Dale Carnegie – How to Win Friends and Influence People
Grant Cardone – The 10x Rule
David Goggins – Can’t Hurt Me
Field notes from life
Dale Carnegie – How to Win Friends and Influence People
Grant Cardone – The 10x Rule
David Goggins – Can’t Hurt Me
Main learning outcome
Systematic frameworks, such as checklists, tend to help us make the most of our capabilities and knowledge in hyper complex and stressful situations.
Checklists are tried and tested instruments that support complex decision making process. Their use in Aeronautics led surgeon Atul Gawande to partner with World Health Organization to study their potential use in the field of medicine. While working on such project, Gawande witnessed checklists’ use in fields such as construction or investment. Leveraging on such experiences and best practices, he designed medical checklists with data-backed proven efficiencies.
Why are checklists useful?
How to build useful checklists?
Bridging the implementation gap
View the book (or ebook) The Checklist Manifesto on Amazon
Read in April-May 2019
How I came across The Checklist Manifesto
The book happened to be quoted on several occasions in podcasts, namely on Tim Ferriss’ show with Ramit Sethi and was featured in Tim’s blogpost The Unusual Books That Shaped Billionaires, Mega-Bestselling Authors, and Other Prodigies
“There is a difference between school and education: you can finish school but you can never finish your education”. This is one of the many quotes from Zig Ziglar, that despite its seemingly naive wording, carries enough power to change careers and lives.
I usually refer to Zig Ziglar as a mentor, despite the fact that I never got the privilege to meet him. The reason is his wisdom keeps guiding me year after year, from my professional live to my personal one.
Mentors are not available to everybody, that’s what good books and encyclopedias are for, would also say Ziglar. That could be the motto of this blog.
My absolute recommendation to start studying Zig Ziglar’s work is the audiobook version of Secrets of Closing the Sales, read by Ziglar himself. To me it works almost as a private coaching session.
Most of the wisdom shared across Ziglar’s work will not appear as groundbreaking or as the one thing that makes the difference. What Ziglar offers is a framework that helps to develop a proactive mindset.
Some of the tips I use:
As I read the 2018 Financial Times Skill Gaps Survey, I was surprised to discover what are said to be the 5 most difficult skills for employers to recruit. Although this study focuses on MBA graduates, I believe anyone would benefit from developing such skill set. Yet, it is not mandatory to get back to Business School to significantly improve your performance in such areas.
Here I wish to highlight 5 books that will definitely build up capabilities in what top recruiters consider today as the 5 most difficult skills to recruit. These books have so far been among the most influential ones to me. I encourage you to spend time to read and study them. Such books are also frequently quoted among most recommended books by successful entreprenors and investors such as Warren Buffet, Bill Gates or Tim Ferris.
Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People
This book taught taught me more than Organizational Behavior module. Its principles, although sometimes simple are the second to none to establish empathy & meaningful conversations, which are the two pillars of trust. What Carnegie teaches is influence lies in one’s ability to listen and develop empathy. It is not, contrary to popular belief, a manipulation playbook.
Sun Tzu, The Art of War or The Prince by Machiavelli, pick one!
These two strategy masterpieces will not be a straightforward “how to”. Yet, with time to pounder and translate the learnings into your daily situation and reality, they can provide powerful reasoning maps. The main learning outcome remains to focus on second and third order consequences of any action, or absence of action.
No other than Drive by Daniel Pink offers insights about what truly motivates us. The trilogy Autonomy, Mastery & Purpose provides a useful tool to reframe our job description. Ability to reframe the job in those terms will contribute to a genuine motivation.
Factfulness by Hans Rosling.
This may sound far stretched as Rosling will not actually teach you about Big Data but I believe he builds the most important piece of the data analystics puzzle: the ability to suspend your pre-existing judgement, gather new sets of data, and then take a fresher look the situation. This is a pre-requisit to immerse yourself in the Big Data culture and supersedes to me all the technical elements.
Ray Dalio’s Principles is a good start.
Complex problems require methodology to be solved, then can not be taken-on head first. Thanks to Dalio’s reasoning system, we are better equipped to face complex situations. The books offers a detailed framework that one can study and adapt to its own personal situations. The main learning element is to develop systematic approach to problem solving.
How did this list help you to identify gaps in your own skills? Share your thoughts in the comments!
References
https://www.ft.com/content/64b19e8e-aaa5-11e8-89a1-e5de165fa619
https://personaloptimum.com/2018/07/20/wisdom-factfulness-by-hans-rosling/
The Unusual Books That Shaped 50+ Billionaires, Mega-Bestselling Authors, and Other Prodigies
Tribe of Mentors — Recommended Books from Mentors and Top Books from Tools of Titans
Do you think a former FBI negotiator may have something to teach you about negotiation? That is what Never Split the Difference is all about. Here is the summary and some practical knowledge from the book.
In no more than 300 words
In Never Split the Difference, former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss shares his field knowledge of high stakes negotiations. Personal experiences illustrate the wide range of skills and techniques that anyone can leverage on. Cornerstone of all techniques is to engage into deep active listening and encourage counterpart to keep talking. To achieve the later, Chris Voss relies on open-end calibrated questions (“how” and “what”), repetition of words just pronounced by its counterpart (mirroring) and empathy expression (labeling). This helps to uncover information about what the counterpart truly wants to achieve. Knowing such piece of information, seldom disclosed at first, gives the upper hand.
Contrary to popular wisdom, Chris Voss encourages to refrain from trying to achieve “yes” answers. Such answers may not signify compliance with your goals, but merely the desire of your counterpart to stop the conversation. On the flip side, the author urges to find the “no”, a genuine disagreement. From this clear line, one can use open questions such as “what about this does not work for you?”. Breakthrough is said to happen when you achieve a “that’s right”. This signifies a genuine understanding of your counterpart’s situation. Previously mentioned techniques are designed to ensure conversation reaches such situation.
The book refers at length to Prospect Theory (see Thinking, Fast and Slow for further information on this concept) and illustrates how to successfully tap on loss aversion and certainty effect (if these concepts are foreign to you, just get back to the link above). In practice, unfolding negotiation in a way the counterpart can see what he has to lose from a non-deal provides leverage.
Instead of cornering the counterpart into an agreement, it may be more effective to create an “illusion of control”, encouraging him or her to voice the design of the final solution, which can be achieved through “how” questions.
Finally, two “tips” for effective negotiation.
1 – Keeping emotions under control at all time, as rational thinking is only possible when you remain calm
2 – make a conscious effort – and train – to use voice inflection.
Final word: “no deal is better than a bad deal”.
Three takeaways
Bridging the implementation gap
Personal bonus implementation points
Do I recommend this book? Definitely, especially for all sales professionals
View the book (or ebook) on Amazon: Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
See how Never Split the Difference, ranks on the #neverendingbooklist
Never Split the Difference is part of my Sales toolkit
How useful was this article? Do you think your friends or colleagues may also get one or two insights from this short read? If so please help to share, that would be really appreciated!
This bestseller by Malcolm Gladwell, a New Yorker journalist and author of several fascinating books, explores a topic all the more interesting in the age of social media: how a trend becomes viral.
In no more than 300 words
In The Tipping Point Malcolm Gladwell invites readers to consider how a trend starts. What makes something go viral is the combination of three rare factors. The initial reason if that a specific information or product encounters three type of very specific people that are labeled as Connectors (imagine your friend who knows everyone), Mavens (your other friend that is always aware of the new technologies and the best places to strike a deal) and Salesmen (the enthusiastic but sometimes annoying friend who stills the attention at diner parties). The second element that makes a viral trend is that the information is packaged into a simple and very efficient way: it sticks. Gladwell exposes how research proves that ability to achieve an outstanding level of information stickiness outsmarts the best possible creative marketing campaigns. Intense practical testing – via focus groups for instance – appears to be the only way (yet exhausting) to reach such efficiency. Finally, environment plays an extraordinarily important role into the unfolding of any trend. However, seemingly negligeable details, such as the immediate context (stressful situation, unfavorable environment, community type of organisation…) carries similar influence to the previous two factors.
In the age of social media, Gladwell provides simple queues to understand how viral content is created, and enables us to break down retroactively and understand existing or past trends. This is a powerful “How-To” that we can leverage on to promote causes dear to us or improve our marketing abilities.
Three takeaways
Bridging the implementation gap
Do I recommend this book? It is indeed an interesting read but unless you are fundamentally interested by the research behind the conclusions, I would recommand you stick to the summary and action points
View the book (or ebook) The Tipping Point on Amazon
How does The Tipping point rank on the #neverendingbooklist project?
In this book, Malcolm Gladwell quotes a research paper that I am strongly influenced by. This paper is the Affective Communication Test by Howard Friedman published in 1980. It shows how salesmanship efficiency relies heavily on a quality that is highly difficult to measure: the ability to convey emotions. Research shows that, contrary to our intuition, this is mostly a non verbal process and that it can hardly be faked. In conclusion, charisma appears to be a gift. Friedman built a self test to assess levels of individual charisma. Such test has been proven efficient by many subsequent experience. I encourage any sales professional to use it as part of his recruiting method.
Read the paper: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f14c/36b4a59112b4dae5b9eed711c565d8ef96e3.pdf
Malcolm Gladwell on TED:
Hans Rosling was a doctor and public speaker who fought two main battles: children mortality and ignorance. If you never had the chance to watch Hans’ inspiring TED Talks, give it a look. I’ll add them after the review. The main reason to read this article – and the book – is that I bet it will make you happier about the current state of the world! I am comfortable to say it will help most of us make better decisions.
In no more than 300 words
Factfulness was written by Hans Rosling as a digest of his lifelong quest for a fact-based understanding of our world. After countless research and public speaking exercises, Rosling concluded that human beings living in richest parts of the world tend to imagine a distorted reality, through the lence of poverty, violence and fear. Factfulness exposes how we rely on an outdated matrix to make our judgements. Western vs Developping world framework prevents us from realising that most people live today in middle-income countries, that 80% of 1-year old children globally have been vaccinated or that Malaysia life expectancy today is comparable to Sweden in 1975. Rosling invites us to consider a 4 income buckets framework. Level 1 corresponds to $1 a day, and encompasses our traditional poverty image: people going barefoot to get water from a well. 1 billion people are today in this category. Level 4 stands for “western” lifestyle, with a daily income over $64, home to another 1 billion individuals. Remaining 5 billions are split between two categories: from $4 daily income for category 2 and $16 a day for level 3.
Rosling warns against the use of stereotypes: facts show that religion has barely any impact on number of children while income, and to a second order healthcare and education do. Consider that that number of children per woman is lower in Iran than in USA.
As I finished the book, I realised such data-driven exercise opened my eyes on opportunities. It also calls for lifelong learning: the world is evolving fast, yet the eduction is mostly provided when people are young, by teachers who rely on data usually from their own twenties. Luckily, data is now available to most of us, and at a very cheap cost. A small effort can grant us a useful framework upgrade.
Three takeaways
Bridging the implementation gap (actions I added to my toolbox based on this book)
Do I recommend this book? That is indeed a must read!
View the book or the ebook Factfulness on Amazon
How does Factfulness rank on the #neverendingbooklist project?
See Hans’ TED Talk, Let my dataset change your mindset
Factfulness was highlighted as a reading recommendation by Bill Gates Summer 2018 Reading list and by Howard Marks, Oaktree Investment Manager and bestselling author in the Tim Ferriss show #338.
This is my project to sort the books I read over time. My criteria is how much I would recommend my sister and my brother to read the book. This is indeed highly subjective and does not necessarily reflect the quality of the books.
You can follow #neverendingbooklist on social media to get updates on the project
What a mastery Daniel Kahneman accomplished by compiling such an amount of practical knowledge in a single, easy-to-read book. I accept the challenge to sum up my understanding of Thinking, Fast and Slow, in this post for the #neverendingbooklist.
In no more than 300 words
Daniel Kahneman is a renown scholar, behavioral economics specialist, that was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002. In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman compiles the most important breakthrough of behavioural economics and describes their impacts and implication in simple language.
Central idea is that the brain is made of two Systems:
– System 1, that provokes automatic answers and is always operating
– System 2, your thinking-self, a little more challenging to use.
This split leads people to take sometimes irrational decisions when facing specific situations.
Research has documented a number of these situations, across many practical fields, such as Economics, Investments, Healthcare, but also choices related to daily spendings or holiday planning. Kahneman breaks up with the traditional Economics which assume human being as always rational (Econs) and calls for a more complex picture: the situation in which the decision is made influences the way such decision is made.
Not patronising but analysing, the book illustrates patterns and offers research-backed rational for abnormal behaviour. It then introduces systems to reduce biais whenever such behaviour results in long term disadvantage.
On many occasions, brain focuses only on the information that are readily available to him, even when such information may be irrelevant to such decision. Another flaw is our propension to “mental accounting”, a silo-type of thinking process. Kahneman reviews the considerable impact of Priming which can be used to substantially orientate your decision making process.
This booked helped me to reframe my vision of how my personal feelings have a direct impact on choices that I consider rational (investments) and give me ground to develop stronger decision making process.
Three takeaways
Bridging the implementation gap
Do I recommend this book? Definitely
View the book (or ebook) on Amazon: Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
See how Thinking, Fast and Slow ranks on the #neverendingbooklist
I got so much from reading. Books have been transforming my understanding and still reshape regularly the way I see the world. I am blown away by the impact that knowledge can have on me. I have been fortunate to catch the reading bug early in my life. I know as well that it can be so difficult for some us my friends and family to make time for reading and I always wanted to do something about it.
Some time ago, I started an Instagram hashtag #neverendingbooklist. This was the beginning of a project that I carry on the back of my mind for the longest time: I want to trim, simplify and sort the wisdom I gather from my readings and make it available to my family and close friends. I realized that simply sharing pictures of somehow unactractive non-fiction books has little impact on my reading-sceptical friends. Then is not serving the purpose. Sure it provides me with kudos from the reading community and gives some reading suggestions, but I am trying to be more impactul.
Another personal expereince is that reading is only the first (and sometime the easiest) step to gather knowledge. Pages by themselves do not bring much to me, what makes however an impact are the actions I take, leveraging on that knowledge. I have been sad many time to observe what I now call an implementation gap in my own practice. It stroke me at several occasion as I re-read my all time favorite How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. None of the recommendations are groundbreaking. Yet, I tried a little experimentation. As Carnegie goes through the so called Principles, I wrote down directly on the book, the situations in which I broke such Principle. Not only I ended interrupting my reading every other minute, there was not enough room on the pages to write down my failures. I ended up frustrated and stopped the experience. I could not explain what had gone wrong: I read the book religiously several time before, I made the effort to highlight the concept, and I considered myself able to understand most of the book content. I remembered I came across similar observations in some materials from Tim Ferris, Tony Robbins and Derek Sivers: I was guilty of failure of implementation. Fast forward, I decided to rethink my approach to non-fiction books and to focus on the downstream actions I could take to make the most of this new knowledge. I write on the back of the front-cover of the book, actionable principles derived from this new wisdom. I can not say it is a perfect process but I made since then considerable progress in my implementation. That is why I will make implementation the cornerstone of the #neverendingbooklist.
The #neverendingbooklist method. I decided to focus primarily on non-fiction books. I will summarize and contextualize the books in less than 300 words. I will highlight 3 learning points and propose actionable implementation of these goals. Finally, I will try to maintain an ordered list of the most impactful books I read.
There is an additional goal to this project. I hope to shed light on the unarguable impact that reading can have on anyone’s life and hope to promote actions in favor or literacy for children and access to impactful books for young adults. I am still assessing at this stage to exact format that this goal will take. If you have any idea or if you are already involved in such a project please reach out.
Please share this project around you! Every little helps!
#keepreading