Continuing his explorations into what makes us happy and successful that he began in The Happiness Advantage, Achor argues that although we learn fromContinuing his explorations into what makes us happy and successful that he began in The Happiness Advantage, Achor argues that although we learn from a very young age that success is the result of our individual efforts, this is actually only our “small potential,� and real achievement or “big potential� is the result not of a star that shines especially brightly, but of star systems, productive communities that influence each other for the better. Achor discusses how to foster such communities—both for individuals and for companies. He argues that every person we’ve considered a lone genius was actually surrounded by a community of achievers that fostered them, and he presents compelling evidence that even a team of modest talent can outshine the most brilliant individual contributors. At just over 200 pages, this book is a pretty breezy read. Still, for as impressed as I was with the lack of fluff in The Happiness Advantage, this one felt bloated in places, and there's some repetition from The Happiness Advantage. The core ideas are interesting, but they probably could have been distilled into a long journal article....more
In his first book, Achor argues that although we normally think of happiness arising as a result of success—common wisdom holds that if we just get thIn his first book, Achor argues that although we normally think of happiness arising as a result of success—common wisdom holds that if we just get that promotion, lose a few pounds, reach our goals, then we’ll be happy—the opposite is actually true: success follows happiness. He details seven different principles of positive psychology, recounts various psychological studies that led to these insights, and then connects these principles to how they might translate into success in the workplace. Interesting insights include the idea that people who believe they are lucky actually are better attuned to seeing opportunities than the average person, that having strong social bonds predicts success and ability to cope with stress, that with effort and gratitude we can literally rewire our brains to be more optimistic, and that positivity is a greater predictor of success than skill or intelligence.
This is a great example of the rare pop-psychology book without very much “fluff�. It is up there for me with James Clear's Atomic Habits and Brene Brown's Dare to Lead as books that really have probably changed my whole outlook on life and have certainly changed the way I approach my work.
My only complaint is a small one, that Achor's constant references to being a grad student at Harvard do come across as increasingly insecure after the fourth or fifth mention. Still, this is a relatively small gripe for a book that has probably changed my whole outlook on life....more
Like many, I first came to Brown’s work through her TED Talks on shame and vulnerability. If you’re wondering whether you’ll like this book, those talks are fabulous, and will let you preview some of the book's underlying themes. The energy she brings to her talks practically leaps off the page with a written voice that mirrors her lecturing voice almost exactly. Brown is engaging and insightful in a way that feels earnest and open, but never feels cloying or aggressive. She’s not asking you to Lean In; she’s asking you to bring your “whole heart� to the table. And she’s got practical, data-driven reasons why you should.
The book claims to be a quick read, one which could be devoured “cover-to-cover in one flight�. And by the numbers and tone, that should be true. But I confess it took me a considerable amount of time to get through it, largely because some off-handed remark would literally completely change my worldview and I would have to put the book down to reflect on it. For example “resentment is almost always related to a lack of boundaries� was a half-sentence that was not even the main point of that sentence, much less that section, but it was a profound enough point that I had to step away. And these moments happened so frequently that the book was actually pretty slow to digest for me. So while I think this could be a breezy read, I also don’t think that’s the most product way to consume it.
The content itself is a nice balance of theoretical research and actionable takeaways. Brown has done the research, collected the data, and interpreted its results—then gone a step farther into translating those into actionable takeaways. This is Brown’s fifth book, and like most researchers, her work has built on itself cumulatively for years. Though Brown repeats extended sections from her previous books, she does a good job of highlighting how this work builds upon and extends the previous work. It didn’t feel overly repetitive for me, but I also haven’t read the entirety of her catalog.
It’s rare for me to say that a book has changed my life, but this book has shifted my approach—not just to leadership, but to communication as a whole—so fundamentally that it would be remiss of me to undersell its impact. But that said, due to the subject matter, this book rewards introspection and reflection even more than most self-help books, and you get out of it what you put in. Brown asks you to dive into uncomfortable places with yourself and with others, and while the rewards are great, the process is unapologetically brutal. But as she says, courage requires vulnerability, and “who we are is how we lead.�...more
Most creative professionals understand that constraints foster creativity, and this is the approach Challenges for Game Designers uses to encourage deMost creative professionals understand that constraints foster creativity, and this is the approach Challenges for Game Designers uses to encourage designers toward brilliant games, since most people, given a problem, will naturally tap into creative insights to find a solution. Designed for beginner to intermediate designers, each chapter focuses on certain aspects of game design: genre, manipulating mechanics, drawing from personal experiences, and so on to explore design problems and help the reader understand how designers think. The challenges are interesting and themselves creative.
The chapters are structured such that they provide a short introduction--usually only a few pages--to basic game design ideals. Each chapter then provides 5 design challenges, complete with concept, goal, and expected deliverables. Additional challenge ideas are available on the last page of the chapter. Though not as fleshed-out (which comes with pros and cons), these are also great motivators for designers to think of solutions to interesting problems.
Mostly, the challenges serve as the boundaries and starting point; designers have enough of an outline to avoid the anxieties that come with a blank page, while still having enough open-endedness to allow for innovative design....more
Game Feel is an interesting look at the phenomenon of controls in video games having "feel," whether they feel "floaty", "heavy", etc. Swink discussesGame Feel is an interesting look at the phenomenon of controls in video games having "feel," whether they feel "floaty", "heavy", etc. Swink discusses at length what each of these descriptors means and how they are achieved. By examining these phenomena and illustrating his points with several case studies of popular games, Swink is able to construct metrics for defining game feel and ideas for how game designers can best use it to create their desired user experience. The book is filled with insightful non-digital analogies of how we control objects and utilize proprioception, and how we might relate those experiences to the game world.
Despite very readable prose and colloquial examples, I was tempted to read this as an academic book. That's not how it was intended, so I caution any game theorists approaching the book from that position. If you read this as an academic book, you will find several "holes" in Swink's "argument," particularly his theories about the extension of self that connects the player with their avatar. Keep in mind that this is a book for designers, and as such it is extremely useful: "feel" is certainly an observable phenomenon in games, and Swink's examination is thoughtful and could indeed serve as the basis for more "academic" inquiries into the nature of feel and the extension of the self into the game world.
Jazz pianist David Sudnow didn't play video games until he went to retrieve his teenage son from an arcade in the early 80s, and he immediately dismisJazz pianist David Sudnow didn't play video games until he went to retrieve his teenage son from an arcade in the early 80s, and he immediately dismissed them as a silly money-sink designed to keep teenagers occupied. When an Atari 2600 ruined a party of academics, however, he decided to give games another shot and try the Atari for himself. Thus began his decent into obsession.
Following in the style of Ways of the Hand, Sudnow's deeply detailed exploration of the phenomenology of playing jazz piano, Pilgrim in the Microworld provides an equally detailed account of Sudnow's quest to master Breakout on the Atari--from the physical feeling of the controls to the subtle changes in his strategy of where to look on the screen. The book follows his transition from bemused to curious to obsessed and back, all the while revealing the most subtle changes in outlook and strategy, changes that most of the rest of us would never consciously stop to think about.
Sudnow is clearly catering to a high brow audience. His descriptions are peppered with references to classical music, and never misses an opportunity to name drop Debussy, Lenny Bruce, Nietzsche; but his tone only serves to legitimize the deep study of games at a time when they were regarded as low brow entertainment. As you might expect from the title, the writing recalls Thoreau or Dillard in its tone and approach--carefully balancing obsessive detail with a narrative arc whose drama you only appreciate when you've finished the book. At times the depth of his analyses of the most trivial functions of the hand or the eye can become exhausting, as--no doubt--his frustrating play sessions were, and these sections toward the middle are best handled by giving the book a rest. While others might complain about the pace of the middle chapters, to me, these sections only further highlighted the experience of Sudnow's frustration, and as a whole the book is engaging, thought-provoking, and masterfully written.
As a game studies text, this is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in phenomenology or player experience. No other personal account of playing games has come close to this level of thought and analysis. At times his descriptions teeter on the edge of what might be considered obsessive mental illness, but Sudnow's perspective is entirely unique among the field, and this level of detail will be incredibly hard for most researchers to duplicate.
A must-read for game studies researchers, obsessive gamers, and gamers who also happen to be musicians....more
God is in the details, and the details of how the user experiences this text bring this book from a great beginner's guide to the formally best ebook God is in the details, and the details of how the user experiences this text bring this book from a great beginner's guide to the formally best ebook I've read. With mouse-over definitions, interactive code examples, and relatable prose, Eloquent JavaScript isn't just a model for what all programming books should be; it's (formally) a model for what all ebooks should be.
That said, though the book is designed for beginners, I can't speak to how well it imparts the basic principles of programming to those who don't already know what, say, recursion is supposed to do. It seemed like the prose might be too shallow for that kind of thing, but it did offer great metaphors for those principles, so it might be fine. As someone coming to JavaScript with a light background in other languages, it was exactly what I needed. ...more
Like most people of my generation, I have been playing video games since I can remember. I've read bits and pieces of other game design books, but nonLike most people of my generation, I have been playing video games since I can remember. I've read bits and pieces of other game design books, but none have been as clear or as aligned with my own vision of games as this book. It helped me really make the transition from thinking like a consumer to thinking like a creator. It is indispensable for designers of paper and digital games alike.
Fullerton focuses on designing games with the constant goal of vigilantly keeping the player experience at the center of the design process. Everything should be prototyped iteratively. Repeatedly. The upbeat tone encourages experimentation, failure, and revision, reassuring budding designers that games are not some divine inspiration that happens perfectly the first time around. For someone with little experience, this was exactly what I needed to hear, and Fullerton is sure to repeat the message through examples and anecdotal interviews from some of the biggest names in the field.
I also found the exercises in the book extremely helpful for thinking about games, but more importantly for thinking about how I was thinking about games.
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