What You Will Learn

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.   Join our online discussion forum to talk about these ideas more: https://bookclub.whatyouwilllearn.com/ Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Contagious-Jonah-Berger/9781471111709/?a_aid=adamsbooks  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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.   Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Tao-Te-Ching-New-Edition-Lao-Tzu/9780857830159/?a_aid=adamsbooks Sign up to our 'best of' email streams here: www.whatyouwilllearn.com/email    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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.   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 Buy your own copy of the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/21-Lessons-for-the-21st-Century/9781787330870/?a_aid=adamsbooks  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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.   Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Moonwalking-with-Einstein-Joshua-Foer/9780141032139/?a_aid=adamsbooks   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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'   Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/22-Immutable-Laws-Marketing-Al-Ries/9780887306662/?a_aid=adamsbooks  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

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.   Grab a copy of 'The Third Door' here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Third-Door-Alex-Banayan/9780804136662/?a_aid=adamsbooks Check out Alex and his book here: https://thirddo

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 Check out Seth's free Poke The Box Workbook here: http://whatyouwilllearn.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/PoketheBox_Workbook.pdf  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Dr Robert Cialdini is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Best-Selling author. His first book Influence was published in 1984 and has sold over 3 MILLION copies, and his latest book Pre-Suasion, published in 2016, was a New York Times Best Seller.    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.   Check out this video Bob made about his 'Science of Persuasion' which lists his six weapons of influence - it has been viewed over 10,000,000 times! Science Of Persuasion   Find out more about Bob at www.influenceatwork.com  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

 Pre-Suasion - by Robert Cialdini '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. You will learn the 'single chute question' for the recipient to hunt for confirmations, how the 'focusing illusion' is used by the media to create irrationally disproportionate fear with the news, and a three stage process to persuade in any situation using the six weapons of influence. The key thing, however, is to be authentic and point out the persuasive tool only if it is genuinely there - if you're being a fraud, it simply won't work. This book is a weapon. Please use it wisely.   Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Pre-Suasion-Robert-B-Cialdini/9781847941435/?a_aid=ad

“Do not leave your reputation to chance or gossip; it is your life's artwork, and you must craft it, hone it, and display it with the care of an artist.”   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'. You can read this book to best suit you: you can use it to help you in situations when you have less power, it can help you get more power, or it can help you use your power on others. Warning: Proceed with caution. This is a powerful book with powerful laws – ignore them at your peril.   Law 1 – Never Outshine The Master. "Always make those above your feel comfortably secure. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite

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.   Rachel is a lecturer at Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, where she designed and teaches the world’s first MBA course on the ‘Collaborative Economy’ and a new course on ‘Trust in the Digital Age’.   Check her out here: https://rachelbotsman.com/ See her TED Talks here: https://www.ted.com/speakers/rachel_botsman  Grab her books here: https://rachelbotsman.com/books/ Read more about her here: https://rachelbotsman.com/about-rachel-botsman/    See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Hero With 1,000 Faces - by Joseph Campbell   The hero's journey is can be found in mythology, popular culture and religion. The nucleus involves taking on the call for adventure, slaying the dragon, and returning home with the pot of gold, and with the knowledge and power you have achieved along the way. "The cave you fear to enter, holds the treasure you seek" - Joseph Campbell But most importantly it is a about you. What is your call to adventure, accept the challenge conquer the fear and claim the treasure - then do it all over again.   Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Hero-with-Thousand-Faces-Joseph-Campbell/9781577315933/?a_aid=adamsbooks   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Blue Ocean Strategy - by W Chan Kim and Renee Maurborgne 'How to create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant'   The Problem: Current markets are flooded with competition. More and more companies are competing for smaller and smaller profit margins. This cut-throat battle leaves the water bloody. This is the Red Ocean. The Solution: Swim away from the competition. Make the competition irrelevant. Find somewhere that is wide open. Create a Blue Ocean.   Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Blue-Ocean-Strategy-Expanded-Edition-Renee-Mauborgne/9781625274496/?a_aid=adamsbooks   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We just read and reviewed our 100th book for this podcast. We thought we'd pull together what we found to be the Top 10 lessons from all of these great books: You're gonna die someday Be proactive (realise that you have the power to take action) Get in the arena, don't sit on the sidelines Delayed Gratification (long-term satisfaction far outweighs instant gratification) The Power of Questions and the Importance of Curiosity Bias for Action (thinking and planning and dreaming are nice, but action is vital) Place lots of Minimum Bets Effectiveness VS Efficiency (best Time Management tips) Listen before you Talk You're either Remarkable or you're Invisible   If you like what you heard and think you would benefit from this episode format of synthesising the best lessons from a bunch of books, please get in touch. If you hate this and think we should stick to the script, also please let us know. Get in touch any time at podcast@whatyouwilllearn.com  If you want to check out any of these books in more detail, sc

I Will Teach You To Be Rich - by Ramit Sethi 'No guilt. No excuses. No BS. Just a 6-week program that works'   In 2006, the average Goldman Sachs employee made $622,000. That was the AVERAGE! You might think that because of such compensation, they are superior money managers. The truth? You can very easily beet them after fees and taxes with very simple advice. I Will Teach You to be Rich, despite such an embarrassing name that you don't want to get holding the book, can get you back on track with finances with a simple 6 week step, by step process.   Join the Book Club: https://www.patreon.com/whatyouwilllearn Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/I-Will-Teach-You-to-Be-Rich/9780761147480/?a_aid=adamsbooks  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The War of Art - by Steven Pressfield 'Break through the blocks and win your inner creative battles'   If you're looking to achieve anything, especially something creative, you almost definitely have the skills and abilities to be able to do it. For example, if you want to be a writer, based on the fact that you're reading this, you have the ability to read and write. But being able to write isn't the be-all-and-end-all of actually writing a book.   "There's a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don't... It's not the writing part that's hard. What's hard is sitting down to write."   What keeps us from sitting down to write? The Resistance. This book is all about The Resistance, and is broken into three parts: Defining the Enemy, Combatting Resistance, The Higher Realm. For anyone who wants to pursue a creative endeavour but has never been able to actually sit down and do the work, this book serves as a great kick in the behind.   Join the Book Club: https://www.patreon.com/whatyouwilllearn Grab

Lean In - by Sheryl Sandberg 'Women, Work and the Will to Lead' This book is all about maximising your career. In parts, it's about how we all do things that sabotage our own opportunities, and in others it's directly targeted at women, such as how they approach juggling the demands of family and work at the same time. Things are different for women at work compared to men, especially in the more senior positions. Sheryl Sandberg, is rated as one of the top 5 most powerful woman in Forbes and has MUST READ advice for all ambitious woman that want to have a successful career. The book covers topics like:  - likeability vs success  - picking the right partner (who is an equal partner)  - the need to 'lean in', especially at the critical parts of your career before you take on the responsibilities of child birth.   Let us know your thoughts: www.whatyouwilllearn.com/survey Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Lean-Sheryl-Sandberg/9780753541647/?a_aid=adamsbooks   See acast.com/p

Outliers - by Malcolm Gladwell 'The Story of Success'   What seemingly arbitrary fact is common amongst the top Canadian Hockey players? Why are all of today's software billionaires born between 1954-1956? Why did Jews dominate to New York legal landscape in the 1980s, when they struggled to get jobs in the prior decade? Why are Asians so good at math?? Outliers looks beyond individual achievement. Gladwell is less concerned with what the people who achieve success are like, and more interested in where they come from, who their parents are, and what opportunities they are afforded.    Join our monthly book club and get bonus episodes: www.patreon.com/whatyouwilllearn Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Outliers-Malcolm-Gladwell/9780316056281/?a_aid=adamasbooks   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Awaken the Giant Within - by Tony Robbins 'Take immediate control of your mental, emotional, physical and financial destiny'   Tony Robbins is a very big papa and one of the most influential people on the planet. Today we review his book Awaken the Giant Within, which is all about releasing the incredible force we have inside us to put a dent in the world. This book essentially has the same content as his 'Date With Destiny' seminar, which costs about 10K to go to - so if you can actively read the book and do the exercises - you're likely to get plenty of value.   Grab a copy of the book here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Awaken-Giant-Within-Tony-Robbins/9780743409384/?a_aid=adamsbooks   Want to hear about our top 50 books, go to: www.whatyouwilllearn.com   We would love to learn more about you, go to the survey here: www.whatyouwilllearn.com/survey  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.