Category: Book Notes
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Building Thinking Classrooms by Peter LilJedahl
I was in advanced academics throughout my school career and I absolutely thrive with the traditional method of education (talk about a thing, then practice it) but having watched how dog training and handling has evolved since I learned it – and now homeschooling my kids, I realize that a lot of the trouble I’ve…
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Inverting the Hierarchy: When Employers Feel Unsafe
Imagine you’re at the helm of a ship, guiding it through stormy seas, but what if the storm is brewing inside the ship itself? This is the untold story of the captains of industry—employers like us—and the hidden battles we face for a safe harbor in our own companies. There are a million articles out…
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Surviving Early Childhood if Modern Motherhood isn’t Your Calling
I pride myself on doing things a little differently, on doing things that give me joy when it might embarrass someone else. So when I found out I was pregnant with twins, I was pretty excited because it was gonna be a little different. But I also . . . wasn’t excited about the basic…
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The First Twenty Hours
By Josh Kaufman If our life is good for one thing, it’s the ride. I want to go out being able to do everything I ever dreamed of. Will this book make that happen? 10 Principles of Skill Acquisition 10 Principals for Effective Learning
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What it Takes
By Stephen A Schwarzman Honestly, here’s a guy that basically knew he was hot stuff from the start and his parents set him up from the start. He seems to get what he wants and when it doesn’t work out, he learns his lesson instantly and never repeats his mistakes. Wish it were like that…
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How to Change
By Katy Milkman Getting started: Impulsivity: Procrastination Forgetfulness: Laziness: Confidence: Conformity:
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No, AI won’t replace you – unless you’re terrible.
My team thinks doing quizzes will help with training retention, and I thought, hey . . . what if AI could do it for us? Plug in the HR manual and see what it makes? Garbage. It makes garbage. What’s not allowed on company property? Pick ONE.A. FirearmsB. Girl Scout CookiesC. Illegal drugsD. Intolerance to…
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Contagious: Why things catch on
By Jonah Berger I’ve gone viral online before, and I have a pretty trendy business. Let’s see what Berger says about that pathway to success. Six principles of contagious
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Outlive – By Peter Attia MD
I think most everyone knows medicine isn’t fully awesome. The system for sure isn’t, but if you’ve ever fought for a diagnosis, you know there’s a limit to how we train western medicine practitioners. Lots of us rely on alternatives, like ancient Asian medicine and others to supplement western medicine. Attia’s perspective is actually even…
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Fully Staffed
by Eric Chester Full disclosure, I didn’t read this book. “Is this book for you? “The current reality is that the labor market is nearly drained. You need many more skilled workers than are available, and you picked up this book because you’re having trouble finding and keeping solid workers in your business and organization.…
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The Leadership Pill
By Ken Blanchard + Marc Muchinick I really detest the “fake story” books that take time and pages and have very little to them, which is why this blog actually exists. This book has some nice wisdom in it for someone looking to understand how to improve as a leader (I read it, thinking to…
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Challenge the Status Quo: Recommended Leadership Books for Managers Who Want to Drive Change
Challenge the Status Quo: Recommended Leadership Books for Managers Who Want to Drive Change I have had more than a few present and past employees ask me for recommendations of books (I’m a voracious reader) to make them better at their jobs — and at life — so here is my ever-evolving list of must-reads, by category. ALSO — I use Blinkist…
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How This CEO Stopped Wasting Time on Low-Impact Projects and Prioritized Ideas for Maximum Impact
How This CEO Stopped Wasting Time on Low-Impact Projects and Prioritized Ideas for Maximum Impact As our CEO Kristin Tara Horowitz holds the magazine aloft, a mischievous twinkle in their eye suggests that they’re secretly plotting. She’s really just supporting her friend in the article. You know how things come at you and they feel really urgent…
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From Sonnets to Syntax: How you can use ChatGPT
From Sonnets to Syntax: How you can use ChatGPT Once you start, the ideas start blooming. I had ChatGPT write the alt text for this. It’s glorious. I think ChatGPT and its ilk can do a lot of good in the world. It can help us start to balance human productivity in a healthier way — getting less…
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Conflict Aversion in the Workplace
Conflict Aversion in the Workplace Having a highly empathetic work space is a lovely thing, but we’ve also been trained by society that we should go along to get along. Brene’ Brown says “Clear is kind.” Make it a workplace mantra and you’ll see exactly why. If you see behavior that doesn’t seem right, but…
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4 Day Workweek — For Equity
4 Day Workweek — For Equity Today was late start Monday at the elementary school. That means that families who work need to secure childcare or go into the office late so that teachers and staff can have an extra hour to do whatever is on the agenda that day. It’s always like that — and I like it on…
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I reject job applicants and they thank me
I reject job applicants and they thank me Make your process worth it and nobody will hate it. Especially not you. Maybe it’s not straight ahead with us, but it’s a veer to the right place, instead. I just had to send my first round of rejections to applicants I interviewed, and a couple came back with…
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I’m not afraid of being fired: woman-friendly policies matter
I’m not afraid of being fired: woman-friendly policies matter Balance only works for so long — building in employment that recognizes the scales tip more than they stay stable is important. Twice this week, I’ve had two key staff members tell me that working for me is the first time in their whole life where their kids and…
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OpenGrip Management — training employees for success
OpenGrip Management — training employees for success I used to be an English professor, and the basic pedagogy of teaching is: Teach the material Have them practice the material Quiz them on the material Assume they got it or didn’t and keep going That’s how we all got taught (if we were lucky), and that’s a default expectation…
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Ground Squirrel Management
Ground Squirrel Management These are my notes from Farm Bureau’s presentation on California ground squirrel management, arranged by what I thought were good take aways for regular people (it was a course designed for professional farmers and pest controllers) — but everyone keeps asking. All of this information is available at this website. Know your ground squirrels…
