The last three books with abstracts of ideas

We bring to your attention some good books published in various publishing houses in 2011. We bought these books, read them, and offer you a compendium of ideas from each.



Harry Beckwith, “Without Thinking” A small and interesting book in the style of “Freakonomics” - a selection of interesting facts from the world of economics, advertising and psychology, followed by an explanation. Harry Beckwith is trying to answer the question “how do we really make a choice?” The book is also pleasant because it pleasantly saturates with stories, events and facts about the modern world. Abstract:

• All people love to play. We play during the purchase of goods, in relationships with people around us, in sex - all conscious life takes place in games. Companies that covertly offer their customers and customers to play (eBay), present products as toys (iPod), and display their service as a fun game (TGI Friday's) always win by themselves.
• We love surprises no less than we love games - surprises in games, films, jokes, music and band names.
• Product names, containing a riddle, a rebus, something incomprehensible and unusual, attract attention. Rhymed riddles, slogans, sayings are remembered much better than ordinary phrases.
• Another human passion is history. We love stories, believe in them, invent, learn from other people and tell them ourselves. What is told in the form of a story is understood and remembered much easier. Each well-known global brand has its own story with its heroes, milestones, events and achievements - when buying such a product or service, we feel part of it all.
• We love small shops, restaurants, brands, preferring them to large mega-corporations - small brands seem to us more soulful, closer, more understandable.
• We value our freedom, even to the point of cognitive dissonance - we perceive advice and orders as an attempt to encroach on our freedom. And it clearly manifests itself in the choice of goods and services - the choice of hundreds of the same items is important to you. We all subconsciously dislike laws, respecting prominent criminals, real and cinematic.
• The formula for perfect social advertising: brevity + rhyme + surprise + choice. Forbidden advertising causes rejection, as it restricts freedom.
• Thrift and the desire to save are irrational qualities of a person. The desire to save depends on the purchase amount and the discount itself. The more expensive the purchase and the lower the discount on it, the less our desire to look for something in return for the desired product.
• Another fundamental property of a person is the desire to stand out, not to be like everyone else. From clothes to tattoos, from a car brand to musical styles - there is an acute desire to stand out in everything. Companies that help stand out from the crowd and advertise uniqueness are always in fashion.
• We do not need things that we can easily buy - another irrationality. The more expensive, unusual the thing, the more difficult it is to buy, the more desirable and interesting it is for us. This is the craving for the game and the desire to stand out.
• We love when the world revolves around us, when we are personally addressed, when our interests and needs are taken into account and foreseen. Not someone's interests there, but ours.
• All people are mortally afraid of loneliness and want to be with someone. However, the theme of loneliness excites and attracts in films, culture, music. Loners cause admiration or ... pity.
• We fanatically believe other people's opinions, even though we are afraid to admit it. Buyers are ready to buy what others buy or what the store advises them, those who want to have a meal choose the most populous restaurant. Everyone wants what friends and neighbors have. And we also love to join other people, join clubs and communities, feel like a part of elite communities.
• Habits have incredible power - people are ready to put up with everything, just not to change their habits. However, at the same time, we hate the outdated. Our favorite things are constantly changing, while remaining the same.
• We love optimism, rely on it and try to inspire it to other people. In the history of mankind there has not been a single tragedy that could even shake our indestructible optimism for a little bit. We believe smiling people from screens and billboards, we love people who enjoy life and want to be the same.
• As long as we live in a world of visual images, design rules this world. Visual differences provide competitive advantage. Designers become 21st century rock stars, and their creations become new icons and objects for worship. Civilization and design were born at the same time. The love of beauty in us, from childhood we get used to the fact that "beautiful" means "good." We subconsciously love symmetrical, smooth, clean, we prefer round to rectangular, simple and clear to complex. All things around us become complicated inside, trying to be as simple as possible from the outside.
• Design influences our behavior; it determines not only choice, but also actions. Design changes our senses and perceptions. This cover is a book, packaging is a commodity.
• All the futuristic predictions of the beginning and the middle of the century about how the world of the XXI century will look like are shattered - we have changed very little. Most of the significant changes are imposed on us by public opinion and the media. We believe in trends and optimistic forecasts, that every day the world is getting a little better.
• The theory of expectation also has tremendous power - it is on this theory that the placebo effect is based. We feel the expected, see the expected and experience what we are prepared to experience.
• In the choice of goods, we have lost touch with reality, the categories of "better" and "worse" exist only in our minds. The brain deceives the body, so it’s not enough just to develop an excellent product or service, you need to create expectations and impose them on customers.
• Reality for us is not what is actually happening at the current moment in time, it is how you perceive it (or how we are forced to perceive it).
• We are all victims of a terrible disease called blindness of inattention. Doing several things at the same time, we get lost in the wilds of our own consciousness and sometimes do not see the real world around us. The stronger we focus, the more we lose sight of.

Alf Ren, “Funky Ideas” A boring, but generally quite curious book about creativity and what role it plays in human activities. In many ways, the ideas of the book seem to be gleaned from other books, but in some places Ren writes very sharply and even brazenly.

• The word “creativity” has recently depreciated, as well as creativity itself (sometimes turning into creativeness) - even trainers and specialists in creative thinking cannot say what it is and how to achieve it.
• Most books on the development of creative abilities do not solve their problem - they repeatedly reprint and retell each other's tricks. Trainings on creativity development are nonsense. They become original not through games and exercises, but through forcing the brain to do what is alien, uncomfortable, difficult for it.
• Everyone around is shouting about creativity, this word is repeated in vacancies, resumes, at meetings. Creativity has become a new religion, whose followers have forgotten its essence and worship only the word itself.
• The process of developing creative thinking can be described in five steps: imitation (an attempt to repeat, rethink what is available) → expansion (exploring new areas, increasing the boundaries of perception) → provocation (consciously accepting stupid and dubious ideas beforehand) → reevaluation (constantly changing ways of thinking) → risky thinking (the highest stage of creativity).
• The brain constantly deceives us, slipping miserable crafts instead of real creativity - we are stuck in the internal barriers of our thinking, in complexes and unnecessary information. Comfortable thinking is the enemy of creativity and the killer of risky thinking.
• In order to go beyond the limits of comfortable thinking, one must learn to accept shocking concepts. What seems to you vile, nasty, wrong, unpleasant should serve its purpose - most of the things around us also once seemed ridiculous, unnecessary and uncomfortable.
• The most creative person is not the one who has a lot of ideas or all of them are very original, but the one who knows how not to focus on only one of the points of view on the situation or problem.
• All people tend to overestimate their ability to perceive new ideas and new information, while underestimating the ability of the brain to spread such information on the shelves that already exist in it.
• Cognitive fluency - the brain is more comfortable thinking about what is easily imaginable than what seems difficult and incomprehensible.
• Inspiration, passion, pleasure is just a smokescreen.
• To know creativity, you need to be repulsive, unpleasant, shocking, provocative. Porn for the old? Cosmetics for men? Pubic hair dye? This is a shame, but these are successful business projects.
• Zero eccentric is the first one who stepped over the edge of creativity, created a product and showed it to the world. Zero cranks drive progress.
• Children are zero cranks, punk rockers by nature, free from restrictions. Be the kids.
• Creative development is different from simply discovering the needs for fulfilling dreams of the impossible, incomparable.
• An idea that has no enemies is a priori unsuccessful simply because any original in nature causes natural opposition.
• Love your negatives and critics, feed your enemies - they are vital for creativity. Conflicts are constructive.
• Copy is good. The copycat has the advantage of the last hand - he does not need to go all the difficult way, he can immediately step from start to finish.
• 7 laws of copying: stop being ashamed + learn the best + change the context + copy more + make small changes to get a great result + people like what they already know + learn from each copy.
• In creativity, quantity is quality.
• The scale of creativity is judged not by the number of ideas invented, but by the number (and quality) of realized ones.
• Engage in as many activities as possible - each of them moves you one step up.
• You need to be able to interrupt the process of generating ideas, you need to be able to take on the implementation and bring it to the end.
• Blessed are the heretics - people who see the truth contrary to the traditional ideas of the organization and who are faithful to both the organization itself and its idea. They do not want to leave the church or betray society, they want to change them so that they correspond to the truth. Heresy is one of the names of free thought.
• Creative extremists are needed everywhere and always.
• Creativity has no laws, no color, shape and taste, it is variable and elusive. If creativity is a violation of what we consider normal, does the need to violate ideas about creativity itself follow from this?
• Creativity is everywhere, it is part of our life. She is during a famine or war, in prison and politics, in a rich area and in a dirty drug addiction quarter. Creativity is the religion of the eritiks and the ability to see potential in the world around us.

Tom Peters, “These Important Trivia”

Another book from Tom Peters, whonot a cake anymorebegins to run out of breath. Half of the book was relatively boring to read, but the number of interesting ideas was still high. It is a pity that the book was written without adaptation by an international reader and is expensive. Abstract:

• Trivia and little things are crucial in almost any business. The design of the toilet in the restaurant, the quality of presentation design, cleanliness and attention to detail are important success factors in any business. Make sure that you take care of the simple little things and do everything efficiently.
• You cannot motivate someone; you can motivate yourself only. The best way to motivate is the desire to achieve excellence in their field. Achieving perfection should turn from an idea into a real philosophy.
• The market in developed countries is determined by women and those over 50. A company that thinks about its customers in these two groups wins. Those who think about ecology and green technologies also benefit.
• Hire people for their sense of humor, vitality, breadth of interests, self-confidence, literacy, desire and ability to learn.
• During a crisis, you work harder, better, more actively, work out the details, make connections, study and invest in training, do not look for the guilty, but give praise.
• “Thank you” is the most important attribute of any communication. Always say thanks to everyone, even packers at the supermarket and conductors on the bus. Smile Respect the work of others and thank them for it. Be decent and honest. Have the highest respect for each person with whom you enter into interaction.
• Know how to imagine yourself, treat yourself as a professional and specialist - and then you will become one.
• Learn the art of creating stories and events - collect them, collect and use them wherever you can. Stories create an impression.
• If you cannot describe your position with a maximum of eight words, you have no position.
• Kindness is free - a benevolent attitude becomes your weapon of mass destruction. And follow the rules of courtesy, always.
• As often as possible get interested in the opinions of others. The question “What do you think about this?” And the answer to it are extremely important in any situation.
• The best way to turn an adversary into an ally is to engage him in your work, acknowledge his necessity and ask for advice.
• Learn to say “Yes” - sometimes we resist and say “No” for no apparent reason.
• The principle of sufficient quality - some things should not be done too well, it is enough to do them well enough.
• Learn to sell demos of your products and services.
• Changes will take exactly as much time as you devote to them (or exactly as much time as you have).
• Emotionality is necessary and important in any field, emotionality is a sign of a leader and a component of quality.
• Appreciate those who bring to perfection the last 2%, who work to the last customer, who do not leave the garden until the last strawberry has been removed. Try to be like that.
• Research and study are fuel for development. Any person can be engaged in research and innovation. All innovations are born out of anger and the desire to change what is wrong and inconvenient.
• Learning to listen and not interrupt people during a conversation is better for everyone (people like to talk, and you will learn much more).
• There are no idiotic questions. If something is not clear - ask. Also use idiotic questions to understand how competent your interlocutor is. But don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know” - this is better than lying and squirming in a conversation.
• Learn continuously, develop writing skills, read as much as possible.
• Never be late.
• Learn design in all its manifestations.
• The brand’s strength lies in small things - in the convenience of the TV remote control, the cleanliness of the manager’s shoes, the attitude of the coffee shop employees. Sometimes it’s enough to improve 10 little things in order to multiply the brand strength by 100 times.
• The only effective defense against rivals is to improve your work and make it unique. Love your competitors, help them develop your common market - this way you will get a smaller share of a larger pie, which will result in multiple benefits.
• One of the most important tasks is maintaining customer relations. Do not forget to write to them in two days, a month, a year - keep in touch and improve them. Customers are not ex.
• If you are wasting your working time, it means you are wasting half of your conscious life.
• Study all and everything that meets you on your way, study yourself. Stay on top of everything.
• Simplify.

 

Dear Habravites, share your opinion - how do you like this format of a story about books you have read? Not too many abstracts?