Kaitlin P. McCreery, Ph.D.

Book List

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Highlights and takeaways from my favorite books

Show Your Work!

by Austin Kleon

💡 Key Takeaways:

  1. Document your process, your work, and your approach online, for free.
  2. Beginners can be the best at helping other beginners — you don’t need to be an expert to teach a process
  3. By sharing your work, you’ll attract an audience of people that care about the same stuff you do.

Ignorance: How it Drive Science

by Stuart Firestein

💡 Key Takeaways:

  1. Science thrives on asking questions, not necessarily finding the answers.
  2. Ignorance — or complete novelty in a discipline — motivates exploration and leads to new perspectives and discoveries.
  3. Uncertainty and ambiguity are necessary for scientific progress, and are embraced by history’s greatest investigators.

Letters to a Young Scientist

by E.O. Wilson

💡 Key Takeaways:

  1. Curiosity and following your passion will pull you and keep you in science.
  2. Collaboration and communication are crucial for making great discoveries and advancing your field.
  3. Being a scientist is a constant balancing act between specialization and interdisciplinarity.

The Magic of Thinking Big

by David Schwartz

💡 Key Takeaways:

  1. Let your major goal be your automatic pilot. When you let your goal absorb you, you’ll find yourself making the right decisions to reach your goal.
  2. To get enthusiastic, learn more about the thing you are not enthusiastic about.
  3. Focus on solutions rather than problems, learn from failures, and maintain a positive outlook even in challenging situations.

How to Differentiate Instruction in Academically Diverse Classrooms

by C.A. Tomlinson

💡 Key Takeaways:

This book is primarily for K-12 educators, but I also recommend applying its concepts to university classrooms to make your teaching effective.

  1. Be Flexible. Your classroom is filled with diverse learners so it is crucial to adapt your style to meet diverse student needs (in an ever-expanding tech culture)
  2. Active student engagement encourages student-centered learning.
  3. Implement continuous assessment. Regular and varied assessments are crucial for understanding each student’s progress and adjusting instruction accordingly.

Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success

by Arianna Huffington

💡 Key Takeaways:

  1. Prioritizing well-being over productivity will lead to greater career fulfillment.
  2. Mindfulness and daily reflection is essential to maintain your health and keep your life on track.
  3. Work-life balance is the only solution for sustainable success.

The Culture Map

by Erin Meyer

💡 Key Takeaways:

  1. Communication varies across cultures. Adapt to your colleagues for effective collaboration.
  2. Leadership and decision-making styles are perceived differently across cultures, affecting team dynamics and authority.
  3. Build trust with colleagues: learning more about personal life, or others need demonstrative data. Adapt and appreciate where others come from to be part of a stronger team.

The Making of a Manager

by Julie Zhuo

💡 Key Takeaways:

  1. Management is about juggling (1) purpose, (2) people, and (3) process. “A great manager constantly asks herself how she can influence these levers to improve her team’s outcomes.”
  2. What leads people to do great work? Flip this question around – what gets in the way of good work? Only 2 things – (1) people don’t know how to do good work, or (2) they know how, but they’re not motivated to do it.
  3. You should tell your team what your expectations are and where they stand. If they’re often wondering ‘what does my manager think of me’ then you need to dial up the level of feedback.