Subtext: 24 literary postcards, Obvious State Studio

Most books on remote work repeat the same tired advice about being productive while wearing sweatpants. The advice in this book is different. Award winning author Rohit Bhargava reveals the secrets of remote work by curating advice from the experts.

In this book, you'll learn:

• Why trying to recreate a "home studio" for presentations is overrated.
• How you can build powerful relationships with people you've never met.
• The seven rules of virtual meetings that everyone should know.
• How to look and sound amazing on video, without spending a fortune.

Most guides to virtual work pretend like it is better than being face-to-face. It usually isn't. But in today's business world, there are many reasons you need to work remotely or do virtual meetings, from taking parental leave to navigating a global health pandemic.

In this short guide featuring a compilation of the best advice and insights from more than 50 experts from dozens of industries, you will learn the keys to being effective from afar. Whether you need to deliver a presentation to a virtual audience or collaborate with a global team, this handy guide will help you be more productive when you can't be there in person.

This is not a book that will convince you that you need to work remotely every day or that you should go to a Caribbean island and become a digital nomad. It's a guide for anyone forced to work remotely, stuck on too many Zoom calls, and looking for quick actionable advice on how to shift the way they work to get more done every day.

What secrets can a 400-year-old Turkish cymbal maker and an Icelandic hot tub etiquette video teach you about the power of storytelling? How do Michelin-ranked food stalls in Singapore and the decline of Swiss watches force all luxury brands to rethink their business models? What insights can the world's quietest place and a clothing dye produced by former tobacco farmers reveal about serving enlightened consumers?

The answers to these questions may not be all that obvious. And that's exactly the point.

For the past 8 years, marketing expert and Georgetown University Professor Rohit Bhargava has curated his best-selling list of non-obvious trends by asking the questions that most trend predictors miss. It's why his insights on future trends and the art of curating trends have been utilized by dozens of the biggest brands and organizations in the world like Intel, Under Armour and the World Bank.

The answers to these questions may not be all that obvious. And that's exactly the point. For the past eight years, innovation expert Rohit Bhargava and his team have predicted 15 "Non-Obvious" trends each year. In this book, get a sneak peek at the proven methods exclusively taught to thousands of executives at leading brands, organizations and governments to develop unexpected solutions to critical problems. The power of non-obvious thinking can help you see what others miss, grow your business and make a bigger impact in the world.

In this all-new eighth edition, discover what more than a million readers already have: how to use the power of non-obvious thinking to grow your business and make a bigger impact in the world.

In total, the Non-Obvious 2018 Edition features 15 all-new trends across 5 categories including Culture & Consumer Behavior, Marketing & Social Media, Media & Education, Technology & Design plus Economics & Entrepreneurship. The book also features a detailed section with a review and rating for more than 100 previously predicted trends - with longevity ratings for each.

As with the original version, this new edition of Non-Obvious also delves into the curation process the author has used for years to build his Trend Reports and takes readers behind the scenes of trend curation (much to the delight of past readers who have been asking about this for years), and show them the methodology they can use to predict the future for themselves.

What if meetings could be the high point of collaboration in your day, instead of the usual time-sucking soul-draining experience they often become?

In this guide, expert facilitators Douglas Ferguson and John Fitch tackle the myth that the most effective way to get more out of meetings is to just avoid having them or to have less of them. In a well-run organization, meetings should actually be integral to getting sh*t done.

Meetings are the secret underappreciated weapon that businesses are using badly. And why do they use them so badly? Because no one has been taught how to make them better. In this guide, you will learn:

• What if having an agenda has no effect on whether you have a great meeting?
• What happens when you actually do the work in the meeting?
• What are the five common elements of every meeting that sucks, and how do you avoid them?

Douglas and John show you how to adopt and adapt the non-obvious Meeting Mantras they developed at their company, Voltage Control. Their methods have helped companies and teams transform the perception of meetings from "going to the dentist" (ie - something you have to do but hate) into something you can't wait for - like a rock concert or great dinner.