Elizabeth Whitworth, Author at Shortform Books

How to Change Your Perspective: Rising Above Your Circumstances

Do you have a distorted view of reality? How would you think, behave, and make decisions if knew what was real? To live a happier and more fulfilling life, you must anchor yourself in the real world in the long term by developing your rationality—the ability to think clearly, see things as they are, and make decisions based on reality rather than emotions. Robert Greene explains how your perspective can link up with reality. Read more for Greene’s advice on how to change your perspective and see things as they truly are.

Innovation Time: Encouraging Innovation in the Workplace

How to Have an Effective Strategic Discussion

When you’re at work, do you have time to develop ideas? How effective is “innovation time”? In Where Good Ideas Come From, best-selling author Steven Johnson explains how good ideas grow from minor inklings to groundbreaking inventions. He shows how you can use this knowledge to come up with the best ideas possible, and he discusses how to encourage innovation in the workplace. Read more to learn about workplace innovation time.

3 Ways to Deal With People Who Waste Your Time

Do certain people drain you of energy and keep you from getting things done? After being around them, do you feel like your time was wasted? Your time is limited and precious. So, you must say “no” to some things—and some people—if you’re going to get on with accomplishing what matters in life. In Someday Is Today, Matthew Dicks shares a few strategies to help you avoid being distracted and drained by unhealthy relationships. Continue reading for three practical recommendations on how to deal with people who waste your time.

How to Be a Great Manager: Guiding People & Decisions Well

Do you tend to micromanage people? How should the type of decision impact the way you make a decision? What’s the best way to win over your company’s leadership? Entrepreneur Tony Fadell’s book Build is part career encyclopedia and part memoir. He draws on his years of entrepreneurial and corporate leadership to provide insights that can help you manage people and decisions more effectively. Keep reading to learn Fadell’s advice on how to be a great manager, which can be valuable regardless of where you are on your career path.

A Birthplace of Invention: What We Learn From Our Mistakes

What famous inventions resulted from mistakes? How do errors impact your thinking? Best-selling author and theorist Steven Johnson explores where good ideas come from. One source might surprise you: errors. Johnson explains that, when we learn from our mistakes, we often find ourselves in exciting new territory. Continue reading to learn how mistakes can lead to new ideas.

How to Be a Good CEO: Advice From Entrepreneur Tony Fadell

How does a CEO impact every level of the organization? What should a CEO’s attitude be toward other companies? How should you go about selling or merging your company? In his book Build, serial entrepreneur Tony Fadell offers advice for succeeding in every stage of your career, whether you’re just starting out or a CEO. He draws on his experience as CEO at Nest and Build Collective as well as the journey he took to get to the top. Continue reading to learn Fadell’s advice on how to be a good CEO.

How to Be Well-Rounded: Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket

If you embrace the idea that it’s okay to change your mind, what might you say “yes” to now? Could you be missing out on golden opportunities because you’re too focused on one thing? Matthew Dicks wants you to reach your full potential so you can become as successful as possible, as soon as possible. In Someday Is Today: 22 Simple Actionable Ways to Propel Your Creative Life, he warns that you might be closing yourself off from your potential if you’re not living a well-rounded life. Read more to learn how to be well-rounded and maximize life’s opportunities.

Limitless Mind: Jo Boaler Challenges Us to Rethink Learning

What if everything you know about learning was wrong? How would you approach learning differently, even at this point in your life? In Limitless Mind, Jo Boaler explains how neuroscience research has overturned our age-old beliefs about how learning works. She argues that it’s time we throw off the false limits imposed by others, ourselves, and outdated models of education. Continue reading for an overview of this book that’s likely to change the way you think about learning.

How Do People Learn? What Earlier Research Got Wrong

How do people learn? What’s encouraging about the latest science? Neuroscientists have discovered that the brain has much more capacity for development than was believed in the past and that many of the ideas on which the traditional education paradigm is based are flat-out wrong. Math educator Jo Boaler shares some research that gives us all hope. Keep reading to discover what we now know about how people learn.

What Is Exaptation? Examples in Biology, Art, & Society

What is exaptation? How can it be applied in practical ways outside of biology? Exaptation is the use of a tool or trait in a context that’s different from the one it was originally intended for. In Where Good Ideas Come From, best-selling author and theorist Steven Johnson provides a few examples of exaptation and shows how it can lead to novel ideas outside of biology. Read more to learn about exaptations, particularly in the context of innovation.