This week, Jonesy and Ashto explore the concept of human nature and history from the perspective of moral psychology. The Righteous Mind examines why it’s difficult for us to get along and understands why society is so easily divided into hostile groups (each so certain of its righteousness). This book draws on the latest research in neuroscience, genetics, social psychology and evolutionary modelling. But the main message of the book is ancient – it is the realisation that we are all self-righteous hypocrites. 

Drawing on his 25 years of research on moral psychology, the author Jonathan Haidt explains that moral judgements shouldn’t arise from reason, but rather from gut feelings. Haidt’s investigation also shows why liberals, conservatives, and libertarians have disparate intuitions about right and wrong, and why each party is right about many of its primary concerns. The Righteous Mind provides the key to understanding the miracle of human cooperation, as well as the disadvantages of our eternal divisions and conflicts.

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How does a penniless Russian tennis club with one indoor court create more top-twenty women players than the entire United States? How does a humble storefront music school in Dallas, Texas produce Jessica Simpson, Demi Lovato and a succession of pop music phenomena? How does a poor, scantily educated British family in a remote village turn out three world-class writers, the Bronte sisters?

The Talent Code is all about understanding talent hotbeds – mysterious talents that seem to bloom without warning. Media coverage tends to treat hotbeds as a phenomenon, but truthfully, they are part of a larger pattern. Consider the composers of 19th Century Vienna, the writers of Shakespearean England or the artists of the Italian Renaissance. The same questions echo in each of these examples: Where does this extraordinary talent come from? How does it grow?

Drawing on cutting-edge neurology and firsthand research from the journeys of nine talent hotbeds, Daniel Coyle identifies three key elements that will allow you to develop your gifts and optimise your performance in just any area. Combining informative analysis with illuminating examples of regular people who have achieved greatness, this book will not only change the way you think about talent; it will also prepare you to reach your highest potential.

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This week, Ashto and Jonesy identify the key barriers to making changes and mitigating them. Everyone has something they want to change – marketers who wish to change their customers’ minds, leaders to transform organisations, start-ups to change industries or nonprofits to change the world. However, change is hard, especially when nothing moves after countless efforts. 

The Catalyst takes a different approach to successfully executing change, focusing on removing significant roadblocks and reducing the barriers to change. Because sometimes, by focusing too much on ourselves, we forget the essential part of initiating a change: our audience. Instead of asking, ‘How could I change someone’s mind?’ Perhaps you can ask, ‘Why haven’t they changed already? What’s stopping them?’ 

This book offers a range of powerful techniques for anyone who wants to catalyse change. 

Whether you're trying to change one person, transform an organisation or shift the way an entire industry operates a business, this book will teach you how to become a catalyst. Instead of pushing more heat on the accelerator, we should just release the parking brake – and the rest will follow.

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The Cold Start Problem addresses how tech’s most successful products solved the dreaded ‘cold start problem’ by leveraging network effects to engage billions of users. In today’s climate, it’s easier to build tech software. However, launching and scaling new products and services remains challenging. Utilised by tech giants like Apple, Google and Microsoft, the network effects are a solution that allows emerging products to break through by attracting new users through viral growth and word of mouth.

But what exactly are network effects? How do teams create and build them into their products? How do products compete in a market if every player utilises the same approach? In this book, Andrew Chen draws on his experience and interviews with the CEOs and founding teams of LinkedIn, Twitch, Zoom, Dropbox, Tinder, Uber, Airbnb, and Pinterest to offer valuable insights that answer these questions. 

The Cold Start Problem reveals what makes winning networks thrive, why some startups fail to scale successfully, and, most crucially, why products that create and compete using the network effect method are important today.

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This week, Ashto and Jonesy discover the art and science of perfect timing and learn how they guide you towards more successful outcomes. Drawn from Daniel H. Pink’s research on psychology, biology and economics, When reveals useful guidance on working smarter and living better by relying on the right timing to build the ideal schedule. How do certain breaks improve student test scores dramatically? Why should we avoid going to the hospital in the afternoon? What is the ideal time to change jobs or get married? 

We know that timing is everything, but in this book, Pink shows us that everything is timing. We aim to improve our lives by seeking guidance from self-help books, which teach us how to acquire new skills and knowledge. So why not consider When as the guide to knowing when to apply what you’ve learned in your life?

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This week, Ashto and Jonesy redefine the reasoning and motivation behind innovation through How Innovation Works by Matt Ridley. In this book, Ridley argues that innovation is a process that turns existing inventions into practical and affordable solutions for other people. 

But do we understand the true core of innovation and the best way to encourage it? Do we set targets, rules, and standards along with direct research? Or do we deregulate from these expectations and set people free? The pivotal factor that usually kickstarts an innovation remains mysterious until today. No economist or social scientist can fully explain why and when innovation happens. 

To explain the process of innovation, Ridley refers to a wide range of innovation examples, including jet engines, potatoes, coffee, vaccines, toilets, vacuum cleaners, social media, artificial intelligence, and more. Through these fascinating case studies, Ridley dissects how each innovation started and why it succeeded or failed.

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This week, Ashto and Jonesy learn about Google Ventures’ unique five-day process of product prototyping and testing ideas with customers. A bestseller that touches on business strategy, innovation, behavioural science, design, and more, Sprint includes a step-by-step process that any startup team can utilise for their project. This book presents a preview of the future through a finished product and customer reactions, giving startups an opportunity to assess the potential of a product before making any expensive commitments. 

Identifying critical flaws in your projects in just five days of work is the height of efficiency. Sprint is a practical guide that helps minimise the failure rate and save companies weeks or months of money, effort, and heartache. Sprint is about learning “the hard way” without actually experiencing the hard way.

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This week, Ashto and Jonesy learn practical strategies to ease the process of completing essential tasks from the instant NYT bestseller Effortless. As implied by the title, this book is a guide that offers alternative solutions to lighten the struggle of completing your tasks. Proposed by Greg Mckeown, these strategies include: removing unnecessary steps, prioritising progress over perfection, and identifying the finish line of your project. 

Hard work can produce better results, but there’s a limit to how much time and effort we can invest in a project. Effortless offers you preventative measures that help you avoid burnout and, instead, be more productive with your time and energy to achieve excellent results.

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