Tag Archives: book

Beyond the Board: The Mental Game of Trading Mastery

In the intricate world of trading, the journey of a trader is often punctuated with losses, mistakes, and the occasional relinquishment of profits. This reality, far from being a deterrent, serves as a crucible for the development of exceptional trading acumen. The hallmark of great traders is not their infallibility but their profound understanding of risk and their adeptness at navigating it. This concept is central to the exploration in “Mastering the Mental Game of Trading,” a book that delves into the essence of risk-taking in the trading arena.

Research and anecdotal evidence alike underscore the frequent financial setbacks even the most successful traders face. A study published in the “Journal of Financial Markets” highlights the volatility of trading success, noting that a significant portion of traders experience substantial losses at various points in their careers. Yet, it’s their resilience and capacity to manage risk that sets great traders apart. They recognize that trading is fundamentally a game of risk, and mastering it requires not just skill but also an exceptional psychological fortitude.

However, the relationship between risk and reward is complex and inherently fraught with the possibility of failure. In the narratives of financial markets, there are countless tales of eminent risk-takers who, despite their expertise, encountered failure. These stories, which are discussed in “Mastering the Mental Game of Trading,” serve as poignant reminders of the precarious balance between risk and reward. They illustrate that even the most calculated risks can lead to unforeseen outcomes, highlighting the unpredictable nature of trading.

The unequivocal truth that emerges from these reflections is that risk-taking is indispensable to trading success. This notion is reinforced by psychological research, such as a study in the “Psychological Review,” which suggests that the willingness to engage with risk is a critical determinant of success in decision-making under uncertainty. The study posits that risk-taking is not merely a strategic choice but a psychological imperative for achieving significant outcomes.

“Mastering the Mental Game of Trading” ventures beyond the conventional discourse on strategies and techniques, inviting readers to embark on a profound introspective journey regarding their relationship with risk. The book does not purport to offer definitive answers or foolproof solutions. Instead, it aims to provoke deep reflection on the reader’s inherent risk-taking propensities and challenges them to contemplate how they can enhance their capacity to manage risk effectively.

By fostering a deeper understanding of one’s psychological predispositions towards risk, the book endeavors to equip traders with the insights necessary to refine their risk-taking strategies. It encourages traders to consider how their attitudes towards risk impact their trading decisions and overall success. Through a combination of theoretical exploration and practical insights drawn from the experiences of seasoned traders, “Mastering the Mental Game of Trading” aspires to guide readers towards becoming more adept and sophisticated risk-takers.

In essence, the journey to trading excellence is inextricably linked to one’s ability to engage with risk thoughtfully and strategically. It is a path that demands not only technical proficiency but also a robust psychological resilience and a willingness to confront and learn from failures. “Mastering the Mental Game of Trading” offers a gateway to understanding this complex interplay between mind, market, and risk, providing readers with a framework to enhance their risk-taking capabilities and, ultimately, their trading prowess.

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  • 53
    This compendium of wisdom emphasizes respect, integrity, self-improvement, and happiness, drawn from literature on human behavior and growth. Advocating respectful interactions, trustworthy conduct, and acts of generosity, it also highlights the importance of passion, goal-setting, nurturing relationships, mindful self-care, social etiquette, and lifelong learning. Ultimately, it invites us to live…
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Harmony and Growth: Embracing Life’s Complexity

Embarking on the journey of life, we often seek guiding principles that can serve as beacons, illuminating our path through its complexities and challenges. Here is a compendium of wisdom distilled from various sources, encapsulating lessons that advocate for respect, integrity, self-improvement, and the pursuit of happiness. These rules, while seemingly simple, are underpinned by profound truths about human behavior, relationships, and personal growth.

The Essence of Respect and Integrity

  1. Respect in Interactions: The act of standing up to shake hands, as mentioned in Dale Carnegie’s timeless classic, “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” symbolizes respect and attentiveness towards others, setting the tone for meaningful interactions (Carnegie, 1936).
  2. Trust and Secrecy: Keeping secrets entrusted to you underscores the importance of trustworthiness, a virtue echoed in Stephen M.R. Covey’s “The Speed of Trust,” where trust is depicted as the cornerstone of all relationships (Covey, 2006).
  3. Responsible Borrowing: Returning a borrowed car with a full tank reflects on “The Paradox of Generosity” by Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson, illustrating how small acts of generosity can enrich our lives (Smith & Davidson, 2014).

Pursuit of Passion and Personal Growth

  1. Living Passionately: As Angela Duckworth elaborates in “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance,” engaging in activities with passion is pivotal to achieving long-term goals and personal fulfillment (Duckworth, 2016).
  2. Setting and Achieving Goals: The practice of writing down goals aligns with research in goal-setting theory by Locke and Latham, demonstrating that specific and challenging goals enhance performance (Locke & Latham, 2002).

Nurturing Relationships and Self-Care

  1. Family and Relationships: The admonition to call and visit relatives resonates with the findings in “The Blue Zones” by Dan Buettner, where strong family connections are linked to longer, happier lives (Buettner, 2012).
  2. Self-Reflection and Care: The advice to tend to one’s bed, care for a plant, and cherish moments of solitude are practices rooted in mindfulness, a concept explored in Jon Kabat-Zinn’s “Wherever You Go, There You Are,” highlighting the importance of mindfulness in daily life for mental well-being (Kabat-Zinn, 1994).

Social Conduct and Lifelong Learning

  1. Social Etiquette: The rules about dining etiquette and not speaking with a full mouth draw on the principles of social intelligence, as discussed by Daniel Goleman in “Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships,” emphasizing the importance of being aware and considerate of others in social settings (Goleman, 2006).
  2. Continuous Learning: The encouragement to never stop learning and to seek personal success without surrender is supported by Carol S. Dweck’s work in “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success,” where she posits that embracing a growth mindset is key to overcoming challenges and achieving success (Dweck, 2006).

The Journey Towards a Fulfilling Life

  1. Embracing Life’s Journey: The call to live life fully, recognizing efforts, and enjoying solitude are reflections on the philosophy presented in “The Art of Happiness” by Dalai Lama and Howard Cutler, where the pursuit of happiness is described as the ultimate purpose of life, achievable through understanding and practice (Dalai Lama & Cutler, 1998).

These golden rules serve not merely as directives but as invitations to introspection and action. They encourage us to cultivate respect, pursue our passions, nurture our relationships, engage in lifelong learning, and embrace the myriad experiences life offers. By integrating these principles into our daily lives, we embark on a path towards a more meaningful, fulfilling existence, guided by the collective wisdom of ages and the insights of thought leaders across disciplines.

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Books and Bookstores: A Tale of Civilization, Culture, and Community

The history of books and bookstores is as rich and diverse as the myriad of stories and ideas they contain. From ancient times, when the written word was first etched onto clay tablets, papyrus, and parchment, to the modern era of digital books and online retailers, the journey of books and bookstores through the ages is a fascinating tale of human endeavor, intellectual progress, and cultural evolution.

The Ancient Origins

The story of books begins in the ancient world, where civilizations like the Sumerians, Egyptians, and later the Greeks and Romans, developed writing systems to record laws, religious texts, and literature. The earliest forms of books were clay tablets in Mesopotamia and scrolls made from papyrus in Egypt. These ancient texts required laborious efforts to create and were highly valued.

The Birth of the Codex and the Rise of Libraries

The codex, the precursor to the modern book, emerged in the Roman Empire. Made of parchment or vellum, these were the first instances of books as we recognize them today, with bound pages. This period also saw the establishment of libraries, such as the Library of Alexandria, which sought to gather all human knowledge under one roof. However, books were still painstakingly copied by hand, making them rare and expensive commodities.

The Middle Ages and the Monastic Scriptoria

During the Middle Ages, the production of books became the domain of monasteries. Monks worked in scriptoria to copy and illuminate manuscripts, preserving religious texts, classical works, and new scholarly writings. This era saw the rise of universities, which further fueled the demand for books and led to the emergence of stationary shops, the precursors to modern bookstores, where scholars could purchase texts.

The Gutenberg Revolution

The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century was a pivotal moment in the history of books. The Gutenberg Bible, printed around 1455, demonstrated the power of movable type. This innovation drastically reduced the cost of book production, making books more accessible to a broader segment of society and leading to a significant increase in literacy rates. It also laid the groundwork for the emergence of bookstores as we know them today.

The Flourishing of Bookstores

By the 17th and 18th centuries, bookstores had become common in Europe. They were not only places to buy books but also hubs of intellectual and social activity. Famous bookstores like Shakespeare and Company in Paris, founded in the 20th century, became meeting places for writers, artists, and thinkers. The 19th and 20th centuries saw the expansion of the publishing industry and the proliferation of bookstores around the world, catering to an ever-growing audience of readers.

The Modern Era and the Digital Age

The late 20th and early 21st centuries have witnessed the evolution of bookstores in the face of digital technology. The rise of the internet and e-books has transformed how people access and read books. Online retailers like Amazon have changed the retail landscape, while traditional bookstores have adapted by creating spaces for community events, readings, and cafes, emphasizing the experiential aspect of book shopping.

Despite these changes, the essence of bookstores as sanctuaries of knowledge, culture, and community remains unchanged. They continue to be places where ideas are shared and discovered, where stories come to life, and where the intellectual and creative spirit of humanity is celebrated.

The history of books and bookstores is a testament to the enduring power of the written word. It reflects our constant desire for knowledge, our creative spirit, and our need to connect with others through stories and ideas. As society evolves, so too will the ways in which we produce, distribute, and consume books, but their significance as carriers of culture, knowledge, and imagination will undoubtedly endure.

The importance of books in acquiring knowledge has been a subject of study and recognition for centuries. Books are not just vessels of stories and ideas; they are the backbone of learning, the foundation of civilizations, and the catalysts for intellectual progress and personal growth. Through books, knowledge is preserved, shared, and expanded, bridging cultures, epochs, and perspectives. This essay explores the multifaceted role of books in knowledge acquisition, supported by studies and theoretical insights.

Historical Perspective

Historically, books have been at the forefront of educational systems, serving as primary sources of knowledge across various subjects. From the ancient libraries of Alexandria and Nineveh to the modern digital libraries, books have been instrumental in preserving human knowledge and culture. The invention of the printing press in the 15th century by Johannes Gutenberg revolutionized the dissemination of knowledge, making books more accessible and affordable, which, in turn, played a crucial role in the spread of literacy and education.

Cognitive Development

Studies in cognitive psychology and education have shown that reading books significantly impacts cognitive development, including memory, concentration, and critical thinking skills. According to a study published in the journal “Science” (2013), reading literary fiction improves theory of mind, the ability to understand others’ mental states, which is a key skill in developing empathy and social reasoning. This suggests that the benefits of reading extend beyond acquiring factual knowledge, influencing cognitive and emotional intelligence.

Knowledge Acquisition and Retention

Books offer a deep, immersive experience that other media cannot replicate. Reading allows for reflection, analysis, and synthesis of information, facilitating a deeper understanding and retention of knowledge. A study by the Association for Psychological Science (2012) found that reading comprehension and recall are higher when reading from paper compared to screens, highlighting the enduring value of printed books in learning environments.

The Role in Academic Success

The correlation between book reading and academic success has been extensively documented. A report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that students who are avid readers perform better academically across all subjects, including mathematics and science. Books expose students to a wider vocabulary, complex sentence structures, and diverse ideas, enriching their academic skills and intellectual horizons.

Accessibility and the Digital Age

The advent of digital books and online resources has transformed access to knowledge, democratizing information like never before. E-books and online libraries make it possible for individuals from all walks of life to access vast repositories of knowledge without the constraints of physical space or resources. This digital shift, while changing the traditional book landscape, underscores the enduring importance of books in knowledge acquisition, adapting to meet the needs of contemporary learners.

Conclusion

The role of books in acquiring knowledge is both timeless and evolving. Whether in print or digital form, books remain fundamental to learning, offering depth, reflection, and a unique engagement with ideas. Studies across cognitive science, education, and sociology continue to affirm the critical role of books in cognitive development, academic success, and lifelong learning. As we navigate the complexities of the modern world, the intrinsic value of books in fostering informed, thoughtful, and empathetic individuals cannot be overstated. In the words of philosopher Francis Bacon, “Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man.” Books, in their myriad forms, continue to be the cornerstone of personal and intellectual development, embodying the collective wisdom, imagination, and curiosity of humanity.

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What do the Best VCs and Entrepreneurs in the World Like to Read?

Data from guest interviews on The Twenty Minute VC Podcast by Harry Stebbings

 

Check it here : https://public.tableau.com/shared/2K4GRTGZT?:showVizHome=no

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Books on MBA’s Required Reading List

The written word—be it in the form of a paperback, a hardbound book or E-book—can leave a lasting imprint on a person’s development.

If you’re looking to better yourself as a professional, needing some business inspiration, or just want to dive into a good read during your commute to work—have a look at our top picks for 2016’s must-read business books, and enjoy the personal development.

To help you narrow down your search for the best business books out there, we combed through a plethora of online syllabi from Harvard Business School. Much to my surprise, most of the books centered around leadership rather than economics, marketing, or general business best practices. It really does take a fearless leader to build a truly remarkable organization.

 

There’s no shortage of books for entrepreneurs. How to make something from nothing, how to motivate your team, unleash your inner leader, blah, blah, blah. When you’re embarking on a new venture, why not find out what books some of the world’s most innovative and successful people found inspiring on their journey. Let’s take a peek at what’s on their night stands.

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin

Famous reader: Elon Musk. The Tesla Motors and SpaceX founder, PayPal co-founder and Internet tycoon looks to one of America’s founding fathers for good business sense.

Inventor, business owner, diplomat, writer, and revolutionary – Benjamin Franklin did it all, and then he wrote about it. In his autobiography, he shares amazing ideas about organization, talking to people, generating trust and building an audience.

Who better to learn about organization than from a man who helped America organize before and during the Revolutionary War, founded the Post Office and invented dozens of gadgets we still use today? Ben was truly ahead of his time.

 

Life by Keith Richards

Famous reader: John Gerzema. New York Times Best Selling author, social strategist and leadership consultant learned a lot about getting by in business from rock legend Keith Richards, including tapping into creativity and perseverance.

Imagine Keith Richards speaking at your corporate retreat. Well, if you filter out the drugs, groupies and trashed hotel rooms, Richard’s autobiography, Life, has some very valuable business lessons—from dealing with longstanding partner conflict (e.g. Mick Jagger), how to create the right conditions for creativity (recording Exile on Main Street the basement of his house rather than a studio) and how to innovate around an existing product (Keith discovered open G tuning using only 5 strings, which gives the Stones their unique sound).

True, the book has more discussion about roadies than revenue forecasting, but it’s a remarkable story of endurance in the pursuit of creativity, which isn’t easy in any business.

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

Famous reader: Evan Williams. Co-founder of two of the internet’s top ten websites, Twitter and Odeo, picks up the second, lesser-know book by Ayn Rand is a true testimony to tenancity.

Ayn Rand is better known for her impressive tome, Atlas Shrugged, but readers may find this shorter novel to be an easier introduction into the author’s controversial blend of individualism and capitalism.

This story of Howard Roark the architect and his battle against the conformist powers of society could be seen as autobiographical. In the same way that Roark struggles against rejection to maintain his individual outlook on architecture, Rand struggled to publish the book after no less than 12 publisher rejections. In 2010, Business Insider added it to their top 15 reading list for entrepreneurs.

The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership by Bill Walsh

Famous reader: Jack Dorsey. The CEO of Twitter and Square, looks to football legend Bill Walsh for inspiration.

Bill Walsh is a towering figure in the history of the NFL. His advanced leadership transformed the San Francisco 49ers from the worst franchise in sports to a legendary dynasty. In the process, he changed the way football is played.

Prior to his death, Walsh granted a series of exclusive interviews to bestselling author Steve Jamison. These became his ultimate lecture on leadership. Additional insights and perspective are provided by Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana and others.

Bill Walsh taught that the requirements of successful leadership are the same whether you run an NFL franchise, a fortune 500 company, or a hardware store with 12 employees. These final words of ‘wisdom by Walsh’ will inspire, inform, and enlighten leaders in all professions.

I Love You More Than My Dog by Jeanne Bliss

Famous reader: Tony Hsieh. The Zappos CEO and founder recommends this book as one of his favorites.

Since the book‘s forward was written by former Southwest Airlines President Colleen Barrett, it’s not surprising that the focus centers around customer service without excluding either money or fun.

Company examples include AAA, Costco, and Symantec, former author workplaces. The first chapter begins with a Connecticut store that allows test rides on its $6,000 bikes, and the last chapter ends with a Netflix apology. The book’s placement on 800CeoRead may have to do with the message of rallying a tribe of impassioned and influential fans, or it may be due to Harley-Davidson and Zappos examples of outstanding customer centricity and loyalty. Either way, it’s readable and thought-provoking.

 

The Pumpkin Plan: A Simple Strategy to Grow a Remarkable Business in Any Field by Mike Michalowicz

Famous reader: Guy Kawasaki. Apple evangelist and social media legend recommends this book that celebrates ordinary people building extraordianary businesses.

Michalowicz, also known for his other best-seller The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, approaches business with the eye of a pumpkin farmer in The Pumpkin Plan. To get beyond the ‘sell it – do it’ cycle of frustration, entrepreneurs can move beyond long pointless hours with a few methods: plant, weed, nurture.

Focusing on the good pumpkins, and casting out the bad, allows business owners to harness the true strength of their business: the best customers. Pass over quantity for quality, and find the business’s sweet spot.

Wishcraft by Barbara Sher with Annie Gottlieb

Famous reader: Jen Smith of Millionaire Mommy Next Door cites this book as life changing in her pursuit of success.

Jen Smith first read this book after dropping out of college in the mid-1980s. She was serving coffee to homeless customers, working the graveyard shift at Dunkin Donuts, and freaking out over the realization that she was one paycheck away from being homeless.

Wishcraft was her ticket out of hell and into an inspired life. Now in her mid-40s, she’s bootstrapped six small businesses, enjoys a net worth of over a million dollars, and is living the life of her dreams. Her yellowed, copyright 1979 paperback of Wishcraft sits readily available on her bookcase to this day, ready to help her visualize her next dream and craft a plan.

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World (An Entrepreneur’s Odyssey to Educate the World’s Childen) by John Wood

Famous reader: Tim Ferriss. The start-up angel investor (Twitter, Posterous, RescueTime), blogger and entrepreneur, applauds the follow-your-heart mantra of this read.

Wood has been compared to two influential Carnegie’s – Dale and Andrew – in two different categories. The author clearly shows the influence of Dale Carnegie’s class (author of classic business book list addition How to Win Friends and Influence People) in his approach to people. At the same time, his deep business insights have led to the San Francisco Chronicle’s assessment of John Wood as the spirit of Andrew Carnegie let loose in third world countries, according to Rakestrawbooks.com.

This is the story of Wood’s rejection of the corporate for the developing world, via the startup of a non-profit designed to inspire the love of reading in children.

Whether you download, check out, or hit the bookstore, add a couple of these reads to your night table, and let sweet dreams fuel your venture.

True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership

This book explains how and why becoming a genuine leader is possible for anyone and everyone. True North is based on research and first-person interviews with 125 of today’s top leaders. In this book, former Medtronic CEO Bill George shares the wisdom for being an authentic leader by outlining five key steps: 1) knowing your authentic self; 2) defining your values and leadership principles; 3) understanding your motivations; 4) building your support team; and 5) staying grounded by integrating all aspects of your life.

Talent on Demand

Peter Cappelli wrote this book to examine common talent management issues. It includes a slew of supply chain company examples and reveals four management principles for ensuring that your employees have the skills they need, exactly when they need them. After reading this book, you’ll know how to balance developing talent in-house with hiring external employees, improve the accuracy of your talent-need forecasts, maximize productivity of your employees, and replicate an external job board by creating an internal one for current employees.

The Money of Invention: How Venture Capital Creates New Wealth

This practical guide is written by two industry experts (Paul A. Gompers and Josh Lerner) about the problems entrepreneurs encounter when securing financing, and how the venture capital model can help businesspeople to resolve those issues. It also includes details on how corporations, government institutions and non-profits can (and should) harness the power of the venture capital model when applying it in their own industries. Whether your industry is riding the way of massive growth or holding on during an economic slowdown, this book is a tactical guide for leveraging venture captial to begin or grow your business.

 Many Unhappy Returns: One Man’s Quest To Turn Around The Most Unpopular Organization In America

In 1997, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had the largest customer base in America — but also the lowest approval rating of any government agency. At the time, congressional hearings revealed that IRS agents were being pressured to meet quotas for back taxes and penalties. Some agents admitted anonymously that, in order to hit these quotas, tax collectors would squeeze taxpayers for money they didn’t really owe. Charles O. Rossotti became commissioner of the IRS in 1997 and was tasked with rebuilding the organization. He was the first businessperson to head the IRS, and in this book, he tells the remarkable story of leadership and transformation of this organization.

 The Arc of Ambition: Defining the Leadership Journey

Can you guess what separates the average from from the hugely successful? Two internationally renowned management experts (Jim Champy and Nitin Nohria) say the key ingredient is ambition. Their book The Arc of Ambition is a practical guide to harnessing your personal and professional ambition and leaving a legacy of accomplishment. It details examples from dozens of modern and also historical successful people from a multitude of industries.

Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time

I’ve gotta come clean and reveal this book wasn’t actually on any of the syllabi I researched. But case studies about Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz were basically plastered all over them, which is why I’m including this in here. Schultz an exceptional and highly respected leader, and his book details one of the most triumphant business stories in decades. Starbucks started as a single coffee shop in Seattle and has grown into a worldwide corporation. In the book, Schultz illustratres the founding principles that defined Starbucks and shares the wisdom he’s learned along the way.

 Unleasing Innovation: How Whirlpool Transformed an Industry

Unleashing Innovation tells the inside story of one of the most successful innovation turnarounds in American history, including reducing margins while also expanding internationally. Nancy Tennant Snyder is VP of innovation and margin realization at Whirlpool and the author of this book. In it, she reveals how Whirlpool undertook one of the largest change efforts in the company’s history. It demonstrates how transformation and innovation became a core component of the organization, which ultimately lead to bottom-line results.

 Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

Why do some ideas thrive while others seem like they never even had a chance to survive? And how the heck can we boost ideas to give them a fighting chance? In this book, written by accomplished educators and brothers Chip and Dan Heath, they tackle head-on perplexing questions related to how ideas take off. Research is revealed to explain ways to make ideas stickier.

Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant

This book is based on a study of more than 150 strategic moves, including companies that have spanned more than a hundred years and thirty industries. Authors W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne attempt to persuade readers that building a true successful business comes from creating “blue oceans,” i.e. untapped new markets that are hyper-ripe from growth. More than one million copies of this business book have sold world wide, and it’s a “must-read” for business readers.

 Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less

In Scaling Up Excellence, bestselling author Robert Sutton and Stanford colleague Huggy Rao tackle a challenge every growing organization faces at one time of another: scaling. It’s about building your company larger,  faster, and more efficiently than ever before.  Sutton and Rao devoted nearly ten years of researching to uncovering what it takes to build employees for exemplary performance and keep recharging organizations with ever better workplaces. This book features both case studies and academic research from a wealth of industries, including startups, pharmaceuticals, retail, financial services, high-tech, education, non-profits, government, and healthcare.

Data Science for Business

Written by two world-renowned data science experts Foster Provost and Tom Fawcett, this book explains the foundational principles of data science. Step-by-step, it walks readers through the “data-analytic thinking” necessary for extracting real business value from the any data an organization collects. You can use it as a guide to understand the many data-mining techniques in use today. It’s based on an MBA course one of the authors taught at New York University for over a decade, and is chock-full of real-world business problems.

 

Scaling Up Excellence: Getting to More Without Settling for Less by Robort Sutton and Huggy Rao

“A great read that provides read, practical advice whether you’re a team of five or fifty thousand.”
–– Lazlo Bock, Senior Vice President of People Operations, Google

In Scaling Up Excellence, bestselling author, Robert Sutton and Stanford colleague, Huggy Rao Sutton offer a comprehensive guide to management in a package of enticing stories, subtly supported by references to high-end research.

Their personal history in the Silicon Valley and their global access to interesting organizations provides a relevant backdrop.

The main theme is that, while many good practices exist in organizations, they either get lost or there are difficulties when attempts are made to spread them (scale them) across the organization.

The breadth of this theme means that this book will provide value to anyone who would like to see organizations improve. The benefits are not limited by industry, functional area or organizational size.

Stanford

What books do alumni from the Stanford Graduate School of Business recommend? Here’s one:

Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace by Gordon MacKenzie

“It was written by a guy who made Hallmark cards. It’s about maintaining creativity in a corporate structure.”
–– Tristan Walker, founder of Walker & Company

Any business can morph into a giant hairball, a tangled, impenetrable mass of rules, traditions, and systems based on what worked in the past that can plunge it into mediocrity.

Gordon MacKenzie worked at Hallmark Cards for thirty years. Much at that time he worked hard to get his collegues to go into “orbit”, to a mode of dreaming, daring and doing above and beyond the rubber-stamp confines of the administrative mind-set.

In his deeply funny book, exuberantly illustrated in full color, he shares the story of his own professional evolution, together with lessons on awakening and fostering creative genius.

Originally self-published and already a business “cult classic”, this personally empowering and entertaining book explores the intersection between human creativity and the bottom line.

A must-read for any manager looking for new ways to invigorate employees, and any professional who wants to achieve his or her best, most self-expressive, most creative and fulfilling work.

Related Article: Inspiration Awaits: 5 Influential Business Books You Need to Read

Dartmouth

The syllabus for Managerial Decision Making at the Tuck School for Business at Dartmouth includes this unexpected yet captivating read:

Moneyball:  The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis

“One of the best baseball, and management, books out…. Deserves a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame.” ― Forbes

Discover the compelling story of the low-budget Oakland A’s and their unorthodox general manager, Billy Beane as they use statistics and the scientific method to succeed against teams with much larger payrolls.

This is a book that can be appreciated from so many different angles.

For fans of baseball the allure is obvious. For fans of statistics, this book offers amazing insight into how numbers can be employed in real life with very powerful and very real results.

For fans of human nature, this book offers a great look at how mistakes can be repeated and then perpetuated until someone with a strong mind and a stronger will comes along to break the cycle.

And for fans of character-driven stories, Moneyball hits it out of the park.

Related Article: The Most Inspiring Books for Small Business Owners

Cornell

What’s on tap at the Samuel Curtis Johnson
 Graduate School of Management at Cornell

When Genius Failed:  The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management by Roger Lowenstien

The story of The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management is a compelling one not only for people interested in finance, but for anyone fascinated by the spectacle of very smart people losing enormous sums of money.

Lowenstein’s book makes this story accessible by glossing over some of the technical details, a tradeoff of readability for depth, but still provides insight into the causes of LTCM’s collapse.

In this business classic, now with a new afterword in which the author draws parallels to the recent financial crisis, Lowenstein captures the gripping roller-coaster ride of Long-Term Capital Management.

Drawing on confidential internal memos and interviews with dozens of key players, Lowenstein explains not just how the fund made and lost its money but also how the personalities of Long-Term’s partners, the arrogance of their mathematical certainties, and the culture of Wall Street itself contributed to both their rise and their fall.

Related Article: A Gift Worth Opening: The 10 Best Business Books for 2016

Yale:

In the course, Mastering Influence and Persuasion at Yale School of Management this read was on the syllabus.

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini

Influence should be required reading for all business majors.”  –– Journal of Retailing

Influence has established itself as the most important book on persuasion ever published. This book explains the psychology of why people say, yes and how to apply these findings to others and your own life.

Distinguished psychologist, Robert B. Cialdini Ph.D., explains why some people are remarkably persuasive and how you can beat them at their own game.

This indispensable book guarantees you’ll never again say, yes when you really mean, no, and how to make yourself into your most influential self.

Most books of applied psychology fall prey to one of two weaknesses: Either they lack scientific content (or over-simplify) or they present solid information in an academic manner that readers find difficult to absorb and apply.

Robert Cialdini’s book stands out brilliantly from these books.

 

Throughout 2014, we asked Stanford GSB alumni to share the best business books they have read. Check out their selections:

The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level

By Gay Hendricks

“It’s great if you are thinking of starting a business but you are scared.”

Vanessa Loder (MBA ’07), cofounder of Mindfulness Based Achievement

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets

By Nassim Nicholas Taleb

“People frequently misunderstand data and patterns. You may not be able to control the outcome of a decision but you can control the decision. What matters is the integrity of the process.”

Eric Baker (MBA ’01), founder of Viagogo

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking

By Susan Cain

“I have strong extrovert tendencies. My cofounder Jennifer is a strong introvert. The book helped me appreciate the way she needs to take time to think and turn things over in her mind.”

Christine Su (MBA ’15), cofounder and CEO of Summer Technologies

Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace

By Gordon MacKenzie

“It was written by a guy who made Hallmark cards. It’s about maintaining creativity in a corporate structure.”

Tristan Walker (MBA ’10), founder of Walker & Company

War and Peace

By Leo Tolstoy

“The most profound business education moment I had was as a senior at Stanford undergrad in Organizational Leadership. We read Don Quixote and War and Peace. I was so grateful for that class. The professor tied business and leadership to life. What I remember about War and Peace 20 years later is that characters who seem important can disappear at a drop of a hat. Likewise, someone who seems unimportant sticks around for 700 pages. Life is that way.”

Gina Bianchini (MBA ’00), founder of Mightybell

Buddha’s Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom

By Rick Hanson and Richard Mendius

“I read it during an internship I took on a hazelnut farm in Bhutan. It explains the neuroscience of meditation, how it expands the workspace of consciousness of the mind. Basically, it develops the neurons in the frontal cortex, which allows it to control and overrun the lizard part of your brain, which is the id, or ‘monkey brain.’”

Christine Su (MBA ’15), cofounder and CEO of Summer Technologies

First Nights: Five Musical Premiers

By Thomas Forrest Kelly

“The book tells of the first performances of important pieces of music; for instance, Handel’s Messiah. It provides a context to help you understand the genius of each of the composers. How does that relate to business? Because it demonstrates that genius should be seen through the context of time and place. The question is, if those people had been born in a different era, what would they have achieved? How can you do something special in your life right now, with your personal dynamics at play?”

Jeff Barnett (MBA ’95), cofounding partner of Dorsal Capital

 Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

If you’re interested in how the mind of a revolutionary genius works, then pick up this book. Technology writer Ashlee Vance depicts the life and inner workings of Elon Musk- founder of PayPal, Tesla Motors and SpaceX- and in the process, speaks to the idea of innovation in the modern era. Musk, the subject of a true “rags to riches” story, will arguably have one of the biggest impacts on the future of this planet. You’d be wise to learn a thing or two from this man.

#GirlBoss

You may know Sophia Amoruso as the CEO of a $250-million+ fashion retailer site called Nasty Gal. But before she built her online empire, Amoruso spent her young-adult life hitchhiking, hungry, and shoplifting. Obviously much has changed since then, and she wrote a book for everyone who can identify with being an outsider or who marches to beat of their own drum. Throughout the book, Amoruso talks about trusting your gut and following the rules only when need be.

Mindsharing: The Art of Crowdsourcing Everything

No man is an island right? This book, written by Lior Zoref, explores the idea of collective intelligence and how tapping into your network can yield more positive results than relying on your own limited knowledge and abilities. According to Zoref, the power of mind sharing can progress both our personal and professional lives.

The Virgin Way: If It’s Not Fun, It’s Not Worth Doing

Y’all know that if Branson wrote the book, it’s bound to be a good read. The Virgin Group leader, who dropped out of school at the age of 16, shares with us how he has built a global empire over the span of forty years, and how his peculiar style of leadership and business relationships has got him there.

How to Fly a Horse: The Secret History of Creation, Invention, and Discovery

The title of this book alone should draw every entrepreneur to its pages. Kevin Ashton, the man who first coined the term “The Internet of Things” demystifies the act of innovation and reveals the who, the why, and the how behind some of the greatest creations of this century. Ashton provides hope and insight to the reader, showing that creating something new in the modern era is still possible.

The Promise of a Pencil: How an Ordinary Person Can Create Extraordinary Change

For those of you who believe that only way to truly have a sustainable business is to build one that is centered on social improvement, then check out this novel. Adam Braun, the founder of the Pencils of Promise, walks the reader through his professional journey and explains how he turned $25 into 200 schools across the globe. Braun had a fledgling Wall-Street career in his early 20s, but his life was forever altered by an interaction he had while traveling in India and he left that realm to truly change the world around him. All proceeds from this publication will support his organization.

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants  

The number #1 bestselling author and innovative thinker is back. Like his other books, David and Goliath is a combination of psychology, history, and beautiful prose that wonderfully challenges the way we think. This time Malcolm Gladwell argues a new interpretation of what it means to deal with obstacles and suffering- and, of course, offers a new way to perceive our environment.

Coined: The Rich Life of Money and How Its History Has Shaped Us

Want a book that’s already been praised by business mogul Richard Branson and former president Bill Clinton? You’re in luck. In this literary piece, author Kabir Sehgal walks the reader through a historical and economical journey and reveals the relationship between money and humankind in the process.

Work Rules! Insights From Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead

Laszlo Bock, the head of the Google’s “People Operations”, draws on the latest research in behavioral economics to teach all business owners and managers the importance of hiring the right talent, relying on data, and leading a group of employees to success. Bock contrasts stories of terrible working environments with insights into the inner workings of Silicon’s most successful companies. If you think your company culture and overall moral both need a serious boost, pick up Bock’s instruction manual.

Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World

In this book, General Stanley McChrystal writes about the skills he used to lead his machine of men and women, The Task Force, to fight Al Queda. Instead of following conventional wisdom, McChrystal changed the nature and interaction of his team: implanting transparent communication, decentralizing decision making, and flattening the hierarchy. His “new rules” resulted in a small organization that was able to triumph. General McChrystal translates these guidelines to the business world and argues that the key to a successful organization is to give groups the freedom to experiment alongside good communication pathways between every level.

 

Let’s Get Started

I hope you’re pumped to start reading. Here are 10 books I believe are must-reads for entrepreneurs.

How to Win Friends and Influence People (1937) by Dale Carnegie

This book may be old (and the oldest book on this list by nearly 50 years), but many of its ideas are timeless. Carnegie’s book was one of the first best-selling self-help books and has sold over 15 million copies today.

How to Win Friends and Influence People is broken into different sections based on subject and offers advice on human relations. While some of his lessons may appear obvious, this book provides relevant insights on how to make people like you more and how to convince people to change their habits or thinking to be more in line with yours.

The 4-Hour Workweek (2007) by Tim Ferriss

Unfortunately, this book doesn’t offer advice on how to work only four hours a week and make a living. Without a lot of initial capital or extraordinary circumstances, you’re going to have to work more regular hours like the rest of the population.

What The 4-Hour Workweek does offer, however, is sound advice for the modern era. Some of Ferriss’ most important lessons are cutting back information intake to better focus on your work, a concrete example that Ferriss offers is checking email only twice a day, and how conquering fear can be beneficial to efficiency in the workplace.

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It (1995) by Michael E. Gerber

The E-Myth was first published in 1985 before being revisited a decade later, and it is regularly included in many best business books lists, including this one. Gerber primarily investigates the entrepreneurial (“E”) myth: that entrepreneurs use technical expertise to build their business.

Gerber instead suggests that successful businesses come from entrepreneurial techniques unrelated to technical skill. Regardless of whether he is right on that point, The E-Myth Revisited offers sound advice on the mentality an entrepreneur needs in order to create a successful business and details the steps a businesses should take to flourish.

4. The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers (2014) by Ben Horowitz

Ben Horowitz, cofounder of Andreessen Horowitz and one of the most experienced entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley, shares his experience and advice in his business book The Hard Thing About Hard Things.

Using anecdotes from his own career, Horowitz talks about how to do everything from demoting a friend to how to handle promotions or bad employees. Taking a straightforward tone laced with humor, Horowitz’s book is an enjoyable read that also gives great insight to aspiring entrepreneurs and veterans alike.

 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989) by Stephen Covey

A best-selling self-help and business book that has been translated into 34 languages, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People details the, you guessed it, seven elements that make a successful individual.

The steps are broken into three sections: dependence, independence, and interdependence, and the lessons range from how to be proactive and take steps one at a time to how to engage other people by finding win/win situations and understanding others first.

The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future (2012) by Chris Guillebeau

This book is a great read for anyone looking to start a small business. For The $100 Startup, Guillebeau created a list of 1,500 individuals with self-built businesses that started on a modest budget and later turned at least $50,000 in annual profits, and from that pool, Guillebeau focused on 50 for the book itself.

He details their trials and errors as they grew their business from the ground up, and through these anecdotes reveals what it takes to build a startup in different countries all over the world.

 Rework: Change the Way You Work Forever (2010) by David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried

Hansson and Fried challenge the way businesses can be successful in their book Rework. The two are the founders of 37signals, a successful software company that has defied conventional business models for over 15 years.

Their book shares the secrets behind their own success and details why long-term plans are harmful, why businesses don’t need outside investors and why you’re better off ignoring the competition. While initially sounding counterintuitive, the more you read the more these two make a strange kind of sense.

Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future (2014) by Peter Thiel with Blake Masters

Peter Thiel, co-founder of Paypal and Palantir, shares his entrepreneurial experience in his book Zero to One, which is based on notes taken by Blake Masters during Peter Thiel’s lectures at Stanford.

While the book does show some of Thiel’s libertarian mentalities including praise of monopolies, he nonetheless makes insightful points about how to start a business, focusing on small markets, technological superiority, scalability and network potential. Thiel’s main point is that the most successful businesses do something new, not something better.

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t (2001) by Jim Collins

In Good to Great, Jim Collins discusses the results of a huge management study that he did in the 90’s with a team of researchers. In the study, Collins picked a set of companies that, on average, had stock returns seven times larger than the general stock market for 15 years.

He then compared those businesses to companies poised on the brink of success that never bridged the gap. In the book, Collins discusses why some companies make it when others don’t, mentioning factors like “Level 5 Leaders, ” the now classic “Hedgehog Concept,” and the “Flywheel” and “Doom Loop.”

 The Lean Startup (2011) by Eric Ries

Ries began a lean startup movement with the release of his book in 2011, which made waves among entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. The Lean Startup details a business model in which small businesses can effectively grow and scale.

Ries’ model involves iterative product releases of minimum viable products, shortened release cycles, a focus on pleasing early customers, and a process that he terms “validated learning.” In a model based around trimming excess, Ries provides lessons on how to shore up the essential components of a company.

 

Every entrepreneur, business owner and CEO should read business books. They’re an excellent source of information, and they offer useful startup and leadership advice. Managing a business can be nerve-wrecking, especially if you’re just getting started. As a result, reading motivational books can help you stay engaged. Here are 5 business books that are a must-read this 2015.

“Good Leaders Ask Great Questions” by John C. Maxwell

Many leaders want to excel at their jobs but they can’t because of their lack of expertise. In John C. Maxwell’s “Good Leaders Ask Great Questions“, readers will find answers to questions they’ve always wanted to ask. “What do I need to become a great leader?”, “How do I motivate someone who’s unmotivated?”, “How can I work with people who don’t have vision?” are just a few questions you’ll find answers to in the book.

Published in 2014, “Good Leaders Ask Great Questions” is an insightful book about learning how to solve the most challenging problems related to the world of venture capitalism. The business environment is a demanding work environment, and it’s important for leaders to find the determination to move on, no matter how complicated things might get along the way.

 “Predictably Irrational” by Dan Ariely

CEOs and business owners in general, are accountable for everything that happens with their business. They must negotiate on a daily basis, make important decisions and sometimes, mess up and learn from their mistakes. Entrepreneurs must take responsibility, and they can’t afford to get cold feet when things don’t turn out as planned.

In “Predictably Irrational“, MIT professor Dan Ariely, talks about why people behave so foolishly; he tries to make readers understand that they can predict such behavior from materializing. There’s always a good reason why people get mad and act like crazy. His book is extremely therapeutic and thus will compel leaders that a Zen attitude is everything they need to succeed in business.

“The Hard Thing About Hard Things” by Ben Horowitz

Ben Horowitz, the author of “The Hard Thing about Hard Things“, is a business guru. In his latest book, he emphasizes that it’s essential for investors and entrepreneurs to understand they all have a specific level of experience, and that there’s always room for improvement. Not every business individual excels at his job, but that doesn’t mean he can’t strive to do more. Horowitz is a savvy entrepreneur that also provides useful advice on running a startup. His principles are focused on things that are not taught in school, so if you’re a recent graduate with a keen interest in entrepreneurship and the business domain, make sure to read “The Hard Thing about Hard Things”.

 “Confidence” by Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Rosabeth Moss Kanter is a professor at the Harvard School of Business. In her latest book “Confidence“, she clarifies that success and failure are self-fulfilling prophecies, and that self-assurance is everything one needs to succeed. When you pursue a goal, and you do everything in your power to achieve it, success will be right there waiting to happen. “Confidence” is a business book about winning and losing; the author explores new theories about success, and she offers guidelines on how to turn things in your favor without having to make unnecessary concessions.

 “Zero to One”, by Peter Thiel

Peter Thiel’s “Zero to One” is a true masterpiece. Avid entrepreneurs with a dying wish to turn their brilliant ideas into a million dollar business should read this book. Thiel talks about failure in business in the most honest way. People fail to thrive because their only goal is to overcome their competition. Very few focus on making their companies productive. Why bother compete with an enterprise that already has a good reputation? You won’t win. Instead, you should focus on smart ways to make your business stand above the crowd and gain recognition, because that’s the key to success.

Do you want to be a successful entrepreneur? Then you’ll have to work for what you believe in. Reading business books will give you a boost of confidence; it will keep you motivated and focused on your goals.

 

2016-02-26

We spend hours a week commuting to and from work can be put to good use if we utilize them well. One way of combining the necessity of getting to our workplace with success is to spend the time listening to books on CD or MP3, but what to listen to? Here are suggestions for my recent 14 best business books to listen to during your commute.

1. The E-Myth – Michael Greber. This is an excellent book about the myths surrounding starting your own business and demonstrates prevalent misconceptions about running a business.

2. Good to Great Jim Collins. Based on research obtained from US companies, this book shows why some companies make the leap from good to great, and other don’t.

3. Big Magic – Elizabeth Gilbert. The “big magic” of the title is “inspiration”; how does it come about, and how do we find the hidden jewels of inspiration within us.

4. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective PeopleStephen R. Covey. The classic and inspirational book that has transformed lives all over the world for 25 years.

5. Start with Why – Simon Sinek. A brilliantly insightful must-read about the qualities of good leadership.

6. Originals Adam Grant. An entertaining look at how we all can become more innovative.

7. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team – Charles Stransky. For anyone in a team, and especially for team leaders, this book will give you concrete steps to improve your team’s results.

8. The 10X Rule – Grant Cardone. A game-changing book for entrepreneurs, showing how to achieve success in any market.

9. First, Break All The RulesMarcus Buckingham. A well-researched book that explains concepts in a clear and intelligible way, including the 4 keys of great managers.

10. Raving FansKenneth Blanchard. A guide to transforming your customers from just satisfied to “raving fans”.

11. Presence – Amy Cuddy. Not only a business book, the lessons here are also applicable to students and teachers, employees and bosses, and everyone in between.

12. Rising Strong Audible – Brené Brown. An uplifting book for anyone who has ever fallen and a textbook on how to rise again.

13. Crucial Conversations – Kerry Patterson. A guide to those hard-to-have conversations, personal or professional, and how to handle them.

14. Extreme Ownership – Jocko Willink and Leif Babin. This book details the mind-set of  hard-hitting Navy SEALs and how this can be translated into great business and life lessons.

If you have some recommendations make a comment and share.

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At the beginning of the year, Mark Zuckerberg challenged himself to read a new book every week and welcomed the Facebook community to join him. (I have a feeling he was taking a page from Bill Gates’ book.) In his pledge, Zuck wrote, “books allow you to fully explore a topic and immerse yourself in a deeper way than most media today” and I agree. They offer much more in-depth lessons for readers, especially for business leaders and technologists taking on daunting tasks and impossible adversaries. I learned a good deal about opportunity, innovation, execution and efficiency from these five books–which I highly recommend–and I wanted to share my big takeaways.

1) The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution, by Walter Isaacson

I came to Silicon Valley to attend Stanford University in 1994, after going to high school in Paris and moving around for most of my young life. When I tell friends, coworkers and acquaintances about how I got here, I usually say “talk about luck–I couldn’t have picked a better time or location.” Technology was just starting to take over the world and Isaacson (who recently spoke at our customer conference) does a great job of capturing the opportunity so many innovators encountered and seized at the time.

The takeaway: Sure, being in the “right place at the right time” plays a role in success, but those who truly succeed are open to opportunities at any time. And they know seizing the moment is as physical as it is mental.

2) Moore’s Law: The Life of Gordon Moore, Silicon Valley’s Quiet Revolutionary, by Arnold Thackray, David Brock and Rachel Jones

This biography of Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, focuses on the development of Moore’s Law, detailing how Moore foresaw the potential of silicon transistors to make electronics affordable and immensely powerful. His belief that microchips could double in power, then redouble again like clockwork, was revolutionary at the time. It drove Intel to pioneer new technologies in computer memory, integrated circuits and microprocessor design–technology that made them the giant we all know today.

The takeaway: Since insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, we have to learn from the past. Moore’s story and impact offers a history lesson on innovation for all business leaders. If Intel didn’t shift from memory to processors, it would be long forgotten. Now the company has one of the greatest legacies in technology.

3) How to Fly a Horse: The Secret History of Creation, Invention, and Discovery,by Kevin Ashton

Kevin Ashton is best known for coining the phrase “the Internet of Things” and co-founding the Auto-ID Center at MIT, which created a global standard for radio-frequency identification (RFID), the use of sensors to identify and track tags on objects. I was confident the man who recognized the potential of sensors so early would be able to tell a compelling story about innovation and invention, and Ashton didn’t disappoint. From the creation of the Muppets and the Wright brothers’ mission to “fly a horse” to the discovery of DNA, Ashton profiles inventors and their unique journeys to world-changing breakthroughs, showing that innovation can’t simply be “done.”

The takeaway: Your “a-ha” moment isn’t going to challenge the status quo or move the landscape forward. Truly impactful innovation comes with incremental progress and hard work.

4) Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future, by Peter Thiel (and Blake Masters)

Zero to One is not only a must-read for startup founders, but it also has relevant messages and lessons for business leaders at any stage and in any industry. Not only does Thiel encourage entrepreneurs to think for themselves and do something unprecedented; he also gives practical advice–particularly on sales, which is a topic many authors shy away from–and focused on the importance of daily execution.

The takeaway: If you want the pie in the sky, you need to execute everyday and figure out how your team can best block and tackle.

5) Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, by Ashlee Vance

Like most entrepreneurs and innovators in Silicon Valley, I have a great deal of respect for Elon Musk. He’s taken on momentous challenges–electric cars, spaceships, solar energy–and done it at scale and in parallel. Beyond being the current CEO and Chairman of Tesla, SpaceX and SolarCity, he’s also raising 5 kids (twins and triplets, just for kicks). Vance’s biography showcases how Musk does it: he brings a “think big” approach to everything he does that’s off the charts. And not only does he think big; he does big. So big that he truly believes he can change the world, which is something we can all aspire to.

The takeaway: We can solve the world’s biggest problems if we’re all as efficient as Elon Musk. I’m only partly kidding. What I learned from Vance’s biography is there’s no problem too big to take on, but it has to be tackled will scale and scope in mind.

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Jeff Bezos advices you to read “The Remains of the Day”

“The Remains of the Day”

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos lists Kazuo Ishiguro’s “The Remains of the Day” among his favorite books, citing its ability to teach readers about life and regret.

From Publishers Weekly

Greeted with high praise in England, where it seems certain to be shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Ishiguro’s third novel (after An Artist of the Floating World ) is a tour de force– both a compelling psychological study and a portrait of a vanished social order. Stevens, an elderly butler who has spent 30 years in the service of Lord Darlington, ruminates on the past and inadvertently slackens his rigid grip on his emotions to confront the central issues of his life. Glacially reserved, snobbish and humorless, Stevens has devoted his life to his concept of duty and responsibility, hoping to reach the pinnacle of his profession through totally selfless dedication and a ruthless suppression of sentiment. Having made a virtue of stoic dignity, he is proud of his impassive response to his father’s death and his “correct” behavior with the spunky former housekeeper, Miss Kenton. Ishiguro builds Stevens’s character with precisely controlled details, creating irony as the butler unwittingly reveals his pathetic self-deception. In the poignant denouement, Stevens belatedly realizes that he has wasted his life in blind service to a foolish man and that he has never discovered “the key to human warmth.” While it is not likely to provoke the same shocks of recognition as it did in Britain, this insightful, often humorous and moving novel should significantly enhance Ishiguro’s reputation here.

Characters and Themes, Motifs, and Symbols and more about the book.- a comprehesive link to have a look at.
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/remains/summary.html

Authors interview/talk (general)
http://the-talks.com/interviews/kazuo-ishiguro/

Reviews

http://the-talks.com/interviews/kazuo-ishiguro/
http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/aug/17/rereading-remains-day-salman-rushdie
http://www.slywy.com/the-remains-of-the-day/

Useful related link:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/mar/04/the-buried-giant-review-kazuo-ishiguro-tolkien-britain-mythical-past

Editorial & Customer Reviews & Most Helpful Customer Reviews

Amazon
http://amzn.to/1kcWHDX
(also have a look at “See all Editorial Reviews” page please)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Remains-Day-Kazuo-Ishiguro/dp/0571258247

Community Reviews

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28921.The_Remains_of_the_Day

 

Support this site and buy it from here : http://amzn.to/1kcWHDX

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15 must-read books by tech CEOs that will give you a peek inside their brilliant minds

Tech CEOs are some of the smartest people in the world.

And a lot of them want to share their ideas with anybody who will listen.

We’ve put together 15 of the best books written by current and former tech CEOs that will give you a peek inside their fabulous minds.

Peter Thiel – “Zero to One”

Marc Benioff – “Behind the Cloud”

Andy Grove – “Only the Paranoid Survive”

Ben Horowitz – “The Hard Thing About Hard Things”

Lou Gerstner – “Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance?”

Chris Anderson – “The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More”

Ed Catmull – “Creativity, Inc.”

Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg – “How Google Works”

Mark Cuban – “How to Win at the Sport of Business”

Reid Hoffman – “The Startup of You”

Bill Gates – “The Road Ahead”

Tony Hsieh – “Delivering Happiness”

Michael Dell – “Direct from Dell”

David Packard – “The HP Way”

Maynard Webb – “Rebooting Work”

 

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Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Man’s Search for Meaning is a 1946 book by Viktor Frankl chronicling his experiences as an Auschwitz concentration camp inmate during World War II, and describing his psychotherapeutic method, which involved identifying a purpose in life to feel positively about, and then immersively imagining that outcome.

If there was ever a story that made suicide a reasonable option, or gave anyone an excuse to say that life was meaningless — I think it would be this one. Yet having been lowered into the pits of humanity, Victor Frankl emerged an optimist. His reasoning was that even in the most terrible circumstances, people still have the freedom to choose how they see their circumstances and create meaning out of them… what the ancient Stoics referred to as the “last freedom.” The evil of torture is not so much the physical torment, but the active attempt to extinguish freedom.

The book has three main parts:

  1. Experiences in a concentration camp – a theoretical essay
  2. Logotherapy in a nutshell
  3.  The case for a tragic optimism

In my opinion, this book is way (way!) more than just another pump-up book about motivation — Man’s Search for Meaning is an intellectual masterpiece that inspires you to take control over your psychology, thus taking control of your life.

He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how.

Our generation is realistic, for we have come to know man as he really is. After all, man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright, with the Lord’s Prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips.

Link to Amazon page

 

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The Effective Executive: The Definitive Guide To Getting The Right Things Done

( Click on the image to access the book on Amazon )

Peter Drucker says that the most effective executives all followed the same 8 practices:

  1. They asked, “What needs to be done?”
  2. They asked, “What’s right for the enterprise?”
  3. Developed action plans.
  4. Took responsibility for decisions.
  5. Took responsibility for communicating.
  6. Focused on opportunities rather than problems.
  7. Ran productive meetings.
  8. They thought and said “we” rather than “I.

KNOW THY TIME

Here’s your three-step process to being as effective as possible with your time:

  1. Recording time.
  2. Managing time.
    • ( ”What would happen if this were not done at all?”
    •   “which of the activities on my time log could be done by somebody else just as well, if not better?”)
  3. Consolidating time.
    • 1hr30min ( best timeslot )
    • No interruption

WHAT CAN I CONTRIBUTE?

“The man who focuses on efforts and who stresses his downward authority is a subordinate no matter how exalted his title and rank. But the man who focuses on contribution and who takes responsibility for results, no matter how Junior, is in the most literal sense of the phrase, “top management.” He holds himself accountable for the performance of the whole.”

Bottom line? Always be focused on what you can contribute. Always ask yourself “what can I do?” And if you’re hiring an employee ask that employee “what can you do for our organization?” According to Peter Drucker, to focus on contribution is to focus on effectiveness.

4 Basic requirements of human relations
  1. Communications.
  2. Teamwork
  3. Individual Self-development.
  4. Development of others

MAKING STRENGTH PRODUCTIVE

“Making strengths productive is fundamentally an attitude expressed in behaviour. It is fundamentally respect for the person — one’s own as well as others. It is a value system in action. But it is again “learning through doing” and self-development through practice. In making strengths productive, the executive integrates individual purpose and organization needs, individual capacity and organization results, individual achievement and organization opportunity.”
So, how can you staff for strength?

By keeping the following 4 rules in mind:

  1. Effective executives never assume that jobs are “created by nature or by God.” They understand that they’ve been designed by highly fallible men.
  2. Effective executives make big and demanding jobs that are designed to be challenging enough to let someone’s strengths shine.
  3. Effective executives understand that they have to start with what a new hire CAN DO rather than what a job requires. They do not focus on weaknesses in their performance appraisals.
  4. Effective executives know that to get strength one has to put up with weaknesses.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

“If there is any one “secret” of effectiveness, it is concentration. Effective executives do first things first and they do one thing at a time.”

To focus on ONE thing at a time. That means:

  • shutting down facebook,
  • turning off your phone (whenever necessary)
  • having only one browser open at a time (and closing out the 32 other tabs you’ve got open in your browser)

THE ELEMENTS OF DECISION-MAKING

  1. The first question the effective decision-maker asks is: “Is this a generic situation or an exception?” It is this common human tendency to confuse plausibility with morality which makes the incomplete hypothesis so dangerous a mistake and so hard to correct. The effective decision-maker, therefore, always assumes initially that the problem is generic. One of the most obvious facts of social and political life is the longevity of the temporary.
  2. The second major element in the decision-process is clear specifications as to what the decision has to accomplish.
  3. One has to start out with what is right rather than what is acceptable (let alone who is right) precisely because one always has to compromise in the end. For there are two different kinds of compromise. One kind is expressed in the old proverb: “Half a loaf is better than no bread.” The other kind is expressed in the story of the Judgment of Solomon, which was clearly based on the realization that “half a baby is worse than no baby at all.”
  4. Converting the decision into action is the fourth major element in the decision-process. In fact, no decision has been made unless carrying it out in specific steps has become someone’s work assignment and responsibility. Until then, there are only good intentions.
  5. Finally, a feedback has to be built into the decision to provide a continuous testing, against actual events, of the expectations that underlie the decisions.

EFFECTIVE DECISIONS

“A decision is a judgment. It is a choice between alternatives. it is rarely a choice between right and wrong. It is at best a choice between “almost right” and “probably wrong” — but much more often a choice between two courses of action neither of which is probably more nearly right, than the other.”

So, how do we make the right decisions?

  • We shouldn’t rush the decision making process,
  • And we shouldn’t make decisions without hearing from an opposing party first — that is, we shouldn’t decide without a disagreement. Why? Because disagreements force us to look at things differently, thus stimulating the imagination, and eventually leading us towards the most effective decisions in the long run.

DECISION MAKING AND THE COMPUTER

“The strength of the computer lies in its being a logic machine. It does precisely what it is programmed to do. This makes it fast and precise. It also makes it a total moron.; for logic is essentially stupid. It is doing the simple and obvious. The human being, by contrast, is not logical; he is perceptual. This means that he is slow and sloppy. But he is also bright and has insight. The human being can adapt; that is, he can infer from scanty information or from no information at all what the total picture might be like. He can remember a great many things nobody has programed.”

EFFECTIVENESS MUST BE LEARNED

“Only executive effectiveness can enable this society to harmonize its two needs: the needs of organization to obtain from the individual the contribution it needs, and the need of the individual to have organization serve as his tool for the accomplishment of his purposes. Effectiveness must be learned.”

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