The World's Best Book Summaries
What is the threshold effect? How does it apply to intelligence and, ultimately, success in life? Geniuses are outliers—they are outside the norm when it comes to intelligence. Higher intelligence certainly can lead to greater success. However, differences in achievement based on intelligence level out at some point. This is the threshold effect. Read more to learn about the threshold effect in relation to intelligence and success.
What does it mean to redirect children’s behavior? What three strategies can you use to teach your child to behave appropriately? The book No-Drama Discipline explains the three steps to properly discipline your child. Step three is all about teaching (or redirecting) your child’s behavior. The authors provide three methods for doing this: notice—don’t criticize, create a dialogue, and try a conditional “yes.” Here is how to teach your child to follow the rules.
What is the difference between traditional forms of discipline and drama-free discipline? Is punishing your child the same as disciplining them? In their book No-Drama Discipline, Siegel and Bryson believe that many parents misunderstand discipline to mean punishment. However, discipline should be about strengthening their growing brains and forming bonds. Here is the difference between punishment and drama-free discipline.
What is the availability bias? How do you curb the availability heuristic bias? The availability bias is the tendency to over-inflate the value of information that is recently available and ignore other important data that would have helped in making a better decision. You can curb this tendency by always using a methodical decision-making process. Read on to learn more about the availability bias.
What does John Kotter say about managing change? How is leading change similar to a team sport? Why is it so important to properly support developing leaders? According to John Kotter, change management is a team effort and should not all fall on one individual. This is because many organizations are interdependent, and a change in one department could dramatically affect another one. Here’s what Kotter says about managing change in an organization.
What are soft sciences? What is the problem with social sciences? Soft sciences are academic disciplines that seek to interpret human and societal behavior using qualitative analysis for which strictly measurable criteria may be impossible to establish. The problem with soft sciences is that the desire to achieve the level of precision in hard science has led to excessive complexity and the overuse of statistical models that ignore real elements of human behavior such as biases and vices. Read on to learn more about the problems with soft sciences and how they can be fixed.
What is the importance of continuous learning to success in life? What is the right way to learn? The ability of voracious readers to see the world differently and to constantly develop solutions to complex problems affirms the importance of continuous learning. To succeed in life, you need to spend each day trying to be smarter than when you woke up. The best way to learn is to figure things out yourself instead of being spoon-fed information that has been modified to suit the machinations of others. Read on to discover more about the importance of continuous learning.
Why should you build a latticework of mental models? Can mental models help you deal with your cognitive biases? Building a latticework of mental models will help you become a versatile problem solver. You will use multidisciplinary learning to combine ideas across different disciplines to find solutions. Mental models will also help you recognize the psychological biases that could influence you, leading to better decision-making. Read on to discover how to build your own latticework of mental models.
What are the three slow learning strategies from Daniel Epstein’s book Range? Why are these strategies more effective than the traditional learning methods? In his book Range, Epstein describes three effective learning strategies: the generation effect, the spacing effect, and interleaving. All three of these methods would be considered slow and difficult learning methods because they require time and analysis rather than memorization and cramming. Keep reading to learn about Epstein’s three most effective learning strategies.
Why is it better to experiment with different skills and hobbies rather than mastering one specialty? What is the importance of transferable skills? The traditional way of thinking says that it’s best to choose one specialty and focus your efforts on mastering it. However, according to David Epstein, the author of Range, it’s actually better to have a broad range of transferrable skills than one specialist skill. Here is why broad experience is better than specializing.