Dang, still resonates like crazy with the values infused into me during my childhood. And I’m not talking about just the “reduce, reuse, recycle” mantra; the whole milieu of this muppet-sung message is so 70s and 80s Americana—the family, their clothing, their kitchen, the appliances, the grocery shopping… so wonderfully familiar and even endearing.
For me, once is never enough to relish the quirky magic of this bit of Sesame Street.
Recently, I’ve encountered a number of thought-provoking ideas on leadership. Here are a number of them I’ve collected together in Scapple.
Looking for a beach-bag, in-flight or in-hammock book that offers cutting-edge, even actionable ideas, instead of literary escapism? Here are some paradigm-shifting books I have been enthralled by and continue to use personally and professionally. Enjoy!
Creative Productivity
Glimmer (aka CAD Monkeys, Dinosaur Babies and T-Shaped People)
By 99u.com: Manage Your Day-to-Day, Maximize Your Potential—excellent guidance on how to be an effective creative professional
Steal Like an Artist
Getting the Right Work Done
Do More Great Work—the workbook for making the work you care about even better
The Nature of Thought, Human Behavior and the World
The Heath Brothers Trilogy: Made to Stick, Switch, Decisive—effective strategies for communicating, driving behavioral change and making decisions based on psychology research, explained clearly with compelling stories
The Social Conquest of Earth—the story of who we are as species, why we can be so kind and so hostile (http://www.npr.org/2012/04/13/150575003/how-humans-and-insects-conquered-the-earth)
Your Brain on Nature—how we’re healthier with nature (and some explanation of why)
Leaders Eat Last—the anthropology and neurobiology of leadership
Imagine, how creativity works (http://www.npr.org/2012/03/21/148607182/fostering-creativity-and-imagination-in-the-workplace)
Where Good Ideas Come From
The Rise of Superman—the neurobiology of flow through the lens of extreme sports
Antifragile—systems can be more than resilient; rather than bounce back from disruption, some can be made stronger by it; enter antifragility
Focus: the hidden driver of excellence—“The more you can concentrate, the better you’ll do in anything, because whatever talent you have, you can’t apply it if you’re distracted.” http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R905131000
The Power of Habit—the anatomy of habits (http://www.npr.org/2012/03/05/147192599/habits-how-they-form-and-how-to-break-them)
The Paradox of Choice—how more choices actually make us less happy (http://www.npr.org/2012/05/02/151881205/the-pursuit-of-happiness)
The Willpower Instinct
Your Brain at Work
Ha! The Science of When and Why We Laugh—“humor is by nature confrontational—sometimes cognitively, sometimes emotionally, and sometimes both” (http://www.npr.org/2014/03/15/289946192/whyd-the-scientist-cross-the-road-to-figure-out-why-youre-laughing)
The Information Diet (http://www.informationdiet.com/; http://www.npr.org/2012/01/14/145101748/is-it-time-for-you-to-go-on-an-information-diet)
The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking
The As If Principle
The Social Animal
Disciplined Entrepreneurship
Ah, another intersection of Internet culture and everyday life. It was delightful to see this drawing at Clover KND, which has become one of my favorite Kendall Square hangout spots since it opened in recent months—hip minimalist atmosphere with satisfying food, great coffee and delicious sodas.
I have fond memories of my first iPhone, an iPhone 3G.
Pushing us to take a hard look at the pursuit of writing as a career, the conference session “The Strategic Writer” provided some realistic, practical perspective for writers in any stage of their development. Led by literary agent Eve Bridburg, the session took us through a framework for approaching writing with clearer purpose and direction, ultimately allowing us to find the viable paths and then select the best ones—reminds me of the quote from Émile-Auguste Chartier shared in Do More Great Work, “Nothing is more dangerous than an idea when it’s the only one you’ve got.”
Two major components of the framework are
and
These points Eve discussed immediately reminded me of concepts from the invaluable books Made to Stick and Switch, especially
and
The session also resonated with points made in Kevin Starr’s PopTech talk “Lasting Impact” which I require all of my Intro to Environmental Science students watch and apply. Clarity of mission can make all the difference.
Kevin Starr: Lasting Impact from PopTech on Vimeo.
Wow. It is utterly amazing that we understand the universe in such rich detail. This video by Nature is just fantastically stunning.
Recently, I’ve been watching UBC Medicine’s Neuroanatomy video series on YouTube, and they are fantastic! Totally cerebral, sometimes literally so. Videos tend to be between 7 – 15 minutes long and effectively convey essential concepts with a combination of clearly shown, well labeled brain specimens and concise, friendly explanations.
Here’s their video on the basal ganglia.
A Contemplative Compilation 