Jonathan Smart – Sooner Safer Happier
The book’s premise sounds so blatantly obvious that one wonders why (in many organizations) there is still an issue.
Kill Powerpoint, have to 2-pizza teams, and get your core values straight
Colin Brayer and Bill Carr – Working backwards
Somehow, there is no mention of pee bottles or other excesses concerning operational staff in the book.
To accurately ‘read people’ look for combinations of non-verbal tells
Joe Navarro – What every body is saying
The glossary of non-verbal signals and their meaning makes you aware of the limitations of Zoom, Teams, and Skype, espacially in COVID times.
When belief in progress has vanished, populists promise to rebuild the past – at all costs
Timothy Snyder – the road to unfreedom
Elaborate and fascinating analysis of Putin’s Russia, which bears striking parallels to what happens in Western countries, more recently.
Increasing inequality and lack of immigration are the two big crises facing the US
the set-up in which interesting historical facts serve to make a political argument makes the author prone to the narrative fallacy.
Even at tech companies where intentions are good, women fight an uphill battle
The book fits neatly in the trend to call out gender inequality, but unfortunately it has limited practical solutions to offer.
Arguing by analogy, one has to conclude that animals have emotions
Frans de Waal – Mama’s last hug
Especially interesting are the behavioral experiments, reminiscent of the line of argument in Moral Tribes
Forget about stopping climate change, but don´t let that stop you fighting it
David Wallace-Wells – The uninhabitable earth
The book clearly illustrates that climate change is the prisoner’s dilemma ‘par excellence’
Attract the right team, set a market-driven strategy, prioritize wisely in execution and… don’t run out of cash
Densely written ‘how-to guide’ for executives who want to build a sustainable growth company.
Anticipate change in products, processes and requirements; and organize for that
Despite the unavoidable buzzwords that come with the genre, Lean and Agile are actually sane and useful management principles.
Internet billionaire brings down internet media outlet through overt legal action
Peter Thiel’s war on Gawker Media shows that money is a decisive factor in the US legal system.
Every visonary entrepreneur needs an integrator to assure his/her ideas materialize
By far the more readable book on org structure that I have come across.
Nowadays almost everyone is in Sales, but that does not mean what it used to mean
Daniel Pink – To sell is human
A charming plea for a compassionate approach to influencing.
Everytime you win an NBA championship is different
A surprisingly ‘zen’ view on creating a high performing team.
Take full responsibility, keep it simple, ensure the team believes in the mission, and act decisively
Extreme ownership – Leif Babin and Jocko Willink
A no-nonsense approach to leadership, accompanied by an overdose of war stories.
Jesus of Nazareth was ‘just another sect leader crucified for high treason against Rome’ (which is down-played in the gospels to make Christianity more socially acceptable)
Convincing and elegantly developed argument, building on limited historical evidence and close reading of biblical texts in historical context.
Build safety, share vulnerability, and establish purpose
Daniel Coyle – The culture code
Rich collection of cases that jointly convey an important message – even if the individual annecdotes may be somewhat over the top.
Adam Grant – Give and take
In order to be successful, ‘givers’ have to be smart about how they direct their giving.
Remarkable how social environment and incentives can shape giving/taking behavior of individuals.
Ben Horowitz – The hard thing about hard things
Comfortingly desillusional perspective on entrepreneurship, with reassuring insights like: “No one cares.”