5 Books on Leadership, Goals, Problem Solving and Marketing
These are tough times for everyone and we might have some time now to catch up on some books. Here are the 5 books I liked reading recently and will surely give some food for thought.
Upstream by Dan Heath – I have read his other books written with Chip Heath namely Switch, Made to Stick, Decisive and The Power of Moments. This is all about preventing problems before they occur. It is an interesting premise. There are three obstacles you need to overcome. First is Problem blindness: "You can’t solve a problem that you can’t see." Second is Lack of ownership: "This isn't my problem" You have got to own the problem to solve it. Third is Tunneling: "I just can't deal with that right now." There are a lot of examples here which make the stories interesting. There are seven questions that need to be work on to solve problems upstream. They are how to get early warning of the problem, how to know you are succeeding, how to avoid doing harm, who will pay for what doesn't happen, how to unite the right people, how to change the system, and where to find a point of leverage.
Powershift by Daymond John and Daniel Paisner – His earlier books like The Power of Broke and Rise and Grind were motivational as well. This one is not different either. It is fast paced and inspirational. There are three main themes in the book. First is influence, second is negotiation and third is make a deal. You have to decide exactly what you want before you can do anything. Decide how you want your life to look in 5 years, 10 years and 15 years. Make sure you have clarity before doing anything else. In terms of negotiating it is important to do your homework and again clarity on what you want is the key. Always think win-win when you engage in any negotiation.
The Catalyst by Jonah Berger – His earlier books namely Contagious and Invisible Influence were pretty good. The main message from “The Catalyst” is that persuasion isn’t as effective as changing minds. There are 5 strategies he goes through with examples in this book.
1. Reactance: People don't like to be pushed so start asking questions that start with why, how, and what.
2. Endowment: People don’t like change. Change your focus on the costs of not changing.
3. Distance: When someone shares an opposite opinion of yours consider asking for less.
4. Uncertainty: People are always looking to cap the downside of risk. Find ways to remove or eliminate risk. Make things a little easier to give it a shot.
5. Corroborating Evidence: This is related to risk. Consider having multiple sources before any evidence is presented.
Designing your work life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans– I reviewed their earlier book Designing your Life. This is all about finding meaning in your current work. Most of the work force is disengaged. Everyone deserves a creative and interesting job. You should learn to think like a designer. Always be curious, keep trying new stuff, re-frame problems, in design thinking its always a process, and always ask for help. What makes life meaningful and happy is to have relationships who you love and who loves you. The authors give three questions to ask for ensuring you are doing good work. The questions are "What did I learn?, What did I initiate?, and Who did I help?
Clearer, Closer, Better by Emily Balcetis – We are into the third month of the year and this book might be a good one to look into why we are not progressing on our goals. The problem is we set goals that are impossible to reach and we give up soon. You should find the sweet spot of where you would have challenging goals but not impossible to reach. She says you need to materialize which means being absolutely clear on what is current status of goal and how much farther is left to achieve the goal.
There you have it the 5 books that would be well worth diving into in your free time. Thanks for reading this post. The views expressed here are my own and do not represent my organization.
Upstream by Dan Heath – I have read his other books written with Chip Heath namely Switch, Made to Stick, Decisive and The Power of Moments. This is all about preventing problems before they occur. It is an interesting premise. There are three obstacles you need to overcome. First is Problem blindness: "You can’t solve a problem that you can’t see." Second is Lack of ownership: "This isn't my problem" You have got to own the problem to solve it. Third is Tunneling: "I just can't deal with that right now." There are a lot of examples here which make the stories interesting. There are seven questions that need to be work on to solve problems upstream. They are how to get early warning of the problem, how to know you are succeeding, how to avoid doing harm, who will pay for what doesn't happen, how to unite the right people, how to change the system, and where to find a point of leverage.
Powershift by Daymond John and Daniel Paisner – His earlier books like The Power of Broke and Rise and Grind were motivational as well. This one is not different either. It is fast paced and inspirational. There are three main themes in the book. First is influence, second is negotiation and third is make a deal. You have to decide exactly what you want before you can do anything. Decide how you want your life to look in 5 years, 10 years and 15 years. Make sure you have clarity before doing anything else. In terms of negotiating it is important to do your homework and again clarity on what you want is the key. Always think win-win when you engage in any negotiation.
The Catalyst by Jonah Berger – His earlier books namely Contagious and Invisible Influence were pretty good. The main message from “The Catalyst” is that persuasion isn’t as effective as changing minds. There are 5 strategies he goes through with examples in this book.
1. Reactance: People don't like to be pushed so start asking questions that start with why, how, and what.
2. Endowment: People don’t like change. Change your focus on the costs of not changing.
3. Distance: When someone shares an opposite opinion of yours consider asking for less.
4. Uncertainty: People are always looking to cap the downside of risk. Find ways to remove or eliminate risk. Make things a little easier to give it a shot.
5. Corroborating Evidence: This is related to risk. Consider having multiple sources before any evidence is presented.
Designing your work life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans– I reviewed their earlier book Designing your Life. This is all about finding meaning in your current work. Most of the work force is disengaged. Everyone deserves a creative and interesting job. You should learn to think like a designer. Always be curious, keep trying new stuff, re-frame problems, in design thinking its always a process, and always ask for help. What makes life meaningful and happy is to have relationships who you love and who loves you. The authors give three questions to ask for ensuring you are doing good work. The questions are "What did I learn?, What did I initiate?, and Who did I help?
Clearer, Closer, Better by Emily Balcetis – We are into the third month of the year and this book might be a good one to look into why we are not progressing on our goals. The problem is we set goals that are impossible to reach and we give up soon. You should find the sweet spot of where you would have challenging goals but not impossible to reach. She says you need to materialize which means being absolutely clear on what is current status of goal and how much farther is left to achieve the goal.
There you have it the 5 books that would be well worth diving into in your free time. Thanks for reading this post. The views expressed here are my own and do not represent my organization.
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