What You Will Learn

Latest Episodes:

Deep Work Nov 03, 2018

Show notes

Deep Work - by Cal Newport

'Rules for focused success in a distracted world'

Deep Work is: "Professional activities performed in a state of distraction free concentration that push your cognitive capacities to the limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate"

Our culture is constantly pushing toward 'shallow work' and most are getting stuck and distracted. The good news is that there are massive economic or professional opportunities for the few who can resist this trend and prioritise depth.

Cal Newport will sell you on going deep so you can acquire the type of skills that will make you valuable in the modern economy.

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Getting to Yes Oct 27, 2018

Show notes

Getting To Yes - by Roger Fisher & William Ury

'Negotiation an agreement without giving in'

Whether it's asking for a raise with from boss, trying to find an agreed upon price for your house or discussing what you should do on date night, like it or not, you are a negotiator. We all negotiate every day. Most people negotiate by 'positional bargaining', but Roger and William show us their superior 'Principled Negotiation' techniques with a few simple steps:

1. Separate the problem from the people

2. Focus on interests not positions

3. Invent options for mutual gain

4. Insist on using objective criteria.

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Jonah Berger: Spread your ideas, leverage word of mouth Oct 25, 2018

Show notes

Jonah Berger is the author of Contagious and Invisible Influence, and is currently working on a new book called 'The Catalyst'.

In our review of his book Contagious, we highlighted the six principles that helped products and ideas and behaviours 'catch on' by making them contagious (spreading from person to person via word of mouth). In this interview, we dive deeper into a few of those principles, like how a secret bar in New York harnessed the principle of Social Currency and how Kit Kat built a Trigger by associating themselves with coffee and breaks.

Check out Jonah's website: https://jonahberger.com/

Find him on twitter: https://twitter.com/j1berger

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Contagious Oct 20, 2018

Show notes

Contagious - by Jonah Berger

'Why things catch on'

You'd think that the best product at the most attractive price with the most advertising would be the product that wins, but that's not always the case. Jonah did some digging and found six factors that drive word of mouth and lead products, services and behaviours to go 'viral' (to be spread from person to person via word of mouth): Social currency, triggers, emotion, public, practical value, and stories.

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Tao Te Ching Oct 14, 2018

Show notes

The Tao Te Ching - by Lao Tzu

'The Book of The Way'

This booked is packed with wisdom from 500BC China. It's been passed on through the ages and applies to all aspects of life.

'Those who know don't talk, those who talk don't know'
'He who stands on tiptoe doesn't stand firm, he who rushes ahead cannot go far'
'Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill'
'The ancient masters didn't try to educate the people but kindly taught them to not know'

There's lessons packed within each paragraph and it's a bit of a mindblower that takes some time to stop, think and reflect.

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Chris Yeh: Blitzscaling - Lightning Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies Oct 11, 2018

Show notes

One surprising thing that all of the billion dollar tech companies have in common (like Google, Facebook and Apple), is the ability to Blitzscale - that is, prioritising speed over efficiency. Chris Yeh and Reid Hoffman just released their brand new book, Blitzscaling.

We interviewed Chris for the book launch and discussed how billion-dollar-companies are built. In order to achieve extraordinary growth, you need to follow new counterintuitive rules, like 'let fires burn' and 'ignore your customers'. We also chatted about where he sees growth in tech for the future.

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21 Lessons for the 21st Century Oct 07, 2018

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21 Lessons for the 21st Century - by Yuval Noah Harari

We created myths to unite our species.

We tamed nature to give us power.

We are now redesigning life to fulfill our wildest dreams.

But do we know ourselves any more? Or will our inventions make us irrelevant?

21 Lessons is an exploration of what it means to be human in an age of bewilderment.

How can we protect ourselves from nuclear war, ecological cataclysms and technological disruptions? What can we do about the epidemic of fake news or the threat of terrorism? What should we teach our children? This book explores all of these vital questions and more.

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Moonwalking With Einstein Sep 29, 2018

Show notes

Moonwalking with Einstein - by Josh Foer

'The art and science of remembering everything'

We're using our memories less and less. We've outsourced our memory to technology and devices such as GPS systems, google and online notebooks.

When a memory goes missing, such as someones name, it can be frustrating and futile and can come at some social cost. Moonwalking With Einstein tells Joshua Foer's journey from journalist to US Memory Champion in twelve months, and talks about different memory techniques and phenomena of the brain along the way.

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The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing Sep 23, 2018

Show notes

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing - by Al Ries & Jack Trout

'Violate them at your own risk!'

Billions of dollars are wasted every year on 'clever' or 'brilliant' marketing campaigns that were doomed to fail from the start, because they violate one of the 'immutable' laws. Ries & Trout argue that there are certain laws of marketing that are 'immutable' - they never change:

- 'Marketing is a battle of perceptions, not products'

- 'It's better to be first than better'

- 'The single most wasteful thing you can do in marketing is try to change a mind'

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Alex Banayan: Alternative paths to success through 'The Third Door' Sep 19, 2018

Show notes

Alex Banayan was lying on the bed in his college dorm room staring at the ceiling wondering what he actually wanted to do with his life. He knew he wanted to do something big, so he tried researching his heroes to see how they got started. But after reading through business books and biographies, he couldn't find the very FIRST thing people did - before they had a name or a reputation or money or credibility, how did they get a foot in the door?

Because he couldn't find the book he was looking for, he decided to write it himself. His goal was to find the best in the world and get them to pass their advice onto the next generation. From Bill Gates to Warren Buffet to Steven Spielberg to Lady Gaga to Quincy Jones to Maya Angelou to Mark Zuckerberg, Alex tried to pull together their stories and advice for forging your own path to success.

Check out Alex and his book here: https://thirddoorbook.com/

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