DO BOOKS REALLY INFLUENCE AND SHAPE OUR LIVES.
                     DO BOOKS REALLY 
INFLUENCE AND 
SHAPE OUR LIVES?
INTRODUCTION
• Books, especially good ones, have that sort of power. If you let them, they 
can change your life, serve as another compass or guide, or give you a lift 
when you need it most. 
• You can think of at least one book that fundamentally changed you as a 
human being.
Source: goodreads.com
BELONGINGNESS
• At the very least, you will connect with the person at the other of the dialogue, the 
author. 
• But you will likely connect with much more than that: the zeitgeist, the universe, a 
reality that exists somewhere else or that one day could be yours. 
Source: prototypr
EMPATHY
• As with any good conversation, when you read you do a lot of listening. You are on 
the receiving end of a wire transfer of knowledge. 
• The writer is imparting something, at the very least one thing, you didn’t have before 
a fact, a theory, a point of view, an emotion. 
Source: goodreads.com
HUMBLE
• Give any book the opportunity and it will teach you something. It will at least teach 
you what not to do or say or believe in. 
• But in order for anything to happen, you have to give it a chance, and to give it a 
chance you need to be humble. 
Source: Business insider
SELF-KNOWLEDGE
• The most enduring books you collect are those that become a mirror. This mirror is 
placed in front of you when you read something that has you nodding along and 
thinking, yes, that is how it is. You just found a part of yourself.
Source: NPR
CONFIDENCE
• Reading challenges you. Taking a book seriously means risking the chance of finding 
an adversary. 
• These challenging books push back on everything you hold true. They tell you human 
nature is inherently evil, or that the Church is at fault, or that America is not the 
greatest country in the world.
Source: Lifehack
PRESENCE
• Reading helps you remain calm. It’s as therapeutic as anything else. Once you start 
digging into a book that’s caught your attention, time ceases to exist, your mind is 
completely immersed in what is in front of you.
Source: University of Liverpool News
BOOKS THAT WILL 
INFLUENCE YOU AND YOUR 
VIEWS ON LIFE…
SNOOP BY SAM GOSLING
• One of the earliest, intriguing books that will 
make you thinking about people, behavior, 
and designing for their hidden lives is 
Snoop. 
• Written by a social psychologist, he talks 
about how the spaces we live and work in 
as well as the things we value, tell a story 
loud and clear about who we are. 
Source: goodreads.com
THE CHECKLIST MANIFESTO 
BY ATUL GAWANDE
• Although the book talks about checklists 
and their merits in the context of hospitals 
and healthcare, you will find it to be a 
compelling series of stories about how to 
design behavior and ensure safety and 
success of many people working together.
Source: goodreads.com
HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT BY 
JAN CHIPCHASE
• The former Executive Creative Director of 
Global Insights at Frog Design, he talks 
about how insight can be foundational to 
understanding the future and new 
opportunities.
Source: amazon.com