The World's Best Book Summaries
What is a hiring plan? Why do you need to have one for your business? A hiring plan helps you determine what roles you need to fill in your company. Once you’ve done that, you need to begin interviewing candidates. Read below to learn how to create a hiring plan by interviewing potential job candidates.
How important are location and timing in business? Are they a built-in advantage for you? If you’re in the right place at the right time, you have a leg up over the competition. Location and timing are unfair advantages identified in the book The Unfair Advantage by entrepreneurs Ash Ali and Hasan Kubba. The authors discuss potential drawbacks of good location and timing, how to know if location and timing are your unfair advantage in particular, and how to improve and make the most of your location and timing. Let’s take a closer look at this unfair advantage.
What are the disadvantages of big data? At what point does data get in the way? In Everybody Lies, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz warns that good data science isn’t just a matter of amassing a giant data set. When working with data, he says it’s important to keep data’s shortcomings in mind and not lose sight of the bigger picture. Read more so you can be aware of big data’s disadvantages.
How you can keep your work team’s performance high? What is the most effective way to coach your team? In The Making of a Manager, Julie Zhuo emphasizes the importance of building trust with your team by coaching them. To do this in the best way possible, you need to demonstrate that you care and give or request feedback. Let’s look at Zhuo’s advice for coaching your team to victory.
If you want to succeed with your startup, what must you believe to be true? What should you value? According to entrepreneurs Ash Ali and Hasan Kubba, your mindset determines your level of motivation and your ability to set ambitious but realistic goals. If you lack the right mindset, any action you take is less likely to succeed. We’ll look at two main aspects of the right mindset Ali and Kubba describe: first, believing that both hard work and luck matter, and, second, knowing your purpose. Keep reading to learn more about the optimal startup mindset.
Are your business meetings productive? How can you get the most out of your meetings? According to Julie Zhuo in The Making of a Manager, a core function great managers perform to facilitate great outcomes is running productive meetings. Meetings take up a large portion of company time, so it’s essential to extract maximum value when people come together. Continue reading to learn how to run an effective meeting.
What are the dangers of big data? How do businesses use data to exploit their customers? In Everybody Lies, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz warns that big data can easily lend itself to exploitative practices by businesses and by governments. They do this by making inappropriate assumptions about individuals. Continue reading for more details about the dangers of big data.
What can networking do for you and your business? What’s particularly powerful about networks of three? In Tribal Leadership, authors Dave Logan, Halee Fischer-Wright, and John King explain how tribes develop through stages. At Stage 4, a tribal leader deliberately cultivates relationships with potential tribe members. The authors discuss three-part relationships (triads) in particular, identifying three main benefits: They’re stable, they’re easily expanded, and they enable creativity. Keep reading to learn about the importance of networking in business, the Tribal Leadership way.
Why do some startups skyrocket to success and others fail? Better ideas? More money? Good timing? The Unfair Advantage (book by entrepreneurs Ash Ali and Hasan Kubba) explains that founders of successful startups exploit their unfair advantages, the qualities or conditions that give them an edge over competitors. There are many types of unfair advantages, and everyone has at least one, according to the authors. To achieve startup success, you just need to find and use your unfair advantages to fuel business growth. Keep reading for an overview of the book and see what you can apply to your own
How should you go about creating a business strategy? How do you make sure that your strategy is worth committing time and money to? Tribal Leadership authors Dave Logan, Halee Fischer-Wright, and John King contend that creating a values-aligned business strategy is vital as you work to unite your tribe. To develop your strategy, you must have three specific discussions with your tribe. Also, your strategy must pass three tests if it’s to be complete. Read more for Tribal Leadership advice on how to create a business strategy.