Losing the signal. The untold story behind the extraordinary rise and spectacular fall of Blackberry. J. McNish & S.Sillcoff.  2015. ISBN 9781250060174.  Two scrappy brilliant guys from Waterloo who set the world on fire ( after many ups and downs) by taking control of on your hip email and then created a smartphone marketplace that was eventually taken over by Apple, Android , Samsung and others.  The authors did a tremendous number of interviews and got some very straight goods from the players involved.  Rocket Builders was the first Canadian consultancy to use Blackberries and with our clients we were very involved from the early days right to the end.  We even wrote a manual for RIM partners. owned shares for quite awhile and saw the disorder first hand.  The book has many reasons for the fall, and they are all valid. I look at hubris and a particular Canadian tendency to let the technical guys run marketing, for far too long. The CEOs far outstayed their welcome as they were unable to realize (As few CEOS do) that there comes a time to hand over the reins to real enterprise managers, always long before they know, in order to grow and mature the company.  Well written, valuable to any business person and student.  Greta for a cross Canada flight.  We wish John Shen well.

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The Force. They sell for a living, and what drives them to the top can push them to the edge. David Dorsey . 1994. ISBN 0679410309. The author followed a team of Cleveland Xerox sales persons for a year and then wore this story from their point of view. If you sold hardware in the 90’s you know exactly what this book talks about.   The quarterly  and annual targets , with contests, harangues, cajoling, machinations to make your nut and get to President’s Club.  It gave me shivers to read this as it dropped me right back into the driven nervy Life  of a big number salesperson  ( And the trials of his family) .   A great book for those of use who have been there and a good one for the younger sales guys.  I read this in one go – it was so visceral.

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C.J Sansom Books

A prolific historical fiction writer I recently discovered.  C.J. Sansom has 6 titles detailing the Henry VIII period, The Matthiew Shardlake  series, (Dissolution, Dark Fire, Sovereign, Revelation, Heartstone, Lamentation).  One on the Spanish Civil War  (Winter in Madrid)  and one based on what would have happened if Britain had made a peace treaty with Germany in 1940 ( Dominion) .  I like his ability to drop you quickly into what it is like to live in this times, the sights, smells, daily activities and attitudes.  The writing is an easy style that keeps you very interested in the stories progress.   At the end is a fascinating history lesson/commentary from the author which is as good as the book.  Well worth it.