The World's Best Book Summaries
How broad is your knowledge? Do you deliberately repurpose works that you’ve already created? In Someday Is Today: 22 Simple Actionable Ways to Propel Your Creative Life, Matthew Dicks discusses ways to free up time to maximize your creative potential. He specifically recommends boosting your creativity by consuming varied content and reusing your old work. Continue reading to learn how to become more creative in these two ways.
Why do most innovation projects fail? More importantly, what can you do to keep your own innovations from succumbing to the same fate? In Ten Types of Innovation, Larry Keeley, cofounder of the Doblin Innovation Firm, and his Doblin colleagues Ryan Pikkel, Brian Quinn, and Helen Walters answer these questions. Based on their experience coaching companies through innovation projects, they argue that the answer lies at least partly in knowing how to classify innovations. They observe that there are ten fundamental types of innovation. Read below for a brief overview of Ten Types of Innovation.
Do you have big dreams but continually fail to make much progress? How many moments have you squandered just today? In Someday Is Today, Matthew Dicks explains how you can eliminate time-wasters and increase your efficiency on necessary tasks. Then he argues that you must learn how to maximize productivity and reach your full potential so you can become as successful as possible, as soon as possible. Continue reading for Dicks’s top six principles for maximizing productivity and an exercise to help you apply them.
How does mental health affect work performance? How have bad mental health treatments destroyed well-known leaders? Both good and bad mental health affect work performance. For most, it’s important to be in a healthy state of mind when working. However, some leaders actually benefit from poor mental health, especially during crisis situations. Learn why A First-Rate Madness by Nassir Ghaemi says you need to check in on your mental health as a leader.
Do you and your teammates speak freely? Do people in your organization take the blame when it’s due, or do they point the finger elsewhere? Self-deception—our tendency to see the world around us in a distorted way—is a common personal and organizational problem. Leadership and Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute explains how self-deception derails our relationships and keeps organizations from achieving the results they want. Continue reading for our Leadership and Self-Deception study guide.
Do you have a million ideas in your head that seem to go nowhere? Are you looking for fresh ideas to solve specific problems? Steven Johnson takes us on an exciting exploration of good ideas and novel innovations. For an idea to be good, he says, it must be built upon accumulated knowledge and be put forward at a time when users can conceive of how to use the idea and when the needed resources for the idea are available. Keep reading to learn how to develop ideas and, ultimately, advance knowledge and society.
Which should you prioritize—employee benefits or perks? What role should internal customers play in hiring? How should you handle breakpoints as your company grows? Tony Fadell shares lessons learned when it comes to creating successful product-based businesses. He provides effective strategies for hiring the right people and keeping them engaged throughout their time with your company. Keep reading to learn how to keep employees engaged.
When should you delegate tasks? How can you streamline your decision-making process? Who should go on your “adversaries list”? To reach your full potential and accomplish extraordinary things, Matthew Dicks says you must first learn how to make the most of your time. Stop wasting time on unnecessary tasks, accomplish necessary tasks as quickly as possible, and reap the most benefits from the tasks you spend time on. Keep reading to explore Dicks’s five main principles for maximizing efficiency.
What drives innovation? Where do new, groundbreaking ideas come from? According to best-selling author and theorist Steven Johnson, innovation happens when we seek out new ideas and cultivate environments in which fresh ideas can emerge and grow. In Where Good Ideas Come From, he explains the various avenues you should explore to come up with the best ideas. Read more to learn about the seven goldmines of innovation that Johnson discusses.
What are the secrets to being successful in your career? What’s the best way to start? How can you finish strong? Entrepreneur Tony Fadell answers these questions and more in Build. The book is part career encyclopedia and part memoir, detailing Fadell’s extraordinary journey inventing the iPhone and then starting his own wildly successful companies. He shares the career lessons he learned along the way. Read more to learn how to build your career, from the bottom to the top.