Wind In Your Sails. Vital strategies that accelerate your entrepreneurial growth. David Greer. 2015. ISBN 9780994036407.  I read early drafts of David’s book and saw that he had set himself an aggressive target. Nothing new if you know David.  This was to be a short concise book where he distills down all the key elements of starting and running your business. He has succeeded in doing this on many levels.  The book needed to be short as most potential readers either read little or have little time to read.  Each chapter is well organized and clearly stated.  The sailing metaphor is well taken since in business as in sailing, you are pushed in the directions the elements decide you will go. Its always a case in adapting.  Which is always the case in a good business person.  A good book for those who wish to start or restart their business. The lessons learned are absolutely apt.

The Sustainable Organization. A paradigm for a fairer society. Miguel Reynolds Brandao & Nadia Morais. 2015.  A very thought provoking rethink on how organizations could change to a more sustainable model.  I have reviewed the background research for the 99% movement , Alex Ohanians story how  youth can create the future and Bruce Thorntons belief in the EUs slow inevitable decline. all here in this blog.

Brandao has taken a more analytic view of  organizational structure, reward systems and their impact on the world order.  He details the world wide executive compensation inequity ( absent somehow for Sweden and Norway) . He posits a new index  the SORG , that powerfully communicates the impact of an organization on the world/community which is well beyond P&L statements and GDP.   This could be like catnip to Millenials.

This is a useful viewpoint, one that is worthwhile for academics to pursue further. Plus I suggest you read it to stimulate your thoughts and responses.  I can see this as worthy of a TED talk, and also at Davos.  The book may be one that Bill Gates would recommend as it fits with his recent recommendations.

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Cry, The Beloved Country . Alan Paton.  1987, 1957, 1949. ISBN 978074326244.  Our driver on a safari tour in Durban South Africa recommended this book. It is about South Africa in the late 40’s and how the segregation policies had wide spread and often unexpected impacts. In Canada we can recognize similar issues rising form the treatment of aboriginal peoples, or the blacks in America . The book is simply written in the viewpoint of a poor black preacher from the depths of Natal ( Zulu heartland you can still see outside Durban). but it is not simple in its observations.  You can read this as adocumentary, a political text , a humanitarian  story or a reflection on the simislarities among all peoples. It is a wonderful book and useful for all ages.

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From  March 31 to June 5, my wife and I were travelling on a cruise, starting in Singapore and ending in Dover , UK.    Lots of very interesting and widely varied sights and people were met. Definitely a bucket list trip and it allowed us to visit many islands that we would not get to other wise.  IN this post I will just attach the  itinerary .   Later posts will give a few details about some of  the ports and people met.

Before  leaving, I contacted via LinkedIn people in many of the locations we were to visit.  Details on how that worked will follow.   Most of the time when we arrived at a port, we got off the boat quickly,  hired a car and driver for a tour, which often ended in a local lunch.

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In The Garden of Beasts. Love , terror and an American family in Hitler’s Berlin. Erik Larson. 2011. ISBN 9780307408853.  A very good but terrifying book.  US Ambassador William Dodd and family and the four years they spent in Berlin as Hitler was seizing more and more power in Germany.  YOu follow the acquiescence of the German people and the  unwillingness of the world powers to acknowledge what was really happening, which allowed Hitler and his thugs to essentially take the world to war.  Another preventable situation (Just like WWI). Clearly and well written this book is full of surprises and dark parts. Human nature remaining what it is, we will likely go down this road again.