Do Nothing

I recently finished Do Nothing by Celeste Headlee. In it, she shares:

  • A strive for efficiency can make us unhappy if we believe we need to keep up with others who portray success
  • While current-day productivity hacks are popular, medieval peasants worked less and had more vacation than today’s average worker
  • The cult of efficiency makes us feel guilty about enjoying leisure time. As shared in my post, Think Like a Rocket Scientist, downtime opens our minds to new ideas
  • Email and text are simple and efficient. Yet, they lack the connection that happens in a live conversation. In Do Nothing, the author shares a research study where a storyteller talks live with a listener. The listener’s brain waves end up emulating those of the reader
  • Comparison to others or using social media to determine the bar for happiness is a bad idea

In summary, take time for downtime and create your own definition of success and happiness.

standardMarch 2Tom SalonekBook Summary

Think Like a Rocket Scientist

I just finished, Think Like a Rocket Scientist by Ozan Varol.  He shares the main ingredient for being an original thinker and why being bored is OK.

The best way to be an original thinker is not to conform.  To be an imaginative thinker, practice divergent thinking.  To be divergent, throw out rational thought.  Take an approach where no idea is a bad idea.  Then, with your list of innovative ideas, turn back on critical thinking and select your best ideas.

Along with being original, setting aside time for just daydreaming is good.  This is in line with another book I recently finished Do Nothing by Celeste Headlee. An example, cited by Varol, is J.K. Rowling in 1990 spending four hours stranded at a train station.  She used that time to let her mind wander and came up with Harry Potter, a $1B+ idea.

standardFebruary 23Tom SalonekBook SummaryProblem Solving

My Interview on Employee Engagement with Dave Osh of CEOpeek

My thanks to Dave Osh with CEOpeek for discussing employee engagement and create a great place to work.

When an organization has high engagement, employees are giving extra discretionary effort in their jobs, staying, and referring prospective employees and customers. Also, organizations with high engagement are more profitable and have more productive and less absent employees.

We discuss the core parts of engagement, including:

• Alignment with goals
• Teamwork
• Co-worker trust
• Manager effectiveness and trust in senior leaders
• Job satisfaction
• Feeling valued
• Benefits and pay

Throughout the conversation, there are specific, actionable ways for leaders to increase engagement.

standardFebruary 17Tom SalonekHappy EmployeesEmployee Engagement

The Spheres of Job Satisfaction

For employees to be happy and engaged, there are “spheres” of job satisfaction. Free beer doesn’t matter if your work is mundane and your manager’s a moron. When addressing engagement, start from the inside and work outward

standardJanuary 21Tom SalonekHappy Employees