The World's Best Book Summaries
What can you learn by examining examples of change? Can you copy success to make your own way? When you want to make changes, you should seek out examples of change to see what works and what doesn’t. Success stories are not only inspiring, they’re instructive. Copy success when you find it. Read more to learn how to seek out examples of change and put them to work for you.
What is intrinsic motivation? How does the intrinsic drive compare to extrinsic rewards when it comes to performance? Intrinsic motivation is a desire to do something for internal satisfaction, not for external rewards. External rewards (e.g. financial compensation) enhance performance in the short term, while intrinsic motivation is more enduring—it doesn’t decay as external rewards do. In this article, we’ll look at the psychology of intrinsic motivation, and the role of intrinsic rewards in performance enhancement.
What is Daniel Pink’s motivation theory? Why is the reward-and-punishment motivation approach no longer effective? In his book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel Pink argues that in today’s complex society, the conventional, reward-and-punishment approach to motivation (what he calls Motivation 2.0) is no longer effective because the demands of work have shifted from rote to intelligent and creative. In this new world, companies need to identify people who are self-motivated, and they need to understand how to avoid crushing this spirit. In this article, we’ll look at why Motivation 2.0 is limited in motivating the modern
What causes work-related depression? How can the problem be fixed? Work-related depression happens when people are stuck with a job where they feel underappreciated and miserable. It can be fixed by providing employees with fair wages, greater control, reasonable hours, and job security. Read on to learn more about work-related depression.
How important is a teamwork culture in your organization? What do qualities do you look for when hiring for your teams? What do you think makes a good team player? Many leaders and organizations say they want teamwork, but they can’t define what they mean by a team player or prioritize identifying team players in their hiring process. Patrick Lencioni wrote The Ideal Team Player to answer this very question: what makes a good team player? In this article, you’ll learn about the three qualities of a team player, according to author Patrick Lencioni.
Do you resist change? Do you take a long time to plan and scheme, but when it comes to taking action, you back off? Too often we fail to activate change because we are stuck in thinking mode. We analyze and rationalize, and we get mired in too many details and options. Fortunately, we can learn to get out of paralysis and into action—motivating change in ourselves and others. Here are three ways to motivate change, get unstuck, and spark action.
Why do some people earn more than others? What factors determine a person’s pay? Labor—people’s time, energy, knowledge, and skills—is a scarce resource. Just like any other resource, pricing labor allocates scarce resources that have alternative uses. For example, paying engineers higher salaries than artists shifts people’s time toward engineering, where their output to society may be larger. In this article, we’ll discuss what determines a person’s pay and why salary inequality is the case.
Do you know how to reach your goals strategically and effectively? What steps should you take? You won’t reach your goals unless you line up the dominoes to connect the present to the future. Strategic thinking, or breaking down the process for achieving a big goal into steps, is critical for getting where you want to go. Just as dominoes fall one at a time, your focus should be on doing one thing at a time. Keep reading to learn how to reach your goals with this winning strategy.
How do you practically implement the principles of The One Thing by Gary Keller? What difference could it make for your success? In The One Thing, Gary Keller argues that the key to extraordinary success is focusing daily on the “One Thing” that’s most important for achieving your goal, rather than scattering yourself in many directions. When you know and focus exclusively on the most important thing every day, everything else falls into place. Keep reading to learn how to implement the principles in The One Thing by Gary Keller.
Thinking about reading Deep Work by Cal Newport but want to know more about the book first? How was the book received when it came out? Do Newport’s methods work? Cal Newport’s book Deep Work teaches rules that readers can use to optimize their days and become more productive. His method is to split your day into chunks of time and to learn to focus on a single task at a time. This Deep Work review takes a look at the book’s context, background, and critical reception