Matt Holt

Creative Acts For Curious People

WINNER OF THE PORCHLIGHT BUSINESS BOOK AWARD • “A delightful, compelling book that offers a dazzling array of practical, thoughtful exercises designed to spark creativity, help solve problems, foster connection, and make our lives better.”—Gretchen Rubin, New York Times bestselling author and host of the Happier podcast

In an era of ambiguous, messy problems—as well as extraordinary opportunities for positive change—it’s vital to have both an inquisitive mind and the ability to act with intention. Creative Acts for Curious People is filled with ways to build those skills with resilience, care, and confidence.

At Stanford University’s world-renowned Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, aka “the d.school,” students and faculty, experts and seekers bring together diverse perspectives to tackle ambitious projects; this book contains the experiences designed to help them do it. A provocative and highly visual companion, it’s a definitive resource for people who aim to draw on their curiosity and creativity in the face of uncertainty. Teeming with ideas about discovery, learning, and leading the way through unknown creative territory, Creative Acts for Curious People includes memorable stories and more than eighty innovative exercises.

Curated by executive director Sarah Stein Greenberg, after being honed in the classrooms of the d.school, these exercises originated in some of the world’s most inventive and unconventional minds, including those of d.school and IDEO founder David M. Kelley, ReadyMade magazine founder Grace Hawthorne, innovative choreographer Aleta Hayes, Google chief innovation evangelist Frederik G. Pferdt, and many more.

To bring fresh approaches to any challenge–world changing or close to home–you can draw on exercises such as Expert Eyes to hone observation skills, How to Talk to Strangers to foster understanding, and Designing Tools for Teams to build creative leadership. The activities are at once lighthearted, surprising, tough, and impactful–and reveal how the hidden dynamics of design can drive more vibrant ways of making, feeling, exploring, experimenting, and collaborating at work and in life. This book will help you develop the behaviors and deepen the mindsets that can turn your curiosity into ideas, and your ideas into action.

The 6 Types Of Working Genius

New York Times best-selling author Patrick Lencioni unveils a truly groundbreaking new model that will change the way we think about work and teams forever.

The 6 Types of Working Genius is the fastest way to help people identify the type of work that brings them joy and energy, and avoid work that leads to frustration and burnout.

Beyond the personal discovery and instant relief that Working Genius provides, the model also gives teams a remarkably simple and practical framework for tapping into one another’s natural gifts, which increases productivity and reduces unnecessary judgment.

In classic Lencioni fashion, Pat brings his model to life in a page-turning fable that is as relatable as it is compelling. He tells the story of Bull Brooks, an entrepreneur, husband, and father who sets out to solve his own frustration at work and stumbles into a new way of thinking that changes the way he sees his work, his team, and even his marriage.

What sets this book—and the model behind it—apart from other tools and assessments is the speed at which it can be understood and applied, and the relevance it has to every kind of work in life, from running a company to launching a product to managing a family.

In addition to this book, Lencioni and the Table Group have created a 10-minute assessment that helps individuals quickly identify their gifts and apply this model to themselves and their teams. Join the hundreds of thousands of people who have already discovered their Working Genius, and experience the transformation in your work, your team, and your life.

Millionaire Mission

Taking control of your financial freedom is simpler than you think. In fact, your money should work harder than you do.

Brian Preston, Host of The Money Guy Show podcast and Cofounder of Abound Wealth Management, lays out a nine-step system for building wealth with the money you already have. Millionaire Mission helps you account for your financial blind spots, overcome the fear of making wrong decisions, and take the guesswork out of what to do with your next dollar.

Remember “PEMDAS” from grade school? The acronym that helps break down complex math problems into simple steps? When it comes to managing your money, following a similar process—the Financial Order of Operations—will demystify your dollars and show you the way to build transformative wealth with the tools you already have available:

- Keep Your Financial Life Out of the Ditch (Cover Your Highest Deductible)

- Love That Free Money (Max-Out Your Employer Match)

- The Joneses Are Broke and Miserable (Pay Off High-Interest Debt)

- Rainy Day Done Right (Build Emergency Reserves)

- Tax-Free Armageddon (Max-Out Tax-Free Growth with Roth and/or HSA Contributions)

- Max-Out Retirement Options

- Building That More Beautiful Tomorrow (Leverage Hyper-Accumulation)

- Funding Abundance Goals (Prepay Future Expenses)

- Debt Freedom (Prepay Low-Interest Debt)

Discover what small financial decisions you can make today to move you closer to your more beautiful tomorrow. Millionaire Mission will do more than help you optimize your army of dollar bills—it will motivate you to be the best version of your financial self.

You can own your time and own your life. Stop worrying so much about money, and start focusing on what really matters to you.