self-learning

get to know yourself

there are a lot of personality tests out there. two of the ones we like the most at the make sense academy are the Meyers-Briggs test which you can do at mbtionline.com, and the Belbin test. the first one will let you know more about yourself based on preferences, the latter will assess your role in teams. for both of these, if you get your entire team to take them, it might shed some light on some of your team dynamics or explain better how different members interact more easily with each other than with others.

another test website we love spending time on in 16personalities.com. not only is this test free, but it also provides visibility on aggregated international data and provide country profiles which can be awesome to understand cross-cultural dynamics and culture shocks.

follow some cool online courses

Pixar in a box Khan Academy Course

Pixar in a box
by Khan Academy

Pixar in a Box is a behind-the-scenes look at how Pixar artists do their jobs. You will be able to animate bouncing balls, build a swarm of robots, and make virtual fireworks explode. The subjects you learn in school — math, science, computer science, and humanities — are used every day to create amazing movies at Pixar.

Copenhagen Business School

The Neuromarketing Toolbox
by Copenhagen Business School

Neuromarketing makes use of such an extended toolbox, containing both technical equipment and ways of doing experimental research. The goal for this course is to give you an overview of this fast developing toolbox ranging from simple web-camera, to eye-tracking, and to complicated brain-scanners.

check out our favorite books

Buy-ology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy
by Martin Lindstrom

In Lindstrom’s ground-breaking $7 million neuromarketing study, he explores the truth and lies about why we buy. Lindstrom’s New York times and Wall Street Journal international best-selling book peers deep inside the brain (literally) using fMRI to discover the precise areas being ‘lit up’ in response to brand and advertising messages.

Brand Sense: Sensory Secrets Behind the Stuff We Buy
by Martin Lindstrom

Lindstrom delves deep beneath the surface to explore the human senses and how these are activated in the decision making process.The reliance on a 2-dimensional sensory advertising world becomes the catalyst to the question: why? We have 5 senses available, Lindstrom contends, why not use them all to make a brand truly touch its market. He explores this notion, and how marketers,armed with this knowledge, are able to push the purchase buttons – stronger than ever before. The WallStreet Journal calledBrandSense “…one of the 5 best marketing books ever published.”

Eating the Big Fish: How Challenger Brands can Compete Against Brand Leaders
by Adam Morgan

Adam provides practical advice and plentiful easy-to-follow examples to show how a challenger brand can get noticed and steal customers from competitors with much bigger advertising and marketing budgets. He presents eight challenger credos that stress bringing a fresh perspective to market, building a prominent and emotionally appealing identity, implementing a pervasive communication strategy, and focusing intently on ideas rather than consumers.

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
by Dan Ariely

Why do our headaches persist after we take a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a fifty-cent aspirin? Why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup? When it comes to making decisions in our lives, we think we’re making smart, rational choices. But are we? In this newly revised and expanded edition of the groundbreaking New York Times bestseller, Dan Ariely refutes the common assumption that we behave in fundamentally rational ways. From drinking coffee to losing weight, from buying a car to choosing a romantic partner, we consistently overpay, underestimate, and procrastinate. Yet these misguided behaviors are neither random nor senseless. They’re systematic and predictable—making us predictably irrational.

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Al Ries and Jack Trout

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing
by Al Ries and Jack Trout

you can build an impressive airplane, but it will never leave the ground if you ignore the laws of physics, especially gravity. why then, they ask, shouldn't there also be laws of marketing that must be followed to launch and maintain winning brands? in The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, Ries and Trout offer a compendium of twenty-two innovative rules for understanding and succeeding in the international marketplace. from the Law of Leadership, to The Law of the Category, to The Law of the Mind, these valuable insights stand the test of time and present a clear path to successful products. violate them at your own risk.

The Neuroscience of Creativity by Anna Abraham

The Neuroscience of Creativity
by Anna Abraham

what is going on in our brains when we are creating? how does our brain look different when we are engaging in art versus science? how does the brain of genius creators differ from the rest of us? what are some of the limitations of studying the creative brain? the neuroscience of creativity is booming. bringing the latest research together from a number of scientists, Anna Abraham wrote a wonderful resource that covers some of the hottest button topics in the field.

Story Driven: You don't need to compete when you know who you are by Bernadette Jiwa

Story Driven: You don't need to compete when you know who you are
by Bernadette Jiwa

the people who create fulfilling lives and careers—the ones we respect, admire and try to emulate—choose an alternative path to success. they have a powerful sense of identity. they don’t worry about differentiating themselves from the competition or obsess about telling the right story. they tell the real story instead. successful organisations and the people who create, build and lead them don’t feel the need to compete, because they know who they are and they’re not afraid to show us. Story Driven gives you a framework to help you consistently articulate, live and lead with your story. this book is about how to stop competing and start succeeding by being who you are, so you can do work you’re proud of and create the future you want to see.

Purple Cow by Seth Godin

Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable
by Seth Godin

in Purple Cow, first published in 2003 and revised and expanded in 2009, Godin launched a movement to make truly remarkable products that are worth marketing in the first place. through stories about companies like Starbucks, JetBlue, Krispy Kreme, and Apple, coupled with his signature provocative style, he inspires readers to rethink what their marketing is really saying about their product.

Your Ad Ignored Here: Cartoons from 15 Years of Marketing, Business, and Doodling in Meetings
by Tom Fishburne

Tom Fishburne began to doodle his observations in 2002 when working in the trenches of marketing. initially intended for co-workers, they are now read by hundreds of thousands of marketers every week. packed with nearly 200 cartoons and led by a foreword from Ann Handley and an introduction from Tom Fishburne, Your Ad Ignored Here captures the quintessential moments in the last 15 years of marketing — handling a PR crisis, giving creative feedback to an agency, or avoiding idea killers in innovation.

Reinventing organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness by Frederic Laloux

Reinventing organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness
by Frederic Laloux

most books on organizations are written for people hoping to find the secret key to gaining market share, beating competition and increasing profits. they offer advice on how to better play the game of success within the current management paradigm. Reinventing Organizations comes from a different place. it is written for people (founders of organizations, leaders, coaches, and advisors) who sense that something is broken in the way we run organizations today and who feel that something entirely different is called for… but wonder what that might be.

discover podcasts we like

Everyone Hates Marketers

No-fluff, actionable marketing podcast for people sick of shady, in-your-face marketing.

TED Talks Daily

Want TED Talks on the go? Every weekday, this feed brings you their latest talks in audio format. Hear thought-provoking ideas on every subject imaginable -- from Artificial Intelligence to Zoology, and everything in between -- given by the world's leading thinkers and doers.

Breaking Brand podcast by Buffer

Breaking Brand

Breaking Brand is a Buffer podcast series that takes you behind-the-scenes with the Pattern Brands founding team as it embarks on a remarkable journey to build a direct-to-consumer business and launch its first brand to market.

The Rework Podcast by Basecamp

The Rework Podcast

A podcast about a better way to work and run your business. We bring you stories and unconventional wisdom from Basecamp’s co-founders and other business owners.

The Tim Ferriss Show

The Tim Ferriss Show

Tim Ferriss is a self-experimenter and bestselling author, best known for The 4-Hour Workweek, which has been translated into 40+ languages. In this show, he deconstructs world-class performers from eclectic areas (investing, chess, pro sports, etc.), digging deep to find the tools, tactics, and tricks that listeners can use.

Your Undivided Attention podcast

Your Undivided Attention

Technology companies are locked in an arms race to seize your attention, and that race is tearing apart our shared social fabric. In this inaugural podcast from the Center for Humane Technology, hosts Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin will expose the hidden designs that have the power to hijack our attention, manipulate our choices and destabilize our real world communities.

watch some great tv shows

Street Food Netflix

Street Food
by Netflix

Embark on a global cultural journey through the lens of street food and discover the stories of the people who create the flavorful dishes.

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