Category: 3. SHELF it

3. SHELF it · Bio/Autobiographies · Book Review Actions · Book Reviews · Entrepreneurship · History · Technology

BR 167: The Innovators by Walter Isaacson

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Comments: If you have any interest in technology whatsoever, this book is a must read. Awesome awesome 140 odd year journey starting from when Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace conceptualized the modern computer.

Top 3 Learnings:

1. History favors writing about the individual but great innovations were always made by teams that worked incredibly well with each other.. and almost always built upon the good work done by many others.

2. A collection technology change makers have been at the intersection of the arts and sciences (e.g. Steve Jobs). The big learning here is that diversity of skills, interests, etc., are really productive. The greatest tech innovations have come about when diverse minds came together.

3. Artificial intelligence has always been two decades away.. (;-))

Book notes here

3. SHELF it · Book Review Actions · Book Reviews · Business · Career · Skills

BR 165: Case in Point by Marc Cosentino

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Comments and Learning: 

Top book if you are preparing for case interviews – I had case interviews in a couple of roles I interviewed for in my technology internship quest in the 1st year of my MBA – this book was very useful.

No learning blogged aside from – solve as many cases as possible and develop an approach that’ll help you tackle case interviews. :)

3. SHELF it · Book Review Actions · Book Reviews · Business · Career · Skills

BR 164: Case Interview Secrets by Victor Cheng

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Comments and Learning: 

Top book if you are preparing for case interviews – I had case interviews in a couple of roles I interviewed for in my internship quest in the 1st year of my MBA – this book was very useful.

My favorite learning from the book was the importance of taking the first 2 minutes in a case and developing an approach/structure for the problem. If you structure a problem wrong or just don’t, there are few ways back in a case.

No learning blogged aside from – solve as many cases as possible and develop an approach that’ll help you tackle case interviews. :)

3. SHELF it · Book Review Actions · Book Reviews · Career · Skills · Technology

BR 162: Cracking the PM interview by Gayle Laakmann, Jackie Bavaro

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Comments and Learning: 

1. Top book if you are preparing for Product Management interviews in technology – this book was very helpful in my internship recruiting quest in the first year of my MBA

2. Book learnings here

3. SHELF it · Book Review Actions · Book Reviews · Creativity · Psychology · Technology

BR 161: The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman

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Comments and Learning:
1. This is a very important book – designers all over have probably read this book. I think of it as a must read if you are interested in anything to do with design. I read this as I was thinking of product design.

2. If a user keeps making an error when using your product, the problem is with your product.

3. Learnings here

3. SHELF it · Book Review Actions · Book Reviews · Skills

BR 158: Decide To Play Great Poker by Annie Duke

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Comments: A really good poker book. I was introduced to poker by a wiser friend and got very interested in the game as a way of thinking about decision making. As a result, I zoomed through some of the detailed case-situations. My goal was to understand the key principles that a beginner should know. I definitely got that from the book.

Top 3 Learnings:

1. Poker is about 2 things – decisions and information. The information you collect feeds into your decision making. In the long run, the better the decisions, the better you will do at poker.

2. The best way to avoid making mistakes in contentious situations is to avoid getting to them altogether. You do that by making decisions easy for yourself. So, at every moment, think of second and third-order consequences -e.g., if I choose to play this hand, will it make my future decisions earlier? If not, fold.

3. Understand WHY you make every decision. Great players fold 80% of the time but, when they decide to play, they play decisively. Really understand why you’re making a decision

(No wonder every life situation has an equivalent poker analogy)

Book notes here.

3. SHELF it · Bio/Autobiographies · Book Review Actions · Book Reviews · Leadership

BR 157: Mandela’s Way by Richard Stengel

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Comments: A nice read on Nelson Mandela’s life. I took away a few nice stories and the quote – “courage is not the absence of fear but the realization that there are things more important than fear.” Mandela really lived that quote.

I was hoping for more depth, however..

Top 3 Learnings: 

1. Mandela really had to change with the times. He was a revolutionary of sorts at first and, as he grew, he became the peacemaker. His 26 years in prison were fundamental to that change..

2. He repeatedly demonstrates the power of choice. He even alienated those who supported him by adopting a peaceful political stance following his release (which was negotiated in fairly contentious circumstances). He chose not to lead with anger.. and what a great choice that turned out to be.

3. Mandela always was a charismatic change maker. He had his way even in prison – that leadership streak never left him. As he matured, he just chose to channel it differently. Once he’d made that decision, however, he put in extraordinary effort to make it happen. For example, he learnt Afrikaans to understand his then-enemy and made friends with the guards. In doing so, he expanded his capacity to understand people differently. He no longer saw his captors as the enemy. Instead, he realized they were men just like him and understood where they came from. He went on to embrace their sport – Rugby – and used the world cup to unite the country in 1995 (Cue: The movie Invictus).

Book notes here.

3. SHELF it · Book Review Actions · Self Improvement

BR 156: How to Become a Straight A Student by Cal Newport

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Comments: I enjoyed reading this book. It had been a while since I had actually thought about academics and I love Cal Newport’s writing. If you’re going to school and if you’re generally geeky, I’d definitely recommend it. 1 line summary of the book is – be organized and disciplined. :-)

Of course, the principles don’t just apply to school.

Top 3 Learnings:

1. Make sure your schedule is very well organized. Block out times for future assignments and study in advance.

2. Compile your own summary of all lectures as a pre-exam study guide

3. Take control of your own calendar. Schedule meeting such that they don’t interfere with your productive time.

Book notes here.

3. SHELF it · Book Review Actions · Book Reviews · Career

BR 155: Case Studies and Cocktails by Carrie Shuchart and Chris Ryan

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Comments: Useful collection of pre-MBA resources. Sets expectations around the many priorities you will have to juggle while at school.

Looking back at the book now, I feel the priority and planning for MBA life section could be done much better. But, it was a good pre-school read.

Top Learning: Expect to be overwhelmed by multiple priorities like career, academics, extra-curricular, social commitments, etc.

Add on Mar 16, 2016: I have since blogged about the MBA experience in great detail.