Hannah Aster, Author at Shortform Books

The One-Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard: Book Overview

Managing people doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. Ken Blanchard’s The One-Minute Manager proves that effective leadership can be simple, fast, and powerful. The book — and its updated version The New One-Minute Manager — introduce three core techniques that help managers bring out the best in their teams: goal setting, praising, and redirects. Each one takes just a minute but creates lasting impact. Keep reading to see how these strategies work and why they’re so effective.

Stop Putting Things Off: Your Future Self Is Still You

Why do we assume we’ll be more inclined to do something tomorrow that we didn’t want to do today? Why do we see our future selves as different people? Research shows that you see your future self as a completely different person. This makes you procrastinate on your goals because you assume that future-you will pick up the slack. Here are some tips on how to stop seeing your future self as another person.

Analytical Reading: Developing Your Own Views

What are the four components of analytical reading? What is the goal of reading a book analytically? Mortimer Adler’s How to Read a Book describes analytical reading as the third level of reading. At this level, the aim is to understand to book and its background as much as possible in an unlimited amount of time. Keep reading to learn about the four components of analytical reading.

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Discussion Questions

Are you looking to further your understanding of Amusing Ourselves to Death? How can you relate this thirty-six-year-old book to life today? Thirty-six years ago, Neil Postman wrote Amusing Ourselves to Death to warn society of a looming future like Brave New World. Postman believed that entertainment value would become more important than truth or intelligence. Continue reading for Amusing Ourselves to Death discussion questions.

The New One-Minute Manager: The 3 Core Principles

What lessons can you learn from Ken Blanchard’s book The New One-Minute Manager? How can you get the most out of your employees? The New One-Minute Manager teaches three core principles: one-minute goals, one-minute praisings, and one-minute redirects. You’ll learn how empowering your employees motivates them to work harder. Continue below for a brief overview of The New One-Minute Manager‘s core lessons.

How Body Responses Sabotage Your Willpower

How do your natural body responses affect willpower? How can you turn your fight-or-flight response into a pause-and-plan response? Body responses such as the fight-or-flight response were great in the Stone Age, but not so great for our self-control. These impulses that were designed to save your life tend to kick in at the worst times—like when you’re on a diet and your body says that you need that fresh-baked cookie. Luckily, there are ways to fight these natural body responses and take the control back.

Why You Should Keep Your Goals to Yourself

Do you feel excited when you set big goals for yourself? Do you share your goals with others to keep yourself accountable? Research shows that when you share your goals with others, your brain feels the pleasure of this accomplishment even as you speak the words—you don’t even have to put in the effort of following through. Counterintuitively, since you already felt the pleasure of going, it makes you lose motivation to actually go. This is why you should keep your goals to yourself until you accomplish them.

Inspectional Reading: Understanding Key Points

How can inspectional reading help you comprehend a book better? How do you read inspectionally? Mortimer Adler’s book How to Read a Book describes inspectional reading as the second level of reading. At this level, a reader can understand the main concepts of the book by skimming it and reading its high-level content. Learn how you can understand a book in just 15 minutes with inspectional reading.

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Quotes by Neil Postman

What are the best Amusing Ourselves to Death quotes by Neil Postman? Do Postman’s observations from 1985 still hold true today? Although Postman’s book Amusing Ourselves to Death was published over thirty years ago, the messages still hold true today, if not more than ever. Postman warns us of a world that is more focused on entertainment than truth and value. Continue reading for some of Neil Postman’s quotes from Amusing Ourselves to Death.

The 3 Kinds of Managers: Tough, Nice, and One-Minute

How does Ken Blanchard describe the three kinds of managers? What sets a one-minute manager apart from nice and tough managers? In his book The New One-Minute Manager, Ken Blanchard discusses the three kinds of managers: tough, nice, and one-minute managers. One-minute managers instill confidence in their employees and are experts at time management. Keep reading to learn more about the three kinds of managers.