Smart Thinking, by Art Markman

Smart Thinking is a book by Art Markman about how smart people solve problems.  It is an eye opening read about why a human brain can solve problems that chimpanzee cannot.

1. Smart thinking is ability to gather and remember good content and knowledge, then apply them in unusual ways.  An example is the Dyson vacuum, which uses a sawdust collection method within a home vacuum context.
2. Learning and using proverbs can help with smart and out-of-the-box thinking.  Applying knowledge in unusual ways requires out-of-the-box thinking.  Our brains are constructed to naturally perform in-the-box thinking.  That is because the brain is optimized for information retrieval within a context that makes the most sense.  So information about food is easiest to retrieve when one is in the kitchen or at a market because it is the most useful there.  To do out-of-the-box thinking then, one needs to free the brain from the context of its surroundings.  Using proverbs can do this.  Proverbs describe a situation in an abstract way, thereby freeing the brain from the current context and allowing it to freely perform cross-context and out-of-the-box thinking.  
3. To change a habit, you must replace it with another one.  You cannot replace something with nothing.  For example, "stop smoking" as a goal is not as good as "every time I want to smoke, I work on a jigsaw puzzle instead."  Without another anchoring habit, the old habit will prevail in association with established environment or contexts.  For example, if smoking occurs during TV time, then the urge to light up will be strong during TV time.  Trying to resist the urge to smoke is very difficult, and the brain's association between watching TV and smoking will prevail unless another activity is programmed in its place.  Working on a jigsaw puzzle, or picking up crochet may be other ways to keep the hands busy during TV time and build a new association within the TV-time context.
4. Causal Thinking separates human intelligence from chimpanzee intelligence.  Humans try to understand the "why" behind how things work.  Chimpanzees observe patterns but do not deduce the "why" behind it.  One example is a puzzle whereby a container with food will eject the food if a straw is inserted from the right.  Chimps in the experiment eventually learned to insert the straw on the right.  But when the puzzle was turned around such that the straw needs to be inserted form the left, the chimp had to start over with trial and error until he could establish the new pattern.  Without understanding the "why," the chimp is unable to solve for a similar situation using prior knowledge. This human curiosity about the "why" allows humans to go beyond pattern matching and allow each generation to improve upon the designs of the previous generation.
5. Being smart can be learned, and comes with practice.  One can practice causal thinking.  One method is to constantly self-teach when learning new information.  This method forces thorough causal understanding, because without it, self-teach is not possible. When learning new information, it is useful to think of the information in terms of objects, events and causal relationships.  

Search Inside Yourself

Search Inside Yourself is a book written by early Google employee Chade-Meng Tan, whose goal is to "create the conditions of world peace".  And he wants to do this by making people happy, based on the premise that happiness creates peace.  This is essentially a book on meditation written from the point of view of an engineer.  The book is simply and humorously written, but here's an EVEN simpler summary:  5 lessons for those who don't have the time to read an entire book just to be happy.

1. Meditation is scientifically proven to work!

      As befitting an engineer, Meng spends a good amount of time proving why you should meditate.  He explores studies on the "happiest man on earth" and scientifically defines happiness, how to measure it, and how the practice of meditation can increase it.  He then demonstrates how improved happiness yields improved emotional intelligence and how this has a strong correlation with success in the business world (even for engineers).

2. Mindful meditation is not about controlling emotions, it is about observing them at "higher resolution"

      Meng makes the assertion (again through scientific data) that people who are good at meditation do not shut off anger or pain.  They actually react more quickly to those emotions because they are more aware of them.  But by recognizing their emotions more clearly, they are able to recover from the emotions much more quickly and make choices on how they want to react.

3. Meditation is just breathing, and you're doing it right.

     If you're looking for detailed meditation practices, this book is not it.  Meditation is simply focusing your mind, and in this book, that simply involves observing your natural breath.  Two analogies really sticks.  Meditation is like exercise.  You are training your "brain muscles" to focus on something (like your breath).  When you lose focus, you just bring it back.  Losing focus is not failure.  It's an opportunity to exercise you brain and bring focus back.  Like doing bicep curls, losing focus, and then regaining focus is exercise.   Maintaining focus is like riding a bike.  You lose balance, then regain balance.  When you are able to do this quickly, it looks like you are balanced.  Likewise, you will always be losing focus and regaining focus.  When you can constantly regain focus quickly, it looks like you ARE focused.

4. Personal Motivation

    To be happy and successful, you have to know what that means to you.  First step is Alignment: knowing what you're looking for.  The next step is Envisioning: setting a vision for future happiness.  The final step is Resilience: the ability to keep moving towards your goals despite setbacks.   The last bit requires a positive attitude.  Rationally, if 51% of things are going well in your life, you should be happy.  However, negative results have 3 times the impact on our brains compared to positive results.  This makes being happy difficult.  Meng suggests that to counteract this, you think of neutral events as positive.  For example "I'm not in pain right now."  "I am well fed."

     

5. Habits for Social Interactions

   Empathy has been proven to help people succeed, and it feels good too.  The key to this is approaching people and thinking "This person is just like me."  If you have trouble empathizing, Meng believes that this is something that can be practiced.  You can literally set an alarm every day that says "Wish for people to be happy."  By doing it, you ARE empathizing, and soon this becomes natural.  Again, you are "exercising".

The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, by Gary Chapman and Paul White

The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace is a book by Gary Chapman and Paul White about the five different ways people experience appreciation. It's a re-write of "The Five Love Languages" also by Gary Chapman adapted for the work setting.  While the concept is powerful, the book is very repetitive and tends to provide very obvious examples. Nevertheless, there are a few interesting lessons.

1. The five languages of appreciation are: 1) Words of Affirmation. 2) Acts of Service. 3) Quality Time. 4) Physical Gifts. 5) Physical Touch.
2. Each person has a primary and secondary form of appreciation. You can saturate someone's primary form.  In that case their secondary form may be more highly valued.  For example, someone who doles out compliments freely may find their words of affirmation be discounted by those receiving them. In this case, quality time may be more highly valued from this person.
3. Primary and secondary forms of affirmation tends to be constant over time.  
4. Primary and secondary forms of affirmation differs depending on context.  Appreciation languages for personal relationships may differ from work relationships. 
5. Words of Affirmation can include affirmation of acts (a task well done), personality (cheerfulness) and character (honesty). 

Change Your Brain, Change Your Body

Change Your Brain, Change Your Body is book by Dr. Daniel G. Amen about the mind-body connection.  He advocates using holistic healing and supplements to boost brain function in order to heal the body. It's a long and sometimes repetitive read since diet, exercise and adequate sleep are pretty much standard for many ailments. However, he does back up his statements with research studies, which may compel the less-disciplined reader to actually start following a habit of good diet, exercise and sleep. His book is also comprehensive, and will likely touch on some subjects that are less familiar to the reader. For me, the topics of hormones and heart health were new. The book also includes supplement guides for specific areas of the brain and body, which maybe useful to reference. Some key lessons I learned:

1. Get your beauty sleep.  Getting adequate sleep is the best way to improve skin.  That is because skin cells regenerate during sleep.  "Seniors need less sleep" is a myth too.  Since skin regeneration slows down as we age, seniors need just as much if not more sleep to keep skin looking young. Adequate sleep also helps you lose weight. In one study, women who sleep 7 hours instead of 5 per night lost an average of 6 pounds over 3 weeks without any intentional change in diet or exercise.
2. Exercise increases the generation of new brain cells.
3. Eating less sodium is good, but more importantly, potassium and sodium needs to balance. We are often high on sodium and low on potassium.  Therefore, eat high potassium foods such as bananas. At the same time, eat no more than 1 teaspoon of added salt each day.
4. High Heart Rate Variability (HRV) is good.  Individuals who exercise regularly have a lower resting heart rate and high HRV. In fact, physicians track the HRV of the birthing infant during childbirth. 
5. Before getting a divorce, get hormone checks for both partners. Hormone levels change as we age and can cause serious disruption in our moods and personalities.

Rework

Rework is a book by 37signals founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson.  This book has a very unique format. Every other page contains a graphic summarizing one big business idea, then the following page provides a short story to support the idea. In essence, the book is one big stack of flash cards with business lessons. It's possible to read this book out of order and it's a useful reference guide to have on the shelf.

1. Embrace Constraints.  Throw Less at the Problem.  Limited resources forces you to be creative what you have.
2. Ignore the Details Early On.  During the early stage of a business, it is important to focus on the key strengths and not try to do too much.
3. Focus on what Won't change.  Rather than chasing the next big thing, focus on the characteristics of business that will always be in high demand. For example, Amazon.com focuses on fast shipping, great selection, friendly return policies and affordable prices.  Japanese automakers focus on reliability and practicality, and 37signals focus on speed, simplicity and ease of use.  These characteristics are timeless.
4. Make Tiny Decisions. Big decisions are hard to make and hard to change. So make many choices that are small enough that they're effectively temporary. This way you won't make big mistakes, and you have the chance to adjust as you go.
5. Underdo your Competition. Instead of adding ever more features, try adding less and aim for simplicity. Examples include single-gear bicycles, the Flip camera, and the iPod shuffle.

A Perfect Mess

A Perfect Mess is a book by Eric Abrahamson and David Freedman that explores the hidden benefits of disorder.  The book is a short and easy read that recaps the concept of balance when it comes to mess.  Although no deep studies or revolutionary ideas were revealed, the book does confront the concept of "mess" in culture and its implications on our psyche. People who are uncomfortable with their mess will find solace in the book's message and perhaps perfection in their own mess.

1. There is an optimal amount of mess.
2. Tidiness can be expensive.
3. One person's order is another person's mess.  You can never please everyone with order.  For example, you can organize books alphabetically, chronologically, by genre, or by color of the covers.  All are valid depending on your perspective and intended function.
4. Mess can apply to both home and work, physical space and processes.  From a messy kitchen and desk, to corporate strategies and sales plans.  In each of these areas, there is a functional and optimal amount of mess.
5. "Plan early, plan twice."

Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom

Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom is a live lecture by Dr. Christiane Northrup exploring holistic healing. A board certified ob-gyn, Dr. Northrup pokes fun at modern medicine's silo'd healing approach. She examines the American approach, both medically and culturally, towards topics such as psychology, menstruation, pregnancy, breastfeeding and menopause. Her lecture is a lively and humorous commentary on both modern medicine and women in society.

1. The body is a manifestation of the mind.
2. The brain structure of male and female brains is the fundamental cause of differing viewpoints between males and females. Male brains are left dominant, and contains fewer connections to the right brain compared to female brains. This allows male brains to shut off right-brain functions and become hyper-focused on left-brain functions such as logic and analysis. In a female brain, the interconnections between right and left brains are so strong it remains on at all times. This allows female brains to naturally juggle multiple angles during problem solving.  
3. We all have the power to create health. Our bodies are powerful and self-healing.
4. Women are lunar, because their bodies and hormones follow the cycle of the moon. There is wisdom in the cycle and women should take advantage of this cycle. During ovulation, estrogen and progesterone levels are high. At this time, a women is at the peak of emotional happiness and open to change and new experiences. Before and during menstruation, a women is at an emotional low due to crashing estrogen levels. During this time, all of her life's negative concerns hits her at the same time. This is the optimal time to re-examine negative concerns and determine necessary action, which she can followup on during the following ovulation cycle. If understood and used properly, her cycle can be a monthly "house cleaning" of the emotions and self-reflection.
5. Forgiveness means letting go of the past. It does not mean what happened is right. Remember this if you have been wronged and are unwilling to let go because you fear that letting go justifies the unjust act. Forgiveness is a necessary first step in healing and does not justify an unjust act.