Why do so few small businesses survive their first few years of operation? Consultant Michael E. Gerber says it’s because too many owners focus on day-to-day operations at the expense of long-term strategy. The good news is that it’s possible to build strategic vision like a muscle. Learn how in our Instaread on THE E-MYTH […]
Saving Face Time
It’s no secret: office meetings usually inspire dread. They’re long, boring, and interrupt workflows for an entire team. Worse, they’re often a source of confusion. Employees can easily leave an hour-long gathering with no clear understanding of what the meeting was about, or what the boss expects. That’s why Jason Fried and David Heinemeier […]
Choosing Ease Over Excellence
Customer service is hard to get right. When customers have a terrific experience, they might mention it to a few friends. But research shows that negative experiences tend to stand out more in people’s minds—and those unhappy campers have tools like Yelp and Twitter to amplify their grievances. Authors Matthew Dixon, Nick Toman, and Rick […]
How to Formulate a Battle Plan
Military strategy isn’t just for wars. It’s also a useful set of tools that can help us face life’s more mundane challenges, like meeting an ambitious sales quota. To win any battle, you’ll need more than positive affirmations and good instincts, according to self-help guru Robert Greene. The key to success is methodical planning. In THE […]
The Art of Perfect Timing
As any athlete knows, it is difficult, if not impossible, to overcome an early disadvantage. In WHEN, author Daniel Pink writes about how perfect timing is often a matter of optimizing the beginning, middle, and end of projects. One of Pink’s most important observations is that getting off to a bad start is likely to […]
What to Do When You Can’t Relate
When you find it difficult to connect with someone, try to see the world from their point of view. Empathy is easy enough in theory. But in practice, the act of imagining the world through someone else’s eyes doesn’t always come naturally. Usually, the more distant and different a person’s life is from your own, the […]
Four Myths About Launching a Startup
Starting a new business is difficult, and it seems like every successful entrepreneur has his or her own recipe for success. But if you’re deep in the process of developing (or running) a new company, all those books about other people’s experiences may seem more overwhelming than useful. To help entrepreneurs or would-be entrepreneurs make […]
Four Styles of Self-Improvement
Self-help books are a surprisingly diverse genre, with styles to suit almost any personality. That means that what works for someone else may not work for you, so endorsements from friends and magazines aren’t necessarily very helpful. Too often people invest a lot of time in attempting a lifestyle makeover without determining if it truly […]
Deep Work
Cal Newport isn’t a trained productivity expert, but he has the kind of work habits that inspire equal parts mockery and awe at dinner parties. He barely uses his smartphone. He only checks his email a few times a day. And he always — always — leaves the office by 5:30 p.m. In Newport’s unusually serious […]
