My mom let me borrow Big Potential after Shawn Achor spoke at her work event (thanks mom!). It has a solid message, and some great cultural takeaways that are valuable to anyone building a team. The single big idea is that a culture of positivity is key to achieving potential. This applies both for individuals and organizations.
Key Takeaways
Memorable Quotes
Rating: 7.5/10
I liked the main message of this book. I agree that positivity and excellence go hand in hand. That said, the author never passed up an opportunity to remind you he went to Harvard. This came across as bragging, and had me saying "alright, we get it!" after the fifth time. While that may lower the score of the book in my eyes, it doesn't lower the importance of the main message.
Key Takeaways
- In many situations, our instinct is to compete, to be a little selfish. This is deep rooted in our psychology. That said, everyone wins with more cooperation and positivity.
- Your surroundings have a huge impact on you (duh). Surround yourself with positive influences.
- Build positivity into your teams to improve everyone and outcomes.
Memorable Quotes
- We worry so much about negative peer pressure- whether from the toxic coworkers who infect us with their pessimism, the classmates constantly getting our kids into trouble, or the wealthy friends who pressure us into taking vacations we can't afford- that we often forget all about the power of positive peer pressure. Just as being around negative, unmotivated people drains our energy and potential, surrounding ourselves with positive, engaged, motivated, and creative people causes our positivity, engagement, motivation and creativity to multiply. In my work with companies, I created a formula to highlight the basic principle at the heart of this strategy: Big Potential = individual attributes X (positive influences - negative influences)
- You are what you read. And science confirms this. Researchers from Dartmouth and Ohio State found that when you become engrossed with a book you may actually begin to not just identify with, but actually take on some of the traits and characteristics of, the main character. For example, if you read a book about someone with a strong social conscience, your likelihood of doing something socially conscientious rises.
- And yet, my research shows that this isn't actually the case. The lightning bug researchers discovered that when the fireflies were able to time their pulses with one another with astonishing accuracy (to the millisecond!), it allowed them to space themselves apart perfectly, thus eliminating the need to compete. In the same way, when we help others become better, we can actually increase the available opportunities, instead of vying for them. Like the lightning bugs, once we learn to coordinate and collaborate with those around us, we all begin to shine brighter, both individually and as an ecosystem.
- By denying the light of praise, we extinguish it. By bending the light toward others, we magnify it.
Rating: 7.5/10
I liked the main message of this book. I agree that positivity and excellence go hand in hand. That said, the author never passed up an opportunity to remind you he went to Harvard. This came across as bragging, and had me saying "alright, we get it!" after the fifth time. While that may lower the score of the book in my eyes, it doesn't lower the importance of the main message.
