions to your weekly team meetings or simply topics of conversation to discuss over lunch.

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

Let's Connect

Email: steph@stephclarke.com

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https://mailchi.mp/1119b1358a84/thebookmark

About the Book

In 2009, Tiger Woods was the most famous athlete on the planet, a transcendent star of almost unfathomable fame and fortune living what appeared to be the perfect life. But it turned out he had been living a double life for years—one that exploded in the aftermath of a Thanksgiving night crash that exposed his serial infidelity and sent his personal and professional lives over a cliff.

In this “searing biography of golf’s most blazing talent” (GOLF magazine), Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian dig deep behind the headlines to produce a richly reported answer to the question that has mystified millions of sports fans for nearly a decade: who is Tiger Woods, really?

Drawing on more than four hundred interviews with people from every corner of Woods’s life—many of whom have never spoken about him on the record before—Benedict and Keteyian construct a captivating psychological profile of a mixed race child programmed by an attention-grabbing father and the original Tiger Mom to be the “chosen one,” to change not just the game of golf, but the world as well.

But at what cost? Benedict and Keteyian provide the starling answers in this definitive biography that is destined to linger in the minds of readers for years to come.

Source: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Tiger-Woods/Jeff- Benedict/9781501126444

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https://www.bookdepository.com/Tiger-Woods/9781471175398/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Authors

Jeff Benedict is a New York Times bestselling author, a special features writer for Sports Illustrated, and a television and film producer. He has also written for the New York Times and Los Angeles Times, and his stories have been the basis for segments on 60 Minutes, 20/20, 48 Hours, Good Morning America, CBS Sunday Morning, the NFL Network, HBO Real Sports, CNN, and the Discovery Channel. He’s written fifteen books, including the New York Times bestselling autobiography of Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young.

He lives with his wife and four children in Connecticut. Armen Keteyianis a CBS News correspondent based in New York and an eleven-time Emmy Award winner, he is widely regarded as one of the finest investigative journalists in the country.

A former writer-reporter at Sports Illustrated, he is also the author or coauthor of ten previous books, including the New York Times bestsellers Raw Recruits and The System. Born and raised in Michigan, he now lives with his wife, Dede, in Fairfield, Connecticut, and San Clemente, California.

Source: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Tiger-Woods/Jeff- Benedict/9781501126444

Links

More information about the book, including excerpts here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Tiger-Woods/Jeff-Benedict/9781501126444

BIG IDEA 1 (6:24) – Keep your friends close (but be nice to them)

Tiger Woods had a small circle of friends, particularly when he was growing up as he spent most of his time playing golf. Even with his small circle of friends, it seems that he didn’t share much with them.

The people who were close to him gave a lot to him, not because of any ulterior motive, but because they have a genuine interest and wanted him to be happy.

But those people were often suddenly dropped, without being told directly as to why. This happened with caddies, managers or agents and other various people around him (including his long term girlfriend). When these people were around there also wasn’t much gratitude shown to them.

This lack of support system played out later on in life, especially as Tiger was not good at admitting that he’s struggling.

In the book it talks a lot about how his father used prisoner of war tactics to toughen Tiger at such a young age. He would use racist slurs on him whilst Tiger played golf to toughen him up. This played out later in his life how he kept things to himself, didn’t ask for help or say ‘enough’.

The lesson here is to say thank you and have a support network. Know who’s around you and who you can be truly vulnerable with and ask for help, because at some point in our life you will be needing it.

BIG IDEA 2 (9:02) – Go back to basics.

At the peak of Tiger’s career, he redid his swing. His swing is the fundamental of what made him great. People thought this was absolute madness and career suicide.

He did this a couple of times, even at the height of his career. Once the change was brought about by the changes in his body. He got so strong from a lot of heavy weight lifting and bodybuilding that his body didn’t move in the same way anymore, he had to adapt his swing.

Tiger had such a deep understanding of the fundamental, core principles of golf and the physics of swing that he could identify the tiny tweaks required and how to put this into practice. He also has the dedication and obsession to put in the work to adapt to the changes in his game.

Lesson: don’t be afraid to tweak the basics, even if you’re on the top of your game.

BIG IDEA 3 (11:19) – Is this the cost of greatness?

Tiger suffered from separation from others. He had parents who are both extremes; his dad was really tough and his mom was incredibly protective.

Reading the book you could evaluate why he turned out the way he did. His parents extreme parenting styles resulted as to why he did what he did and why he fell into the trap of his actions.

According to some fields of psychology, determinism doesn’t exist, everything is your choice. Just because you were brought up a certain way, you still get to choose how you behave going forward.

However there is also this argument that you can’t be what you can’t see. So if Tiger never seen vulnerability or asking for help, being able to have friends and not see everyone as potential competition, he won’t learn those things.

Is this really the cost of greatness? Do you really have to go to some of those lengths, whether you are the one who is the achiever or the one supporting them or bringing out the best in them.

The lesson here is how we define success and how we rewrite what we idolise. All the media coverage about what Tiger Woods is doing in his life means that we consume that information and feeds the circus that surrounds the mentality that greatness is achieved in these ways.

Music By: Go Your Own Way – Instrumental Version Song by Leroy Wild

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About the Author

Simon is an unshakable optimist who believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together.

Simon is the author of multiple best-selling books including Start With Why, Leaders Eat Last, Together is Better, and Find Your Why. His new book, The Infinite Game, will be released in 2019.

Source: https://simonsinek.com/about/simon-sinek

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https://www.bookdepository.com/Leaders-Eat-Last/9780670923175/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

In his work with organizations around the world, Simon Sinek noticed that some teams trust each other so deeply that they would literally put their lives on the line for each other. Other teams, no matter what incentives are offered, are doomed to infighting, fragmentation and failure. Why?

The answer became clear during a conversation with a Marine Corps general. “Officers eat last,” he said. Simon watched as the most junior Marines ate first while the most senior Marines took their place at the back of the line. What’s symbolic in the chow hall is deadly serious on the battlefield: Great leaders sacrifice their own comfort–even their own survival–for the good of those in their care.

Too many workplaces are driven by cynicism, paranoia, and self-interest. But the best ones foster trust and cooperation because their leaders build what Simon calls a “Circle of Safety” that separates the security inside the team from the challenges outside.

Simon illustrates his ideas with fascinating true stories that range from the military to big business, from government to investment banking.

Source: https://simonsinek.com/product/leaders-eat-last/

Links

Simon’s website, full of insights and articles on leadership and work https://simonsinek.com/discover/ Simon’s TED Talks: https://www.ted.com/speakers/simon_sinek

Join in the #shelfie posts on LinkedIn and Instagram

See Simon live in Australia

More detail on the Milgram experiment mentioned in big idea 2: https://www.simplypsychology.org/milgram.html

BIG IDEA 1 (4:30) – Employees are people too.

There’s a case study in the book about a factory when the new leadership took over. The employees were treated differently between those in the factory and those in the office. Factory employees need to ask for a break and use payphone if they need to make a phone call while those in the office can use their mobile phones or the office phone, free of charge.

This mentality didn’t create great relationships between those in the factory and those in the office. This also completely eroded trust because it is very much two classes of citizens.

What the new leadership did was unlock the empathy between the employees by leveling the playing field, taking away many of barriers and rules that separated the two types of roles. They also extended trust by allowing the factory workers to have the same flexible working conditions as those in the office.

What they started to do was create trust, relationship and bond between all the workers. This is a huge moment as teams see each other as family to stick together and help each other with examples such as pooling leave balances when someone’s wife became ill and he needed additional time off to help her recover. Extending the trust and building the bridges of workers didn’t just extend the human connection, they also had great business outcomes with increases to revenue, profit and decreases in theft and complaints.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:11) – Bad leaders can make you a bad person.

The Milgram experiment happened a couple of decades ago to establish – why do good people sometimes do bad things? An interesting correlation they found was what the impact of a leader had on them. In this experiment they had a student, a teacher and a scientist. The student and the scientist were both part of the experiment but the teacher didn’t know it.

The student was wired up in an electric machine and the teacher (who didn’t know what they are being asked to do) had to administer an electric shock to the student when they got answers wrong on a test. The scientist was giving the teacher direction and telling them at what point to turn up the voltage and shock them.

The interesting part was whether the teacher sees the student. When there is no contact or view of the student being shocked, 65% of the teachers obey the scientist and went through to a potentially lethal shock (by the way, the shock wasn’t real, the students pretended they’d been shocked). While 70% of the teachers stopped quite early during the process when the teacher had to physically put the hand of the student in the electric plate.

This has an impact in our organisations, for example, if you can’t see the person you’re hurting or damaging, from an emotional or leadership perspective, it has an impact on how you choose your behaviours and decisions. As you get further away from people, how does that impact your decision? Equally – who is influencing your decisions? Are they a good, or a bad, infliuence?

BIG IDEA 3 (10:51) – Bad cultures equal bad leaders.

Bad cultures drive things underground and diminish good behaviour. There’s an example in the book from Citigroup and Goldman Sachs where new leaders alienated their staff and created really toxic cultures. This created toxicity and diminished trust and reward and recognise different behaviors which will ultimately drive what people will do – and even in organisations which had previously good cultures.

By providing vision, direction and guidance and coaching your team, it can have a much better outcome. Better decision making and communication can be made. Less fear and more collaboration. Just because you’re in charge doesn’t mean you know the answers.

Music By: Springtime Song by Jon Gegelman

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About the authors

Heather Townsend is THE global expert in helping professionals make partner in practice. When Heather swopped corporate life for business ownership she was pretty naive when it came to selling and marketing her services. (And, she’s not being modest here either).

When she looked around for books and resources to help her simply win business as someone who sold her time for money, using up-to-date marketing tools without her feeling sleazy or compromising her integrity, she couldn’t find any.

Yes, there were great books written on professional services marketing for in-house marketing experts. There were also great books written for B2B professionals but written before the advent of social media.

Jon Baker is the guy you go to when you want to grow your small firm from 5 to 50 people. He has trained sales teams across Europe, designed and delivered hundreds of workshops for different audiences at every level of a professional practice or business, presented to audiences from the National Indoor arena to lively breakfast meetings and seminars for small businesses.

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Go-Expert-Heather-Townsend/9781292014913/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book

The Go-To Expert came about as a result of Heather writing The FT Guide To BusinessNetworking and wondering why some people become really successful at winning business and others plodded along. Even though they all diligently followed the same advice.

What was the missing ingredient? The authors discovered that winning business, particularly by referral or inbound methods such as social media, isn’t about how hard you work or the amount of pressing the flesh you do, but about how big a fish you are in a small pond.

Yes, it’s not about trying to be all things to all people, it’s actually about focusing on a nicheand tailoring your offering so you become irresistible to your ideal client.

The book that teaches you how to grow your reputation, differentiate yourself, and win new business for your professional practice, firm and small business.

Links

Download chapter one of the book and other resources at https://gotoexpert.co.uk/

BIG IDEA 1 (5:14) – Figure out your niche.

Who are you solving problems for and what problems are you solving for them? This book talks to those who are in professional services or running a small business as professional.

Knowing your niche helps you position and package your services to your market. It helps you say ‘no’ to work or to things that are not helping your target audience or your brand. It also helps your brand because it makes you become the go-to expert in that field.

This book also talks about how figuring out and building your niche helps you build strategic alliances. It helps you find people in your network who you can team up with to do bigger work together.

It also helps people know what they can get from you and therefore makes it easier to buy from you.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:18) – Get your systems and processes running.

Throughout the book there is an underlying topic of automating or systemising your process. This helps you smooth your days and save time, money and generally improve consistency.

This could include your content plan for social media or website updates. Know who need around you and delegate to keep things going and move in the right direction. Where do you need to outsource some tasks, even if it requires a little bit of initial investment?

The book also talks about being intentional in knowing who goes into your sales funnels. What does your sales funnel look like?

Another part of getting your systems and processes running is networking. What are the best events and who do you want to be hanging out with? What do you want to get out of the experience?

All of these processes should be helping you instead of holding you back.

BIG IDEA 3 (10:40) – Content is Queen.

It’s easy to become shy about sharing your ideas for fear of people stealing them. Or could be fear of people not liking them or sharing them or people not going to your events.

Think about how you are going to be known for what you know. It’s about attracting, finding and retaining clients through your content. It also helps you legitimise yourself, particularly if you get invited to events to talk about what you know.

The books also talks about generating, recycling (aka repurposing) and curating content; you don’t have to create everything from scratch, but you need to have a plan. This links to your processes about planning and scheduling your content.

Ultimately great content helps you build trust, relationships and connection because you can start a conversation with someone about a topic you’re both interested in. People know what you’re the expert in and you become… the go-to expert.

Music By: Make My Love Your Home - Instrumental Version Song by The Days

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About the Author

Josh Waitzkin first caught a glimpse of a chess set while 6 years old and walking with his mother in New York City’s Washington Square Park. He was going to play on the monkey bars, and instead he fell in love with the art that would dominate much of his young life.

Josh’s first teachers were down and out hustlers–street virtuosos who took Josh under their wings and cleaned up their acts when their protégé came to play.

At twenty-one, Josh began to transition away from his early career in chess and into the study of the chinese martial art, Tai Chi Chuan with Grandmaster William CC Chen.

He was drawn into the art by his love for eastern philosophy and meditation, and by the desire to begin a learning process anew, as a total beginner, away from the spotlight that constantly followed his chess career.

Initially Josh had no intention of competing in the martial arts, but there was no stopping the inevitable. He’s gone on to win countless medals, international competitions and acclaim as a competitor.

In 2008, Waitzkin founded The JW Foundation, an educational non-profit dedicated to an individualized approach to learning, and he currently serves as president of the organization. In addition to consulting internationally on the subjects of performance psychology, the learning process and creativity, Josh is currently focusing on his third art: Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Don’t try and follow Josh online, he’s famously anti-social media.

Source: https://www.joshwaitzkin.com/

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Art-of-Learning/9780743277464/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

In 2007, Josh released his second book, The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance.

The book is an autobiographical discussion of the learning process and performance psychology. Drawn from Josh’s experiences in both chess and the martial arts.

In The Art of Learning Josh reveals his unique systems of thematic learning, idea generation, building resilience, and mastering the art of performance psychology.

Source: https://www.joshwaitzkin.com/

Links

Listen to some very deep interviews with Josh here: https://www.joshwaitzkin.com/videos

Listen to the latest Tim Ferriss interview with Josh. It’s all about learning to surf (this isn’t yet uploaded to Josh’s website in the link above) https://tim.blog/2019/06/27/josh-waitzkin/

Read the first chapter of the Art of Learning here: https://www.joshwaitzkin.com/the-art-of- learning

Join Josh’s Art of Learning project here: https://theartoflearningproject.org/

BIG IDEA 1 (3:46) – Excellence is in the long game.

Josh talks about fixed and incremental (or growth) mindset. The incremental mindset is the key to getting better. He saw many kids playing chess growing up whose self worth was wrapped in something that was very fragile (them winning). Therefore struggled to cope with losing.

When he was little he practiced a lot and was regularly thinking about performance, psychology and resilience. He thought about how he can maintain resilience, good mindset and how to get better. He talks about going from the safety of playing against mediocre players to playing with players who are more challenging in order to improve.

BIG IDEA 2 (6:02) – Embrace chaos.

This about the fact that conditions can’t always be perfect. Therefore top performers need to be unrattled by imperfect conditions. He saw particularly in the kids circuit that some kids launch psychological warfare on their opponent in order to rattle them.

Josh learned how to switch on almost immediately when faced with unexpected circumstances. Whether it’s listening to a particular song or taking a couple of breaths, whatever it was, he needed to get back into the flow state and quickly. Because conditions will not always be perfect, you need to learn to adapt to that.

Find what gives you order but also learn to live without it. If you have things that you need for the condition to be perfect, you are potentially not as adaptable as you could be, and can be thrown easier.

BIG IDEA 3 (9:35) – Find coaches and the beginner’s mind.

All the way through his different arts Josh found the right coaches. He found people who are masters of their field and learned from them. They were very carefully chosen and it was always very intentional when he chose to leave them. This is when they didn’t challenge him enough or came to a plateau where he couldn’t be taken forward any longer.

He talks about his coaches and how they are a fundamental part of his success. If you look at elite performers in business, sports or whatever field, all of them have had mentors, coaches etc. helping them along the way.

The point on the beginner’s mind is about breaking skills down. It’s about breaking down the component parts and the skills needed to be excellent.

Josh also talks about creating the discipline for the elemental practice. It’s the mastery of the basics that make you good. The beginner’s mind is also about putting your ego to the side and looking at things from a fresh sense.

Music By: Vuelta al Sol Song byTomas Novoa

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These questions make ideal icebreakers, kick offs for team days, reflections for projects, additions to your weekly team meetings or simply topics of conversation to discuss over lunch.

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About the Author

Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential and thought-provoking observers of happiness and human nature. She’s known for her ability to distill and convey complex ideas with humor and clarity, in a way that’s accessible to a wide audience.

She’s the author of many books, including the blockbuster New York Times bestsellers Outer Order, Inner Calm, The Four Tendencies, Better Than Before, and The Happiness Project. She has an enormous readership, both in print and online, and her books have sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide, in more than thirty languages. (The Happiness Project spent two years on the bestseller list.)

On her top-ranking, award-winning podcast “Happier with Gretchen Rubin,” she discusses happiness and good habits with her sister Elizabeth Craft.

In her work, she draws from cutting-edge science, the wisdom of the ages, lessons from popular culture, and her own experiences to explore how we can make our lives happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative.

Gretchen Rubin started her career in law and was clerking for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor when she realized she wanted to be a writer. Raised in Kansas City, she lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters.

Source: https://gretchenrubin.com/about/biography/

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Four-Tendencies/9781524762421/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

During her multibook investigation into human nature, Gretchen realized that by asking the suspiciously simple question “How do I respond to expectations?” we gain explosive self-knowledge.

I discovered that people fit into Four Tendencies: Upholders, Questioners, Obligers, and Rebels. Our Tendency shapes every aspect of our behavior, so understanding this framework lets us make better decisions, meet deadlines, suffer less stress and burnout, and engage more effectively. The Four Tendencies explain why we act and why we don’t act.

One of the big daily challenges of life is: “How do I get people—including myself—to do what I want?” Knowing the Four Tendencies make this task much, much easier.

Source: https://gretchenrubin.com/books/the-four-tendencies/about-the-book/

Links

Take the quiz and find out your tendency here: https://quiz.gretchenrubin.com/

Find out more about the four tendencies here:

https://gretchenrubin.com/2013/10/what-kind-of-person-are-you-the-four-rubin-tendencies/

Listen to Gretchen’s podcast here: https://gretchenrubin.com/podcasts/

BIG IDEA 1 (5:07) – There are two types of expectations.

This is the fundamental principle of the book. The two types of expectations are your internal expectation – which is placed on us by ourselves, and your external expectation – which is placed onto us by others.

In Gretchen’s research she found out that how people react to those expectations determines your type. It also determines what challenges, habits etc. you find easier or harder to maintain.

BIG IDEA 2 (5:56) – There are four tendencies.

This is the application of big idea number one. How you react to the two expectations creates the four tendencies. The four tendencies are upholders – they uphold inner and outer expectations with motto “do what’s right even if others say I’m uptight”.

Second tendency is the obliger – those who are very willing to meet external expectations, doing things for others but struggle with internal expectations. Obligers motto is “you can count on me”. These are the people that might struggle to meet and uphold their New Year’s resolution.

Third type is the questioner, these people question all the expectation until they feel it was justified. They internalize & meet expectations once they agree that the expectation makes sense. Their motto is “I’ll comply if you convince me why”. (I am a questioner!).

Type number four is the rebel, and they resist all expectations. Their motto is “you can’t make me, and neither can I”. They struggle to stick to schedules or go with the plan and abide by the rules which they think aren’t necessary.

BIG IDEA 3 (8:32) – Success through self-awareness.

Knowing your tendency helps you create the environment and habits you need to succeed both for yourself and for others. Having self awareness can help you work better with them and achieve more for yourself.

Upholders need to loosen up themselves a bit when plans change or rules don’t make any sense or hold them back from achieving things. Obligers take commitment very seriously and are great to have in the team. But they can burn out because of always putting others first. If they become too burnt out they can become rebels. If you are an obliger and are struggling to meet inner expectations, try to find a way to pivot those so they become outer expectations (eg accountability buddies).

Questioners really challenge the expectations and making sure things are being done for good reasons. This can also go too far, trusting nothing and noone because you could not make a decision due to not enough information to decide if it’s worth doing or not. They value data and fact so working with them in your team can be an advantage.

Rebels do things that they want to and when they want. They also find expectations almost offensive so you need to align their habits to their identity. That is the way to overcome the rebel nature. They’re great to have around because they will take you places that you think you haven’t gone to before. If this is you, find a purpose or identity to connect with to make what you need to do part of your identity.

Also listen to Atomic Habits by James Clear

Music By: Retro Active Song by John Isaac

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Each week on Steph’s Business Bookshelf I share the three big ideas I’ve taken from the business and non-fiction books I’ve been reading. As we’re now 6 months into our literary adventure, I wanted to share my ten favourite big ideas from over 60 that have featured on the podcast – all with a theme of work.

Whilst not all of these books are specifically about work, I’ve pulled out some of my favourite lessons that will help you work smarter, think bigger and team better.

Look out for your DNA (from Fierce Leadership by Susan Scott)

Your sticky fingerprints are all over the place. From the team member who isn’t performing (and you’ve avoided giving any ‘real’ feedback to over the last year) through to the mind-numbing management meeting you hate attending (and haven’t prepared for properly for the last six months), the chances are you are not helping the situations.

Apply it: pick one thing that’s not working in your team and give a hard look (no, harder than that) at how you contribute to or exacerbate the problem.

Listen on iTunes | Google Podcasts | Spotify |Stitcher | YouTube

What got you here, won’t get you there (from What Got You Here Won’t Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith)

Many people succeed in spite of their behaviours, rather than because of them. But it’s easy to confuse the two and assume that your ability to ‘get to the point’ (read: abruptly cut people off and stop anyone coming to you with ideas) is your golden ticket to the big time. At some point, this behaviour is going to become a problem and stop you progressing further in your career.

Apply it: consider what you believe to be your greatest strength and flip it – what would it look like if this strength was ‘over-used’ or wasn’t a strength at all? How would this manifest? Test this with your friends, family and team – ask them if they see this behaviour in you. Listen to them.

Listen on iTunes | Google Podcasts | Spotify |Stitcher | YouTube

If it’s not a ‘hell yes’ it’s a no (from Essentialism by Greg McKeown)

Sometimes we make bad decisions when we say yes to everything. Greg talks about challenging what we’re doing using a better framework – if it’s not a ‘hell yes’ then it’s a no.

Apply it: This can be applied for personal and professional decisions. Look for your calendar or diary and think of what you’ve made bad decisions on. What could you have said no to (or not yet/not now). This means you can better use your time and increase the quality of what you’re doing by focusing and doing it well.

Listen on iTunes | Google Podcasts | Spotify |Stitcher | YouTube

Consistency is key (from Whatcha Gonna Do With That Duck by Seth Godin)

If you’ve read other works of Seth Goding or his blog, he always talks about consistency. Consistency is the key. Getting things out, moving things along every single day, because what’s most important is getting things done rather than making things perfect. It’s the consistency of habit that will make you successful.

Apply it: Think about what habits, processes or outcomes you want and be consistent. Plan it into your diary, schedule it and then tick off. How are you being consistent?

Listen on iTunes | Google Podcasts | Spotify |Stitcher | YouTube

Be a diplomatic rebel (from Originals by Adam Grant)

This book is about moving away from what everyone is doing and creating new, more original ideas. One of the good things mentioned in the book is being a diplomatic rebel. Sometimes having to hide your radical ideas into something a little bit more palatable to the people to get things through.

Apply it: Be a diplomatic rebel by finding little challenges to take on at work – challenge what’s not working as a diplomatic rebel to bring people on board with your new idea.

Listen on iTunes | Google Podcasts | Spotify |Stitcher | YouTube

Music By: Orchards Song by When Mountains Move

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Whilst not all of these books are specifically about work, I’ve pulled out some of my favourite lessons that will help you work smarter, think bigger and team better.

Checklists help save lives and money better than humans (from Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande)

As life and work becomes more complex and complicated, mistakes are inevitable. Teams working in the most high-stress, high-risk environments (think military teams, flight crews and surgical teams) are getting smart by outsourcing some of the thinking required in critical scenarios through the use of checklists.

Apply it: Avoid both decision-making fatigue and mitigate the risk of bad decisions when under stress with some simple checklists / decision trees you pull out when required. Also use your calendar/day planner as a checklist for your day with all your critical tasks plotted.

Talent is not required (from Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins)

Endurance sports are not about physical talent, or even fitness, but dedication and consistency that allow people to mentally persist through challenging situations.

Apply it: you don’t need to be an ultra-marathon runner to practice this approach (luckily) – find ways to regularly push through discomfort, challenge yourself and find someone stronger to compete against.

Work should be fun (from Shoe Dog by Phil Knight)

This became a litmus test for Phil as he tried out several careers on the road to creating Nike and is ultimately why he chose not to be an accountant or a lecturer – the work wasn’t fun.

Apply it: define your idea of ‘fun’ at work. Is this being met the majority of the time?

If not, what can you change about the situation to bring more fun?

Smile (from How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie)

As one of the most basic human behaviours, it’s absence can often cause issues. Particularly on first impressions when a stranger is working out whether you pose a threat or not. It’s amazing how many interactions could be improved with the addition of a smile.

Apply it: smile.

Focus on the system, not the goal (from Atomic Habits by James Clear)

Whatever you want to achieve, it’s the things you do every day/week that will add up to momentum towards your goal or desired outcome. Therefore, you need to turn the journey into the process and shift to more medium/long term thinking. This can be done by defining success as consistency of execution of the process.

Apply it: look at your calendar/to do list from the last week. If that week repeated itself over the next year, would you reach the outcomes you want to in 12 month’s time?

Find out more big ideas from the Top 10 Business and Non-fiction books on the next Episode of Steph’s Business Bookshelf.

Music By: Blank Template Song bySkygaze

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About the Author

Ramit Singh Sethi is an American personal finance advisor and entrepreneur. He is the author of the 2009 book on personal finance, I Will Teach You to Be Rich and founder of GrowthLab.com, owner of IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com, and owner and a co-founder of PBworks, a commercial wiki website.

In 2004, he graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts (Information & Society) in Science, Technology & Society with a minor in Psychology. In 2005 he received a Master of Arts in Sociology (Social Psychology and Interpersonal Processes), also from Stanford.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramit_Sethi

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https://www.bookdepository.com/I-Will-Teach-You-To-Be-Rich/9780340998052/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

This New York Times bestselling book on getting the most out of your money — no guilt, no excuses, no BS. Just a 6 week program that works. You don’t have to be perfect to be rich. Or the smartest person in the room. Or a type-A personality. In fact, with Ramit Sethi’s six-week program to financial independence, you can start with any amount of money. Do just 85% of what he suggests, and succeed brilliantly through good times and bad.

You’ll discover: Word for word scripts to negotiate everything: credit card rates, cell phone bills, cable bills, even a higher salary! The difference between being frugal and cheap — and why it matters Where you’re probably wasting hundreds of dollars every month and how to stop it The Ladder of Personal Finance – How to allocate your money so you can save without worry, spend without guilt, and invest with confidence.

The book I’m talking about is the I Will Teach You To Be Rich second edition. It was published in 2019 as an update to the 2009 original book.

Source: https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/book/

Links

Download the first chapter of the book here: https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/book/

Visit the I Will Teach You To Be Rich blog with heaps of tips and advice on personal finance: https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/

Listen to Ramit on the Tim Ferriss Show talking about how he applies his lessons and designs his ‘rich life’: https://tim.blog/2019/05/07/ramit-sethi/

BIG IDEA 1 (6:55) – Debt first.

This biggest opportunity costs you have to your finances is debt, particularly credit card debt. Ramit is loud and proud that he won’t accept anyone who has credit card debt onto some of his courses because this is the first thing that needs addressing before you can optimise your finances further.

Debt is a huge opportunity costs due to compound interest which is toxic to your personal finances. There are a number of stories, tables, examples and scary calculations in the book about how much you are paying in compound interest if you only payoff the minimum balance on your credit card.

So if you are in this situation, this is the number one thing to change.

BIG IDEA 2 (7:53) – Time in the market > timing the market.

People tend to overthink and over-analyse investing by thinking about the time they need to wait when the market is soft and the price is the lowest rather than just getting in. This is another opportunity cost because you are sitting on your money.

Don’t obsess and sit on your money trying to pick the exact time because while you are doing that, you’re losing money due to inflation by letting it sit in your bank account.

One of the key concepts in the book is asset allocation and how that balance is a key. It is more important to spread the risk in your portfolio than the exact date or time you enter the market. As long as the allocation is good and suited to your finances you’re moving in the right direction.

By asset allocation Ramit means how much of your assets is invested in stocks, bonds or property. Throughout the book Ramit gave some examples and some starting points about what kind of percentages will be good based on what you are aiming for.

Another important point about time in the market is staying in. For example, if you are young, you should be thinking of long term investment in the market (with the right asset allocation) and not planning to cash out within a few years.

BIG IDEA 3 (10:15) – Challenging your money mindset.

In the book Ramit Sethi gives some examples of people’s misconception about money. For example, investing is only for rich people. He said that is not the case and that’s actually often how people get rich – by clever investment – not by starting off ‘rich’. It is of course about investing sensibly with a balanced profile to maximise potential returns over the long term.

Another money mindset that you hear a lot is buying property is a good investment. He argues it’s not often a good investment because your money goes into the costs of maintaining that property. Paying (a lot of) interest and fees and then reinvesting it in more debt with a bigger property. Ramit does say that if you have a balanced portfolio (asset allocation) then property can be part of this. But preferably not your only investment strategy.

Another money mindset that I find useful is the idea that there’s a limit of how much money you can spend but not how much you can earn. Ramit’s idea is having a conscious spending plan – spending ‘extravagantly on the things you love and cutting cost mercilessly on the things you don’t’.

He talks about how much of your income you should be spending towards living costs versus savings versus investments etc. And in that there is a money allocated that you can spend on fun or things that you love and bring you joy (including lattes).

Also listen to Originals by Adam Grant

There was also a conversation about reflecting on the money story you heard whilst growing up. For example, that money doesn’t grow on trees or you can’t take it with you so might as well spend it. These can (and do) impact your relationship with money as an adult.

Finally in the money mindset area, a lot of the book is about designing your rich life, one which is unique to you and will change over time. This isn’t necessarily about flying first class all over the world or having a lot of material things (although it can be). It’s as much those everyday things that would make life easier, how you can give back and/or treat those around you to make their lives easier or better. It’s definitely an interesting concept to reflect on and think about as your ‘so what’ when deciding to take control of your personal finances.

Music By: Jell-O – Instrumental Version Song by Egozi

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About the Author

Dr Adam Grant has been Wharton’s top-rated professor for seven straight years. He is a leading expert on how we can find motivation and meaning, and live more generous and creative lives. Adam Grant has been recognized as one of the world’s 10 most influential management thinkers and Fortune’s 40 under 40.

He is the author of four New York Times bestselling books that have sold over two million copies and been translated into 35 languages: Give and Take, Originals, Option B, and Power Moves.

Adam is the host of WorkLife, a chart-topping TED original podcast. He writes on work and psychology for the New York Times, serves on the Defense Innovation Board at the Pentagon, and has been honored as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He has more than 3 million followers on social media and features new insights in his free monthly newsletter, GRANTED.

Source: https://www.adamgrant.net/bio

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https://www.bookdepository.com/Originals/9780753548080/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the book

Originals by Adam Grant is about how to champion new ideas and fight group think.

Using surprising studies and stories spanning business, politics, sports, and entertainment, Grant explores how to recognize a good idea, speak up without getting silenced, build a coalition of allies, choose the right time to act, and manage fear and doubt; how parents and teachers can nurture originality in children; and how leaders can build cultures that welcome dissent.

You’ll learn from… An entrepreneur who pitches his start-ups by highlighting the reasons not to invest

A woman at Apple who challenged Steve Jobs from three levels below An analyst who overturned the rule of secrecy at the CIA

A billionaire financial wizard who fires employees for failing to criticize him A TV executive who didn’t even work in comedy but saved Seinfeld from the cutting-room floor.

Source: https://www.adamgrant.net/originals

Links

Listen to the Adam Grant podcast, Work Life, here: https://www.adamgrant.net/worklife

Read a free chapter or download the discussion guide to the book here: https://www.adamgrant.net/originals

BIG IDEA 1 (4:05) Be a diplomatic rebel.

There’s a story in the book about an engineer who challenged Steve jobs about distribution and production model. She asked for thirty days to prove he was wrong and she was right, and she did it.

She took the initiative in making things better, this aligned with the culture Apple had created where betterment and continuous improvement was so important that anyone could challenge anyone (even Steve Jobs) on that basis.

If you want to change minds or radically change things you need to keep your ideas close to familiar, accepted ideas.

Being able to align your idea to something that people are already familiar with is really important, particularly if you’re doing something radically different. You can also make other people familiar with your idea by bringing it up regularly and containing it with another idea.

Adam Grant talked in the book about bringing up your idea 10 – 20 times so people will start to get familiar with it and start to form their own stories around it. They will also start to feel more comfortable with the new idea.

The trojan horse idea which hides the radical in the conventional. A lot of us like the idea of big news, scary, radical changes but this is not for everyone. Sometimes you need to hide your big radical idea in something conventional so that people don’t see it coming.

So being a diplomatic rebel will help you get your ideas across quickly by helping to get people onboard.

BIG IDEA 2 (7:16) Look around you.

This is about finding people who don’t like your idea and using them to stress test your idea. Find people who disagree and use them as your extreme users to test what could go wrong and find different perspectives.

Another thing is to find people from different department or industry and get them involved. In the book, Adam talks about broadening your frame of reference. This increases your creativity by looking from different fields and broadening your thinking.

Nobel Prize winners immerse themselves in artistic pursuits to broaden their thinking and reference. Think about how job rotations or even just spending time with peers and colleagues in another department would broaden your thinking and increase your creativity.

BIG IDEA 3 (9:57) – Embrace vu ja de.

This is seeing the same thing but through different perspective or eyes. When you realise everything is human made you can start to challenge everything more freely. And to create better ideas, you need to get into the habit of challenging what is human made.

Everything is created therefore everything can be uncreated and changed. There was a quote in the Originals by Adam Grant book – “The hallmark of originality is rejecting the default and exploring if a better option exists.” This idea is incredibly empowering as you learn to let go of what has gone before you.

Look at the problems of everyday that makes you roll your eyes. How could that be looked at in a different way? Look around you and see how different departments or industries do things. What can you learn? What can you change?

Because everything is human made, everything can be changed.

Music By: Don’t Stand a Chance – Instrumental Version Song by OFRIN

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These questions make ideal icebreakers, kick offs for team days, reflections for projects, additions to your weekly team meetings or simply topics of conversation to discuss over lunch.

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About the Author

Mark grew up in Austin, Texas. Went to school and lived in Boston and graduated from Boston University in 2007. A couple years later, he started an online business (and the earliest form of his blog) and traveled and lived all over the world for about seven years. Ended up marrying a Brazilian. Now he lives in New York City.

We’re all wrong about everything, some just a little less wrong than others. Everything sucks some of the time, and that’s OK — happiness is learning how to appreciate the struggles in your life. There are more stars in the universe than grains of sand on the planet, you couldn’t be special even if you wanted to be, so stop trying to prove yourself all the time. Trying to prove something to yourself and others is the root of most misery.

Source: https://markmanson.net/about

About the Book

In Everything Is F*cked, Manson turns his gaze from the inevitable flaws within each individual self to the endless calamities taking place in the world around us. Drawing on mountains of psychological research, as well as the timeless wisdom of philosophers such as Plato and Nietzsche, he dissects religion and politics and the uncomfortable ways they have come to resemble one another. He looks at our relationships with money, entertainment and the internet, and how too much of a good thing can psychologically eat us alive. He openly defies our definitions of faith, happiness, freedom, and even of hope itself.

Source: https://markmanson.net/books

Links

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Everything-Is-F-cked/9780062888433/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

See Mark live in various countries (including Australia) throughout July 2019 – dates and details here: https://markmanson.net/speaking-tour

BIG IDEA 1 (3:23) - The feeling brain is in charge whether you like it or not

Mark talked us about the popular theory of the two brains. The thinking brain and the feeling brain. Both of these are driving the consciousness car, which is a metaphor that runs throughout the book.

We kid ourselves a lot of the time thinking brain is in charge but more often than not, the thinking brain is backwards rationalising what the feeling brain has decided you are going to do (or not do). Sometimes the feeling brain hijacks the car altogether and throws the thinking brain in the boot!

This tension creates problems in society from workplace to relationships, health decisions to addictions to outright war. This is where things like ego gets in the way, imposes and short-termism tend to take over. Because our feeling brain s looking for those instant wins and those hits of dopamine and feeling, either to avoid pain or maximize pleasure and sometimes a little bit of both.

There’s an interesting study in the book where ‘Elliot’ has a brain tumour removed but they accidentally gave him a lobotomy at the same time as removing the tumour. Good thing because his alive, bad thing is he now has no emotional capacity - nothing matters anymore.

Whilst there are a number of people who tell themselves that only their thinking brain works and put their feelings away, this isn’t actually true. In this particular subject with Elliot, he didn’t do anything - nothing mattered or had importance. He basically just existed because his feeling brain was gone. Even though his IQ and functional capability from the intelligence perspective was the same as before he had the operation, his ability to prioritize and make good decisions was gone.

The feeling brain drives the consciousness car because we're only move to action by emotion. We need to feel that something is important even though we think we are telling ourselves it’s because that’s the right thing to do.

So the feeling brain and the thinking brain need to be better aligned. When you recognise that the feeling brain is taking over, ask the thinking brain what is going on and what is driving the strong need.

BIG IDEA 2 (6:43) - Everyone is religious

It might not be for a particular god or religion, but we have a particular way of deifying things. All of the different parts of our lives whether school, work, sports, university, family, relationships all have rituals, beliefs, faiths, the clothes we wear, certain things or different occasions. All these things when you boil it down is the same underpinning as religion.

When you understand this and start to look in different situations in this way (work/relationships/sports/cultural norms), you are applying a religious type of behaviours in different contexts, you will start to critically assess why you do or don’t do things.

This is interesting around work perspective and some of the company rituals we buy into and the faith we have in employers to do the right thing and look after us. This is the same way we look at god or religion.

BIG IDEA 3 (8:23) - Machines are better people than people

We often attribute human flaws to machines. There are a lot of conversation around whether machines AI can take over, is it going to be good or evil. The challenge Mark set out in the book is that we’re attributing these human flaws and emotions to machines, which isn’t necessarily the case.

AI is already doing incredible things and learning faster than we thought. So the chance is that AI will be able to read and learn all the things that have and haven’t worked for humans and solve big problems such as climate change and poverty by applying cleaner and cleverer logic without getting mixed up with human emotions and human flaws. So we can’t assume that machines will work in the same way and with the same problems as humans have.

This is where the book is ultimately getting us. The first couple of sections are all about humans and how we’re flawed, and how things are better today than they have ever been. But because we’ve become quite fragile, we’ve stopped being able to see things rationally. We’re too busy looking for tiny flecks of imperfection or problems without seeing the bigger picture.

The last part of the book is about the future. The world is quite exciting. And there’s a world beyond hope.

Music By: Shapeshifter - Instrumental Version Song by Polaris Rose

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About the Author

Founder, investor and leading advisor on China’s dynamic technology and consumer sectors, Duncan is a recognized expert on the Internet and entrepreneurship in China. He has lived and worked in Beijing and Shanghai for more than 20 years.

English by HarperCollins, ‘Alibaba’ was named a Book of the Year by The Economist magazine and short-listed for ‘Business Book of the Year’ by the Financial Times/McKinsey.

Duncan is chairman of BDA China, a company he founded in 1994 after working as an investment banker with Morgan Stanley in London and Hong Kong.

Duncan is a Visiting Senior Fellow of the Institute of Global Affairs at the London School of Economics; and a former Visiting Scholar at Stanford University. He previously served as Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in China, and was awarded an OBE in 2013 for services to UK-China trade and investment.

A UK citizen raised in the UK, US and France, Duncan is a graduate of the London School of Economics.

Source: https://www.duncanclark.com/biography

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https://www.bookdepository.com/Alibaba/9780062413413/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

Alibaba – The House that Jack Ma Built is an engrossing, insider’s account of how a teacher built one of the world’s most valuable companies—rivalling Walmart & Amazon—and forever reshaped the global economy.

In just a decade and half Jack Ma, a man from modest beginnings who started out as an English teacher, founded and built Alibaba into one of the world’s largest companies, an e- commerce empire on which hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers depend. Alibaba’s $25 billion IPO in 2014 was the largest global IPO ever.

Clark tells Alibaba’s tale in the context of China’s momentous economic and social changes, illuminating an unlikely corporate titan as never before.

Links

Source: https://www.duncanclark.com/publications

BIG IDEA 1 (3:01) – Find mentors who can correct your mistakes.

In his early age, Jack wanted to learn English so he can communicate better and understand things that are coming in from outside of China. He would wait outside hotels and offer tours of his hometown – showing great initiative.

During the time of his life, he met the Morley family from Australia whom he became very close with. He started to write with them and Ken Morley would send a letter back to him with corrected grammar and spelling to help him improve his English.

Jack credits a lot of his success to his English skills, particularly developed them early in his life. Ken Morley had a huge impact on him because he helped him nurture his English. Ken also funded part of Jack’s University fees and his first apartment.

Mentors can also be fictional. Jack’s love of the warrior Feng Qingyang from Jing Yong’s books gave him a lot of inspiration. During some of the trials and tribulations of building Alibaba and some of the surrounding companies, he would look back in Jing Yong’s books to find some strengths from the warriors. This helped him carry on and make the right decisions and sometimes correct his paths.

BIG IDEA 2 (4:36) – Timing is everything.

If you’ve listened to last week’s episode The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, the book says that timing (or luck) can be everything, in particular when you’re born. In Jack Ma’s case, he is one of the first web users in his district and therefore in China. He benefited from a trifecta of events that happened around the same time including the relaxing of China’s entrepreneurial laws, the dawn of the internet and the rise of home computers.

This perfect storm was multiplied by his knowledge in English, allowing him to make the most of the opportunity when China opened up to the rest of the world. So it’s a little bit of luck, but knowing what to do with that luck is even more important.

This was what happened to Jack. He persevered to learn computers and learn how to connect different places, learn marketing, find customers. He also tried to target people who will be interested in connecting the rest of the world with China.

There is no textbook for you to follow when you’re in these kinds of unchartered waters, but perseverance and initiative are a big factor. Jack showed a lot of initiative in working it out as he went. This means also connecting with people at the time when it wasn’t easy. He made visits to the US during this time to see what other people are doing, to help him move his ideas forward.

BIG IDEA 3 – (6:36) – Health and happiness.

Jack takes employee well-being very seriously. For example during the SARS outbreak, they supported their employees working from home. He is also well-known for rallying the troops for good and towards a purpose.

He sends inspirational messages to his staff to bring them together and unite them across the purpose for good that Alibaba is striving towards. Investing and lobbying for better environmental management and health care.

Throughout the book you can also see the importance of loyalty and friendships. Many of the people involved in building Alibaba’s website and infrastructure around the Alibaba’s idea are still involved in the management capacity.

If you liked this episode – Alibaba – The House that Jack Ma Built you will also like;

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

Music By: SnowJah (ft. Tane) Song byPeter Spacey

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These questions make ideal icebreakers, kick offs for team days, reflections for projects, additions to your weekly team meetings or simply topics of conversation to discuss over lunch.

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About the Author

Malcolm Gladwell has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1996. Prior to that, he as a reporter at the Washington Post. Gladwell was born in England and grew up in rural Ontario. He lives in New York.

Source: https://www.gladwellbooks.com/landing-page/about-malcolm-gladwell/

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Outliers/9780141043029/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of “outliers”–the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different?

His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.

Brilliant and entertaining, Outliers is a landmark work that will simultaneously delight and illuminate.

Source: https://www.gladwellbooks.com/titles/malcolm-gladwell/outliers/9780316040341/

Links

Check out Malcolm’s Revisionist History podcast – http://revisionisthistory.com/

So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Carl Newport

BIG IDEA 1 (4:18) – It’s not talent, It’s your birthday.

We often like the rags to riches stories, but things aren’t that simple even for people who are seemingly self-made. There’s always a series of events, experiences, people and sometimes good timing and a bit of luck.

We need to look at the ecology of what made someone who they are, who influenced them, where they’re from or what culture when they were born.

One of the examples in the book is the top hockey players in Canada are 40% more likely born in January. This is because January 1st is the cut off for the Junior League, so therefore if you are into that Junior League and you are one of the older ones (because you were born almost a year earlier than those who are the younger ones joining that league). Therefore you get more practice, coaching and experience.

The January/February/March kids who make it into those leagues are physically stronger and therefore more likely to get more game-time, practice and coaching. What the book is talking about is if you are born in October and you have the natural ability in sports but you aren’t getting the hours and you are weaker than those who are born in January, February or March then they are more likely to get the top spot.

So even with a little bit of extra talent, being born at the ‘wrong’ time may go against you.

BIG IDEA 2 (7:00) – The 10,000 hours rule.

This idea has been a bit taken out of context since being published and there were criticisms about this rule. The book didn’t say that you must have 10,000 hours to be great at something. But as an example, by the age of 20, the top performing musicians had about 10,000 hours of practice clocked up.

There’s a general rule that achievement = talent + preparation. As experts and psychologists look deeper into this top performers in different fields, they see that it’s the preparation that is much more important than the talent element.

So the 10,000 hours is a concept and a discipline rather than a fast and hard rule number. It’s the intentional practice that counts. So innate talent is quite questionable as even proteges need to practice well to unleash that talent.

The book also mentioned about no direct link about genes and talent, so if your parents are great at maths or music it doesn’t naturally make you better at it too. What actually happens is that those parents know how to practice properly so their kids learn better, earlier and start clocking up better practice hours.

BIG IDEA 3 (9:49) – The Culture Legacy.

This idea is about the effects of where you’re from and what it means later on in life, particularly from a work and skills perspective. For example, in Korea, the culture is very hierarchical. They had a few plane disasters over a couple of decades, largely due to the fact that the first officer would never question the captain because the captain is more senior than them.

This means that even though that first officer saw that a disaster was about to happen, if the captain hadn’t asked them for help, the first officer would just sit there. What they had to do then, was change the culture – firstly by changing the flight crew language to English which actually freed them from their own culture.

There’s also an example of the KIPP school in New York which gives disadvantaged kids more intense school structure. It brings an Asian learning culture to the US by breaking the culture where these kids could easily fall into a different path of living and learning.

The point of the book is this is how success comes. It’s comes from breaking legacies, cultures and bringing different styles and cultures to different parts of the world or industries can create more success.

This idea encourages looking outside of your world. Finding out who does this better and who can I learn more for better success stories. Talent and skills need to be given an opportunity to evolve; whether by challenging or changing a culture, creating more deliberate practice or finding different people to surround yourself with.

Music By: Jell-O - Instrumental Version Song by Egozi

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About the Author

Daniel Coyle is the New York Times bestselling author of The Talent Code, The Little Book of Talent, The Secret Race (co-authored with Tyler Hamilton), Hardball: A Season in Projects, and other books.

Winner (with Hamilton) of the 2012 William Hill Sports Book of the Year Prize, he is a contributing editor for Outside Magazine, and works as a special advisor to the Cleveland Indians. Coyle lives in Cleveland, Ohio during the school year and in Homer, Alaska, during the summer with his wife Jen, and their four children.

Source: http://danielcoyle.com/author/

About the Book

Where does great culture come from? How do you build and sustain it in your group, or strengthen a culture that needs fixing?

In The Culture Code, Daniel Coyle goes inside some of the world’s most successful organizations—including Pixar, the San Antonio Spurs, and U.S. Navy’s SEAL Team Six—and reveals what makes them tick. He demystifies the culture-building process by identifying three key skills that generate cohesion and cooperation, and explains how diverse groups learn to function with a single mind.

Coyle unearths helpful stories of failure that illustrate what not to do, troubleshoots common pitfalls, and shares advice about reforming a toxic culture.

Combining leading-edge science, on-the-ground insights from world-class leaders, and practical ideas for action, The Culture Code offers a roadmap for creating an environment where innovation flourishes, problems get solved, and expectations are exceeded.

Culture is not something you are—it’s something you do. The Culture Code puts the power in your hands.

Source: http://danielcoyle.com/the-culture-code/

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https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Culture-Code/9781847941275/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

Links

Read an extract of the Culture Code here: http://danielcoyle.com/excerpt-culture-code/

BIG IDEA 1 (5:35) – Safety, even in war time, and the importance of belonging

You’ve probably heard about psychological safety. The key to this is belonging which is finding little similarities as humans. One of the most extreme examples in the book is the Christmas Day truce that happened in World War I between the British and allied troops and the German troops.

In one of the most awful wars that happened in modern history, the troops stopped fighting, came out of the trenches and celebrated Christmas together but this wasn’t an accident. This started weeks before with a series of mini ceasefires when the soldiers on both sides were collecting their dead, the other side stopped shooting.

The other soldiers didn’t use that vulnerability to take advantage but let them get their fruits of lies. There are few things that quite human levels that seemed off limits. At night time the troops were singing to each in different languages and different cultures singing across the trenches.

This will make you think if this is possible for troops to connect with each other hours after shooting each other, it’s also probably possible for you to find connection with Karen from accounts.

Another example would be in a call center environment where attrition is very high. At WIPRO in India they did an experiment on three groups go through the induction. Group one just went through the standard induction. Group two went to the induction with an additional hour added on where they found out more about the company’s values and origins and spoke to star performers. They also received a fleece with the WIPRO logo on.

The third group did the normal induction plus an extra hour but the extra hour was focused on the new hires. They discussed what they can bring to WIPRO, their contribution and potentials. They also received a fleece with the WIPRO logo on alongside the employee’s name.

Seven months later, the group with the extra hour about them and with the fleece with their name on it were 250% more likely to still be there than the group who had the extra hours that was focused more about the company and 157% more than the control group. This shows the idea of belonging.

BIG IDEA 2 (10:25) – Vulnerability… again

One of the ideas around this is sharing your screw ups. As the leader, the person people are looking up to, you need to be able to share where things went wrong and what you would have done differently.

Another important role is asking for, and providing, feedback. The key with this is candor, not brutal honesty. Some people are applying this popular message in the wrong way by being brutal rather being candid in their feedback – the difference lies in tact. For both sharing screw ups and inviting feedback, it is important to normalize conversations around what worked, didn’t work, what each contribution was and sharing feedback and getting better.

It is the ability to be vulnerable without fear of repercussion, reprimanded, sacked or kicked off the team. It is feedback done in a constructive way not in a toxic way.

BIG IDEA 3 (13:14) – The purpose of purpose.

The purpose of purpose is to help people belong, which links nicely to big idea number one. It helps people connect with why they are there, what is the work they are doing and why they exist. Coyle shares that you need to be much clearer about your purpose – about ten times more clear than you think you already are being.

This is how you test and measure what is happening with your purpose. He talks that using catch phrases and artifacts as visual reminders of signs and signals of what they belong to and why they are doing the work they’re doing.

This also how you measure what matters. By being really clear on your purpose and how it’s coming to life, you can measure the behaviors rather than the outcomes. A lot of our rewards and recognition are based on outcomes rather than behaviors and that is where teams often fall down.

Learning from those mistakes to make things better, create the systems to support your purpose, what you stand for and what makes you successful.

Music By: Don't Stand a Chance - Instrumental Version Song by OFRIN

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About the Author

Johann Hari is the author of two New York Times best-selling books. His first, ‘Chasing the Scream: the First and Last Days of the War on Drugs’, is currently being adapted into a major Hollywood feature film, and into a non-fiction documentary series.

He gave one of the most-viewed TED talks of all time: his talk, ‘Everything You Think You Know About Addiction is Wrong’, has (along with the animation based on it) been viewed more than 25 million times.

Johann was twice named ‘National Newspaper Journalist of the Year’ by Amnesty International. He has also been named ‘Cultural Commentator of the Year’ and ‘Environmental Commentator of the Year’ at the Comment Awards. He lives half the year in London, and spends the other half of the year traveling to research his books.

Source: https://2018.johannhari.com/index.php/biography/

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https://www.bookdepository.com/Lost-Connections/9781408878729/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

Depression and anxiety are now at epidemic levels. Why?

Across the world, scientists have uncovered evidence for nine different causes. Some are in our biology – but most are in the way we are living today.

This New York Times best-selling book – lauded by everyone from Oprah to Elton John – offers a radical new way of thinking about this crisis.

It shows that once we understand the real causes, we can turn to pioneering new solutions – ones that offer real hope.

Source: https://thelostconnections.com/

Links

A criticism of the book and some of the points made –

https://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2018/jan/08/is-everything-johann-hari-knows-about-depression-wrong-lost-connections

Ben Goldacre on serotonin and depression – https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/jan/26/badscience

Johann on Sam Harris’ podcast – https://samharris.org/podcasts/142-addiction-depression-meaningful-life/

BIG IDEA 1 (4:42) – The drugs don’t work.

The book criticises some doctors who just dose people without going deeper and asking the bigger questions. The idea of just giving people antidepressants without asking why they could depressed, sad or upset. He argues that the spectrum of depression or sadness is just part of the human condition. It is not always something requiring medication.

At what point does sadness becomes depression or something that’s not normal? There are various checklists that have been developed by health professionals, that get tweaked over the years. It seems the trend is diagnosing more people with depression and therefore putting them onto pills.

There are links and examples throughout the book about the drug companies and the efficacy of drugs. In particular the side effects versus the real effects. How much of the effects are based on science versus the marketing of the drug company?

The underlying myth that surrounds this is the serotonin myth. This idea that depression is purely a biological issue caused by low serotonin is pretty shaky from a scientific perspective. Whilst the author is criticizing doctors willingly giving out anti-depressants without asking deeper questions, it really leads to a bigger question of how the services are delivered. How they are funded and the lack of time doctors have to spend with the patients.

BIG IDEA 2 (7:53) – The power of disconnection.

In the book Johann Hari argues that there are nine real reasons for depression. These are disconnection from meaningful work, disconnection from people, disconnection from meaningful values, disconnection from childhood trauma, disconnection from status and respect, disconnection from the natural world and disconnection from a hopeful and secure future. The last two areas are the real role of genes and brain.

In these seven areas of disconnection, you can see yourself and the people around you in the stories told in the book. For example with disconnection from meaningful work, this a challenge when people do not having secure meaningful work. Underemployment is another example like those students graduating with degrees and with debts but without enough roles for them to go into.

WIth these examples you can see how society is perpetuating this problem of not having meaningful work. There was a quote in the book that says when work is enriching, life is fuller which flows through to the things you do outside of work.

However, if work really sucks your soul, you go home and even though you didn’t really use your brain, you feel exhausted. This is because you’re understimulated all day. This then leads to disconnection from others (you don’t feel like seeing people) and even disconnection from a hopeful and secure future which can be incredibly depressing.

There was a part in the book where it says people who had good support network, may include friends or a partner, are considerably less likely to become depressed even when faced with a very difficult life situation.

BIG IDEA 3 (12:40) – The joy of reconnection.

This is the opposite of big idea number two.

There are examples in the book where people have applied small things to reconnect to the seven areas of disconnection. This has a compound effect, the opposite to the vicious cycle of disconnection.

It’s how you pull yourself into meaningful work like reconnecting with people, getting into nature (something actually prescribed by doctors in some countries), dealing with childhood trauma or being more selfless. Some people even offer this as a service to help people get back to nature or help people reconnect with themselves and being part of humanity and the natural world.

Music By: Celebrate Your Heart – Instrumental Version ByMaytal Michaeli

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About the Author

Oren Klaff is one of the world’s leading experts on sales, raising capital and negotiation. His first book, Pitch Anything, is required reading throughout Silicon Valley, Wall Street and the Fortune 500, with more than 1,000,000 copies in print worldwide.

He has written for Harvard Business Review, Inc., Advertising Age, Entrepreneur and has been featured in hundreds of periodicals, podcasts and blogs. He is an investment partner in a $200 million private equity investment fund and in his spare time is a motorcycle enthusiast.

Source: https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Flip_the_Script.html?id=wQzwwAEACAAJ&source=kp_author_description&redir_esc=y

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https://www.bookdepository.com/Pitch-Anything/9781501211751/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

When it comes to delivering a pitch, Oren Klaff has unparalleled credentials. Over the past 13 years, he has used his one-of-a- kind method to raise more than $400 million–and now, for the first time, he describes his formula to help you deliver a winning pitch in any business situation.

Whether you’re selling ideas to investors, pitching a client for new business, or even negotiating for a higher salary, “Pitch Anything “will transform the way you position your ideas.

According to Klaff, creating and presenting a great pitch isn’t an art–it’s a simple science. Applying the latest findings in the field of neuroeconomics, while sharing eye-opening stories of his method in action, Klaff describes how the brain makes decisions and responds to pitches. With this information, you’ll remain in complete control of every stage of the pitch process.

“Pitch Anything” introduces the exclusive STRONG method of pitching, which can be put to use immediately:

Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10321016-pitch-anything

BIG IDEA 1 (3:26) – Control the frame, control the world.

This is one of the fundamentals of the book. There are different frames used by you and other people to block or control a conversation.

In the book Oren Klaff talks about how you can break frames by defining expectations. You can do that with a little bit of light humor. For example when someone says they’ve only got 10 minutes, you can reply by saying “no worries, I only have eight”. This helps level the field back with them and changes the power dynamic.

The frames that he talks about in this book are power, time, prize and intrigue. The prize frame where you become the prize that makes the target qualify themselves to work with you. Why should you work with them, never mind why they should work with you?! Intrigue frame is about effective storytelling to create interest and let people experience the story to create better emotional connection with them and avoid over-analysis by connecting.

You will find the examples he shared in the book are things you have faced, could faced or potentially could face when pitching or having that sales conversation.

BIG IDEA 2 (7:16) – Talk to all the brains.

This is the second key concept in the book which underpins everything. It links all the sales techniques, conversations and relationship building to the three brain theory. The three brain theory says that we have three brains which have evolved over time. These are firstly, the croc brain – primal instincts like fight or flight, housed in the oldest part of our brain. In the middle, the midbrain which creates meaning and reason around things. And then the executive brain that makes complex decision making and problem solving.

The author argues that pitchers generally need to talk to all three brains. Not just the executive brain or decision making brain because that is what YOU used to design the pitch. What we miss constantly is going via the other brains to get to the executive layer.

So if you go with your executive level brain and start pitching your plan, without addressing reptilian crocodile brain then you’re missing something. This is because at that point you are wow-ing them with data, they are still wondering if they like you or trust you or not. Therefore they can’t process with that executive layer of decision making.

One of the structures Klaff gives is a twenty-minute pitch. It is because that’s all you’re going to be able to grab people’s attention for. Another structure is thinking beyond the ‘prize’. For example, if you’re selling an investment opportunity as return of investment in the form of money, the real prize is what the money represents, what it means to them and their life.

There is a whole chapter in the book about not being needy. When you’re trying to buy a car or cancel a phone contract, sometimes you get that sense of desperation from sales people. It’s a better position for you to have your clients try to win you to be their provider instead of the other way around. This happens by connecting with the right parts of the brain at the right time and being prepared to walk away from a deal if necessary.

BIG IDEA 3 (11:30) – Preparation, preparation, preparation.

In all of the examples he gave, all the stories he tells and all the escapades he’s been a part of you can see the intense level of preparation that has gone into those pitches. Some of those are multiple million dollar deals.

This preparation is what sets teams apart from each other. There are distinct roles and thinking that people have to work through to get that pitch to that final position. This preparation is not just about the actual ‘stand and deliver’ presentation. The practice responses of all the things that the prospect or the competition might throw up in a discussion. Preparation at this level will set you apart.

Music By: Eyes For Eyes – Instrumental Version ByMaytal Michaeli

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About the Author

Seth Godin is an Author, Entrepreneur and Most of All, A teacher.

Seth is an entrepreneur, best-selling author, and speaker. In addition to launching one of the most popular blogs in the world, he has written 18 best-selling books, including The Dip, Linchpin, Purple Cow, Tribes, and What To Do When It’s Your Turn (And It’s Always Your Turn).

Though renowned for his writing and speaking, Seth also founded two companies, Squidoo and Yoyodyne (acquired by Yahoo!). By focusing on everything from effective marketing and leadership, to the spread of ideas and changing everything, Seth has been able to motivate and inspire countless people around the world.

In 2013, Seth was one of just three professionals inducted into the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame. In an astonishing turn of events, in May 2018, he was inducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame as well. He might be the only person in both.

Source: https://www.sethgodin.com/

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https://www.bookdepository.com/Whatcha-Gonna-Do-With-That-Duck-/9781591846093/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

‘Getting your ducks in a row is a fine thing to do. But deciding what you are going to do with that duck is a far more important issue’.

Collected here are six years of his best, most entertaining, and most poignant blog posts, plus a few bonus ebooks. From thoughts on how to treat your customers to telling stories and spreading ideas, Godin pushes us to think smarter, dream bigger, write better, and speak more honestly.

Highlights include: A marketing lesson from the Apocalypse No, everything is not going to be okay Organized bravery Choose your customers, choose your future Paying attention to the attention economy Bandits and philanthropists

Godin writes to get under our skin. He wants us to stand up and do something remarkable, outside the standards of the industrial system that raised us. Made for dipping into again and again, Whatcha Gonna Do with That Duck? is a classic for fans both old and new.

Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15843039-whatcha-gonna-do-with-that-duck

BIG IDEA 1 (5:03) – Just ship.

Moving past the idea of perfectionism – this is progress not perfection. This is about putting things out that are not done or perfect. Seth Goding’s altMBA course teaches the idea that every 48-72 hours you should ship something or move forward even if you are not 100% happy with that product as it is. He is a big advocate of minimum viable product. It’s about just getting things done, learning and moving as you go. He also said that it’s the process that is important and not necessarily a perfect finished product.

This is also about doing the work and getting things done. It’s about putting things out into the world and getting better. Every single day for many years Seth has been posting and writing every single day, shipping and getting things out even if it’s just a couple of lines.

BIG IDEA 2 (7:07) – Be human, be different.

This idea is focused on connection and caring. It is about understanding who you’re talking to and what change do they want to see in themselves. It’s getting so close to your customers and finding out what matters to them or what does not matters to them. What do they like about themselves, the situation, the product or the service, whatever it is that you’re marketing.

It’s about standing out and being remarkable. He is very big in challenging the status quo – especially in education. You can see it clearly in all of his content as he challenges the way that we are taught not just in education but also in organizations. He sees that a lot of potential not being tapped into because we are so busy adhering to the rules. Many organizations are not designed to allow people to do what they could do and be remarkable.

This can come from the brand perspective by using your brain to stand out or your product and services. This way you can create differentiation with your customers, create tribes or connections and have an ongoing conversation.

BIG IDEA 3 (10:28) – Consistency is key.

This links to the idea number one – just ship. All the ideas Seth talks about comes down to the idea of consistency, especially when paired with connection. Getting things done or shipping almost daily, moving forward and getting better. Continuous connection with your customers, tribe and the people around you.

This is also about overcoming the fears. One example is not doing anything because of fear. Ask yourself; which is the bigger fear, doing something and making a mistake or not doing anything. Consistency is also how you get good and Seth is testament to this by being so well renowned in his field after thirty years of being consistent and getting better.

Music By: Soar – Instrumental Version ByJordan Copas

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About the Author

Matthew Dicks is the internationally bestselling author of the novels which have been translated into more than 25 languages worldwide.

When not hunched over a computer screen, Matthew fills his days as an elementary school teacher, a storyteller, a speaking coach, a blogger, a wedding DJ, a minister, a life coach, and a Lord of Sealand. He has been teaching for 21 years and is a former West Hartford Teacher of the Year and a finalist for Connecticut Teacher of the Year.

Matthew is a 39-time Moth StorySLAM champion and 6-time GrandSLAM champion whose stories have been featured on their nationally syndicated Moth Radio Hour and their weekly podcast.

Source: http://www.matthewdicks.com/bio

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https://www.bookdepository.com/Storyworthy/9781978605190/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

Whether we realize it or not, we are always telling stories. On a first date or job interview, in a sales presentation or therapy appointment, with family or friends, we are constantly narrating events and interpreting emotions and actions. In so doing, we make choices about what to emphasize and what to leave out. We frame and explain in order to amuse, rationalize, or just plain vent.

Matthew’s wonderfully straightforward and engaging tips and techniques for constructing, telling, and polishing any story shows that anyone can learn to be an appealing storyteller; that everyone has something story worthy to express; and, perhaps most importantly, that the act of creating and telling a tale is a powerful way of understanding and enhancing one’s own life.

Source: http://www.matthewdicks.com/storyworthy

BIG IDEA 1 (4:02) - You don’t need a big or interesting life to tell good stories. The emphasis of the book is on the idea of five second moments - the small everyday scenarios that create significant transformation in your understanding of yourself, your life, family or friends. You just need to know what you’re looking for and seek out those five second moments.

Matthew also emphasizes that anecdotes aren’t always great stories. These are stories that doesn’t always have meaning or make sense. One of the biggest take away in this book is the idea of homework for life - at the end of each day writing down in a diary a five second moment from that day. These can be passing things that maybe don’t mean anything at that time but when you look back, you start to see the threads and themes of your stories.

Matthew has been doing this for this for many years now and he’s been able to find those moments with meaning. He has had a very interesting life but the real story is what happened before, during or after those big moments that gave meaning to them.

BIG IDEA 2 (7:58) - Stories must be sticky. This is the technique of telling a story. They are the stakes, the elephants, the breadcrumbs, the backpacks and the hourglasses. These elements are the science behind the art of storytelling - how the story was crafted versus just telling them and creates the difference between a story and anecdote. This is what makes the story compelling.

Another important consideration is using humor in the story. However this cannot be overdone because if people are too busy laughing they might miss the shift, change, the moment where you turn or that magic ‘aha’.

BIG IDEA 3 (10:56) - The power of ‘but’ and ‘therefore’ in stories. This is another technical aspect of storytelling which joins together, creates tension or moments of conflict. This also prevents the ‘and then… and then’ effect when telling a story and creates a more polished, interesting story.

The good thing about this book is that you can apply this in other written work or communications; emails, presentations, sales pitches etc. This technique is literally just using ‘but’ or ‘therefore’ more often by thinking about what is the causation of things and the momentum that created movement from one event to another.

Music By: Anthony's Song - Instrumental Version By Modern Aquatic

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About the Author

Greg McKeown was recently named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He is CEO of THIS Inc, a leadership and strategy design agency headquartered in Silicon Valley. He has taught at companies that include Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Salesforce.com, Twitter and VMware. Originally from London, he now lives in Menlo Park, CA with his wife Anna, and their four children.

Source: Essentialism book introduction

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https://www.bookdepository.com/Essentialism/9780753555163/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

The Way of the Essentialist involves doing less, but better, so you can make the highest possible contribution.

The Way of the Essentialist isn’t about getting more done in less time. It’s not about getting less done. It’s about getting only the right things done. It’s about challenging the core assumption of ‘we can have it all’ and ‘I have to do everything’ and replacing it with the pursuit of ‘the right thing, in the right way, at the right time’. It’s about regaining control of our own choices about where to spend our time and energies instead of giving others implicit permission to choose for us.

In Essentialism, Greg McKeown draws on experience and insight from working with the leaders of the most innovative companies in the world to show how to achieve the disciplined pursuit of less.

Source: https://gregmckeown.com/book/

Links

Greg on the Tim Ferriss podcast: https://tim.blog/2019/01/09/greg-mckeown-essentialism/

Get chapter one of Essentialism from Greg’s website: https://gregmckeown.com/book/

BIG IDEA 1 (3:51) – If it’s not a ‘hell yes’, it’s a ‘no’. It’s a great way of having a litmus test for setting your time and energy. It removes those ‘why am I doing this’ moments in the midst of a task or activity. These are generally not a great way to be spending your time, particularly if they distract you from your goal.

The ‘hell yes’ or ‘no’ is easy and it therefore removes decision making fatigue. Greg has mentioned examples in the book where he said no to things in order to do what’s important to him. For example saying no to a speaking engagement because it’s date night for him and his wife. It gives you an invincible power to be at ease with your decisions and not resent the things you are doing. He also talked about the idea of trade off of problems by thinking about whether it’s something the future you going to regret and resent the past you by letting you do those things.

BIG IDEA 2 (6:22) – Go big. The reframe that Greg mentioned in this book is that you’re not doing less, you’re going BIG on one thing. Often we’ll find ourselves in the scarcity mindset (read: FOMO) that by doing fewer things, we’re doing ‘less’, rather than doing one thing REALLY well (and big). For some reason doing more things not as well is more appealing?!

Greg also talked about the idea of escaping to be able to focus. Create your environment where you are not going to be distracted from your single focus. For example, Bill Gates famously takes a couple of ‘reading’ weeks each year to escape and focus.

BIG IDEA 3 (9:24) – Live without regrets. By knowing what’s important you won’t regret doing things because you’re only doing what’s important to you. This can be from a life perspective, business perspective, relationships or travel as this runs through all different facets of your life. There was a quote in the book which says you should be proud of the life that you have chosen to live’.

Many people currently feel that the life they have isn’t necessarily chosen by them but being dictated by other people. Greg said that choosing to live in an essentialist mindset allows him to be ‘unreasonably selective’ on how to use his precious time. It’s about spending your time on things (and with the people) that matter the most.

If you liked Essentialism, you’ll also like So Good to They Can’t Ignore You / Courage to be Disliked / Atomic Habits

Music By: Stay Right There – Instrumental Version ByMichael Shynes

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About the Author

Ashlee Vance is a NYT best-selling author and feature writer at Bloomberg Businessweek. He's also the host of the Hello World television and internet show. Previously, he worked as a reporter for The New York Times, The Economist and The Register.

Source: http://www.ashleevance.com/

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/Elon-Musk/9780753557525/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

This biography is an incredible dive into the life of the man who is both private and prolific; Elon Musk.

Elon Musk, the entrepreneur and innovator behind SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity, sold one of his internet companies, PayPal, for $1.5 billion. Ashlee Vance captures the full spectacle and arc of the genius's life and work, from his tumultuous upbringing in South Africa and flight to the United States to his dramatic technical innovations and entrepreneurial pursuits.

More than any other entrepreneur today, Musk has dedicated his energies and his own vast fortune to inventing a future that is as rich and far-reaching as the visionaries of the golden age of science-fiction fantasy.

Source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25541028-elon-musk

BIG IDEA 1 (3:11) - If at first you don’t succeed. The determination and sacrifice of Elon Musk both in personal and professional perspective was very clear throughout the book. He just keeps trying and going, adjusting and learning, adapting things and moving forward in the pursuit of continuous improvement. This is not just about advancement but taking taking things to the next level of possibility.

His level of dedication towards betterment was very inspiring, and that it’s not just for his personal enjoyment but how he applies it to the biggest problems of today and the future.

BIG IDEA 2 (4:13) - Surround yourself with the best. In his professional pursuits, Musk has gone after the best people in the field. He would hunt them down to convince them to work with him and bring his (seemingly crazy) ideas to life. However, whilst he seeks to surround himself with the best people, he can also let go of people quite abruptly (both personal and professional).

BIG IDEA 3 (5:31) - Learn, learn, learn. Ever since Elon Musk was young he was obsessed with learning. Everytime he finds topic he’s interested in or curious about, he will go deep. He is an exceptionally prolific reader who learns across disciplines.

He has a knack for getting back to first principles; starting from scratch and finding the links and the intersections and bringing them to life to connect fields in ways that may haven’t been considered previously.

In all his curiosities, he’s not simply asking ‘how’ or ‘why’ but more importantly he’s asking ‘what if’ and ‘why not’. It gives us a message about the importance of reading and learning across disciplines and challenging how things are currently done.

Link to Michael Simmons article on how Elon learns faster and better than everyone els

Music By: Elevating Burst ByIan Post

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About the Authors

This book has three authors; Matt Church, Sacha Coburn and Col Fink, and is a spin off of the Thought Leaders Business School series of books.

Thought Leaders Business School is the most comprehensive Thought Leaders program ever, they pride themselves on helping clever people be commercially smart.

Matt Church is the founder of TLBS and speaks at conferences and runs development programs for leaders. He is committed to helping people prepare for tomorrow by taking action today.

Sacha Coburn’s passion has been to better understand how to unleash potential in leaders, how to unlock peak performance in teams, and how to ignite a spark within business leaders so they create environments for their people to flourish and excel.

Col Fink is an “irrepressibly enthusiastic speaker who cares a great deal about making people’s lives more awesome”. He presents keynote speeches designed to make the world a better place, and teaches others how to do the same.

Source: https://tlbusinessschool.com/ , https://www.mattchurch.com/ , https://colfink.com/#culture and https://thecompanyyoukeep.co.nz/who-we-are/

About the Book

Providing the missing link between strategy and execution, Speakership unpacks the science of influence.

Whether you want to speak to build a brand and position your expertise, or accelerate your leadership pathway, Speakership gives you the knowledge and tools you need to master the art of leading out loud.

Learn the 9 key principles of speakership so you can: spread messages that matter learn to lead, rather than manage mobilise people into action experience the ultimate personal development vehicle

This book is a map for leaders and ambitious achievers who want to harness the power of presentations to influence their projects, the implementation of their ideas and their tribe.

Your ability to stand and deliver in front of your teams, your colleagues, your clients will set you apart. Influencing and inspiring those around you by sharing messages that matter gives you instant credibility and cut-through.

Source: https://www.mattchurch.com/speakership-book

Links

Free sample chapter:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/532fc9abe4b0dca0929a7015/t/57f471e39f74563d2dbdd624/1475637733889/Speakership+sample+chapter.pdf

BIG IDEA 1 (6:20) - Think before you speak. The book has a great concept of ‘full spectrum thinking’. It is about thinking with your left brain, the right brain, the positioning, how you’re inspiring, informing, your key messages and that one big word you’re trying to get across your audience

It’s also about unpacking your genius - the idea about going big (exploring all your ideas) to go small (get specific on the action or change you want to see). Thinking across the spectrum by looking at old and new ideas or contemporary interpretations of the big word that you are getting across helps deepen the support for your ideas. It is also about thorough preparation of your thinking and having a point and being able to support it.

There are practical concepts in the book on how you can position your ideas based on how you structure them through thorough idea generation. One example is the idea of time capsule which helps create the format of your presentation.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:39) - Find your style and connect. This idea is about being yourself and how to bring your very own personality to the stage. Sometimes this involves owning your weaknesses and flipping them to become a strength. One example would be if others see your being over-committed as a weakness, you can turn this into a strength by saying you are over committed because you are very enthusiastic. This enthusiasm then becomes part of your ‘brand’.

Finding your style and connecting includes using stories to create the atmosphere and mood you want, to make your point and connect with the audience.

Finally, when connecting it’s important to think about your pre-preparation and your influences before you walk up to the stage to perform. What are you doing and how are you preparing to get into that zone? Are you in the right mindset to present? Your own feelings will often be quickly reflected back to you by the audience - good or bad!

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

Music By: Sunshine - Instrumental Version By D.A.H. Trump

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About the Author

World-renowned business educator and coach, Dr. Marshall Goldsmith is the leading expert in his field. His singular ability to get results for top leaders has drawn over 150 CEOs and their management teams to address change in the workplace. They want what Dr. Goldsmith offers: practical and proven methods.

Marshall has written three New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers – Triggers, MOJO and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.

Thinkers50 has recognized Marshall Goldsmith as one of the World’s Most-Influential Business Thinkers for the past ten years.

Source: http://www.marshallgoldsmith.com

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/What-Got-You-Here-Won-t-Get-You-There/9781846681370/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

In this book, Marshall shows you how to climb those last few rungs on the corporate ladder.

The corporate world is filled with executives, men and women who have worked hard for years to reach the upper levels of management. They’re intelligent, skilled, and even charismatic. But only a handful of them will ever reach the pinnacle — and as executive coach Marshall Goldsmith shows in this book, subtle nuances make all the difference.

These are small “transactional flaws” performed by one person against another (as simple as not saying thank you enough), which lead to negative perceptions that can hold any executive back. Using Goldsmith’s straightforward, jargon-free advice, it’s amazingly easy behaviour to change.

Source: http://www.marshallgoldsmith.com

Links

https://www.marshallgoldsmith.com/library/

BIG IDEA 1 (3:06) - What got you here, won’t get you there. The more senior and more experienced we become, the more delusional we get. We think that because we behave like this, we have achieved that. Therefore our behaviour must equal our success. Marshall argues that this is superstitious belief. He said that correlation does not equal causation and that our results are sometimes IN SPITE of our behaviour, not because of.

This kind of delusion or superstition means that when we are challenged by others we get confused, we overestimate our contributions and underestimate our flaws. The cleverer we are, the better we are at backward rationalisation. Fundamentally, just because you have reached a certain level of seniority doesn’t mean it’s going to be the same behaviour or actions that will get you to the next level.

BIG IDEA 2 (5:00) Be selfish to be selfless. The book is about doing more for others and putting yourself aside. It is about how as you get more senior you need to be focusing less about your own ambitions and success, and more about helping create success for others.

Marshall pointed out though that for leaders to start doing things for others, they first need to tap into their own motivations - what’s in it for them? People are motivated by power, money, popularity and status. Only if one of these is threatened, does one consider changing something.

Being selfish first, before selfless can be a catalyst for change.

BIG IDEA 3 (7:15) - Knowing what to stop. Stopping can be one of the most effective strategies to move things forward and change behaviours. This is compared to strength based approach which involves using your strengths more (usually adding more things to do). There are twenty common flaws that Marshall identified in the book which he called ‘interpersonal annoyances’ which can be overcome by stopping something.

The examples mentioned in the book are adding to much value, telling the world how smart you are, starting sentences with no or but, speaking when angry, an excessive need to be yourself, failing to express gratitude, not listening, claiming credit that you don’t deserve, withholding information and failing to give proper recognition.

Here’s the link to the full list of 20: The 20 Bad Habits That Hold You Back

BUY THE BOOK

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*These are Amazon Affiliate links, meaning I get a small commission from Amazon, at no extra cost to you.

Music By: I Get Up ByJohn Isaac

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What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful

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About the Authors

Chip Heath and his brother Dan have written three New York Times bestselling books: Made to Stick, Switch, and Decisive. Their books have sold over two million copies worldwide and have been translated into thirty-three languages including Thai, Arabic, and Lithuanian. The Power of Moments is their most recent book.

Chip is a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, teaching courses on strategy and organizations. He has helped over 450 startups hone their business strategy and messages. He lives in Los Gatos, California.

Dan is a senior fellow at Duke University’s CASE center, which supports entrepreneurs fighting for social good. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.

Source: https://heathbrothers.com/the-power-of-moments/

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Power-of-Moments/9780593079263/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

In this book, the authors explore why certain brief experiences can jolt us and elevate us and change us—and how we can learn to create such extraordinary moments in our life and Work.

While human lives are endlessly variable, our most memorable positive moments are dominated by four elements: elevation, insight, pride, and connection. If we embrace these elements, we can conjure more moments that matter.

What if a teacher could design a lesson that he knew his students would remember twenty years later? What if a manager knew how to create an experience that would delight customers? What if you had a better sense of how to create memories that matter for your children?

This book delves into some fascinating mysteries of experience: Why we tend to remember the best or worst moment of an experience, as well as the last moment, and forget the rest. Why “we feel most comfortable when things are certain, but we feel most alive when they’re not.” And why our most cherished memories are clustered into a brief period during our youth.

Source: https://heathbrothers.com/the-power-of-moments/

BIG IDEA 1 (3:23)- Focus on moments that matter. We have a bias towards the peaks (high or low), the endings and transitions when recalling over our experiences of something. However you can help create moments that stick within these biases.

For example, the ‘signing day’ for high school seniors to reveal where they’re going to college. This concept was introduced at a high school in the US, inspired by the tradition of college students being announced as being signed up by big sports team. Two teachers decided to create a similar moment to celebrate the transition from High School to College (University) - especially for the students who are first of their family to go to College. This also inspired future generations to be up on stage in future to experience the transition moment (and work hard to get there).

The concept of ‘defining moment’ was mentioned in the book. It is defined as a short experience that is both meaningful and memorable. Another example mentioned in the book was an average hotel in LA where they make your stay unforgettable and remarkable. They focus on the small details that create magical moments in someone’s holiday.

BIG IDEA 2 (5:54)- The four elements of a defining moment. These are elevation which is transcending the normal course of events, insight - rewriting our understanding of self or the world, pride - capturing us at our best and connection - because defining moments should be shared with others. These elements are important to create a defining moment that sticks and mean something to people.

BIG IDEA 3 (7:20) - Looking for that moment. There are three key types of moment; transitions, milestones and pits. These are the points where you can create moments for others and for yourself. For example in transition in relation to work, induction for new person joining a company is a huge transition moment and one that should be carefully considered accordingly.

Milestones involve celebrating and recognizing an achievement and putting them into people’s life or career - and they might not be the standard birthday/anniversaries. For the pits it’s recognising those and doing something to alleviate this. For example, in retail banking, a bank can create a moment from a pit in someone’s life (such as being made redundant or going through a divorce). The moment could be a three month cooling off period until they get their finances back in order. Banks are in a unique position to create moments to provide a good customer experience… but so often don’t.

Music By: Stay Right There By Michael Shynes

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About the Author

Janine is known as one of Australia’s most thoughtful experts on leadership, networking and Collaboration.

She has worked her way across the world putting together award-winning marketing campaigns and strategies for high-profile brands like Ralph Lauren, Oroton, Jaeger, Sainsbury’s Homebase and Citizen Watches.

Janine’s a Partner at Thought Leaders Global, which helps clever people to become commercially smart, and the founder of the LBDGroup, a networking community that connects like-minded women together to help them achieve extraordinary growth. She’s also the host of the Unleashing Brilliance podcast, sharing lessons, learnings, musing and insights from leaders, business owners, entrepreneurs and other awesome people

Source: https://janinegarner.com.au/about-janine/

Click here to buy on The Book Depository

https://www.bookdepository.com/It-s-Who-You-Know/9780730336846/?a_aid=stephsbookshelf

About the Book

It’s Who You Know is a dive into a more meaningful form of networking – how to build the connections around you. This is not about spraying business cards at soul-crushing events but being strategic and thoughtful about who you need around you.

Janine says that “networking still matters, but your network matters more”. The book is a practical guide for the who, what, where and how of finding and maintaining your core group of influence – underpinned by the fact that value goes both ways.

BIG IDEA 1 (3:15) - Quality over quantity. This concept is about finding your core four. This isn’t about finding lots of people and having transactional relationships but having your core four people. She named these four as the butt kickers, promoters, teachers and pit crew. Purpose is important as to knowing what roles you need around you. For example, in some points of your life you need more butt kicking than promoting or other times you need more pit crew than teachers.

A clear purpose also helps you determine ‘what good looks like’ and what you need from that particular relationship or person. The interesting part is you don’t always have to be explicit with person, sometimes they naturally fall into those roles. However sometimes you will need to ask a person to play a specific role in your life/career.

Janine expands these core four roles into 12 specific roles, three in each category. She has a template called the ‘SORT’ (see resources link below) which is used to audit who is in your circle at the moment. This book is also about reciprocity - the mindset of both give and take with your network.

BIG IDEA 2 (5:59) - Beware of the shadows! Janine describes four shadow types that you need to be aware of and wary of. They are your burners, underminers, judgers and fighters. You need to avoid having too many (or any!) of these people in your life and spending time with them because they suck all your energy away.

As this book is about strategic and intentional networking - thinking who is around you and who you’re spending the most time with - you want to make sure those people have a positive influence on you.

BIG IDEA 3 (7:33) - This is an ongoing process. There are different times in your life or career that you will require different support and the value exchange. This might mean you have to change the way you hang out with people, for example going to different types of networking events or mixing with different people. Think about how you can learn from these networking events and experiences.

Being an ongoing process you need to constantly think about the why, the who and the how. Who are the people you don’t know and who do you need to add in or change? The important message of this idea is cultivation. There are ten steps mentioned in the book that can help cultivate your network; from making a good first impression, being memorable, being an action taker and following through.

Links

Resources that support It’s Who You Know https://janinegarner.com.au/resources/

Nexus Profile to audit your current network https://janinegarner.com.au/nexus/

Janine’s Unleashing Brilliance Podcast https://janinegarner.com.au/the-audio-files-podcast/

Music By: Moonlight By ANBR

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About the Author

Cal Newport is a computer science professor at Georgetown University. In addition to his academic research, he writes about the intersection of technology and society. Cal is particularly interested in the impact of new technologies on our ability to perform productive work, as well as on our ability to lead interesting and satisfying lives.

Cal is the author of six books, including, most recently, the New York Times bestseller, Digital Minimalism.

In 2012, he published So Good They Can’t Ignore You, which tackled the question of how people end up loving what they do for a living. The most controversial finding from his research was that “follow your passion” is bad advice.

Oh and don’t try and find Cal on social media. He famously doesn’t have any social media accounts, and seems to be doing ok as a result.

Source: http://calnewport.com/about/

About the Book

So Good They Can’t Ignore You is largely about shunning the concept of ‘follow your passion’ and instead becoming dedicated to building your career capital. Essentially meaning getting REALLY good at what you do which will afford you the luxuries of choice, freedom and the ability to create your own adventure, based on your proven abilities in your field.

Cal argues that passion and enjoyment for your work will come from being good at it – which comes from spending intentional time getting good at your work.

The book’s title is taken from a famous quote from comedian Steve Martin, who when asked by comedy students the secret of success, responded with the wise words ‘be so good they can’t ignore you’.

BIG IDEA 1 (3:25) - Don’t follow your passion. Cal argues that it is dangerous advice to follow your passion because it follows the idea that people can do things that they are not good at and create a career out of it. It also creates the trend of people quitting their jobs to go and do something that they have no career capital in. Career capital is the investment that you put into developing your skills which you can then leverage later for things like creative freedom, more money or a different work environment.

Cal is not saying that you cannot have passion for hobbies, but that passion from your work comes from getting good. Compelling careers often have complex origins. Very few people that you look at, and maybe aspire to have their career, start from the position of wanting to change the world or create the biggest company and do the best things that they do, it comes from a bit of trial and error and small steps.

Side note: If you’re interested in this concept and want to hear more examples I recommend listening to the podcast ‘How I built this’.

Cal argues that passion comes from getting good at something. This evident in studies about happiness at work. Usually passionate people have been around long enough to get good at what they’re doing and to work out what they’re not good at doing without following their dream initially.

Daniel Pink wrote a lot about this in his work and says that motivation comes from autonomy, competence or mastery and connection with others. All of these things come over time. You’re not necessarily going to get immediately after jumping over to being a yoga instructor or opening a cat sanctuary, or whatever your passion is. The dangerous idea about following your passion is if it doesn’t live up to expectation and doesn’t give you the ultimate fulfillment, there will be high level of dissatisfaction and unhappiness.

The idea is following your passion in a different way. So if you have a passion it is something that you can build on the side of something else. Build a career capital and invest in a way that you want to live and work. The danger comes when you put everything in an area that you don’t have a career capital or experience in.

BIG IDEA 2 (6:32) Get so good. Career capital is building up your competence which you can trade for freedom, creativity or different working environment. You need to build up ‘rare and valuable’ skills to put towards rare and valuable work. You may have to force yourself into the work and force the skills to come through deliberate practice. This will ultimately lead to the creativity, the impact and the control to the career that you desire.

Getting so good is where you may find your passion. Cal said it is really the career capital that matters, not courage. Deliberate practice and the ‘craftsman mindset’ are the big concepts. There are however, three examples in the book that you maybe should look at moving on when trying something different

First, if you are in an environment or role where there is no skill development. Second, if the work adds no value and is bad for society. This one is linked to your values or purpose. Third, having to work with people that you don’t like. These are not going to be an environment where you can put that deliberate or practice to work to build career capital.

BIG IDEA 3 (10:10) - Missions and the importance of them. This aligns to the idea of your purpose. Often your mission can be found in an adjacent field from ‘jiggling together’ your experiences over time. But first you have to get to the cutting edge of your field and have enough career capital to trade towards a mission. You may not find your mission or purpose outside of your career. It will come with time, experience, trying different things and seeing what fits a little bit more and getting really good. Then you can put your rare and valuable skills to work towards your mission.

He talks about finding your ‘little bets’ which is similar to design thinking principles. It is about trying little things, failing and testing out. Your mission should be remarkable; worth people remarking on.

Recommended Stuff

How I Built This Podcast

Music By: Xerces by Michael Shynes

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About the Authors

JEREMY HEIMANS is the co-founder and CEO of Purpose, a company specializing in building social movements around the world. In 2005, he co-founded GetUp!, an Australian political organization with more members than all of Australia’s political parties combined, and he is a co-founder of the global campaigning organization Avaaz and the LGBT rights platform All Out. He is a recipient of the Ford Foundation’s 75th Anniversary Visionary Award for his work as a movement pioneer. He has been named one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business.

Henry Timms is executive director of the 92nd Street Y, a cultural and community center that creates programs and movements that foster learning and civic engagement. Under his leadership, the 144-year-old institution was named to Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies” list. He is the co-founder of #GivingTuesday, a global philanthropic movement that engages people in close to 100 countries that has generated hundreds of millions of dollars for good causes. He is a Visiting Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Philanthropy and Civil Society.

Source: https://thisisnewpower.com/the-authors/

About the Book

This book is touted as the way to understand the, seemingly chaotic, 21st century. With examples from Trump to #MeToo to Airbnb to ISIS; the way people influence, gain momentum and the structures of power have changed, and it’s taking everything with it.

This book is all about participation – and how to cultivate it through the redistribution of power and communication methods. The authors make sense of recent social and political movements and show how you can use new power on a small and large scale in your own organisations and lives.

BIG IDEA 1 (4:31) - Command and control is out. This book is all about the values of old vs New Power; collaboration over competition, transparency over confidentiality, mass participation, self-organisation and short term grouping over long term loyalty. A great example of the rise in transparency is people feel that they have the ‘right to know’ rather than the idea of ‘need to know’. This is compounded by the fact that no matter how powerful you are, you cannot hide things that are deemed to be public interest

In the new power world, people lean away from the need to be an expert. One of the examples mentioned in the book, is when you need to have a root canal or refilling on your teeth, you would still want a dentist rather than someone who is selling their services on Etsy. This is about distribution of power and creating movements.

BIG IDEA 2 (8:28) - How to start a movement. The five key steps how to start a movement mentioned in the book. Number one - finding your connected connectors. It is about knowing who you are talking to and who that is. For example, the Trump campaign was posted by keyboard warriors on Reddit who were sharing anti Hillary propaganda through memes. Number two - find your new power brand and voice. One example is the AirBnb about us page which is about community and connecting groups vs The Hilton which is about them, their brand and their organisation rather than the people they’re bringing together.

Step three - reduce the friction to entry. One example is the protester in India who was trying to decrease the corruption in politics. He started the campaign via sms and had 80,000 pledge their support. He then tapped into their cultural norm of sending people missed calls, using the idea that they could use something which people are already doing, to reduce the friction. They changed the method of connecting with people by removing the barrier and the result was they had 35 million missed calls.

Step four- moving people up the participation scale. From leaving the missed call to writing to the politician or allowing them to take part in the protest. Step five - ride the storms. Find a catalyst to leverage, for example the women’s march after the Trump election.

BIG IDEA 3 (12:12) - Signal, structure and shape. The signal is how the leader makes the crowd feel powerful through a speech. The structure is how the leader removes or creates the ability to participate. The shape is how the leader set the norms in the crowd. A movement is only a movement if it moves without you. The idea here is allowing self-organisation for people to take the course, interpret and take action as long as it meets the need and purpose of the core organisation.

Music By: Belief by Ziv Moran

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About the Author

Known for her bold yet practical approach to executive coaching and leadership development, Susan Scott has been challenging people to say the things that are hard to say for over two decades. Susan founded Fierce in 2001 after 13 years leading CEO think tanks, more than 10,000 hours of conversations with senior executives, and one epiphany: While no single conversation is guaranteed to change the trajectory of a career, a business, a marriage, or a life—any single conversation can. Susan continues to share her expertise with clients through her keynote presentations, and award-winning books.

Source: https://fierceinc.com/about/leadership

About the Book

This book is a big literary kick in the ass for anyone who is a manager or leader of others. It shines a painful light on the crappy ‘best practices’ that have become the norm in organisations (I’m looking at you, feedback sandwich) and the apathy around what we willingly accept.

It’s practical – providing frameworks, methods, conversation starters and perspectives on how teams can work better through powerful, clear, open conversations.

I took copious notes through the book and have used some of the ideas in client workshops and with teams. My biggest take away was the overriding concept that the biggest problems will be from the conversations you didn’t have.

BIG IDEA 1 (2:21) - Do real conversations properly. See the other person. This might mean opening up a conversation about something that everyone knows but nobody talks about (the proverbial elephant). Bringing the real issues to the table and talk about it to create a shared language.

One of the ways Susan mentioned in the book about creating shared language is through the ‘Beach Ball’ framework. Each person shares their view of the world, feedback or input about a situation from their ‘stripe’ of the beachball. This helps everyone understand what others see from their stripe and acknowledge it.

Two important questions that you can use with your team to uncover some things that need to be said - ‘What do you need from this team that you are not getting?’ and - ‘What can you contribute to this team that you’re not contributing?’. This is about what’s holding people back from bringing their best to the team.

BIG IDEA 2 (5:12) - Lookout for your DNA. This is about finding your fingerprints on the things that have gone wrong and asking yourself how you contributed to this situation. This is being visibly accountable to your own action and not searching for who is to blame. This is important in creating a high performing team by asking your team questions that will bring out their sense of self-accountability. YOU are the culture and what you do, and the examples you set, influence the rest of the culture in the organisation. Another way to look for your fingerprints is to look into your team’s behavior and figure out what you might have contributed to that behavior (or lack of behavior).

BIG IDEA 3 (8:23) - Engage and be brave. This idea is about stepping up to true leadership. All of the big ideas won’t work unless you make it happen. True leadership involves being both brave and engaged. Apathy exists in a lot of organisations today, where average performance is acceptable and most leaders forget (or are ‘too busy’) to step up. Leaders should have the ability (the ‘squid eye’) to see behaviors and toxicity as signs of dysfunction and use these tells as the impetus to take action.

Listen to Brene Brown's Dare to Lead Episode

Music By:I Get Up - Acoustic - Instrumental Version By John Isaac

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About the Author

James Clear is an American author, entrepreneur, and photographer. He write about habits and human potential whilst trying to answer the central question “How can we live better?”

In order to answer that question, he uncovers the latest scientific research and explain it in a way that you can easily understand and actually use. As he shares these science-based ideas for living a better life, he showcases the habits and rituals of athletes, artists, and entrepreneurs to tease out the common characteristics that make these people the best at what they do.

James believes the best way to change the world is in concentric circles: start with yourself and work your way out from there. If you get yourself sorted out, then that is one less person for the world to worry about. You'll be in a position to contribute rather than consume. You will add order rather than disorder.

About the Book

This book is the cornerstone for habit building - containing the best practices for solid, sustainable habit creation.

Using the cue – craving – response – reward model, James explores the internal (mindset / identity) and external (environment / other people) success [or failure] factors of habit formation. With examples throughout the book from business, career, health, fitness and relationships – you can easily relate the lessons to the lifestyle changes you want to create.

BIG IDEA 1 (3:30) - Cue, craving, response and reward. This idea is about the internal and external factors that affect our emotions. It’s important for us to identify the cues, cravings, what our response is and what the reward or feeling that stimulates. This helps us to be aware of our actions during events and to know which element needs to be changed to change the habit. The idea is to make it obvious, attractive, easy and satisfying when reversing the unhealthy habit. James also talks about editing your beliefs and ‘upgrading and expanding your identity’ to help embed new habits into your life.

BIG IDE 2 (6:00) - Focus on the system not the goal. By focussing on your current trajectory not the results, you move away from the goal being the habit and just the starting point. Another idea he shared is about the temptation bundling- pairing a want (eg regular flossing) with a need (brushing your teeth) to easily create a habit by piggy-backing.

One great point James mentioned is about the idea of repetitions not time. How long it takes to change the habit comes down to the frequency of repetition, not time elapsed. You have to the action frequently to be able to build the habit.

BIG IDEA 3 (7:36) - Create your environment to succeed. Be the architect of your environment - think about what, when, how and who. We are being influenced by the close, many and powerful by imitating the habits that we see - in real life and online. An example of this are groups of friends and family with the same habits around lifestyle, health or food. This is the same for those who you follow on social media or who you read - they will all influence you, for better or worse!

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Links I Mentioned

Read: James' article on the 1% rule

Watch: James talking about the 1% rule

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About the Author

Dale Carnegie was an American writer and lecturer, and the developer of famous courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills. Born into poverty on a farm in Missouri, he was the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936), a bestseller that remains popular today.

Carnegie’s first collection of his writings was Public Speaking: a Practical Course for Business Men (1926), later entitled Public Speaking and Influencing Men in Business (1932). His crowning achievement, however, was when Simon & Schuster published How to Win Friends and Influence People.

(Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Carnegie)

About the Book

First published in 1936, the book has sold over 15 million copies – making it one of the best-selling books of all time, and continuing to appear on must read / most influential book lists still today. Whilst some of the specific examples (and gender roles!) have dated slightly, the fundamental principles and actions remain as relevant today as they ever have – and maybe even more so.

The book is a 101 on interpersonal relations. You could probably read and follow these rules, never read another interpersonal development book again and enjoy pretty great relationships. The book covers three fundamental techniques, then broken into sub-rules and principles (including the all-important ‘six ways to make people like you’). The three fundamentals are; Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain Give honest and sincere appreciation Arouse in the other person an eager want

The original 1936 edition promised twelve benefits from reading it, my favourites are: Get you out of a mental rut, give you new thoughts, new visions, new ambitions. Help you to handle complaints, avoid arguments, keep your human contacts smooth and pleasant. Make you a better speaker, a more entertaining conversationalist.

BIG IDEA 1 (3:58) - Make others feel important. This book talks a lot about self-sacrificing and servant leadership mindset. One of the tips given in the book was let other people do the talking and not telling them that they are wrong, involving other people. One of my favorites is being curious and understanding other people’s perspective. Making others feel important is essential in all kinds of relationship even within the work team. Sometimes we are so quick to jump into conclusions and not letting others do the talking. By doing so we don’t make others feel important. We must be curious in knowing what other people’s perspective is so that we make them feel that they are important.

BIG IDEA 2 (5:38) - Say goodbye to your ego. This idea is about not making things about you. This comes from the servant leadership mindset and the ability to put aside your own views. Let other people talk about themselves because the more we allow them to do so, the more they will like us.

BIG IDEA 3 (7:23) - Smile. A simple smile, being open to others, being honest and the ability of a smile to get someone into a conversation or positive interaction.

Listen to Courage to be Disliked and Art of Gathering

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About the Author

Priya Parker is the founder of Thrive Labs, at which she helps activists, elected officials, corporate executives, educators, and philanthropists create transformative gatherings. She works with teams and leaders across technology, business, the arts, fashion, and politics to clarify their vision for the future and build meaningful, purpose-driven communities.

Her clients have included the Museum of Modern Art, LVMH, the World Economic Forum, meetup.com, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, the Union for Concerned Scientists, and Civitas Public Affairs. Trained in the field of conflict resolution, Parker has worked on race relations on American college campuses and on peace processes in the Arab world, southern Africa, and India.

She is a founding member of the Sustained Dialogue Campus Network. She has been appointed a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Values Council and the New Models of Leadership Council. She is also a senior expert at Mobius Executive Leadership.

(Source: https://www.priyaparker.com/bio-1/ )

About the Book

The Art of Gathering is about bringing meaning back to when we meet. So often when we bring people together it lacks purpose and interest; regardless of whether it’s Sunday brunch with friends or a weekly team meeting.

This book was the one that had the biggest impact on me in 2018, it hit me hard and I think about it and its messages regularly. It made me excited about engaging in more challenging (read: controversial) topics at dinner, bringing people together in all formats and applying the lessons to my friends, family, colleagues and clients.

BIG IDEA 1 (2:18) - Purpose first. You must know why you are bringing people together. Knowing the purpose determines the who, what, when and where of the gathering. A great example in the book is a baby shower. Generally this involves women coming together exchanging gifts and playing games to welcome and celebrate a new baby. This tradition perpetuates the outdated notion that childcare/child rearing is the domain of women.

By coming back to why you are holding a baby shower (to welcome a new life / mark the passing of the parent(s) into the next phase of their life / show comradery / share advice from different parenting perspectives and generations) you would consider a wider, more diverse invitation list (men of different generations, those with and without children who can bring different perspectives and offer different support). It would also shape more meaningful activities and conversations that better align to the purpose and a more meaningful gathering.

BIG IDEA 2 (5:47) - Rules can rule. Rules can help you create a temporary alternative world. Rules in advance or during an event can help it come together; it helps people get back to the purpose and connect through meaningful conversations. One example could be - no technology.

The idea of temporary world is that you can stop doing what you usually do and have an idea of environment that you can create and connection with people you are with.

BIG IDEA 3 (7:55) - Have meaningful conversations. One of the examples that Priya shares is the concept of 15 toasts. She set a dinner with some important people and they all toasted to a particular question. One of the questions you may set is - how would you define a great career or how would you define a life well lived? Each person has to share their idea of it and then toasts to it. It allows people to connect as humans rather than just job titles.

Another idea about creating meaningful conversations is the idea of logistics and downplaying them. Whatever event you’re in logistics is an important part of it but don’t squander the opportunity for a powerful opening and closing statement that doesn’t involve car parking!

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About the Authors

Fumitake Koga, an award-winning professional writer and author, was born in 1973. He has released numerous bestselling works of business-related and general non-fiction. He encountered Adlerian psychology in his late twenties, and was deeply affected by its conventional wisdom-defying ideas. Thereafter, Koga made numerous visits to Ichiro Kishimi in Kyoto, gleaned from him the essence of Adlerian psychology, and took down the notes for the classical “dialogue format” method of Greek philosophy that is used in this book.

(Source: https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/general-books/self-help-

practical/The-Courage-to-be-Disliked-Ichiro-Kishimi-and-Fumitake-Koga-9781760630492)

About the Book

In this fable-style book, the core concepts of Adlerian psychology are explored and applied to everyday scenarios. It’s a huge bestseller in Asia, with over 3 million copies sold. The book is all about being the person you really want to be – by being less concerned with the opinions of others, your doubts or your past experiences. As more and more people seem to be paralysed in the limbo-land between their truest self and assumptions of others, this book provides refreshing alternative mindset and views. If you suffer with the need to please others, imposter syndrome, the joy-thief of comparison or a tendency to attribute your current situation to your previous experiences then this will provide a challenging and worthwhile perspective.

BIG IDEA 1 (2:56) - Denying determinism. This is the concept of denying trauma - even from awful life events - and recognising your have the choice on how to respond to it. For instance, just because something bad happened to you it doesn’t mean that your life will be bad as a result of it. We often see this in our own lives, or those around us today, but by denying the idea of determinism, we realize that our past does not determine our future.

In some cases, we behave in a certain way to achieve a goal or live according to other people’s view. One of the biggest points shared in this book is that most of us lack the courage to be happy - because it requires change. This is why some people choose to live a miserable or unhappy life because being happy requires challenging changes.

BIG IDEA 2 (6:24) - Own your tasks. Each one of us has our own tasks and we should not interfere with other people’s tasks. These three tasks are work, friendship and love. One of the most important ideas here is not looking for or seeking recognition from others - just focusing on your own tasks and our contribution to others/society.

If we need other people to interfere with us, recognize us or celebrate our achievement, we are worried about what other people think about us and not who we truly want to be.

BIG IDEA 3 (7:33) - All problems are all interpersonal relationship problems. Most interpersonal relationship problems (think comparison, jealousy, imposter syndrome, regret etc) are solved by first accepting yourself as you are. When we do not accept ourselves, sometimes this is used as an excuse to dislike or make assumptions about what others think.

The great idea here is that YOU are the only who is worried about you! If we think about it, when we are only worried about ourselves, we can do more of what we really want to do. One great quote shared in the book is “We cannot alter objective facts but subjective interpretations can be altered as one likes.” Most of the things around us are purely subjective, so if someone does not like something, it’s their opinion and doesn’t matter.

The book is very clear that is not about doing things that would purposely hurt others, but that the subjective opinions of others aren’t as important and defining as we often make them out to be.

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About the Author

Phil “Buck” Knight is an American businessman and philanthropist. A native of Oregon, he is the co-founder and current Chairman Emeritus of Nike, Inc., and previously served as chairman and CEO of the company.

As of August 2018, Knight was ranked by Forbes as the 28th richest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$34.7 billion. Knight is a graduate of the University of Oregon and Stanford Graduate School of Business.

He ran track under coach Bill Bowerman at the University of Oregon, with whom he would co-found Nike. A noted philanthropist, Knight has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to each of his Alma Maters, as well as Oregon Health &; Science University. In total, he has donated over $2 billion to the three institutions.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Knight

About the Book

Shoe Dog is the story of Nike. It’s the tale of a geeky track runner from Oregon (where nothing happens) who goes on a life changing trip around the world before returning home and shaping his career – first into a practicing accountant, then teaching before following his desires into a business that allowed him to combine his passion for running with his philosophy of work being fun (which he achieved by employing a number of his friends).

Before reading the book I knew very little about the origins of Nike and how for quite a long time, Phil Knight and the Nike team were US distributors for Onitsuka Tigers under the company name of Blue Ribbon Sports. In the book, Phil shares a lot on his personal philosophies, habits and values. Many of which formed his decision making over the years.

BIG IDEA 1 (4:03) – Work should be fun. Throughout his life and career choices, Phil used the philosophy of work being fun. This determined his career moves and important decisions between accounting, teaching and later in Blue Ribbon and Nike. He employed most of the people he loved whilst building Nike, which helped make work more fun for him. He was also doing work aligned to his passions; shoes and running.

BIG IDEA 2 (5:26) – A sense of adventure. Phil’s sense of adventure started when he traveled the world at 24. His travels taught him fundamental lessons and gave him experiences which he used throughout his life. It helped shape his values and sense of adventure which ultimately lead him to create Blue Ribbon and Nike. Phil applied his sense of adventure in decision making around the companies growth, which leads us to…

BIG IDEA 3 (6:29) – Just do it. This is about taking risks. He took the risks even during the challenges he faced whilst building Blue Ribbon and Nike; from working capital, sponsorship deals, supply, opening stores and growing the business (a regular manifesto from Phil was ‘grow or die’). This is about the idea that it is better to regret what you did rather than the things you didn’t do.

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These questions make ideal icebreakers, kick offs for team days, reflections for projects, additions to your weekly team meetings or simply topics of conversation to discuss over lunch.

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Visit www.stephsbusinessbookshelf.com for full shownotes and links to buy the books mentioned.

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About the Author

David Goggins is a retired Navy SEAL and is the only member of the U.S. Armed Forces to complete SEAL training (including two Hell Weeks), the U.S. Army Ranger School (where he graduated as Enlisted Honor Man) and Air Force Tactical Air Controller training.

An accomplished endurance athlete, Goggins has completed over 60 ultra-marathons, triathlons, and ultra-triathlons, setting new course records and regularly placing in the top five. He once held the Guinness World Record for pull-ups completing 4,030 in 17 hours, and he’s a sought after public speaker.

Over the years, he’s shared his story with hundreds of thousands of students across thecountry, numerous professional sports teams, and the staff at Fortune 500 companies. David chooses to run the toughest races and put himself through some of the hardest military training programs in the country for no other reason than to see what he’s made of.

For him, physical and mental suffering are a journey of self-discovery, no other experience makes him feel more clear, focused and alive.

(Source: https://davidgoggins.com/about/)

About the Book

David’s author bio gives a good overview of the book. The book is David’s life story from an abusive, poverty-filled childhood through his military experiences and how he turned his life sround to become the only man in history to complete elite training as a Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller. As that wasn’t enough he then went on to set records in numerous endurance events, inspiring Outside Magazine to name him “The Fittest (Real) Man in America.”

The book is packed with life lessons, reflections and realisations. There’s plenty of inspiration and ass-kicking included to move you towards whatever you want to do – from fitness to career to business - and his 40% rule is one that has floated around my mind a lot since reading the book. More on that later.

BIG IDEA 1 (2:40) - Anyone can do anything. David’s belief in life is that you are only limited by your own belief in yourself. In his 40% rule he explains that people only use 40% of their true potential, which means there is a huge percentage of our capabilities being wasted.

Another big idea that David shared is that we need to get past and push through our fears. We are capable of so much more than we think we are and to ‘break’ the 40% rule we need to identify whether our fears are physical, mental, emotional or psychological.

He shares the concept of ‘callousing your mind’ - to callous your mind the same way you do your hands when you lift weights. He used this metaphor to toughen up his mind to be able to face more challenging situations in life.

BIG IDEA 2 (3:54)- Talent is not required. David credits his success to dedication and consistency - not talent. He had this realisation when he did his first 100 mile race. He looked around and saw that those who were doing a lot better than him were not those who he would think could win, showing it was a battle of the mind rather than the body.

BIG IDEA 3 (4:50) - Be uncommon amongst uncommon. Find a higher talent to compete with or a bigger goal. This is about going beyond what you think is your ultimate success, keep finding other people who are doing better than you as use that as a yardstick. When David achieved his goal of getting into the SEALs, he still kept training in the same way - even though others told him he could relax as he’d ‘made it’. Being in an elite unit wasn’t enough, he wanted to be even more elite. He was dedicated, consistent and kept looking for that next challenge. He was looking to be uncommon amongst uncommon.

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For full show notes, tweetable and 'grammable quotes, useful links and more visit www.stephsbusinessbookshelf.com

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About the Author

Dr. Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston where she holds the Huffington Foundation – Brené Brown Endowed Chair at The Graduate College of Social Work.

She has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy and is the author of five #1 New York Times bestsellers: The Gifts of Imperfection, Daring Greatly, Rising Strong, Braving the Wilderness, and her latest book, Dare to Lead, which is the culmination of a seven-year study on courage and leadership.

Brené’s TED talk – The Power of Vulnerability – is one of the top five most viewed TED talks in the world with over 35 million views.

Brené lives in Houston, Texas with her husband, Steve, and their children, Ellen and Charlie.

(Source: https://brenebrown.com/media-kit/)

About the Book

She builds on her previous work on empathy vs sympathy, shame vs guilt and vulnerability vs oversharing to bring them into a leadership and workplace context.

Brene shares multiple examples of ‘tough crowds’ she’s worked with, from those in military uniforms to those in corporate suits, and made the concepts real to them in their organisations.

Because ultimately we’re all just people, people, people.

BIG IDEA 1 (2:32) - Empathy connects us. A vital part of empathy is curiosity. You don’t have to have to experienced the same exact scenario to be empathetic with someone. Everyone of us has experience so many emotions in our life , whether we are aware of it or not, we’ve all experienced loss, grief, embarrassment, shame or guilt. Through curiosity we can connect with people.

Brene also makes a point that empathy is the antidote of shame because when we become empathetic, we remove shame.

BIG IDEA 2 (4:51) - Grounded confidence. This is not being ‘big headed’ but knowing what you are capable of, come back to that, reflect and move forward. It is also self compassion; knowing you are enough and taking away the judgement of yourself. When you have the confidence to know how you feel in a certain situation, then you’ll be able to move forward.

BIG IDEA 3 (6:12) - Rumbling with vulnerability. This is about embracing the suck because there’s no courage without vulnerability. Brene’s work shows that vulnerability is not about gratuitous oversharing but about putting yourself out there in such a way the you may be subject to criticism or challenge. Which might suck. Opening yourself that allows you to be brave by showing courage; and courage creates more courage.

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LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/steph-clarke

Instagram: @stephsbizbookshelf

Twitter: @steph_clarke__

For full show notes, affiliate links to buy the book and tweetable and 'grammable quotes, useful links and more visit www.stephsbusinessbookshelf.com

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About the Author

Atul Gawande, MD, MPH, is a surgeon, writer, and public health leader. He is CEO of the

non-profit-seeking health care venture formed by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and

JPMorgan Chase to deliver better outcomes, satisfaction, and cost efficiency in care.

He practices general and endocrine surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He is a

professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard T.H. Chan

School of Public Health and the Samuel O. Thier Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical

School.

He is the founding executive director and chairman of Ariadne Labs, a joint center for health

systems innovation, and chairman of Lifebox, a nonprofit organization making surgery safer

Globally.

Atul has been a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine since 1998 and has written four

New York Times bestsellers: Complications, Better, The Checklist Manifesto, and Being

Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End.

He is the winner of two National Magazine Awards, AcademyHealth’s Impact Award for

highest research impact on healthcare, a MacArthur Fellowship, and the Lewis Thomas

Award for writing about science.

(Source: http://atulgawande.com/about/)

About the Book

The Checklist Manifesto is a book about how the most complex and complicated scenarios

can be better managed with the structured approach of the simple (but powerful) checklist.

It includes examples from operating rooms, flight decks, hurricane recoveries, kitchens and

construction sites.

As life and work gets more challenging and specialised, this book documents the practical

journey Atul and his team went on to develop a safe surgery checklist to reduce potentially

fatal errors in operating theatres which was adopted in hospitals around the world.

Ultimately the message is one of humility; no matter how experienced or clever you are,

there is always a need for a process and a checklist to aid your own judgement.

BIG IDEA 1 (3:30) - Checklist helps save lives and money better than humans. In the ICU having a checklist helps avoid complications on 178 actions for a typical patient per day. In an environment that can be stressful, a checklist helps systematize the process.

In investment, a checklist is very important in decision making. It helps people make more balance decision without having their emotion get in the way the can cloud the judgement. Important and critical moments should have a checklist to be systems driven and consistent.

In this age of complexity, the checklist helps us keep things in check.

BIG IDEA 2 (5:23) - How to checklist. You need to check the checklist with different teams and cultures; know what is important and make sure the language is clear. Confusion can arise if the language is too complicated, too wordy or if there aren’t enough words because it’s too concise.

Two types of checklist are read/do checklist and the do/confirm checklist. Both types of checklist if well-defined and and well-designed will change the communication of the team in a scenario.

In designing a checklist it’s important to have the pause point to make sure that there are clear points where the checklist is deployed and clear stages in a process. Vitally, it’s important to know everyone’s role related to the checklist. Which brings us to...

BIG IDEA 3 (7:47) - Don't let the leaders run the checklist. For someone who have been doing something for years, ego can get in the way, for having to use a checklist. Know who’s role it is to run the checklist and don’t let that be the leader. While the leader doesn’t run the checklist, their judgement and experience that comes with time allows leaders to use them in a better, more structured way whilst reducing human errors.

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Music: Hyrule by Theevs Music

Let's Connect

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/steph-clarke

Instagram: @stephsbizbookshelf

For full show notes, tweetable and 'grammable quotes, useful links and more visit www.stephsbusinessbookshelf.com

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Welcome to Steph's Business Bookshelf.

About the Podcast

Steph (Chief Bookworm) will share the three ‘big ideas’ Steph took from the books she read along with how she has implemented the lessons and actions from the authors in her own life.

About Steph

Steph Clarke is a facilitator, team coach and a leadership development professional hailing from the UK but calling Australia home since 2014. Steph created this podcast to share what she learned from different books she’s read and how to build a consistent reading habit. She’s a lifelong bookworm and came ‘back’ to reading in 2018 after attending a workshop and reflecting on the question ‘what is your inner child doing?’. This podcast is a way of her sharing what she’s learnt with more people - like you.

How to build a reading habit

BIG IDEA 1 (4:09): Setting a Goal. Setting a goal to create a reading habit is important. Steph’s ideal goal was to read each evening for 30 minutes but she also used an incremental, or minimum, goal of 1% or 5 minutes. This tiny, manageable goal is what creates the all-important element of consistency helps you not to break the chain and continue on the momentum of building the daily habit of reading.

BIG IDEA 2 (5:10): Find Cracks of Time. You can also use the cracks of time to build your reading habit by bringing your Kindle with you and reading in those cracks of time. Start reading during lunch time, breaks, commutes, whilst waiting for the doctor, in queues...

BIG IDEA 3 (5:48): Use Your Phone’s Screen Time or Night Time Mode. This iOS feature allows you shutdown your phone at your desired time for reading. One side benefit of this reading habit is improving your sleep - two birds with one productive stone. James Clear’s book ‘Atomic Habits’ (which will be talked about in a future episode) talked a lot about habit building the importance of creating the right environment - including effective use of technology.

Music: Rainbow by Raw

Let's Connect

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/steph-clarke

Instagram: @stephsbizbookshelf

For full show notes, tweetable and 'grammable quotes, useful links and more visit www.stephsbusinessbookshelf.com

Enjoying the podcast?

Please hit subscribe so you don't miss an episode and leave a review on iTunes to help others find us.

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Steph's Business Bookshelf