What’s in it for me? Learn how to embrace adaptability in the workplace. Listen.  That was the sound of one second. And what happened while you were listening? Well, among other things, Visa processed 1,700 transactions; Amazon robots packed 17 packages; Twitter users posted 9,000 tweets; and people searched 76,000 things on Google. Oh, and 2.8 million emails were sent as well.  It’s hard to imagine the sheer scale of it all.  Stuff is changing fast these days. And if all this happens in a single second, imagine what happens in a day, a week, a year. One of the many consequences of “things happening” is that the world of work is evolving at a pace that will make your head spin. You know this already – the media’s constantly declaring that robots are taking over our workspaces and coming after our jobs. And it looks like we have a pretty good reason to be afraid – before too long, we’ll be out of work, sitting at home with nothing to do . . .  But, according to H...

No one will know what you want unless you say it So much depends on communication. Verbal or non-verbal, our mastery of it defines whether we will be successful among other human beings. Moreover, it is inevitable because how else would we co-exist and progress as a society? It seems pretty straightforward: just say what you want or need, thus putting others in the know. However, many of us fail to do that, feeling shy and insecure about ourselves. Leil Lowndes’ book is aimed at all people who think that they have not enough confidence to speak to others. Sometimes, you don’t even need immense willpower to strike up a meaningful conversation. Instead, you should learn the appropriate techniques of doing so. Often, you can’t speak your mind not because you are timid, but because no one taught you the right way to do this. “How to Talk to Anyone” comprises 92 techniques, wittily named by Leil Lowndes. Having read this summary, you will learn how to make people fall in love with you, appe...

The talk between the Russian, Satan, and God or how Russian fascism was born  Russian philosopher Ivan Ilyin wasn’t an ordinary Christian. He believed that God constructed the world to complete himself but instead released original sin and hid in shame. For Ilyin, modern society, with its pluralism and civil rights, with all people’s thoughts and feelings, only gives Satan more power while God is in exile. Ilyin saw history not as a logical explanation of the present world but as a disgrace, meaningless and sinful. The last hope was a righteous nation following a leader into political totality, becoming one immortal living organism. Because the unifying principle of the Word was the only good in the universe, any means that might bring about its return were justified. That’s how Ivan Ilyin came to his theory of Russian fascism. The main concept was “law” or “legal consciousness.” However, its meaning differed before and after the Russian Revolution (1917-1923). Before the Revolutio...

Overview The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level (2009) by Gay Hendricks reveals one of the most common barriers to an individual's success: the Upper Limit Problem (ULP), a self-imposed, subconscious limit for how much happiness and positivity someone can feel. Using research, case studies, and personal experience, Hendricks explores how the ULP can prevent someone from taking The Big Leap, or reaching his or her highest potential. Much like an inner thermostat, the Upper Limit is a specific setting for how much positive energy an individual can feel. When that setting has been exceeded, the ULP activates, causing the individual to self-sabotage in order to return to a state that is more familiar and comfortable. The ULP causes individuals to undermine their progress with subconscious decisions and behaviors that snap them back to where they were before—or worse. One of the best-known examples of the ULP in action comes from the study of lottery winn...

What’s in it for me? A new approach to workplace learning. Michelle Parry-Slater’s Learning and Development Handbook opens with an observation that’s unlikely to shock anyone. The workplace, she notes, is changing – fast.  The skills needed in today’s business world aren’t the skills we needed in the past. Keeping up with change means the same thing for organizations as it does for individuals: upskilling and reskilling. So far, so uncontroversial. Everyone knows that, right?  Well, knowing something and acting on that knowledge are two different things. Which brings us to a second – much more surprising – observation. Despite the digital revolution, most companies still rely on classroom-based, face-to-face learning to train their employees. Studies show, however, that the typical employee forgets around three quarters of what they learn in such settings within just one day. Put differently, most companies are spending a lot of money and wasting a lot of time to achieve ...