All posts by Kevin

The Inner Game of Tennis reveals how to relax and focus your mind for peak performance, a lesson that extends far beyond the tennis court. Timothy teaches the massively underutilized skill of nonjudgemental awareness, described as the ability to observe what is happening without feeling the need to have an opinion about it. This helps…

Thinking Fast and Slow is a seminal study on the intricacies of mind’s inner workings, encompassing decision making and judgments. Daniel describes the core principle through two modes of thought: System 1 – fast, intuitive, emotional and System 2 – slow, logical, intentional. Within this framework, he explains numerous cognitive biases that lead to errors…

Atomic Habits deconstructs tremendous accomplishments into a series of tiny compounding habits and reveals how to implement a system to achieve similar results. James explains the science of habit through four intuitive steps: 1) cue, 2) craving, 3) response, and 4) reward. He then describes the optimal actions for each step to make it easy…

Blue Ocean Strategy explains how to create differentiated strategies that access untapped markets/consumers (i.e., blue oceans) instead of competing directly, which destroys value.W. Chan & Renee remind us that the rules of how we compete in established industries are not permanently fixed, and those who strategically deviate from these norms are best positioned to succeed.…

Grit unpacks the force behind the effort that translates talent into achievement. We apply this by finding something so interesting that we loyally and routinely expend significant effort developing and improving the skills needed to achieve excellence in that space. Angela reveals that while the seeds of passions are discovered, they only blossom when we…

Start With Why challenges us to identify the underlying purpose of why our businesses exist and use it to motivate employees and customers alike. Simon convincingly argues that a customer becomes loyal to a company when they merge part of their lifestyle or identity with why a company does business. While single transactions are often…

Give and Take categorizes how we interact with others into three buckets (givers, takers, and matchers) and explains how givers end up on both the top and the bottom of the success ladder. Givers build effective networks, earn trust and respect of colleagues by putting the group’s interest ahead of their own, and are better…

Four Thousand Weeks provides a fresh and insightful perspective on your relationship with time by examining productivity, distractions, and being present. Oliver unpacks several curiosities about how we spend our time, such as why we easily get distracted when making difficult decisions and how a choice’s meaning is enhanced because it requires us to forego…

Flow brilliantly explains why we experience so much pleasure while overcoming challenges and why we’re often bored in our free time. Mihaly defines flow as a state of genuine satisfaction by being absorbed in an activity that matches intense focus with an equally challenging task. I found it fascinating that introducing structure (e.g., rules and…

The Innovator’s Dilemma is a must read for anyone in a business role who wants to understand how companies succeed and fail when it comes to innovation; simply put, this book has proven to be ahead of it’s time. Clayton eloquently explains how disruptive technology goes from raw, niche and unprofitable to overtake industries. Equally…