Single Sentence Summaries – Page 18 – dr.Pep

David Maister – The trusted advisor

Trust = (Credibility + Reliability + Intimacy) / (Self orientation)

Much needed message in this age of voxpop: you need to earn the right to share your opinion.

Mark Hatch – The maker manifesto

Access to means of production is no longer constraint by capital, which empowers a whole new army of innovators.

En contagiously enthusiastic account of all you can do with laser cutters,milling machines, 3D printers, AutoCAD software, and the like – and how cheap it is.

Martin Ford – Rise of the Robots

In just a few decades most jobs will be automated and only a basic income guarantee for everyone can prevent social unrest.

Interesting thought experiment by an author who underestimates human ingenuity (I sincerely hope).

Stanley McChrystal – Team of teams

Without mutual understanding of different perspectives teams cannot be effective, because people you don’t trust are never truly on your team.

Background: the US couldn’t win the war in Iraq in 2003 because the compartmentalized army organization could not react adequately to changing circumstances and an agile enemy.

Antonio Garcia Martinez – Chaos monkeys

Former Goldman Sachs quant, in continuous pursuit of adrenaline rushes, launches startup later bought by Twitter, and becomes Facebook product manager.

Written with the contagious swagger of a cocky analytical thinker convinced that he is ahead of the game.

Brian Burke – Gamify

Triggering authentic engagement aligned to corporate goals is what will make points, badges, and leader boards work.

The book focuses on engagement, accomplishment, and competition as performance drivers; whereas ‘hard benefits’ such as shorter feedback loops and more targeted content get less attention.

Don Tapscott et. al. – Blockchain revolution

The technology behind Bitcoin will disrupt trust-based industries and interactions, from Banking to Voting

The writers’ enthusiasm seems at some points somewhat naive, considering the scope of vested interests in target markets.

Sean O’Neil and John Kulisek – Bare nuckle people management

To get the most out of your team, adjust your management style to each individual.

MBTI without the dogma that ‘there are no good or bad personality types’; of course there are – from the manager’s perspective.

SC Moatti – Mobilized

Mobile product should appeal to our sense of beauty (body rule), address our deepest needs (spirit rule), and improve with every interaction (mind rule).

It is hard to be truly ‘mobile first’.

P.W. Singer and Allan Friedman – Cybersecurity and Cyberwar

Best way to win a cyberwar or battle cybercrime is to reduce the ‘return on investment’ for your adversary – similar to battling a disease or old-fashioned piracy.

Refreshingly nuanced expose on a polarizing topic. Particularly useful if you happen to be a nation state.

Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler – Abundance

Exponentially growing advancements in technology will help us resolve major world problems

Contagiously optimistic view on the opportunities we have to shape our own future and that of humanity.

Thomas Piketty – Capital in the 21st century

Income from capital is a far more important determinant for wealth than income from labour – and therefore capital should be taxed more heavily.

The best part is the comparative historical analysis of sources of wealth in different countries, all the way back to the 1800s.

Robert Bryce – Smaller, faster, lighter, denser, cheaper

The immense efficiency gains of technological advancement will prevent an energy crisis; not alternative sources like solar or wind.

First and foremost, read the optimistic case studies on the evolution of technology, from the printing press to the vacuum tube.

Erin Meyer – The culture map

Be aware: cultures differ greatly in ways of (1) communicating, (2) evaluating, (3) persuading, (4) leading, (5) deciding, (6) trusting, (7) disagreeing, and (8) scheduling.

All too recognizable national archetypes dissected. Valuable guide to international collaboration.

Nassim Nicholas Thaleb – The black swan

Humans are notoriously bad at assessing risk in situations with low probability and high potential impact.

Essential reading for everyone who uses statistics on a regular basis, for policy making or otherwise.

Mathew Dixon et. al. – The Effortless experience

Don’t try to delight your customers, just make sure they don’t get annoyed; that is more cost effective.

A down-to-earth, data driven, perspective on customer service.

Shane Atchison – Does it Work?

Marketing should be treated as a data-driven, fact-based, result-oriented discipline; which it still is not.

Nassim Nicholas Thaleb – Antifragile

It is better to play the system than to play within the system.

Entertaining rant on shortsightedness in many guises, backed-up by a statistical world-view.

Paul Carroll and Chunka Mui – Billion dollar lessons

Major business failures from the past illustrate common pitfalls in business strategy such as overestimating synergies or faulty financial engineering.

Read it for the style more than the depth of insight: too few business books quote Shakespeare and Lord Tennyson.

Joshua Greene – Moral tribes

Ethics can be studied as an Empirical science and the evidence supports Utilitarianism.

Inventive and entertaining variations on the Trolley problem are used to identify what drives decision making on ethical dilemmas.