Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony, and Cass Sunstein – Noise
Overly simplified presentation of basic statistics that cuts some corners, as superbly pointed out by Andrew Gelman.
To make the fashion industry sustainable (from both environmental and social perspective) consumers need to care and get engaged
Maxine Bedat does for fashion what the Michael Pollen did for food, but with a much more solid program behind it.
From the start, WeWork’s business model was eerily similar to that of Regus while Adam Neumann’s main skill was conning investors
Eloit Brown and Maureen Farrell – The cult of We
The book is too overtly written with the benefit of hindsight, which makes the cautionary tale less compelling.
A start-up in retail should resolve significant friction in the value chain and/or the consumers’ lives
Christiane Lemieux and Duff McDonald – Frictionless
Story on repeat: X had a frustration, X is so privileged that she can raise at least a couple of $100k from friends and family, and X starts an amazing company to solve the problem – at least in theory – for herself and the rest of the world.
A good archeologist makes Sherlock Holmes’ deductions look rather elementary
The best feature of the book is that the author explains how archeologists infer facts about life 2000 years ago.
China’s debt-fueled economic growth cannot continue in the same way
Dinny McMahon – China’s great wall of debt
October 2021: Apparently, the financial troubles of Evergrande are the first cracks in the wall.
July 2019: Interesting perspective on China’s impressive rise over the past years, providing more context to the recent trade war with the US and contrasting the view of Kai-Fu Lee.
Apparently, the success factors that made Jack Ma are his command of the English language, his showmanship
After a reasonably insightful chapter describing Alibaba’s strategy, the book slides into an enumeration of facts that illustrate the way in which China’s government steers private enterprise.
Do not start a restaurant, unless there is nothing else you can do
Entertaining and endearing, despite the writers (sometimes painful) personality flaws
Psychologically, the Greek gods can be characterized as tantrum-prone children with a sex drive
Carefully crafted and highly entertaining.
AI increasingly constrains the domain of human creativity, similar to how science has constrained Faith
Marcus de Sautoy – The creativity code
Surprisingly up-beat considering its message and packed with nice examples.
Like in other instances of decolonization, forming the USA has been a murky affair largely dependent on chance
Colin Woodard – American nations
The book is more about political realities than about cultures, with little attention given to the role of black people (apart from them being enslaved).
A bunch of anarchists and misfits was able to defy the most powerful nations of the world for a surprisingly long time
Colin Woodart – The republic of pirates
Captivating narrative which juicy details on naval warfare practices and life on board.
Cyber warfare is getting increasingly sophisticated and the USA can no longer contain the threat of Russia and other foreign powers
At some points the investigative journalism is not fully convincing, but it conveys the message effectively.
Be curious, try stuff, reframe problems, know the process, and ask for help
Bill Burnett and Dave Evans – Designing your life
Five not terribly original self-realization tools, creatively reframed in designer language.
It is the responsibility of white people to end discrimination and assure racial equality
Layla Saad – Me and white supremacy
The “just shut up and listen”-attitude is refreshing, but will not convince anyone who is not already on the reader’s side and even antagonize many potential supporters of her cause.
Corporate executives don’t have a clue about what customers and employees experience
Martin Lindstrom – The ministry of common sense
This marketing guy can’t stop whining about his 1st world problems (and when pushed by his editor to deliver another bestseller decided to to make it into a book, together with his ghost writer).
Fishermen tend to kill the thing they love
Everything you always wanted to know about the economic, cultural, historical, and culinary significance of cod.
There is an important distinction between being Agile and having agility
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.
“Art is just a container you poor yourself into”
Jerry Saltz – How to be an artist
What is good advice for life is typically also good advice for art, and vice versa.