Darya Sinusoid

Darya’s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain/mind/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.

How to Recognize a Bad Strategy in Business

How does one tell a bad strategy from a good one? What are the signs that your business is operating under a misguided strategy? According to author and UCLA management professor Richard Rumelt, there are four elements that can signal a misguided strategy: 1) fluff, 2) failure to identify the challenge, 3) conflation of goals with strategy, and 4) misguided strategic objectives. The effects of bad strategy can be seen in everything from the failures of corporations to the poor performance of our educational system. Keep reading to examine four elements that can create a misguided strategy.

The Role of Attitude in Conflict Resolution

How do you approach conflict? Are you the kind of person who resolves conflicts peacefully or drags them out? Your attitude in conflictual situations plays a crucial role in the final outcomes. According to the Arbinger Institute—a leading consultant in conflict resolution, mindset change, and leadership training since 1979—a person who finds themselves in constant conflict embodies what they call a “combative mindset”—a conflict attitude characterized by self-focused viewpoints that lead them to worsen conflict instead of cooperating to resolve it. In this article, we’ll examine the combative mindset, how it makes conflict worse, and the biases that lead people

Diabetes: Causes and Prevention Measures

What causes diabetes? How does diabetes develop in the body? Diabetes is a chronic condition associated with abnormally high levels of glucose in the blood. Insulin produced by the pancreas lowers blood glucose. Absence or insufficient production of insulin, or an inability of the body to properly use insulin causes diabetes. Keep reading to learn about the two types of diabetes, causes, and prevention methods.

The Ultimate Guide to Feedback in the Workplace

Do you have a feedback system at your organization? Do you feel like your employees take on the feedback provided by senior management? There’s no such thing as a perfect feedback system for any given organization. Every system will have tradeoffs. It will work well for some, be adequate for others, and be poorly suited to still others. There are some things you can do, though, to give your chosen system the best shot at success. In this article, we’ll examine these techniques through three perspectives: 1) senior leadership and HR, 2) team leaders and coaches, and 3) receivers.

The Healthiest Spices and Herbs to Use in Your Cooking

Do herbs and spices have benefits beyond their culinary use? What are some of the healthiest herbs and spices to use? Herbs and spices have been hailed for their healing properties well before their culinary use. Further, their health benefits have been corroborated by dozens of scientific studies. Here are some of the healthiest spices and herbs to use in your cooking.

Arkad: The Story of the Richest Man in Babylon

Who is Arkad from The Richest Man in Babylon? What is his role in the story? How did Arkad go from a poor scribe to a wealthy merchant? Arkad is a fictional character from George S. Clason’s 1926 compilation of pamphlets titled The Richest Man in Babylon. He is the medium through which Clason imparts his advice on acquiring wealth. In the book, Arkad, who started his wealth journey as a poor scribe and ended up becoming a successful merchant, teaches the secrets of wealth to locals who come to him to learn how to stop struggling financially and become

Ego Is the Enemy: Book Review (Ryan Holiday)

Is Ryan Holiday’s Ego Is the Enemy worth reading? Why does Holiday argue that ego kills success notwithstanding the fact that many successful people are famously egotistical? In Ego Is the Enemy, Ryan Holiday defines ego as an unhealthy belief in one’s own importance that goes beyond mere confidence He notes that many successful people are famously egotistical, and he contends that as a result, society tends to think that ego is an important ingredient in success as if ego leads to accomplishment. However, Holiday argues that ego leads far more often to failure and that people find success only

How to Develop a Business Strategy: Best Advice

Do you want to learn how to develop a business strategy? What factors should you take into account when designing a big-picture strategy for your business? According to Richard P. Rumelt, the author of Good Strategy, Bad Strategy, your business strategy must be designed in such a way so as to capitalize on the key strengths of your organization. Once you’ve identified your strengths, figure out how you can them to increase your competitive advantages. You can do this by leveraging your strengths onto one pivot point, and by pressing your advantages by increasing them, broadening their influence, or increasing

Why Sexual Equality Doesn’t Apply to Sex

Think and Grow Rich: Sexual Transmutation Demystified

Are egalitarianism and sexual desire mutually exclusive? How do they contradict each other? How can we foster sexual equality when the act of sex itself is a power play? According to Esther Perel, the author of Mating in Captivity, egalitarianism and sexual desire are inherently at odds with each other. Egalitarianism is all about fairness and respect, while sexual desire is driven by aggression and power play. However, this doesn’t mean that egalitarianism and desire have to be a balancing act. Here’s what couples therapist Esther Perel has to say about sexual equality.

Causes of Interpersonal Conflict: Why Do We Fight?

What do you think causes interpersonal conflict at a high level? What makes trivial conflicts escalate into full-blown arguments? We all struggle with conflicts, both on a smaller scale—in our businesses and families—and on a grand scale—politically and intergovernmentally. Of course, the causes of interpersonal conflict are varied and wide-ranging. At a high level, however, many of them can all be boiled down to our inability to recognize and acknowledge that we are part of the problem. In this article, we’ll discuss what causes conflict, according to a leading consultant in conflict resolution the Arbinger Institute.