Category: Novel Concepts and Interesting Research

1. Read ASAP! · Book Review Actions · Book Reviews · Business · Management · Novel Concepts and Interesting Research · Self Improvement

BR 85: First, Break All The Rules by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman

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Category: 1 – Read ASAP! (All Categories are 1 – Read ASAP!, 2 – BUY it!, 3 – SHELF it, 4 – SOMEDAY it)

Comments: Thorough and well researched piece of work. This books beautifully synthesizes 25 years of research into what it takes to be a ‘Great Manager’ and puts it in front of our eyes.

Top 3 Learnings:

1. The Greatest managers focus squarely on strengths

2. We gravely misunderstand the importance of ‘talent’. Conventional management tells us anything is possible and that if we set our mind to it, we can do whatever we want. Great managers understand that an attribute such as ‘calm under pressure’ is a talent and no amount of training can help hone it in people who don’t have that talent.

This ties right back to the 1st point. The simple idea is that we all have our own specific sweet spots – we need to find them and hone them!

3. Great managers build very close personal relationships with their top performers. How else can you get under their skin and push them? :)

And one last learning (this was a great book!), do check out the 12 questions.

2. BUY it! · Book Review Actions · Book Reviews · Management · Novel Concepts and Interesting Research · Psychology

BR 76: Drive by Daniel H Pink

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Comments: Dan Pink shares a new wave to look at ‘drive’ and ‘motivation’. In essence, he begins the book by illustrating old ideas behind motivating people (eg: throw money at them) and then proceeds to discuss the theory behind motivation 2.0 i.e. that people are motivated by a) autonomy b) mastery and c) purpose..

This book is well summarized in this popular video by RSA Animate.

Add on Mar 16 2016: What I love about Dan Pink is that he takes a complex topic like “Drive” and motivating people and boils it down to 3 things – autonomy, mastery and purpose. This is incredibly hard to do and he does it really well.

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BR 66: Freakonomics by Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner

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Comments: A fun read. Very nice for pure entertainment. Levitt is the genius behind aggregating numbers and analyzing them so they make sense while Dubner is the guy who put it all together in a book. They make for  a good combination. Good for discussion purposes, not very high on the learning scale. In the book, Levitt and Dubner analyze numbers to draw very interesting conclusions about the real reasons behind the dramatic decline in crime in New York city, how cheating is rampant in sumo wrestling, in Chicago schools, why the mafia is not great for income etc.

2. BUY it! · Book Review Actions · Book Reviews · History · Novel Concepts and Interesting Research

BR 65: Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

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Comments: Very interesting book – this is Jared Diamond’s reasoning and analysis on why the world is the way it is.

I did feel the ending was abrupt for some reason. The book had me asking for/wanting more!

2. BUY it! · Book Review Actions · Book Reviews · Novel Concepts and Interesting Research · Psychology

BR 50: The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

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Comments: A typical Malcolm Gladwell book – a mish mash of well presented facts that lead to a whole number of well organized conclusions – laced with engaging stories that makes the book just a very good read.

What to expect: Bits of research that success comes from a combination of factors – luck, background and the presence of an opportunity to work very very hard (read 10,000 hours).  There were lots of memorable stories – like those of Gates, Jobs as well as a whole host of interesting insights like the connection between the success of sports people and their birth months as well as the investigation of the reasons behind frequent ‘Korean Air’ plane crashes . The book presents many little nuggets to remember.

Add on Mar 16, 2016: I realized over the years that there was one large flaw in the 10,000 hour rule. It isn’t just about the hours. It is about “deliberate practice” during the hours. As I learnt about the original research by Anders Ericsson, I think I felt Outliers over sold it a bit. Still a really good read and likely his most popular work.

1. Read ASAP! · Book Review Actions · Book Reviews · Novel Concepts and Interesting Research · Philosophy · Self Improvement

BR 47: The 7 Habits of highly effective people by Stephen R Covey

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Comments: The 7 Habits is the best book I’ve read – judging by its impact on my life. It’s not a book to be ‘read’ – it’s a book to be ‘studied’. I liken it to a manual that gives you a new way of thinking about life. And your approach can make all the difference in the world. You can look at it as a book wherein you expect to find a cool concept or two to apply, and that’s what you’ll find. You can look at it as a book you’re reading JUST because a few others recommended it and expect to find nothing amazing, and hey, guess what – that’s what you’ll find.

Or you can read it expecting it to give you ideas that will change your life, and that’s exactly what you will find.

In this book, I found many a framework which has helped me think about life. The guiding framework of moving from being a kid -> being a “teenager” of sorts (independence) -> being an adult (interdependence) was powerful. Lots of very meaningful stories and tons and tons of wisdom.

These are 3 things that changed within me post reading the book –

1) Got me started on changing my mentality to one that believed in abundance and hence, gradually took me away from the ‘envy’ path to the ‘happiness’ one.
2) Got me to write my own set of principles to live life by and follow them.
3) Got me to start ‘responding’ to every situation rather than ‘reacting’ to it by drilling in the concept that I had full control over my response to any problem.

And lots more – but these are probably the 3 biggest areas of impact. Give the book a chance and I’m sure you’ll never regret it!

Add on Mar 16, 2016: Many years since I studied this book, all of what I’ve written here still holds true. An incredible book.

3. SHELF it · Book Review Actions · Book Reviews · Creativity · Novel Concepts and Interesting Research · Psychology

BR 43: The Power of Creative Intelligence by Tony Buzan

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Comments: I enjoyed reading the book – short, easy to get through and high on impact. It convinced me that I was a creative genius and hidden (deep) inside was a great artist, musician, poet and the like. :-) Most importantly, inspired me to try a hand at poetry for a while and encouraged me to take a few ‘creative’ shots! In this book, Tony Buzan attempts (rather successfully in my view) to convince us that we are all brimming with creativity and ideas that only got stamped out of us because of some unfortunate incident as a child. The book tries to bring out that creativity and encourages us to practice it regularly.

It was a fun read.

2. BUY it! · Book Review Actions · Book Reviews · Management · Novel Concepts and Interesting Research · Psychology

BR 39: Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath

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Comments: Great book. In many ways, it felt like a continuation of ‘The Tipping Point’ by Malcolm Gladwell but is a fantastic stand alone as well. It is exceptional as it brings about a framework for ideas that stick that is not too hard to apply in our own lives if we are disciplined enough.

What to expect: Lots of examples and proof that the ‘SUCCES’ principle is what makes great ideas stick. Great ideas are  S(imple), U(nexpected), C(oncrete), C(redible), E(motional) and are packaged in a S(tory).

3. SHELF it · Bio/Autobiographies · Book Review Actions · Book Reviews · History · Novel Concepts and Interesting Research

BR 33: Great inventors and their inventions by David Angus

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Comments: I think it’s a book to read just to broaden horizons and understand how some of the things we tend to take for granted first came into being. It has lots of short bios of many great inventors like Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Alva Edison, The Wright brothers etc and takes us through their struggles as inventors and their eventual success.

Interesting read. There are better biographies out there though.