The World's Best Book Summaries
If love is not a feeling, what is it? Is “falling in love” genuine? In The Road Less Traveled, psychiatrist M. Scott Peck argues that love is not a feeling. We have feelings that we associate with love, but they are not love itself, and they might not even be based in reality. Peck asserts that real love is an act of will—a committed action that we take even when we’re not “feeling it.” Keep reading to learn how love is not a feeling.
What does the advocacy and inquiry decision-making process entail? What mindset is required to make the decision-making process effective? Advocacy and inquiry is a decision-making style where each party in a meeting presents their arguments and asks for comments and questions from other participants. The process creates an open environment where ideas are challenged and fine-tuned, which improves the critical reasoning skills of participants. Each participant must be confident and open to being challenged. Read on to learn more about the advocacy and inquiry decision-making process.
What is the carrot and stick motivation? Is the reward-and-punishment approach to motivation still effective? Carrot and stick motivation is an old-school motivational approach that involves offering rewards for desirable behavior, and inflicting punishment for undesirable behavior. According to Daniel H. Pink, the author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, the carrot and stick approach is still generally effective but carrots (extrinsic rewards) aren’t the main driver of performance. Rather, they act as a “baseline reward” or a “hygiene factor.” In this article, we’ll take a look at the psychology behind the carrot and stick motivation approach
What are some helpful tips for overcoming shame? How can shame negatively influence your thoughts and behavior? Shame is an incredibly unhelpful feeling, leading to self-consciousness, a lack of connection with others, and even depression. Overcoming shame and getting to the root of the problem will improve your self-esteem and personal relationships. Here’s the best advice for Christians for overcoming shame.
How does stress affect leadership? Has stress ever affected your ability to lead effectively? The stress that leaders are put under can easily result in a lack of focus and impulsive decisions. Therefore, it’s very important to take care of yourself as a leader—if you burn out, you’ll no longer be able to lead, and this could derail all progress towards your purpose. The following self-care techniques are taken from The Practice of Adaptive Leadership written by leadership experts Alexander Grashow, Marty Linsky, and Ronald Heifetz.
What does it take to create a successful team? In what ways do givers make a team more successful? How can takers sabotage team’s performance? Givers—as opposed to takers and matchers—increase the success of the whole team because they focus on the goals of the group rather than on themselves. Their giving tendencies also tend to rub off onto other members of the team, so the more givers there are, the better the team will perform as a whole. Keep reading to learn why successful teams require givers.
What is the Haddon Matrix? How does it make change easier? The Haddon Matrix is a thought process that prompts you to think about pre-incident, incident, and post-incident. You can use it to change behavior by considering how to prevent bad behaviors from occurring, reduce harm when the bad behavior does occur, and respond in a way that minimizes the negative effects of the bad behavior. Read more to learn about using the Haddon Matrix model to change behavior.
How does visualizing goals make them more attainable? How can short-term guidelines also help you get there? Goals are hard to reach when they are ambiguous. It helps to make objectives clear and measurable. A great way to do this is to visualize goals, basically painting a picture of your destination. This technique, along with short-term guidelines, puts real change within grasp. Keep reading to learn about visualizing goals.
What makes an idea sticky? What are some examples of sticky ideas? What is the secret to making a story or a message “stick”? Sticky ideas are concepts, messages, and stories that “stick” in the public’s consciousness: they are understandable, memorable, and have a lasting impact. One of the most notable examples of sticky ideas are urban legends. Urban legends are easy to understand and remember, people buy into them and share them. Keep reading to learn about the six traits of sticky ideas.
What is a retirement annuity? What are the pros and cons of retirement annuities? An annuity is an insurance contract that offers you regular payments for the rest of your life. There are pros and cons of retirement annuities, and understanding them will help you to make the best decision for yourself. Keep reading for our retirement annuity pros and cons list.