Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, the Silicon Valley innovators and Stanford University design educators in their hugely successful course, Designing Your Life, have helped thousands change the way they live. Burnett and Evans believe that in order to change, people need a process--a design process--to help them figure out what they want and how to create it. In this long-awaited book, Burnett and Evans make clear, step by step, how to think like a designer,...

"Whether we're buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401(k), everyday decisions ; both big and small ; have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented. As Americans, we assume that more choice means better options and greater satisfaction. But beware of excessive choice: choice overload can...

Why do smart people make irrational decisions every day? The answers will surprise you. This book is a look at why we all make illogical decisions. Why can a 50-cent aspirin do what a penny aspirin can't? If an item is "free" it must be a bargain, right? Why is everything relative, even when it shouldn't be? How do our expectations influence our actual opinions and decisions? In this book, the author, a behavioral economist cuts to the heart of our...

Redefining productivity as a discipline involving how one thinks, identifies goals, constructs teams, and makes decisions, explains how to transform thinking behaviors to increase self-motivation and shares illustrative examples.

Discusses why people are disconnected from their future selves, frequently opting for immediate gratification and making decisions that fail to consider future health and well-being, and offers practical advice for balancing living for today with planning for tomorrow.

In a culture of restlessness and indecision, which causes tension in people's lives, a civic advocate, using examples from history, personal stories, and applied psychology, shows how purposeful commitment can be a powerful force.

"An organization's future success depends on decision makers' abilities to anticipate changes and disruptions in the marketplace. But how do you get information about tomorrow today? How can your decisions today account for tomorrow's uncertainties? This book shows you how to exploit the period between the moment when you could know about emerging disruptions and the moment when most everybody else will know about it. It's the difference between being...

"Why is it hard to text and drive at the same time? How do you resist eating that extra piece of cake? Why does staring at a tax form feel mentally exhausting? Why can your child expertly fix the computer and yet still forget to put on a coat? From making a cup of coffee to buying a house to changing the world around them, humans are uniquely able to execute necessary actions. How do we do it? Or in other words, how do our brains get things done?...

What if you sliced data and found a huge problem or opportunity? Data did its job, but now it needs a storyteller. The way insights are communicated could reverse or increase the trajectory of data. The actions you ask others to take today can change your future data. But getting others to move forward with those actions only happens when someone communicates well. Learn effective ways to turn your data into narratives that blend the power of language,...