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)

The New Confessions of an Economic Hitman. John Perkins.  2016. ISBN 9781626566750.  If you don’t read about the international crooks you will not recognize them at home.  The author worked many years as an EHM. He was trained to go into third world or struggling countries to inflate growth projections from large infrastructure projects  ( Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Panama etc). These projects would then be funded by the World Bank and others and the country would be loaded up with debt.  . The money lent would go to US firms to do the work (of course some $  would find its way into select in country pockets).  The US engineering/construction company owners would pocket huge profits.

The projects would under deliver and the country would not be able to pay even the interest on these huge loans.  The US would pressure the govts to take on more debt, vote certain ways at the UN , buy more US products and so on.. The peoples’ lives would get worse not better. ( shades of the banana king and 1MDB )  If the govts did not play ball with US plans, regime change, assassination etc. would happen (Chile, Honduras, Ecuador, Panama.  Wrap a large disinformation campaign about this all.   You could not make this stuff up.  The author points out now that the same tricks are going on in US states with big projects and perhaps even in Canada.

A potent read, albeit the author is not concise enough for me. The story speaks very loud about the dangers of these large US companies, the military industrial complex and US policy.  Evidently China is following the same US playbook.

Becoming. Michelle Obama. 2018.  On one hand a singular job of writing about quite an amazing life and on the other a touching illustration of one person’s humanity.   Quite a well done book that should give hope and guidance to generations of minority and disadvantaged youth for years to come. You live their life and feel how they felt and still fell.  One of those books you do not feel like putting down.  Very worth the read and clearly written with good pace.

The Prosperity Paradox. How Innovations Can Life Nations Our of Poverty. Clayton M. Christensen. 2019.  ISBN 9780062851826.    Christensen is the most respected name in  any discussion of innovation with numerous relevant books to his name.  ( E.g. The Innovators Dilemma). He turns his attention to how can you turn around poverty . Using his theory of Jobs That Need to Be Done, he reverses our view from providing infrastructure first ( Banking, Ports, water systems  justice, anticorruption etc) to what inhibits the day to day life of the common man. He provides many case studies from American history and modern third world entrepreneurs who had to “do it all ” in order to build their companies, and put in place the infrastructure needed.  and examples of huge failed projects.   His point of view just makes so much sense, his chapter of corruption shining a fresh light on the subject.   Very readable with his detailed  footnotes that are as valuable as the text.

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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Aldous Huxley, Famous Last Words (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Brave New World Revisited. Aldous Huxley. 1958. ISBN 0795300166. Twenty-seven years after writing Brave New World , Huxley revisited his despairing view of the world trends and found that the downward spiral had accelerated. People were entranced by TV so that “amusing themselves to death” was trivializing history, politics and journalism.  Propaganda was replacing truth and repeating a lie often enough was a set policy. Demagogues and dictatorships were following his cookbook for control. Creation of short sound bites had replaced intelligent discourse.  A president was reduced to a TV personality . The pursuit of recreation had supplanted most of the non working life. The power elites were grabbing more of the wealth and control with the disparity tween top and the  rest widening.  What is telling is this was in 1958 and if he was alive today and saw the state of the US and other large countries he would not be surprised.  A thinking person should be quite taken with his prescience.  Every educated person should read this and Brave New World. An easy read but also disquieting.

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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.

The Power of Moments. Why certain moments have extraordinary impact. Chip Heath and Dan Heath. 2017. ISBN 1501147760.  An extraordinary book. The authors have crystallized in quite a short book how to make a major leadership impact though using certain moments in everyday life.  Using four imaging ares of Elevation, Insight, Pride and Connection this book will help you in all parts of your life.  I can see where this would have helped my elevate my teaching times, management roles and personal life.  I recommend this book for all managers as well as individuals. There is a wealth of resources that go with the book at www.heathbrothers.com/moments

Finding My Virginity. The new autobiography. Richard Branson. 2017.  ISBN 9780735219434.  Well,  you could not find a more elaborate showman than Branson and he certainly has no issues with tooting his own horn ( Now for the second time) .  That said he is also a master of the story so each chapter is an unique and compelling story. the copy is fresh , insightful (perhaps a tad self seeking) . Today’s leader would learn much from Branson’s breezy leadership style.  While staying in Australia I chatted to relatives who were among the early Virgin Blue employees and they could not say enough good things about the man and his leadership team.  The breadth of his efforts is astonishing, from telecom through to health and space. In one story Branson makes a very good argument for the moving of drug and addiction/treatment  from being a criminal to a health problem. We saw this working well in Portugal which has decriminalized all drug and addiction issues.  Each chapter/story pulls you forward through this substantial book until nothing he does could surprise you.  So I advise reading the book.

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South! The story of Shackeltons last expedition 1914-1917. Sir Earnest Shackelton.

I have read parts of this book, watched a few documentaries,  heard lectures on Shackelton and seen many of the points of land he talks about while cruising the Antarctic. Yet the book still takes you well beyond all that. It is an inspiring story about will, leadership, skill and perseverance that would resonate with many of today’s leaders.  This issue includes the three parts of the voyage; the trapping of the Endurance and Shackelton’s heroic seamanship and struggles to  get to South Georgia in a very small sailboat and the rescue of the men on Elephant Island, the men left ashore when the Aurora is cast adrift and their work/travails at establishing supply depots across the shelf, and the voyage and rescue of the Aurora and its crew. Plus the appendices contain records of the meteorologic , geological and ice studies carried a out as well as a good analysis of the whaling activities in the areas.  Through it all the author maintains a laconic, non boastful accomplished style, sadly lacking in much of today’s self aggrandizing press.  I highly recommend this book.

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