I reread a few books annually or biannually, because they’re that important to me. Any book in this category I have in hardcover or paperback, and mark up liberally with my notes and commentary. There’s both a comfort and a hazard of rereading a book that you’ve marked up. It’s comforting to see your notes and add to them. It’s hazardous because our eyes tend to focus on what we underlined and highlighted before, rather than reading afresh and getting new insights. You’re going to miss something because you entered into the “echo chamber” of your previous reading. [Read more…] about Content Format Shapes Your Ability to Grasp It
Archives for July 2017
We Don’t Need Experts; We Need Possibilities
None of our men are ‘experts.’ We have most unfortunately found it necessary to get rid of a man as soon as he thinks himself an expert-because no one ever considers himself expert if he really knows his job. A man who knows a job sees so much more to be done than he has done, that he is always pressing forward and never gives up an instant of thought to how good and how efficient he is. Thinking always ahead, thinking always of trying to do more, brings a state of mind in which nothing is impossible. The moment one gets into the ‘expert’ state of mind a great number of things become impossible.
I refuse to recognize that there are impossibilities. I cannot discover that any one knows enough about anything on this earth definitely to say what is and what is not possible.”
– Henry Ford, My Life and Work
I recently read My Life and Work by Henry Ford and almost underlined the entire book. It’s that good. Henry Ford was a genius and one of the best entrepreneurs this world has ever seen. There’s so much to learn from him and his words, but this excerpt stood out from the rest.
We don’t need experts; we need possibilities.
Getting the Most from Critical Feedback
You’re going to get critical feedback, because you’re not perfect and your boss isn’t perfect, either.
Yes, sometimes critical feedback is unfair or not entirely true.
Yes, you’ll remember it longer than you remember praise and commendation.
Yes, sometimes it’s delivered in a poor or unprofessional way.
But… critical feedback is the granola breakfast cereal of champions, chewy and healthy. You don’t have to like it. The truth is that we all need to be managed, and none of us like it.
Therefore, make it your ambition to get the most out of critical feedback. [Read more…] about Getting the Most from Critical Feedback