Somewhere in here is a book that could change your life…
Category: 3 – SHELF it (All Categories are 1 – Read ASAP!, 2 – BUY it!, 3 – SHELF it, 4 – SOMEDAY it)
Comments: Good book if you are interested in sales. Didn’t rate so high on impact as I’m struggling to remember anything significant I learnt from the book.
What to expect: Lots of simple tit-bits and bound to be a quick read.
Category: 3 – SHELF it (All Categories are 1 – Read ASAP!, 2 – BUY it!, 3 – SHELF it, 4 – SOMEDAY it)
Comments: Good book on impact! Tracy spells out many simple and oft-heard of ways to make sure we integrate goal setting into our lives. After years, we tend to remember very little from books we read but that’s where this book scores even if the content may seem cliche. I found it scoring well on the impact it’s had on my way of thought..
What to expect: Tracy’s your quintessential sales guru who likes spelling out things to make them simple and easy to follow. So, while a lot of the book may seem simple and elementary, it is not reading it that matters, like any other self-help group, it’s the execution on it that makes a difference!
ADD on Mar 16 2016: I don’t think I agree with the thesis of this book now. I’ve come to learn that we ought to focus on systems vs. goals.
Category: 3 – SHELF it (All Categories are 1 – Read ASAP!, 2 – BUY it!, 3 – SHELF it, 4 – SOMEDAY it)
Comments: Edit on Mar 16, 2016 – A book I thought was incredibly cool when I was young. I think it must be a teenager thing – the philosophy is all about “objectivism” – about a misunderstood genius who is a bit of an asshole. Not sure if I’d like it as much today.
What to expect: A story of an architect by name Howard Roark . This is a book that is recommended by Deans of Civil Engineering schools because it takes the perception of science of architecture to a whole new level. In very simple words, it is the story of a man with extreme self confidence, stubborn adherence to his principles, who sees no other option but to stick with his beliefs and ideas.. and the story of the clash of his ideals against the world’s. Great men are first ridiculed, etc.
Category: 3 – SHELF it (All Categories are 1 – Read ASAP!, 2 – BUY it!, 3 – SHELF it, 4 – SOMEDAY it)
Comments: I liked this book. It was full of stories about leaders from HP, Ben & Jerry’s, Microsoft, GE etc. – Bill Gates, Jack Welch and co. sharing stories and learnings from their times as leaders.
What to expect: Just life stories – for those interested in exploring topics of management and leadership, this is the kind of book that makes for very nice reading. Very low on theory and facts and high on experiences.
Category: 3 – SHELF it (All Categories are 1 – Read ASAP!, 2 – BUY it!, 3 – SHELF it, 4 – SOMEDAY it)
Comments: A negotiations classic. My rating is biased because I didn’t find the audio book great as the reader was rather monotonous. I think the paperback would definitely have more impact.
What to expect: A technical look into the conversion of the ‘art’ of negotiation into a science. It introduces the reader to very basic negotiation primers and I remember the book reinforcing many simple concepts like BATNA, looking for a creative win-win solution etc.
Category: 3 – SHELF it (All Categories are 1 – Read ASAP!, 2 – BUY it!, 3 – SHELF it, 4 – SOMEDAY it)
Comments: This book is a fund read for to be entrepreneurs. For others, a good read as it does tend to broaden understanding about going into business alone, the pros and cons. (Add on Mar 16, 2016 – However, I think there have been better entrepreneurship books written since)
What to expect: An entrepreneur’s life story… I found the book to be more focussed on all the cons and struggles of being an entrepreneur but Barry J Moltz insists that it is the point – if, after hearing all his struggles and concerns, you still believe in your idea and believe entrepreneurship is your thing, then that’s great! An interesting approach at any rate. If you are going to invest in the audio book, you will feel the sincerity in the author’s voice when he talks about his work, and life..
Category: 3 – SHELF it (All Categories are 1 – Read ASAP!, 2 – BUY it!, 3 – SHELF it, 4 – SOMEDAY it)
Comments: A book that attempts to dumb the concept if ‘investment’ down and inculcate some very basic financial lessons. The best concept I took away from the book was the importance of ‘not working for money’.
What to expect: For all those who haven’t had basic financial education as kids, this book attempts to bring some very basic concepts to life and banish some commonly held myths about investing and financial management.
Category: 3 – SHELF it (All Categories are 1 – Read ASAP!, 2 – BUY it!, 3 – SHELF it, 4 – SOMEDAY it)
Comments: This was, in many ways, my first business book and I enjoyed reading it. Jack Welch as an energetic, all action approach to story telling and it does describe his way up the corporate ladder all the way to becoming one of the greatest CEO’s ever during 20 years at General Electric.
What to expect: An insight into Jack Welch’s personality. As a reader, you can feel the strength of his persona all through the book, especially when he talks about pet topics like differentiation, implementing six sigma, training GE leaders, empowering people etc. The book is very interesting for the most part though it does tend to drag in some parts when he begins describing some mergers and acquisitions in unnecessary detail.
Category: 3- SHELF it (All Categories are 1) Read ASAP! 2) BUY it! 3) SHELF it 4) SOMEDAY it)
Comments: Jeffrey J Fox’s style is throw in many ideas in concise small chapters and he does so in this book as well. It’s a quick and easy read with a lot of simple-to-apply marketing concepts laced with a few nice stories. Having said that, it is not a book that has had so much impact!
What to expect: Many byte-sized marketing learnings with quite a few being easy to apply. For eg: Always talk about how much a customer would lose rather than gain. Clear, concise and easy to get through book.
Do I recommend this book?: Shelf it.. until you feel you’d like to get down to designing a flyer or a brochure..
Marler's Observatory 