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On the Value of Reading for Writing
The pause should not surprise you. It was time to reassemble. I'm reading In the Margins, and realizing how much harder it is to write as a woman. Most of my ideas are original. I do write from a multiplicity of egos as Virginia Woolf suggested. But I haven't tried my hand at fiction,…
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“Walk, Climb, or Fly” Gets Real on Going from Surviving to Thriving at Work
Mini book read. Twelve years ago, Leigh introduced me to her research and observations about operational styles in a conversation about fitting in at work. She was developing this concept to figure out where she fit. But as it's often the case, when we set out to solve a problem we have, we end up…
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“The Transparency Sale” Explains Why Unexpected Honesty Works
Mini book read. Ask any person, and they'll tell you they avoid being sold to by anyone—even on behalf of the brands they love. We may enjoy buying things, but on our own terms. To vet products or services we rely on ratings and reviews, word of mouth, and the opinion of the people we…
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“Crucial Conversations” is a Guide for When the Stakes are High
Mini book read. When we meet a challenge with a response that is equal to it, we're successful. But when the challenge is on a higher level, we cannot meet it with the same response and expect the same results. This type of challenge has changed our lives. Everything moves faster. Technology had made some…
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“The Strategy Book” Bridges the Gap Between Thinking and Taking Action
Mini book read. Say “strategy” to anyone and their eyes glaze over. It's not that we don't understand the value of strategic thinking, we do. But there's never enough time to do a proper job of it. Market pressure seems to override a desire to learn more about the problem—or focus on the right one—the…
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“Cascades” is an Important Manual on How to Start and Sustain Large-Scale Change
Mini book read. I love mystery books, am a voracious reader of them. Greg Satell's book reads like one in many ways. One cannot wait to find out what happens next and why it happened. People, situations, and events build up from chapter to chapter and sometimes leap off the page. Cascades kept my attention…
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“Savvy” is a Practical Handbook to Navigate the Post-Truth World
Mini book read. Social media was supposed to change the world—it did, but likely not in the direction we imagined. Every day we're wading through fake news, lying leaders, and ghosting. Who to believe? What is real? How can we tell? Shiv Singh and Rohini Luthra, Ph.D. have taken a deep look at why…
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Knowledge Work and the Metric Black Hole
One of the books on my reading list for 2016 was a choice because of its focus on something that is extremely rare and thus much more valuable when achieved — mastering the art of learning complicated things quickly, and operating at a high skill level. Reading Deep Work: the Rules for Focused Success in…
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Smart People Should Build Things
One of the perks of being involved with Venture for America (VFA) and mentoring young professionals making a fresh start is meeting smart people who want to build things — and help others do the same. It was the case last week when we had our get together at First Round offices to learn more…
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Richer Experiences Reduce the Role of Luck
In the last couple of years I experimented with several brands loyalty programs to varying degrees of enjoyment. Beauty product programs being the more playful. At the other end of the spectrum sit airline mileage programs — a supreme example of bribery. If that is how you implement your program, your customers are slipping through…