There are few books that I liked as much as Scott Adams’ book. I have found his mindset very close to mine, and the things he said in this book resonated with me for this reason. Unlike other books, I won’t list everything I liked in the book since it would be impossible for a LinkedIn post to cover them all. But there are a couple of things I especially liked in his mentality:...
Another day and another book review. What if you start telling a fundamentally different idea to your set of beliefs you developed over the years as a manager: “Everyone is smart, and I will let them figure out.” This is the basic premise of the book Multipliers. This idea comes with a lot of implicit actions. If you believe they are smart, you start changing your behaviors towards your teams:...
The message of the book is straightforward. Start with Why instead of what and how. Several takeaways from the book: You can constructively challenge presumptions and assumptions by exploring their reasons to exist. Asking why can reveal problems that are wasting resources. You can inspire people if you explain the why clearly to them. “Why” can help you find the people you need or join the groups you feel belong to....
“Permission to screw up” by Kristen Hadeed was a worthy two-day reading and fun get-away from more hardcore leadership books that I have been reading lately. The exciting aspect of this book is that it does not teach you anything new, perhaps. But it certainly makes you feel what leadership is about, and sometimes, it is more critical than just knowing. The book teaches you not the hardship but the magnitude of it that comes with leadership....
Today I have finished “Essentialism,” and here are my thoughts about it in the essential amount: The essence of essentialism is to say either “HELL YES” or “No” to any responsibility life throws at us. Meaning that the criteria for saying “yes” must be a high return on investment and clarity, or it is simply a “no.” The reason is simple: You don’t have enough time for everything, and you need to find the impactful work that creates the most significant impact to optimally use your time, body, and mind....
When I like a book, the first thing I do after reading it is to check to referenced books at the end of it. By doing that, I end up reading books that I like, at least most of the time. Today, I want to share my thoughts on “The Next Level” by Scott Eblin. It was referenced in the “Hacking Executive Leadership” book. When stepping up into the next level in your career, we need to pick up new skills and mindsets and let go of other ones in three areas:...
I finished reading “Leading Change” by John P. Kotter this week. Here is my quick review of this book. Change is inevitable, but it gets complicated as its size and interconnectedness increase. Inertia sets in overtime. Long-standing successful companies develop managers who keep the system stable instead of leaders. People lose sight of external dynamics changing the world around them. And, companies lose their competitiveness dramatically in this fast-changing world. It is changing because of the competition....
Hacking Executive Leadership is one of the books I have enjoyed reading for some time. It offers concise suggestions to some of the most common leadership problems. These problems include: Handling failure Managing your self-image and beliefs Indecisiveness Perfection Hiring and Firing Varying natures of people around Perhaps the most compelling part of the book is the mindset and perspectives it provides. It takes failure, self-criticizing, and self-worth from different aspects and approaches them from a pragmatic point of view, and uses assuring yet natural language....
Another fantastic read this week. How do you make sense from various data points? Comparing one number to another is weak and limited many times as it won’t give enough context. Hence, it would be best if you had a complete picture to compare the numbers in a more global context. For this need, the time series plots come in. But now you have more data to analyze. How do you distinguish signal from noise?...
“Six Sigma for Everyone” book was another excellent read for me this week. I particularly love books that also provide the history of the subject, and George Eckes did exactly that. I was actually surprised to know that Six Sigma was developed by a smart engineer in my old company Motorola Solutions. No wonder that company has been defeating many market ups and downs for more than 90 years. The innovative spirit and the management support for quality pay off in the long term....