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Book Recommendation: Willpower

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Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney (2012). Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength.

This book is a collaboration of the psychologist and researcher Roy Baumeister with New York Times science writer John Tierney. Together, they created the kind of book I really love. It offers very practical advice, based on a lot of research. It provides very helpful insight into how we can increase our self-control, focus our strength, and better resist temptation. It is easy to read, but not dumbed down, nor diluted with unnecessary stories.

For those who are in money-saving mode after the holidays, you’ll most likely find this one in your local library. Ours (Multnomah County) even has the e-book for mobile devices, so you can borrow it from wherever you are. What I love most about those library e-books is that they return themselves – no more late fees.

Review by Ursina Teuscher (PhD), at Teuscher Decision Coaching, Portland OR


Two Book Recommendations for the Holidays

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If you’re ready to cosy up by the fireplace with some good books, I have two suggestions. They are both classics in their fields, though of different times and genres. The first is a novel by one of the great German poets. The second is a concise introduction into the research on decision making.

1. Johann W. von Goethe. Elective Affinities, a novel published in 1809 .
(original: “Wahlverwandtschaften“; also translated under the title “Kindred by Choice“) .

The title refers to a chemical reorganization of substances, which Goethe uses as a metaphor for human relationships, and as a way to question our ability to choose our own actions and resist the forces of nature.
The novel begins at just at that point where many other stories end: with a happy, recently married couple, settling into a comfortable, long sought-after, idyllic life together. Their decision to invite other people into their lives is approached like a chemical experiment, and it wouldn’t be a Goethe novel if this setup didn’t lead to disturbing reactions.
It is very much a book about decisions: the rational, the emotional, and the ones never made.

2. Scott Plous. The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making.

This very slim book provides an excellent overview of the psychology of decision making. It is not targeted towards helping us make better decisions, but simply presents the classic research literature on how people do in fact make decisions (in other words, it focuses entirely on the descriptive, not prescriptive, aspects of decision science). For those who want to get a quick but broad introduction into the field, without reading big tomes, I know of no more efficient way to go that with this book.

Reviews by Ursina Teuscher (PhD), at Teuscher Decision Coaching, Portland OR


Book Recommendation: Your Brain at Work

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David Rock. (2009). Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long.

This book gives very useful insights into how our brain works, and what we can do to make it work better. So far, it has been one of the most influential books for my own work in helping people be more productive in healthy and sustainable ways.

David Rock does a wonderful job bringing together a vast amount of research on cognitive neuroscience, and in helping us understand why our brains work better in some situations than others. Recognizing the limitations of our brain, he suggests very practical steps we can take to optimize our work days and maximize our brain’s potential.

He presents his advice through a series of anecdotes and stories of the “meet Emily and Paul” type. I am not the biggest fan of that style of story-telling in a popular science book: I prefer to read fiction in entirely separate–actual fiction–books, but that is entirely a matter of personal taste. For those who are like me: the stories are easily skippable and do not detract from the very well-researched content.

by Ursina Teuscher (PhD), at Teuscher Decision Coaching, Portland OR

 


Summer Reading Recommendation: Children’s Fantasy for Grownups

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Michael Ende. The Neverending Story.

Many of my German-speaking friends will have read this one, and would quite likely list it as one of their favorite childhood books. In the English speaking world, the book seems to be less well-known. Some people I asked seemed to have a vague idea of “wasn’t there a movie in the 80’s? With a white dragon…? Yes?” No! I’m NOT recommending the movie (among others, the author himself hated it quite fiercely).

The book, however, is one of the most beautiful fantasy novels I’ve come across, starting with the print itself: the hardcover edition is printed entirely in colored ink, purple and green, for the different story threads.

Without giving away too much of the plot: a shy and bookish boy, Bastian, needs to find his journey through a fantastic world and back into his own by following the (too?) simple instructions: “Do What You Want“. A quest that is much harder than it may sound.

Like many books that are loved by children, this one was not written solely with children in mind, and it is worth picking it up as a grown-up again. Some of the big themes of the book are the exploration of free and true will, of the responsibility to decide, and of creativity as a force.

 


Book Recommendation: Smart Choices

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John S. Hammond, Ralph L. Keeney, & Howard Raiffa. (1996). Smart Choices: A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions.

It’s time to recommend another classic. This book is a short and very useful guide, presenting a variety of decision tools. It doesn’t offer too much in the way of psychological explanations of why we need the tools and how they work, but it is a nice little toolkit.

by


Book Recommendation: Strategic Planning

Posted on by by Posted in Achieving Goals, Book Recommendations, Career Development, Financial Decisions, Strategic Planning, Business Decisions, Organizational Development

Erica Olsen. Strategic planning kit for dummies.

If you’re a decision-maker in an organization and you’re serious about strategic planning, I highly recommend this book by Erica Olson as a very thorough but practical reference. It will give you more than you need, but it is very clearly structured so that you easily focus on whatever aspects are relevant to you. It also includes a DVD with worksheets, templates, and videos.

Book Cover Strategic Planning Erica Olson

Why does strategic planning matter?

Strategic planning offers a systematic process to figure out where you’re going – as a business or as any kind of organization.

Erica Olsen reports that CEOs of the Inc. 500 spend 50-90 percent of their time on strategy and business development. Why? Probably because they realize how much it pays off. According to her research, the firms with a high commitment to strategic planning had higher sales volumes as well as net incomes than those with  lower commitment.

A good strategic plan informs not only your current obvious decisions, but will help you look for decision opportunities that you might otherwise miss. In other words, it helps the decision-makers be proactive, rather than reacting to problems.

Where a team is involved, the process of developing a strategic plan, and more importantly the culture of continued strategic planning, builds commitment and empowers group members to make their own decisions on a daily basis.

If you’re interested in a brief overview of the process, I’ve written an outline that will walk you through the classic steps of a strategic planning session. You can access it  here (link at the bottom of the page). You can use it as a very simple cheat sheet in preparation for a team session, or, if you don’t have a team, you can go through the questions by yourself.

 

by Ursina Teuscher (PhD), at Teuscher Decision Coaching, Portland OR

 


Book Recommendation: Nudge

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Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein.
Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness.

This book offers very well-researched insights into how “choice architecture” can successfully nudge people toward making the best decisions for themselves, such as choosing healthier food, exercising more, saving more money, etc. Nudges consist simply of changing the way choices are presented, without changing or restricting the options or adding any incentives.

The book is especially interesting for people who care about the promotion of human welfare in public policies, but the knowledge can also be help us change our own environment to help us make healthier long-term decisions.

As a very useful practical addition, Dilip Soman, Min Zhao, and Nina Mazar have published a free online-report called “A Practitioner’s Guide to Nudging”, presenting a number of short case studies, and giving the choice architect guidelines on how to develop nudges.

by Ursina Teuscher


Book Recommendation: Stumbling on Happiness

Posted on by by Posted in Achieving Goals, Book Recommendations, Health Decisions, Intuition

Daniel T. Gilbert. Stumbling on Happiness.

This is my pick for the season: an entertaining and well-researched book about our failures to predict what will make us happy or unhappy in the future, and about how these misconceptions affect our decisions.

 


Coaching Online or in Person — Does the Setting Matter?

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What the research says about online coaching:

At this point, there is quite a bit of research on this question, for example showing that coaching over the phone or through online channels can be very effective, that adequate rapport can be established between a counselor and client, and that some clients prefer the reduced stigma and easier access offered by online mental health services.

For more in depth discussion, this handbook addresses many practical aspects of online counseling, such as technological, ethical, legal and multicultural issues, treatment strategies, and testing and assessment:

Kraus, R., Stricker, G., & Speyer, C. (Eds.). (2010). Online counseling: A handbook for mental health professionals. Academic Press.

My own experience with online coaching:

While I do enjoy in-person meetings with clients, I often find that phone sessions can be even more focused and efficient. What I really like from the coach/counselor perspective is my freedom to take notes (writing, drawing graphs and charts to clarify my own thoughts while listening) without needing to worry about maintaining eye contact. Of course the client may do the same, which can also help. For me, video usually doesn’t add anything to the rapport or even simply the enjoyment of the session, however some clients feel differently, in which case video sessions can be a great option.

To sum up, phone or video coaching is a excellent alternative for those who care mostly about focus and efficiency, and less about the feel-good factor of the sessions. Of course, it’s also a great choice for anybody who is looking for a specialist they may not find locally. In my case, I have been very happy to work with people who did not find any coaches or counselors in their hometown with a similar background and focus on decision making or goal achievement.

If you have done any online coaching or counseling, either as a client or professional, I would love to hear about your experience.

by Ursina Teuscher

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Book Recommendation: “Decisive” by Chip and Dan Heath (2013)

Posted on by by Posted in Achieving Goals, Book Recommendations, Career Development, Creative Thinking, Financial Decisions, Health Decisions, Strategic Planning, Business Decisions, Organizational Development

Chip and Dan Heath (2013). Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work. New York: Crown Business.

Book Cover: "Decisive" by Dan and Chip Heath

I was impressed with this new book by the Heath brothers, a very helpful guide to decision making. It does not offer any formal tools to evaluate options, but a process with powerful ideas that are easy to apply to any personal or business decision.

They call their approach the WRAP process, an acronym standing for (1) Widen your options, (2) Reality test your assumptions, (3) Attain some distance, and (4) Prepare to be wrong.

Here’s a sample of some ideas that I’m finding very effective with clients as well as for my own decisions:

For widening your options, they propose the “Vanishing Options Test”: what would you do if the current alternatives disappeared? This question forces us to think creatively, oftentimes bringing better solutions to mind than the ones that seemed most obvious at first.

Also, consider opportunity costs: if I didn’t do this, what else could I do with the same resources?

Always think AND, not OR. Can you follow multiple paths at once?

For attaining some distance, they suggest the simple but powerful question: “What would I tell my best friend to do in this situation?”

For preparing to be wrong, they introduce the idea of a “tripwire”: set a date or trigger for revisiting the decision. This will not only prevent you from getting stuck on a bad track, but it will give you a certain period where you will have the permission and peace of mind to fully commit to your current action plan, without tormenting yourself about whether this was a good decision or not.

Chip and Dan Heath also offer a great resources page on their website, with free cheat sheets and worksheets summarizing their process.

by Ursina Teuscher (PhD), at Teuscher Decision Coaching, Portland OR

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