Cheat Sheet: Master Getting Things Done...In 2 Minutes - The Practical Summary of David Allen's Best Selling Book


2 Minute Insight - 2014
     To get the book's methods to work for you in real life, research shows it takes an average of 66 days of consistent practice for a new skill to become a habit. Cheat Sheet: Master Getting Things Done ...In 2 Minutes... is a fast reference tool that captures this organizational system in a concise, step-by-step format that help you embed the concepts while providing rapid refresher when you need it most. It is designed for: 1.) The busy individual familiar with the system and serious about habit change 2.) The newcomer who values time spent on EXECUTION, not reading. Key Benefits: • Excellent compact summary of the basic principles of the Get Things Done system in a fast, convenient format. • Saves you precious time from re-reading the book to re-absorb, remember and categorize concepts. We did all the work for you. • Contains illustrated work flow map to follow during THE critical 2 hour weekly review.
 • Keep the topic relevant and in front of you for times you fall off the program. More than just a book summary, pull up this organization tool to coach you through the entire process. Life just got easier as you cross off tasks after task; achieve multiple goals and milestones, all the while functioning with a clear mind and a sense of relaxed control. 





 This reference summary is designed to be purchased along side the reviewed title Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress Free Productivity.

Beginners: The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning


Tom Vanderbilt - 2021
    He tackles five main skills (and picks up a few more along the way), choosing them for their difficulty to master and their distinct lack of career marketability--chess, singing, surfing, drawing, and juggling. What he doesn't expect is that the circuitous paths he takes while learning these skills will prove even more satisfying than any knowledge he gains.He soon finds himself having rapturous experiences singing Spice Girls songs in an amateur choir, losing games of chess to eight-year-olds, and dodging scorpions at a surf camp in Costa Rica. Along the way, he interviews dozens of experts to explore the fascinating psychology and science behind the benefits of becoming an adult beginner. Weaving comprehensive research and surprising insight gained from his year of learning dangerously, Vanderbilt shows how anyone can get better at beginning again--and, more important, why they should take those first awkward steps. Ultimately, he shares how his refreshed sense of curiosity opened him up to a profound happiness and a deeper connection to the people around him. It's about how small acts of reinvention, at any age, can make life seem magical.

Adaptability: The Art of Winning in an Age of Uncertainty


Max McKeown - 2012
    Strategy and innovation expert, Max McKeown, draws on millions of years of evolution to create a practical and strategic set of rules which take adaption from an involuntary coping strategy to a deliberate winning strategy.To show how adaptability works McKeown looks at a rich set of examples, problems and situations. He includes the 15-year old geneticist working from his basement, and the Italian town that said no to seemingly inevitable change. Along the way, he visits the adaptation of Western technology to the social structures of sub-Saharan Africa and explores how quantum games may solve the world's trickiest problems. He looks inside global corporations like Starbucks, Netflix and McDonald's to see how they flirt with extinction, create internal barriers to adaptation, and adapt to transcend their situation.Adaptability proves that innovation is important but not enough. Strategy, branding, marketing and operations are all useful, but insufficient. And highlights that the ability to adapt smarter and faster than the situation changes is what makes the powerful difference between adapting to cope and adapting to win.

The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization


Peter M. Senge - 1990
    As Senge makes clear, in the long run the only sustainable competitive advantage is your organization’s ability to learn faster than the competition. The leadership stories in the book demonstrate the many ways that the core ideas in The Fifth Discipline, many of which seemed radical when first published in 1990, have become deeply integrated into people’s ways of seeing the world and their managerial practices. In The Fifth Discipline, Senge describes how companies can rid themselves of the learning “disabilities” that threaten their productivity and success by adopting the strategies of learning organizations—ones in which new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, collective aspiration is set free, and people are continually learning how to create results they truly desire. The updated and revised Currency edition of this business classic contains over one hundred pages of new material based on interviews with dozens of practitioners at companies like BP, Unilever, Intel, Ford, HP, Saudi Aramco, and organizations like Roca, Oxfam, and The World Bank. It features a new Foreword about the success Peter Senge has achieved with learning organizations since the book’s inception, as well as new chapters on Impetus (getting started), Strategies, Leaders’ New Work, Systems Citizens, and Frontiers for the Future. Mastering the disciplines Senge outlines in the book will:• Reignite the spark of genuine learning driven by people focused on what truly matters to them• Bridge teamwork into macro-creativity• Free you of confining assumptions and mindsets• Teach you to see the forest and the trees• End the struggle between work and personal time

The Laws of Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life


John Maeda - 2006
    We're rebelling against technology that's too complicated, DVD players with too many menus, and software accompanied by 75-megabyte "read me" manuals. The iPod's clean gadgetry has made simplicity hip. But sometimes we find ourselves caught up in the simplicity paradox: we want something that's simple and easy to use, but also does all the complex things we might ever want it to do. In The Laws of Simplicity, John Maeda offers ten laws for balancing simplicity and complexity in business, technology, and design—guidelines for needing less and actually getting more.Maeda—a professor in MIT's Media Lab and a world-renowned graphic designer—explores the question of how we can redefine the notion of "improved" so that it doesn't always mean something more, something added on.Maeda's first law of simplicity is "Reduce." It's not necessarily beneficial to add technology features just because we can. And the features that we do have must be organized (Law 2) in a sensible hierarchy so users aren't distracted by features and functions they don't need. But simplicity is not less just for the sake of less. Skip ahead to Law 9: "Failure: Accept the fact that some things can never be made simple." Maeda's concise guide to simplicity in the digital age shows us how this idea can be a cornerstone of organizations and their products—how it can drive both business and technology. We can learn to simplify without sacrificing comfort and meaning, and we can achieve the balance described in Law 10. This law, which Maeda calls "The One," tells us: "Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful."

Life! by Design: 6 Steps to an Extraordinary You


Tom Ferry - 2010
    It is time to emerge from your coma, embrace renewed vitality, and approach life By Design! In this dynamic hands-on guide, world-class success coach and motivational leader Tom Ferry reveals the secrets to achievement at work and at home, and how to create a greater balance between the two. This book will help you conquer the four addictions that are holding you back from living up to your greatest potential: addiction to the opinions of others, addiction to drama, addiction to the past, and addiction to worry. By becoming aware of these addictions, you will be better equipped to respond to uncertain times and to the challenges that crop up in your daily life. Tom Ferry's unique six-step approach to living By Design will help you emerge from complacency into action and accomplishment. Step 1: Explore the Core Seven life assessments--your career, your intimate relationships, your finances, your physical body, your spirituality, your attitude about the world, and your intellectual self--and pinpoint the areas in which you want to improve. Step 2: Make the conscious, deliberate choice to change your life and find fulfillment, no matter the obstacles. Step 3: Create your Life! By Design by declaring what you want for yourself, defining your goals, and devising a concrete plan to make it happen. Step 4: Identify the actions you can take to ensure that you thrive in all areas of your life. Step 5: Visualize your life as you want it to be. This simple but profound exercise is a proven technique that will lock in your vision and will lead you toward achieving your goals. Step 6: Create accountability and structure to break old habits and gain the discipline required to live life to your fullest potential. It's time to draw the line between the past and the present as you face your fears, and go for everything you really want. This is Life! By Design."" And the results will astound you!

Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise and Other Bribes


Alfie Kohn - 1993
    We dangle goodies (from candy bars to sales commissions) in front of people in much the same way we train the family pet. Drawing on a wealth of psychological research, Alfie Kohn points the way to a more successful strategy based on working with people instead of doing things to them. "Do rewards motivate people?" asks Kohn. "Yes. They motivate people to get rewards." Seasoned with humor and familiar examples, Punished By Rewards presents an argument unsettling to hear but impossible to dismiss.

How Women Rise: Break the 12 Habits Holding You Back from Your Next Raise, Promotion, or Job


Sally Helgesen - 2018
    But a few years ago, he realized that while some of the habits he outlined in What Got You Here apply to both men and women, women face specific, and different, challenges as they seek to advance in their careers.So he partnered with his longtime colleague, women’s leadership expert Sally Helgesen, to create this invaluable handbook for women trying to take the next step in their careers. They realized that for women in particular, the very skills and habits that made them successful early in their careers could actually be holding them back as they advance to the next stage of their working lives. Women in particular struggle with habits like:1. Reluctance to Claim Your Achievements2. Expecting Others to Spontaneously Notice and Reward Your Hard Work3. Overvaluing Expertise4. Building Rather than Leveraging Relationships5. Failing to Enlist Allies from Day One6. Putting Your Job Before Your Career7. The Disease to Please8. The Perfection Trap9. Minimizing10. Too Much11. Ruminating12. Letting Your Radar Distract YouLike the original What Got You Here, this new book will help women identify specific behaviors that keep them from realizing their full potential, no matter what stage they are in their career. It will also help them identify why what worked for them in the past will not necessarily get them where they want to go in the future–and how to finally shed those behaviors so they can advance to the next level, whatever that may be.

We Are All Weird: The Myth of Mass and The End of Compliance


Seth Godin - 2011
    The book calls for end of mass and for the beginning of offering people more choices, more interests and giving them more authority to operate in ways that reflect their own unique values.For generations, marketers, industrialists and politicians have tried to force us into little boxes, complying with their idea of what we should buy, use or want. And in an industrial, mass-market driven world, this was efficient and it worked. But what we learned in this new era is that mass limits our choice because it succeeds on conformity.As Godin has identified, a new era of weirdness is upon us. People with more choices, more interests and the power to do something about it are stepping forward and insisting that the world work in a different way. By enabling choice we allow people to survive and thrive.

The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures


Dan Roam - 2008
    Three dots to represent Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. Three arrows to show direct flights. Problem solved, and the picture made it easy to sell Southwest Airlines to investors and customers. Used properly, a simple drawing on a humble napkin is more powerful than Excel or PowerPoint. It can help crystallize ideas, think outside the box, and communicate in a way that people simply “get”. In this book Dan Roam argues that everyone is born with a talent for visual thinking, even those who swear they can’t draw. Drawing on twenty years of visual problem solving combined with the recent discoveries of vision science, this book shows anyone how to clarify a problem or sell an idea by visually breaking it down using a simple set of visual thinking tools – tools that take advantage of everyone’s innate ability to look, see, imagine, and show. THE BACK OF THE NAPKIN proves that thinking with pictures can help anyone discover and develop new ideas, solve problems in unexpected ways, and dramatically improve their ability to share their insights. This book will help readers literally see the world in a new way.

Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen


Donald Miller - 2017
    This revolutionary method for connecting with customers provides readers with the ultimate competitive advantage, revealing the secret for helping their customers understand the compelling benefits of using their products, ideas, or services. Building a StoryBrand does this by teaching readers the seven universal story points all humans respond to; the real reason customers make purchases; how to simplify a brand message so people understand it; and how to create the most effective messaging for websites, brochures, and social media. Whether you are the marketing director of a multibillion dollar company, the owner of a small business, a politician running for office, or the lead singer of a rock band, Building a StoryBrand will forever transform the way you talk about who you are, what you do, and the unique value you bring to your customers.

The Revenge of Analog: Real Things and Why They Matter


David Sax - 2016
    We've begun to fall back in love with the very analog goods and ideas the tech gurus insisted that we no longer needed. Businesses that once looked outdated, from film photography to brick-and-mortar retail, are now springing with new life. Notebooks, records, and stationery have become cool again. Behold the Revenge of Analog. David Sax has uncovered story after story of entrepreneurs, small business owners, and even big corporations who've found a market selling not apps or virtual solutions but real, tangible things. As e-books are supposedly remaking reading, independent bookstores have sprouted up across the country. As music allegedly migrates to the cloud, vinyl record sales have grown more than ten times over the past decade. Even the offices of tech giants like Google and Facebook increasingly rely on pen and paper to drive their brightest ideas. Sax's work reveals a deep truth about how humans shop, interact, and even think. Blending psychology and observant wit with first-rate reportage, Sax shows the limited appeal of the purely digital life-and the robust future of the real world outside it.

Stop Playing Safe: Rethink Risk, Unlock the Power of Courage, Achieve Outstanding Success


Margie Warrell - 2012
    Stop Playing Safe is a call to action for anyone who has ever felt that their work was not revealing their true potential for personal progression and career development. It will give you the conviction and courage to become bolder in your career, to perform better and enjoy your work more.Margie points out that 'fear' seems to be our new state of 'normal' as we deal with economic uncertainty, job insecurity and constant change management in the workplace. In times like these, all our instincts tell us to play safe and avoid risk. Yet courage and bold action are the keys to reaping the rewards of exceptional success in your career.Supported by case studies, insights and advice from a range of high-profile Australian and international entrepreneurs, Stop Playing Safe shares tactics you can put into practice to achieve personal fulfilment and professional success. It will help you clarify your career purpose and maximise your work value. It offers solutions for dealing with change management and will encourage you to pursue your career goals with renewed vigour and empowerment.Margie Warrell grew up on a dairy farm in rural Australia and has lived in the US She is the best-selling author of Find Your Courage and CEO of Global Courage Her clients include the United Nations Foundation, NASA, Ernst & Young, Bechtel, Best Buy, Accenture, AOL, Covidien, ADT, United Healthcare, and ExxonMobil You will keep coming back to this book as you move forward in your career, using it as a ready reference to progress through each stage and tackle each new challenge. Adapting to change an taking chances are critical to your success. This book will help you with both. Get it, read it, enjoy the results. - Jon Gordon, author of The Energy Bus and The Seed."Stop Playing Safe will help you harness the courage to take the risks that make sense--and give you the success you want. - Randy Gage, Author of Risky Is the New Safe"Practical, powerful, and inspiring. In uncertain times, it's a guide-book you can't afford not to read as it spells out exactly how to handle your challenges and find the confidence to speak up, adapt and get ahead in the new economy. Everyone in your company should read it! - Suzi Pomerantz, author, Master coach, and CEO of Innovative Leadership International."Stop Playing Safe is one of those rare books that is at once original, inspirational, and above all, useful." - Bill Treasurer, President of Giant Leap Consulting and author, Courage Goes to Work.Stop Playing Safe provides a roadmap to navigate uncertainty and find the courage to create meaningful changes in your workplace, career and life. - Rebecca Heino, Professor of Management, McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University"Margie Warrell provides powerful and practical advice for overcoming our innate fear of risk and vulnerability. It bears reading and re-reading for all who strive to become their best selves. - Dr Gordon Livingston, Author of Too Soon Old, Too Late SmartMargie is a true expert on the science of success. Her new book is both inspiring and practical. It's a powerful manual for creating the life of your dreams." - Siimon Reynolds, author of Why People Fail

Nice Bike: Making Meaningful Connections On the Road of Life


Mark Scharenbroich - 2010
    It’s about being a part of a community, knowing that contributions matter and experiencing a greater affiliation with others.The premise begins at the 2003 Harley-Davidson Motorcycle company’s 100 year anniversary celebration. Thousands and thousands of bikers throughout the world attended the event. As a Harley owner stoodproudly by his bike at that event, what two words from a passerby would have made their weekend? “Nice Bike.”“Nice Bike” is more than a casual compliment. It’s the engine that is fueled with the three actions of acknowledging, honoring and connecting with others. Nice Bike can help you with your daily interactions, create more meaningful relationships and add more joy in your journey on the road of life.When you have a better understanding of how to make meaningful connections, you can live a life filled with a greater sense of self worth and accomplishment in your work and in your life. Acknowledge, honor, and connect and you will change the world, one person at a time.

The Professor Is In: The Essential Guide To Turning Your Ph.D. Into a Job


Karen Kelsky - 2015
     into their ideal job   Each year tens of thousands of students will, after years of hard work and enormous amounts of money, earn their Ph.D. And each year only a small percentage of them will land a job that justifies and rewards their investment. For every comfortably tenured professor or well-paid former academic, there are countless underpaid and overworked adjuncts, and many more who simply give up in frustration.   Those who do make it share an important asset that separates them from the pack: they have a plan. They understand exactly what they need to do to set themselves up for success.  They know what really moves the needle in academic job searches, how to avoid the all-too-common mistakes that sink so many of their peers, and how to decide when to point their Ph.D. toward other, non-academic options.   Karen Kelsky has made it her mission to help readers join the select few who get the most out of their Ph.D. As a former tenured professor and department head who oversaw numerous academic job searches, she knows from experience exactly what gets an academic applicant a job. And as the creator of the popular and widely respected advice site The Professor is In, she has helped countless Ph.D.’s turn themselves into stronger applicants and land their dream careers.   Now, for the first time ever, Karen has poured all her best advice into a single handy guide that addresses the most important issues facing any Ph.D., including:   -When, where, and what to publish -Writing a foolproof grant application -Cultivating references and crafting the perfect CV -Acing the job talk and campus interview -Avoiding the adjunct trap -Making the leap to nonacademic work, when the time is right  The Professor Is In addresses all of these issues, and many more.