Shortform Books

Why Ineffective Management Is So Common & How to Fix It

How many bad managers have you had? Are you sure you’re a good manager? What common assumption about good employees is misguided? Employee experience expert Russ Laraway says poorly trained, ineffective managers are everywhere, and they’re costing companies billions of dollars every year. However, he says he has the solution: By developing a few key leadership skills, you can greatly improve your team’s morale and performance. Read more to learn why ineffective management is so common, how you can determine your own effectiveness, and why improving your skills is easier than you might think.

Choose Your Diet Goal: Lose Fat, Maintain, or Bulk Up

Are you looking to build muscle? Should you burn fat first? You’ve decided you want to change your physique in some way. Before diving into a diet and meal plan, you should clarify your diet goal. In Bigger Leaner Stronger, personal trainer Michael Matthews discusses three aims you can choose from—losing fat, maintaining your current physique, or bulking up. Keep reading for Matthews’s insights on these three diet goals.

The Rise and Fall of the Mortgage Bond Market in the 1980s

Racial Predatory Mortgage Lending and The 2008 Crisis

When was the mortgage bond era on Wall Street? How did bankers profit from home loans in the 1980s? The mortgage bond market was booming in the 1970s. The number of home loans that were borrowed was at an all-time high, and the investment bank Salomon Brothers found a way to capitalize on it. Discover more about how people profited off the mortgage bond market, according to Michael Lewis’s book Liar’s Poker.

How to Be an Open-Minded Leader: 2 Actionable Techniques

How does being open-minded make you a better leader? Why should you be willing to listen to other people’s perspectives? Being a leader isn’t just about taking control and giving orders. According to The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, it’s also about humbling yourself and taking the time to see other people’s points of view. Learn how to be a more open-minded leader who listens to others.

4 Healthy Work Habits That Will Help You Get Your Life Back

Do you use the Pomodoro technique when you work? Is quiet quitting for you? Does collaboration help or hurt productivity? Celeste Headlee wants to help you rebel against the productivity culture and get your life back. She urges you to free up time by doing more focused work, stop working more than you need to, work with a group when you can, and create a dream schedule that includes leisure time. Read more to learn about these four healthy work habits that can change your professional and personal life for the better.

What Causes Cruelty? It’s Not a Lack of Empathy

What causes cruelty? What role does empathy play? Does empathy have a dark side that we must avoid? There’s a common perception that cruelty is rooted in a lack of empathy. However, psychologist Paul Bloom argues that the real culprit is misused or misplaced empathy. He believes that empathy can motivate us to behave in ways that are unjust, irrational, violent, and cruel. Keep reading to understand Bloom’s argument that violence and cruelty don’t result from a lack of empathy.

What Is Motivated Reasoning? Steven Pinker Explains

What is motivated reasoning? Why is it important to be able to recognize it in yourself and others? Humans, despite our intelligence and ingenuity, often behave irrationally. Steven Pinker explains that people frequently fall victim to cognitive blunders that lead them down an irrational path. One of these blunders is motivated reasoning. Continue reading Pinker’s advice on how you can overcome this tendency and think more rationally about your choices.

How to Handle Unconscious Desires by Practicing Existential Kink

Why do unconscious desires create negative patterns? What’s an existential kink? According to Existential Kink by Carolyn Elliott, people tend to repress desires that they’re ashamed of. But, repressing desires doesn’t get rid of them; they just turn into negative habits. Ironically, the only way to destroy these habits is to fully embrace the desires behind them. Keep reading to learn how unconscious desires manifest and to find the number one solution to dissolving them.

How to Break Up With Someone Without Hurting Them: 4 Tips

Are you in a relationship that needs to end? How can you break up with someone without hurting them? Even if your partner is a good person, sometimes relationships fizzle out. As long as you end things gently and with kindness, you shouldn’t have to worry about your partner holding a grudge toward you. This is how to break up with someone without hurting them so you can both move on.

How to Measure Employee Engagement With 2 Meaningful Metrics

What’s the difference between job satisfaction and workplace satisfaction? Why are both so important? Employee experience expert Russ Laraway says that employee engagement is at an all-time low and that ineffective management is the culprit. He explains what employee engagement means and how to measure it in a meaningful way that helps managers know how to draw the best out of their employees. Keep reading to learn how to measure employee engagement and, as a result, measure your effectiveness as a manager.