Learn how statistics mislead through sampling bias, misleading averages, and manipulated graphs. Key takeaways from Darrell Huff's classic on statistical deception, “How to Lie with Statistics.”
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I’ve been reading a lot about cognitive bias and mental heuristics lately. Here are my notes on 25 common biases.
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This book was recommended to me by one of my mentors. I always find my conversations with him super helpful, so I asked him what his secret was. He told me he simply followed the framework in this book.
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This book covers the important leadership topic of self-deception. Left unchecked, self-deception corrupts our families and organizations, driving away the most important people in our lives. If you’re unfamiliar with the topic, I encourage you to skim these notes.
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I’m working on a presentation about the importance of rituals at work. The book Rituals for Work, written by Kursat Ozenc and Margaret Hagan, is a simple introduction to the concept of rituals and how you can leverage them within organizations big and small.
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I really enjoyed Who Moved My Cheese? so I decided to read another book by the same authors. The management framework in The New One Minute Manager provides a collaborative approach to leading, managing, and motivating people.
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The First 90 Days is required reading for new employees at Windfall. I decided to take notes on it so it would be easy for everyone at the company to revisit the key points. While reading the entire book is overkill for most non-executive roles, there are some really good frameworks that anyone can benefit from employing when they start a new job or receive a promotion.
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My Mama recommended this book to me. I wish I had read it sooner. It's a short book about how to manage yourself through difficult life changes. It sold a million copies in the first 16 months and over 21 million copies five years later.
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How to Take Smart Notes was recommended to me by several friends. It's a step-by-step guide to Niklas Luhmann's note-taking system: the slip box ("Zettelkasten" in German). It also details the psychological principles that make the slip box note-taking system so effective.
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In Anything You Want, Derek Sivers shares 40 lessons he learned during the ten years he ran CD Baby. His primary point is that, in business, you can be as "unconventional, unique, and quirky" as you want. Like a painting, a business is a reflection of its maker.
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I discovered Nir Eyal’s work on the NFX podcast. His concept of traction vs distraction really spoke to me. I read this book to get a deeper understanding of his framework for becoming "indistractable".
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I’m a member of the Trends.vc community, and Show Your Work is the book of the month. I don’t know about you, but I struggle with self-promotion. I want to be better about sharing my work, but I often talk myself out of it. Show Your Work teaches you how to build sharing into your work routine. Instead of keeping your work secret, you regularly share bits and pieces of your process, your ideas, and what you’re learning.
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As knowledge workers become more responsible for the trajectory of their own careers, they are forced to learn how to manage themselves. In Managing Oneself, Peter Drucker provides a framework that any knowledge worker can use to learn how to manage him-or-herself. Here are my notes and takeaways.
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My wife, Sable, and I are expecting our first child in late-March. To help me gain some perspective on (and help with) some of the professional “pregnancy hurdles” she is facing, she asked me to read this book. Boy am I glad I did. This book exposed my lack of empathy for working parents and professionals expecting a child, especially working moms and mothers-to-be. Here are my notes.
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When you start a company, there are more to-dos than there is time to do them. Worse, everything seems important. It can quickly become overwhelming. Essentialism provides a framework that helps you identify your true priorities and execute on them.
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As a Man Thinketh has been on my list to read for longer than a year. Some consider it to be one of the top self-help books of all time. While this book is only 50ish pages, I found the writing to be quite difficult to follow. It took me more time than I’m willing to admit to digest the content and translate it into modern-day eighth-grade reading level takeaways. If you’d like to save some time, check out these simple notes and quotes.
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