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Daniel Pink |
Forwarded herein is Dan Pink's latest "irregular and irreverent" newsletter. Pink focuses on the big ideas reshaping our work, transforming our businesses, and changing our lives. I hope you enjoy it and sign up for more words of wit and wisdom from the sage of Lynchburg, VA.
"Welcome to the latest edition of our irregular and irreverent newsletter. In this issue, you'll hear about some changes to DanPink.com, 4 awesome productivity tips, and 10 articles you really need to read:
Let’s go . . .
3 CHANGES TO DANPINK.COM
Starting today, you’ll see some changes in the website, newsletter, and podcast. Here’s what’s happening:
1. DanPink.com will become a resource center. We’re reconfiguring the web site to make it much less about what’s happening this day or this hour and much more about providing you a rich set of enduringly useful resources. We’re going to shutter the blog and instead expand and deepen our collection of videos, articles, and guides on working smarter and living better. (For example, check out our new 90-second videos on pitching more effectively)
2. This newsletter will become the main way I communicate with readers. I’ll still be sharing insights, tools, tips, and reading suggestions -- but I’ll do that through the newsletter, which I’ll begin delivering more often. Of course, the newsletter will remain free of charge and free of advertising. And for brief musings, I’ll continue to Tweet.
3. Office Hours will become a straight podcast. Our radio-ish program – “Car Talk for the human engine” – has been a huge success. But since most people can’t listen live, we’re changing the format. Instead of a live broadcast, we’re now going to simply record the program and release it on iTunes and on DanPink.com. This will offer us more flexibility in booking great guests and allow us to produce more shows. We’ll still take listener questions, but we’ll do that via Twitter in advance of each program.
As these changes roll out, please let us know what you think of them.
4 SMART PRODUCTIVITY TIPS
Like most of you, I’m always looking for ways to boost my productivity and to stop doing the things that hold me back. That’s why I turned to Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus, and Sharpen Your Creative Brain, a short new book from the folks at 99u that several people had recommended.
The book was worth the quick read, especially for these 4 insights and suggestions:
-- “The single most important change you can make in your working habits is to switch to creative work first, reactive work second. This means blocking off a large chunk of time every day for creative work on your own priorities, with the phone and e-mail off.”
-- “Book time on your calendar for uninterrupted, focused work—and respect those blocks of time as you would any client meeting.”
-- “It’s better to disappoint a few people over small things, than to surrender your dreams for an empty inbox. Otherwise you’re sacrificing your potential for the illusion of professionalism.”
-- “What I do every day matters more than what I do once in a while.”
10 ARTICLES WORTH READING
One of the features readers have found most valuable is reading recommendations. So, in what will be a regular feature, here are 10 articles I’ve read recently that I’ve found intriguing enough to recommend to you.
1. Want to Learn How to Think? Read Fiction -- Pacific Standard explains how literature opens our minds to ambiguity and thereby sharpens our thinking.
2. Gigawalk Does Temp-Worker Hiring Without Job Interviews -- BusinessWeek profiles a company that’s developed technology designed to “find good workers without ever engaging in personal interactions.” Big Data meets HR.
3. Mary Meeker Internet Trends Report -- This isn’t an article per se. It’s a 117-slide deck from the smartest Internet analyst on the planet. But if you’re interested in the future of technology, it’s a must-read.
4. Why Men Work So Many Hours -- In HBR, Joan Williams insightfully dissects the real reason why most workplace flexibility programs haven’t fully taken off.
5. How to Escape Bad Decisions -- Adam Grant explains why we so often escalate our commitment to poor decisions – and provides four ways we can avoid the trap.
6. Obituaries of Douglas Englebart and Amar Bose -- The inspiring life stories of two extraordinary innovators.
7. Can Government Play Moneyball? -- In The Atlantic, a former Obama and former Bush official show that we often have no idea whether government programs are actually effective.
8. Why Stage Parents Push Their Kids -- Time magazine on new research showing that – yes indeed – Tiger Moms and Little League dads are living out their own personal demons rather than helping their kids.
9. Clayton Christensen: Still Disruptive -- The Economist interviews the author of The Innovator’s Dilemma about education, disruption, and the perils of relying too heavily on data.
10. You Have 25,000 Mornings As an Adult. Here’s How to Not Waste Them. -- Lifehacker rethinks your mornings and offers 9 smart rules to make them better.
5 OTHER NEWSLETTERS I LIKE (AND YOU MIGHT, TOO)
One reason I’m putting more emphasis on the Pink newsletter is that I’ve come to rely on other newsletters as sources of ideas, information, and inspiration. Here, in alphabetical order, are 5 email newsletters that always elude my delete key:
Barking Up the Wrong Tree – “I want to understand why we do what we do and use the answers to become awesome at life.”
Brain Pickings Weelky – “A library of cross-disciplinary interestingness and combinatorial creativity.”
Business Insider’s 10 Things You Need to Know in Tech This Morning – A short, informative daily blast.
Farnam Street – “Seeking wisdom by mastering the best of what other people have figured out.”
Springwise – “Your essential fix of entrepreneurial ideas”
THINKERS50 WANTS YOUR VOTE (AND SO DO I)
Every other year, the keen minds at Thinkers50 select the writers, researchers, and professors who are having the greatest impact on business thinking. I was honored to be on the list in 2011 – and, frankly, I’d like to earn a spot again this year.
That’s where you can help.
As part of its process, Thinkers50 is asking people around the word to cast ballots for their favorite thinkers. If any of my books have been useful to you in your work, I’d appreciate your vote. No obligation obviously. But it would be a huge help. Even better, you can vote for more than one person, which means you can also include folks like Teresa Amabile, Bob Sutton, Edward Deci, Seth Godin, David Allen, and more. Could I have your vote?
Cast your ballot.
As always, thanks for reading our humble newsletter. Enjoy the rest of the summer (or the rest of the winter if you’re in that part of the world).
Cheers,
Daniel Pink
If you like what you see here--and I sure do--you can get lots more:
Web: http://www.danpink.comTwitter: @danielpink
H/T: UCEE
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