The Bomber Mafia. A dream, temptation and the longest night of the second world war. Malcolm Gladwell. 2021. ISBN 9780316296939.  A riveting true story, how the US developed and then tried to apply the Norden bombsight, despite its huge limits.  The growth of the Army  Air Force and how it differed from the British model.  And an insight into Curtis Lemay.   Like any Gladwell book, there are life lessons in this.  One is the US love of technology over what actually works in the field.  How true believers will rewrite the story to fit what they believe vs what actually happens.  And for Curts Lemay how his firestorms in Japan hastened them to the table and shortened the war. One could suppose that the US did not have to drop the bomb as Japan was already teetering.   Useful read and an easy one.

the cluetrain manifesto. the end of business as usual. rick levine, christopher locke, doc searis, david weinberger. 2000 ISBN 0736202444. This came out over 20 years ago after  Eric Raymond’s  The Cathedral and The Bazaar. What is insightful about re-reading the manifesto is to see so much of what was predicted has slowly come about.  Once again this proves the wisdom of the crowds as this document was put together from many thousands of conversations on the early web.  Yes, some of the references are dated ( As in no longer what they were) but the truth of this work is evident. The 95 theses are here

Read the whole manifesto if you can here.    I took away:

• That markets were originally conversations and business is a conversation.
• The pervasive web opens the web of secrecy behind business and govt so people can talk again to people.
• People want to do a good job if you let them, and many enjoy making clients/customers happy.
• There is another set of rules beyond the org chart ( those who get things done).
• The future is the intersection of choice and interruption
• Real people employ humour to connect
• Hear the questions of the heart through the web
  • children talking to  children
  • who is this person really like?
  • poor connecting with the poor
  • listen to ideas in context
  • information is tied to what voice?
  • be smart not just Google it
  • which stories are worthy?
• Bring forth the human story.

If you work in tech it is worthwhile to read this manifesto it is still valid and useful.

Play Bigger. How pirates, dreamers, and innovators create and dominate markets. Alan Ramadan, Dave Peterson, Christopher Lochhead.   2016.  ISBN 9780062407610.   This book was referenced in Traversing the Traction Gap so I had to read it.  It is very good and specifically addresses category creation, which is something that wildly successful companies do over and over. The authors take you through a proven  methodology of becoming a category kind. ( For many types to organizations and individuals). You will appreciate the highly specific and recognizable examples used by the authors.  Unlike other books in this genre , it has the benefits of depth and thought coming from the experiences of four individuals.  It could be a life changing book for executives and individuals.  But you need to want to be more than better, you want to be recognized as different  ( Apple is not just better, it is different)

why does E-mc²? (and why should we care?) Brian Cox & Jeff Forshaw. 2009.  Two English physicists/instructors (PhD)  have written an introductory text on the present theories of the elementary particles. They have been ingenious through starting with work of Newton, Faraday and Maxwell et al, then developing with Einstein  and the successive researchers taking the reader right up to the Higgs Bosun particle work. It is not a book to rush through but if you follow along the whole series of theory and relevant equations makes much more sense than before. They are clever enough to give the reader breathing space when getting into more detail.  Despite knowing the ending, you are pulled through just to see how this all came about.  Well worth the read.

Crossing the Chasm. 3rd edition. Geoffrey Moore.   2014. ISBN 9780062292988.  We read the first edition (1991) when it came out and found it bang on and helpful.  It was time to reread it and the 3rd Edition reflects the work  Moore has done  ( and written about) with high tech companies in the last 25 years.  I was particularly interested in the subtle insights he gives wrto sales and marketing  jobs and personnel while moving along his time line. This reflects what we have learned about the types of people you need during the transition from Innovators/Visionaries ( Chasm)  through to mid majority ( The Tornado).  It is very useful for HR as well.  If you have not read it – and are in any way in a high tech company – do so immediately. If its been awhile since you read it – its well worth the reread. It remains a concise book to company success and although an easy read , it is full of deep insights.

Traversing the Traction Gap. Bruce Cleveland. 2019. ISBN 9781635765748.  With a forward and collaboration with Geoffrey Moore this promises to be a very important book in the tech sector. The author and his group Wildcat Ventures has analyzed the getting to and through the Chasm in more detail  than ever before.  In our gotomarket practice we have seen the truths that Cleveland puts forward in many iterations in too many companies. A startup and young company should have this book handy through the several years and rough times that they need to weather.  Much of the necessary hard stuff can be planned for and mitigated if you follow what this book has to say.  It goes beyond MVCategory, through MVProduct to MVrevenue, to category lead then traction and scaling. The insights on the right team at all stages  is worth the price of the book.  This may become the tech book of the year.

Beauty in Red

Rebel Talent. Why it pays to break the rules at work and in life. Francesca Gino. 2018. ISBN 9780062694638.  The author is a Harvard business professor who researches the psychological, cultural and business structures which lead to growth, innovation and success. Since she uses the case study method, the book is a collection of case studies that she has collected in the  the course of her career. The studies are diverse and often ones you will not have read before. She has  knack of pulling out the inner stories of widely variable subjects like Napoleon, Houdini, Hot dogs, Italian high end cuisine, Landing a jet on the Hudson, Pixel and more. She has a tidy and compelling writing style . A good book for a summer read or a four hour flight. I read it almost non stop.

Peers Inc. How people and platforms are inventing the collaborative economy and reinventing capitalism. Robin Chase.  2015, ISBN 9781472233394. The author founded Zipcar and then sold it to Avis. She has become and advocate for the sharing economy.  This book is a very good precis of what is happening, why it should happen and what we need to do to help it.  She talks to economic inequality, the 1% issue, carbon tax necessity, global warming, climate change refugees. Blockchain and so much more.  A very interesting read , still topical and full of opportunities for us to take advantage of.  This is a round trip coast to coast read.  I took so many notes.

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Obsessive Genius. The inner world of Marie Curie. Barbara Goldsmith.2005. ISBN 9780393051377. I continue my reading on strong women scientists.  Marie Curie was treated as badly or worse than Ada Lovelace by the scientific male dominated community. She and her husband toiled in poverty  and relative obscurity and discovered radioactivity, radium , polonium. The spent many years of both their lives in finding medical and industrial usages of their discoveries, while paving the way for many many other scientists.  This book does a very good job of illustrating the tight circle of scientists that the Curies moved among.  All this in the build up to two great wars.  The writing is clear and concise and you get to identify with the whole Curie family. Tragically it was their dedication and selflessness that led to their own radioactive poisoning.

Smart Cities.  Big Data, Civic Hackers, and the Quest for a New Utopia. Anthony Townsend. 2013.  Slate magazine says,  “Townsend has collected fascinating stories of urban renewal and innovation from around the globe and packaged them into lessons that are neat and digestible”. Our City is pursuing an Intelligent City initiative and I found much useful information that applies in this book.   I especially found his views of bottom up initiatives  useful as that is the model my City is using.  He references many organizations and website that have some valuable ideas and programs for any City to investigate. Very much worth the read and this is an author to follow.

The introduction is available at npr.org.