andreweverett360 Book Review, Management

Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout


Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout
by Cal Newport

Slow Productivity is “a philosophy for organizing knowledge work efforts in a sustainable and meaningful manner, based on the following three principles: 1. Do fewer things; 2. Work at a natural pace; 3. Obsess over quality.”

Newport defines knowledge work as “the economic activity in which knowledge is transformed into an artifact with market value through the application of cognitive effort.”

“Concrete productivity metrics of the type that shaped the industrial sector will never properly fit the more amorphous knowledge work setting… In knowledge work… individuals are often wrangling complicated and constantly shifting workloads… In this setting, there’s no clear, single output to track.”

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Management

The Power of Small: Why Little Things Make All the Difference

the-power-of-small


The Power of Small: Why Little Things Make All the Difference
by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval

You may not be familiar with their names, but you are probably familiar with the authors’ work. They are the founding partners of the Kaplan Thaler Group, the advertising agency responsible for the Aflac duck campaign. One of them wrote the “I want to be a Toys R Us Kid” jingle earlier in her career. Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval previously wrote The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World With Kindness.

This book is about paying attention to little things which have a big impact.

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Management

Good Business

good-business-mihaly-csikszentmihalyi


Good Business: Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning
by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934-2021)

Good Business is about enjoyment of work and productivity. It is based on the author’s research on flow, the psychology of optimal experience.

Flow is “a deep sense of enjoyment.” To be fully engaged in a state of flow, one must be skilled and challenged. “Basically, the more a person feels skilled, the more her moods will improve; while the more challenges that are present, the more her attention will become focused and concentrated.”

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Management

The One Thing

the-one-thing


The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results
by Gary Keller with Jay Papasan

This book is about finding your focus and making it your top priority in order to achieve extraordinary results.  Identifying your focus comes from asking The Focusing Question: “What’s the ONE Thing you can do this week such that by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary?”

“The Focusing Question is a double-duty question. It comes in two forms: big picture and small focus. One is about finding the right direction in life and the other is about finding the right action.”

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andreweverett360 Book Review, Management

18 Minutes


18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done
by Peter Bregman

Peter Bregman writes, “The world doesn’t reward perfection. It rewards productivity.”  18 Minutes is a book about choosing your priorities and getting things done.

The author suggests finding your focus based on your strengths, weaknesses, differences, and passions. “Assert your differences… Don’t waste your year trying to blend in… Understand your obsessions and you will understand your natural motivation.”

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