Kerman
Great book, required for anyone building something big and interconnected. Lots of lessons inside here that I found practical to take-away. End of this book got a little boring so had to kind of gloss over but the stories and anecdotes presented were very helpful!
Pretty terrible book. Basically this is a buzz-feed article written out in a book. Surface level and basically just a long list. Skimmed through it at most.
kind of boring
some good lessons but felt a bit too braggy? skipped through most of the book given how over the top it felt
Loved the first half of this book! The journey, values and twists and turns of entrepreneurship are always amazing to follow. Fun fact: the founder of Starbucks isn't Howard (the author), but rather an ex-employee who ended up buying Starbucks from his own coffee company!? Okay, so why the 3 stars for this one?
Well, the second half kind of sucks. It's basically around how amazing Starbucks is etc etc without being real of the challenges. Starbucks is in a huge fight against unions right now which doesn't make sense for someone who boasts about how employees are treated as “partners”. Maybe this is a reflection of the shadow company? Idk but TLDR you can stop reading this book once you get 50% of the way through.
Thinking about business in any other terms than defensibility is a fallacy. Even differentiation isn't a great framework. Doing things that are net positive for society that create win-win situations are the only way to win. Wherever a stakeholder loses or receives the shorter end of the stick will open a wedge for competition. Be a positive force for society, keep innovating and be the best at what you do to the point no one even comes remotely close.
A fantastic book that I'm going to be re-reading but also applying the concepts learned from it in my own life. My next task after reading this is to re-examine my life and ensure that I'm in unity with the four agreements outlined in this book.
Brilliant book that clearly shares insights into eastern philosophy. Also love Alan's laugh throughout the book!
Interesting primer but nothing that was earth-shattering. I liked the fact the book was short and didn't waste my time repeating stuff but also this could have really just been a longer Youtube video. Also not sure if it's because I've gone deep down the personal knowledge management rabbithole? That being said, give it a quick flick but kinda mid energy here. Tempted to give 2 stars but I'm feeling good today so 3 it is.
My fav read this year by-far. Some notes I made while reading:
- Humans and machines aka centeaurs are the ultimate combos that will be spawned and dominate the planet.
-AI is good at tactics and pattern recognition although humans excel at strategy.
- Savants and prodigies are just pattern matchers and things that break their patterns completely fuck them up.
- Understanding when you're pattern matching is critical. Things like chess, golf and tennis are easy to become exceptional because you have clear, fast feedback loops with binary outcomes.
- Things like business are far more complex and are called wicked domains because they can reinforce the wrong lessons.
- The essence of success is finding your own voice and being authentic at the highest levels.
- Designing an organisation requires careful principles that promote flexibility and paradoxes from top to down.
- Remove your ego and take a higher order view of whatever you're doing of maximal results.
This book provided great insight into a lot of what we call “success stories”. The internet was a slow but gradual journey that took place over the course over a few decades. It helps give a lot of perspective in relation to where we are in crypto.
Enjoyed the first 1/3 of this book which is what I read till but then kind of lost interest. The bit I did read I really enjoyed. Grand Strategies are stories and adventures that span a lifetime and seeing them in different contexts was very enjoyable.
Another great about systems and how they pertain to various faucets of human life. Understanding how systems scale, taper off and die helps think through large scale architecture choices.
Good to understand how eating is more psychological and habit induced rather than anything crazy scientific. Common sense coupled with discipline take you far. Read about 50% but then just skipped to the end for the tips and a summary for the remaining book.
Fix your food environment, manage your appetite, beware of food reward, sleep, exercise & manage stress.
Fantastic!
I've read many books on business but this is one of the best I've come across in recent times. Strategy is such a buzz-word that it's hard to define what good looks like. This book changes that.
If you're an executive or investor, this is a critical read.
Focus, systems and discipline are key themes of this book.
Fantastic!
If you're someone creating anything new in the world, this is the book you need to be reading! I wish I had discovered this earlier!
Pretty good concepts but could have been reduced to a blog post to be honest. The book has lots of redundant fluff and I found myself aggressively going through the entire book to find the key points that would have made the blog post.
That being said, the key insights I did get from this book were worth it and would recommend this to anyone who wants to learn how to use analytical software to get better at their craft. 3 stars given the fluff I had to wade through to get what I wanted.
Great read and helps you understand the foundations of modern banking. Highly recommend if you're into understanding money itself.
I really loved the first third of this book! Imagine starting a brand new country from scratch. You have no military, no government, no reasons for outside capital to come in, racial tensions with your neighbouring country and no financial hub.
You then somehow change all of that in 50 years and make Singapore into what you know it as today.
Absolutely fascinating.
I stopped reading past the first third since it got way too political and lost my interest. Doesn't discredit the book but rather just a reflection of my tastes and preferences. Also it has bias. I'd rather learn about these things from other viewpoints that the leader haha.
If you love systems thinking, this is your book.
Hands down the best books on learning how to build a proper sales organisation from the ground up. Can't recommend it enough!
Finally, a book where the author strikes the right balance between communicating new ideas and repetition. The general contents of this book are less important than the questions it forces you to ask yourself and the world you live in. The author has sense of humility that is well received and reminds you just how messy the world & people are overall.
Would recommend to anyone seeing this review.