How to make better choices in life and work

Decisive

How to Make Better Decisions

The New York Times-bestselling authors of Switch and Made to Stick offer a fascinating tour through the workings of our minds to reveal how to make smarter decisions. 
 
Research in psychology has revealed that our decisions are disrupted by an array of biases and irrationalities. We're overconfident. We seek out information that supports us and downplay information that doesn't. We get distracted by short-term emotions. When it comes to making choices, our brains are flawed instruments. So, how can we do better? 
 
In Decisive, Chip and Dan Heath draw on cutting-edge psychological research to introduce a four-step process designed to counteract these biases. They reveal how we can stop the cycle of agonizing over our decisions, how can we make group decisions without destructive politics, and how to ensure that we don't overlook precious opportunities to change our course. Along the way, they demonstrate how relatively easy it is to avoid the pitfalls and find the best answers. 
 
Written in a compulsively readable style, Decisive takes us on a tour from a rock star's ingenious decision-making trick, to a CEO's disastrous acquisition, to a single question that can often resolve thorny personal decisions, in order to offer fresh strategies and practical tools that will enable you to make better choices. Because the right decision, at the right moment, can make all the difference.

A leader's most important job is to make good decisions, which - minus perfect knowledge of the future - is tough to do consistently . . . The Heath brothers explain how to navigate the land mines laid by our irrational brains and improve our chances of good outcomes.

The writing is humorous and often surprising . . . coupled with their insightful analyses, the book proves particularly insightful.

Chip Heath (Author) Chip Heath is a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Chip and his brother, Dan, have written four New York Times bestselling books: Made to Stick, Switch, Decisive and The Power of Moments. He has helped over 530 start-ups refine and articulate their strategy and mission. Chip lives in California. Dan Heath (Author) Dan Heath is the #1 New York Times bestselling co-author/author of six books, including Made to Stick, Switch, and The Power of Moments. His books have sold over four million copies worldwide and been translated into thirty-five languages. Dan also hosts the award-winning podcast What It’s Like To Be…, which explores what it’s like to walk in the shoes of people from different professions (a mystery novelist, a cattle rancher, a forensic accountant, and more). He lives in Durham, North Carolina.

We are all constantly faced with important decisions. So how can we ensure that we make the right ones? 
 
In Decisive, Chip and Dan Heath - authors of the international bestsellers Made to Stick and Switch - draw on decades of cutting-edge psychological research to explain why we so often get it very badly wrong. They reveal how our supposedly rational brains are frequently tripped up by powerful biases and wishful thinking and why even experts frequently make mistakes. They demonstrate the perils of getting trapped in a narrow decision frame, and they explore people's tendency to be over-confident about how their choices will unfold. At the same time they demonstrate how relatively easy it is to avoid the pitfalls and find the best answers, offering four simple principles that we can all learn and follow. 
 
Decisive offers both a fascinating tour through the workings of our minds and an invaluable guide to making smarter decisions. 
____________________________________ 
 
'A well-written, thought-provoking book' Management Today

How to change things when change is hard

Switch

Switch is likely to prove invaluable to anyone wanting to make long-lasting change a reality

Whether you're a manager, a parent or a civic leader, getting people to change can be tricky business. In Switch, brothers Chip and Dan Heath - authors of the best-selling Made to Stick - survey efforts to shape human behaviour in search of what works. Even when change isn't easy, it's often worth making

Dan and Chip Heath have done it again ... Any leader looking to create change in his organization need not look beyond this little book. It is packed with examples and hands-on tools that will get you moving right away. And it is really a fun read

Chip and Dan Heath have mined the latest psychological research to work out how to engage our emotional brain, and encourage us to focus on "bright spots" - techniques proven to help us change bad habits - rather than merely telling us what we're doing wrong

Provides a useful framework for understanding change and is full of suggestions for "fooling yourself"- and those around you - into making changes you want to make but can't

Dan Heath (Author) Dan Heath is the #1 New York Times bestselling co-author/author of six books, including Made to Stick, Switch, and The Power of Moments. His books have sold over four million copies worldwide and been translated into thirty-five languages. Dan also hosts the award-winning podcast What It’s Like To Be…, which explores what it’s like to walk in the shoes of people from different professions (a mystery novelist, a cattle rancher, a forensic accountant, and more). He lives in Durham, North Carolina. Chip Heath (Author) Chip Heath is a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Chip and his brother, Dan, have written four New York Times bestselling books: Made to Stick, Switch, Decisive and The Power of Moments. He has helped over 530 start-ups refine and articulate their strategy and mission. Chip lives in California.

'A fantastic book.' WIRED 
 
'Witty and instructive.' WALL STREET JOURNAL 
 
'Invaluable for anyone wanting to make long-lasting change a reality.' BBC FOCUS 
 
'A must-read.' FORBES 
______________________________________________ 
 
We all know that change is hard. It's unsettling, it's time-consuming, and all too often we give up at the first sign of a setback. But why do we insist on seeing the obstacles rather than the goal? 
 
This is the question that bestselling authors Chip and Dan Heath tackle in their compelling and insightful book. They argue that we need to understand how our minds function in order to unlock shortcuts to switch up our behaviours. Illustrating their ideas with scientific studies and remarkable real-life turnarounds - from the secrets of successful marriage counselling to the pile of gloves that transformed one company's finances - the brothers Heath prove that deceptively simple methods can yield truly extraordinary results. 
 
In a compelling, story-driven narrative, the Heaths bring together decades of counterintuitive research in psychology, sociology, and other fields to shed new light on how we can effect transformative change.

Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact

The Power of Moments

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
'Beautifully written, brilliantly researched' Angela Duckworth, bestselling author of Grit 
 
'The most interesting, immediately actionable book I&rsquo;ve read in quite a while' Adam Grant, bestselling author of Think Again 
 
In this bestseller by the authors of Switch and Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath explore why certain brief experiences can jolt, elevate and change us - and how we can learn to create such extraordinary moments in our own life and work. 
 
What if a teacher could design a lesson that he knew his students would remember twenty years later? What if a doctor or nurse knew how to orchestrate moments that would bring more comfort to patients? What if you had a better sense of how to create memories that matter for your children? Many of the defining moments in our lives are the result of accident or luck - but why leave our most meaningful, memorable moments to chance when we can create them? 
 
In The Power of Moments, Chip and Dan Heath explore the stories of people who have created standout moments, from the owners who transformed an utterly mediocre hotel into one of the best-loved properties in Los Angeles by conjuring moments of magic for guests, to the scrappy team that turned around one of the worst elementary schools in the country by embracing an intervention that lasts less than an hour. 
 
Filled with remarkable tales and practical insights, The Power of Moments proves we all have the power to transform ordinary experiences into unforgettable ones.

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 
 
'Beautifully written, brilliantly researched' Angela Duckworth, bestselling author of GRIT 
 
'The most interesting, immediately actionable book I&rsquo;ve read in quite a while... If life is a series of moments, the Heath brothers have transformed how I plan to spend mine' Adam Grant, bestselling author of ORIGINALS and OPTION B, with Sheryl Sandberg 
 
In this latest New York Times bestseller by the authors of Switch and Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath explore why certain brief experiences can jolt, elevate and change us - and how we can learn to create such extraordinary moments in our own life and work. 
 
What if a teacher could design a lesson that he knew his students would remember twenty years later? What if a doctor or nurse knew how to orchestrate moments that would bring more comfort to patients? What if you had a better sense of how to create memories that matter for your children? Many of the defining moments in our lives are the result of accident or luck - but why leave our most meaningful, memorable moments to chance when we can create them? 
 
In The Power of Moments, Chip and Dan Heath explore the stories of people who have created standout moments, from the owners who transformed an utterly mediocre hotel into one of the best-loved properties in Los Angeles by conjuring moments of magic for guests, to the scrappy team that turned around one of the worst elementary schools in the country by embracing an intervention that lasts less than an hour. 
 
Filled with remarkable tales and practical insights, The Power of Moments proves we all have the power to transform ordinary experiences into unforgettable ones.

The art and science of communicating numbers

Making Numbers Count

'Concise, breezy and pragmatic' Wall Street Journal 
 
'Remarkably practical techniques for comprehending and communicating the maths that really matters&rsquo; Adam Grant 
 
Until very recently, most languages had no words for numbers greater than five &ndash; anything from six to infinity was known as 'lots'. Understanding numbers is essential in the modern world, but we simply aren&rsquo;t built to understand them. 
 
What does 5GB of storage actually mean? (Two months of commutes, without repeating a song.) 
What&rsquo;s the size of a nucleus compared to a cell? (Imagine a bee in a cathedral.) 
How much bigger is a billion than a million? (Well, a million seconds is twelve days. A billion seconds is&hellip;thirty-two years.) 
 
Drawing on years of research into making ideas stick, Chip Heath and Karla Starr outline six critical principles that will give anyone the tools to understand and communicate numbers with more transparency and meaning. Offering practical principles to help us imagine numbers at all scales, Making Numbers Count shows us how to transform them into concrete, vivid and meaningful messages so that we can make better decisions every day.

A unique popular maths book... [that] delivers a painless, ingenious education in how to communicate statistics and numbers to people who find them confusing... Packed with tables, anecdotes, and amusing facts, the narrative makes maths accessible.... Astute advice for businesspeople and educators.

This cure for statistical illiteracy couldn&rsquo;t come at a better time or from a better team - a psychologist and a journalist present remarkably practical techniques for comprehending and communicating the maths that really matters.

Adam Grant, bestselling author of Think Again

Chip Heath (Author) 
Chip Heath is a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Chip and his brother, Dan, have written four New York Times bestselling books: Made to Stick, Switch, Decisive and The Power of Moments. He has helped over 530 start-ups refine and articulate their strategy and mission. Chip lives in California. 
 
Karla Starr (Author) 
Karla Starr has written for O The Oprah Magazine, The Atlantic, Slate, Popular Science, the Guardian and the LA Times. She has appeared on CBS Sunday Morning. She is the author of Can You Learn to Be Lucky? and lives in Portland, Oregon.

Until very recently, most languages had no words for numbers greater than five &ndash; anything from six to infinity was known as 'lots'. Understanding numbers is essential in the modern world, but we simply aren&rsquo;t built to understand them. 
 
What does 5GB of storage actually mean? (Two months of commutes, without repeating a song.) What&rsquo;s the size of a nucleus compared to a cell? (Imagine a bee in a cathedral.) How much bigger is a billion than a million? (Well, a million seconds is twelve days. A billion seconds is&hellip;thirty-two years.) 
 
Drawing on years of research into making ideas stick, Chip Heath and Karla Starr outline six critical principles that will give anyone the tools to understand and communicate numbers with more transparency and meaning. Offering practical principles to help us imagine numbers at all scales, Making Numbers Count shows us how to transform them into concrete, vivid and meaningful messages so that we can make better decisions every day.

Dan Heath

Chip Heath

An entertaining, practical guide to communication.

Smart, lively . . . such fun to read . . . Inspiring.

Their analysis is peppered with memorable stories, images and facts . . . This book is a gift to anyone who needs to get a message across and make it stick.

This is great for anyone planning a speech or trying to get their message across at work.

Anyone interested in influencing others . . . can learn from this book.

The Heaths push beyond what sounds like it should work and explain why it actually does.

Why some ideas take hold and others come unstuck

'This book is a gift to anyone who needs to get a message across and make it stick.' New Statesman 
 
'Smart, lively . . . such fun to read.' Guardian 
_______________________________________________________ 
 
Mark Twain once observed, 'A lie can get halfway around the world before the truth can even get its boots on.' His observation rings true: urban legends, conspiracy theories, and bogus news stories circulate effortlessly. Meanwhile, people with important ideas - entrepreneurs, teachers, politicians, and journalists - struggle to make them 'stick'. 
 
In Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath reveal the anatomy of ideas that stick and explain how to make ideas stickier, such as applying the Velcro Theory of Memory, using the human scale principle and creating curiosity gaps. Along the way, they reveal that sticky messages of all kinds - from the infamous 'kidney theft ring' hoax, to a coach's lessons on sportsmanship, to a vision for a new product at Sony - draw their power from the same six traits. 
 
Made to Stick reveals the vital principles behind winning ideas - and tells us how we can apply these rules to making our own messages stick. It will transform the way you communicate. 
_____________________________________________________ 
'Anyone interested in influencing others . . . can learn from this book.' Washington Post 
'This is great for anyone planning a speech or trying to get their message across at work.' Psychologies

Chip Heath

Praise for Made to Stick

An entertaining, practical guide to communication.

Smart, lively . . . such fun to read . . . Inspiring.

Their analysis is peppered with memorable stories, images and facts . . . This book is a gift to anyone who needs to get a message across and make it stick.

An entertaining, practical guide to communication.

Smart, lively . . . such fun to read . . . Inspiring.

Their analysis is peppered with memorable stories, images and facts . . . This book is a gift to anyone who needs to get a message across and make it stick.

An entertaining, practical guide to communication.

Smart, lively . . . such fun to read . . . Inspiring.

Their analysis is peppered with memorable stories, images and facts . . . This book is a gift to anyone who needs to get a message across and make it stick.

Books by Chip Heath

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