Shortform Books

Blowout: Book Overview & Takeaways (Rachel Maddow)

What is Rachel Maddow’s book Blowout about? What shocking revelations does she share? In Blowout, journalist and MSNBC commentator Rachel Maddow aims to expose the corruption and exploitation underlying the oil and gas industry. Ultimately, she argues that only full transparency and strict environmental regulation can protect the planet from devastating accidents and corporate greed. Here’s an overview of the book Blowout, including Maddow’s advice for the world.

Patrick McKeown: Breathing Too Much Can Ruin Your Life

Why is breathing too much a problem? How does Patrick McKeown explain the cycle of excessive breathing? According to Patrick McKeown, breathing can become an issue if you do too much of it. His book The Oxygen Advantage says that modern living conditions cause the average person to breathe too much, which can lead to weight gain, mental health problems, and more. Keep reading to learn how taking in too much oxygen can ultimately backfire on you.

Why a Continuous Improvement Culture Is Necessary in Business

5 Steps to Practicing Empathy in the Workplace

What is a continuous improvement culture? Why should IT departments deliberately introduce faults and design flaws into the production line? In their book The Phoenix Project, Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford stress the importance of continuous growth in a company. Without growth and the ability to make mistakes, the workplace becomes toxic and stagnant. Here’s how and why you should create a culture of continuous improvement in your company, IT or not.

How to Get Advice From Your Professional Network

Has your career come to a halt? Where you can find advice that is worthwhile? Making a change in your career is a big step, and having other people’s insight can help you navigate tricky decisions. In The Startup of You, Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha suggest looking for advice within your professional network because those people may have gone through the same thing. Here’s how to get advice that is worth your time and will get you the best results.

Unleash the Power of Storytelling: Book Overview & Takeaways

Why does a good story need cause and effect? How much should you put into the beginning of your story? Why does your company need its own story? Everybody knows what a story is. But few of us really understand why stories work or how they can make us better at communicating. In Unleash the Power of Storytelling: Win Hearts, Change Minds, Get Results, Rob Biesenbach breaks a story down into its fundamental pieces. Read more to learn how you can use storytelling to make any message more engaging and compelling.

Why You Must Discuss Future Family Plans in a Relationship

Do you have future family plans? When should you discuss having a baby with your partner? Whether you’re in a new relationship or a long-term one, it’s crucial to discuss future family plans with your partner. If you aren’t on the same page about having children or what your family would look like, then it’s better to know early on. Read below to learn how to bring up future family plans on a date with your partner.

How to Improve a Skill: 3 Strategies for Skilling Up

The 25 Cognitive Biases: Use-It-or-Lose-It Tendency

What would you like to know how to do well? What would you try if you had a plan to succeed? You could have the best ideas in the world, but they’d amount to nothing without execution. Implementation takes skills, and Ron Friedman shares three strategies for developing skills: practice effectively, track your progress, and mitigate your risks while experimenting and innovating. Read more to learn how to improve a skill and, ultimately, implement your ideas.

How Is Food Produced? Why We Rely on Fossil Fuels for Food

How is food produced? How has food production changed over time? Can we reduce our reliance on fossil fuels to produce food? Vaclav Smil says that modern methods of food production have improved the quality of life for millions. But, it comes at the cost of burning huge quantities of fossil fuels. He discusses the history of food production as well as the role fossil fuels play in producing the food we eat. Keep reading to learn how food production works.

How to Become the Person You Want to Be: 4 Steps to a New You

Do you like to imagine yourself as different in some way? What if you could create and travel a path toward your ideal self? In Think Big, behavioral science expert Grace Lordan argues that most of us fail to transform our lives because we try to change too much too quickly. Instead, we must set a big goal, acknowledge that achieving it will take a few years, and then take the regular, small steps necessary to achieve it. Continue reading to learn how to become the person you want to be.

How to Raise Your Consciousness: Choose Power, Not Force

Why is suffering connected to lower levels of consciousness? Why aren’t there any emotions associated with the highest level of consciousness? By raising your consciousness level, you can connect to the universal consciousness and glean its insights. Further, the higher you raise your consciousness level, the happier you’ll be, and the more you’ll contribute to the world. Read on to learn how to raise your consciousness and create positive outcomes for both yourself and others.