Crucial Conversations

Excellent book that will need to be reread several times.

Central concepts:
- we either retreat into silence or violence
- we must look for share goals or mutual purpose
- we tell ourselves stories
- challenge our facts and the way we are feeling

To be updated

Why not?

by Barry Nalebuff & Ian Ayres

This book sets out a method for finding ideas. It's expanded my thinking on how to generate ideas. Of course, the proof will be in the implementation. I'll let you know!

Some of the methods from the book:
1) Look for problems - what could solve it?
2) Look for solutions - are there any problems that they could also apply to?
3) How could you solve the problem if you were extremely wealthy?
4) What happens if you flip the problem/solution around?
5) Can you internalise some of the negative externalities caused?
6) Set some unbreakable principles of the problem to help generate ideas

This book got me thinking about the advantage of being the first follower ie. once you know someone has been successful with a new idea. Take their lessons and implement/execute far better...

How to read

I have a 3 stage reading method. I start by reading a lot of blogs and doing lots of research on books to buy. I then check out the books I'm interested in very quickly in a bookshop if possible.

After I've bought the book I will read quite quickly (although should probably scan read more). If the book is any good I will add it to my re-read pile. The books that make it to this stage get read a bit more slowly and I write notes throughout which are then summarised .

I try to refer to my notes often and keep trying to implement the ideas (the principle that knowledge not used is quickly lost). Then the really exceptional books I will read again and will study, quiz myself, present on it etc Basically anything I can do to internalise the whole book!

In Summary:
1-pass: v.quick read 1-3 hrs
2-pass: slow read writing notes throughout. Then summaries notes & blog :)
3-pass: study & analyse feeling that I could write a thesis/give a keynote speech on it!

Synchronicity

by Joseph Jaworski

3 ways to achieve sense of ‘oneness’ and synchronicity:

1. Way we think about the world: shift mental model from seeing the world as fixed to very open. Think of quantum physics where matter is all interconnected. Possibility is everywhere and we are creating the future every moment.

2. Understanding of relationships: the world is fundamentally connected. We must accept one another as legitimate human beings and that we are in a relationship with all of them.

3. Commitment: An openness to all opportunities presented to us and a willingness not to be trapped with a fixed view of the world.

Notion of servant leadership ie. Leaders serve their followers

Remarkable insight into scenario planning used at Shell.

3,756,223 snow flakes on a branch. One more lands and the branch breaks.

Fish!

by Stephen Lundin, Harry Paul & John Christensen

This is an average book about a great real-life story of the Pike Place Fish market in Seattle. These guys were working in a fairly grotty job and decided to change the way they worked by having lots more fun! I'd highly recommend the video which is about 10 minutes long and demonstrates the 4 principles with footage from the actual fish market.

4 fish principles:
- Play: have fun!
- Make their day: include your customers
- Choose your attitude: they decided to be world famous :)
- Be Present: be right there with your customers

These principles are for creating a great team morale (which in turn produces results) but a ground swell of support for doing this and applying to your day job can be tricky. I'm very keen on generating a fun and supportive team culture and the ideas in this book/video will be helpful.

On Writing Well

by William Zinsser (audiobook)

This was my first foray into the world of audiobooks. Whilst the amount of content had to be much reduced it was great to hear the words of the author from his own mouth.

The two tests of knowledge are: can you remember it and can you use it. This audiobook has scored highly in both. I've applied these principles frequently at work and can remember them all. I found the concepts much easier to learn as they were repeated and continually emphasised by the author. I wonder if it would be helpful to both read a book on a subject and hear the audiobook so the principles really do sink in.

4 key points to consider when writing:
1) Clarity - is your message clear?
2) Simplicity - eliminate any excessive verbosity :)
3) Brevity - cut in half your last piece of writing
4) Humanity - is it you?

Critical Chains

by Eliyahu M. Goldratt

Recently read this great book on project management. It's a novel that revoles around four exec MBA students that need to rapidly speed up their projects and their professor who is desperately seeking tenure.

Here are the main points that stayed with me after reading the book:

• Uncertainty causes project delays
• Focus is the one key thing for PMs. They lose it by starting everything at once
• Progress reports push project managers off critical path. How? Focus on everything not most important things
• Delays are the biggest financial impact by far
• Got to see reality ie MBAs aren’t needed for recruiting anymore
• Early/on-time projects aren’t rewarded enough
• Everybody puts in lots of slack re their projects – safety
• The lower down people are the more they blame internally
• Don’t use cheap vendors to make a small % cost saving – delays will cost you so much more
• Use of buffers: project, feeder & resource
• Sort out bottlenecks -> weakest link in project first
• Control cost and protect throughput
• Focus on the weakest part – sort out the bottleneck
• Keep strengething until the weakest link changes
• Wrong metrics drive completely the wrong behaviours
• Resource contention – creates the critical chain where critical path based on resources that are the bottleneck. ToC – Theory of Constraints