The World's Best Book Summaries
Do you need to generate new ideas for a project? Are you feeling stuck, wondering where the next idea will come from? Even Disney’s world-class creative teams struggle sometimes. During the production of Frozen, they ran up against problems. The solution was to generate new ideas. Read more to discover the techniques that the Frozen creative team used to generate new ideas.
What are one-minute praisings? How do you give a one-minute praising? What are the benefits of giving immediate feedback? In the book The New One-Minute Manager, a one-minute praising is when you provide immediate, detailed, and personal feedback to your employees. Most managers focus on reprimanding employees when they make mistakes but not enough managers look for things to praise. This is why you should focus on what you’re employees do well rather than on their mistakes.
Have you read the Smarter Faster Better book by Charles Duhigg? Do you know its eight principles for improving productivity? The Smarter Faster Better book explores ways to boost personal and workplace productivity. It outlines how to build a productive team and combine different types of goals. It also tells how the makers of Disney’s Frozen avoided box-office disaster by innovating productively. Read more for a brief introduction to the Smarter Faster Better book.
How good are you at setting effective goals? Do you know how to set SMART goals? In Smarter Faster Better, Charles Duhigg discusses how setting effective goals contributes to productivity. He outlines the elements and benefits of SMART goals. He also provides interesting examples from history to illustrate how setting effective goals can make a difference. Read on to learn about setting effective goals—particularly how to set SMART goals.
How does team trust factor into the infinite mindset? What are the main tell-tale signs that the team members in your organization trust one another? According to Simon Sinek, trusting teams are the second part of developing what he calls “the infinite mindset.” A trusting team is a team made up of people who feel safe around each other—safe expressing their feelings, asking for help, talking about problems, and admitting to mistakes. Here is what team trust looks like in an organization and what happens when it’s missing.
How can you use your talents and gifts to their fullest? What if you can’t find a career that plays to your talents? What are the barriers that get in the way of using your talents? In a society where prestige and money are valued, it can be tempting to choose a career that makes you look good rather than one that uses your talents and makes you happy. That’s why using your talents is the ninth guidepost for Wholehearted living. Learn why using your talents will bring you more happiness than
Do you suffer from work-related anxiety? What exact aspects of your job provoke anxious feelings? Work-related anxiety is a common problem—to-do lists become overwhelming, dead-end jobs feel frustrating, and competition breeds insecurity. Finding a way to enjoy your work can reduce your boredom and worry and increase your energy. Here are three actionable ways to get a handle on your work worries.
What is a commitment culture, and what difference can it make in your organization? How can you build one and foster its growth? In Smarter Faster Better, Charles Duhigg includes a culture of commitment on his list of ingredients for productivity. He explains what it is and discusses its benefits. Duhigg also outlines steps you can take to build a commitment culture and provides a real-world example so you can see it in action. Read on to learn more about commitment culture.
Why is it important to balance work, rest, and play? How can you overcome the pressure to be productive? In her book The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown explains that embracing rest and play is a crucial part of living Wholeheartedly. Refusing to engage in play and rest can lead to depression and has been linked to serious health conditions. Learn why you should leave “hustle culture” behind and learn to balance work, rest, and play.
Are we living in the age of a knowledge worker? What type of work is considered “knowledge work”? Knowledge workers as those who use the knowledge acquired through formal education to produce results—in other words, people who think for a living. According to Peter Drucker, knowledge workers are, in effect, executives because, whether or not they supervise others, they make the same types of decisions as managers as opposed to following orders. Read about the rise of the knowledge worker and its implications for the economy at large.