What You Will Learn

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. Beta-Test our new online discussion forum: https://bookclub.whatyouwilllearn.com/

'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, you are a negotiator. Fisher & Ury show us '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.

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.

'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.

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

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.

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? This is our 'Book of the Month'. Join our Book Club and you'll get a hard copy sent to your doorstep, then you can join in the conversation with us: www.whatyouwilllearn.com/bookclub

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.

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'

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?

Poke The Box - by Seth Godin 'When was the last time you did something for the first time?' Imagine that the world had no middlemen, no publishers, no bosses, no HR folks, no one telling you what you couldn't do. If you lived in that world, what would you do? Go. Do That. Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Poke-Box-Seth-Godin/9780241209035/?a_aid=adamsbooks

Dr. Robert Cialdini has spent his entire career researching the science of influence earning him an international reputation as an expert in the fields of persuasion, compliance, and negotiation. In other words, he's a weapon, and there is a lot you can gain professionally and personally from listening. His teachings can be applied to sales, marketing, negotiations, as well as every day social interactions, and can be either harnessed or used defensively.

'A revolutionary way to influence and persuade'  After his 1984 masterpiece 'Influence', Robert Cialdini brings us his second book: Pre-Suasion. Influence was all about the CONTENT of your message, whereas Pre-Suasion shows us that it's also important to manage the CONTEXT. The secret doesn't just lie in the message itself, but in the interactions before the message is delivered. This book is a weapon. Please use it wisely.

This is an absolute bible for socially and politically navigating the world of relationships. In every single interaction, one individual will have more power and more status, and the other will have less. Be that in your work, business, romance, friendships, family, or otherwise, this book will show you’re the 'dos and donts'.

We spoke to Rachel Botsman when she was in town recently. Rachel has written a bunch of awesome books and presented some amazing TED Talks. Her TED Talks have had over 4 MILLIONS views and have subtitles in 29 languages.  Rachel Botsman writes and researches about how technology is transforming trust and what this means for life, work and how we do business. Check her out here: https://rachelbotsman.com/