Category: Non-Fiction

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Book Reviews Non-Fiction

Happiness At Work By Dr. Srikumar Rao – Parables And Advice That Could Be Life Changing

By now, I have joined the workforce for a decade and a half and I consider myself – after years of learning and finding my way – pretty happy at work.  I manage to maintain a good level of work life balance, I have built good rapport with my colleagues, and I take pride in my daily work that contributes at an organisational level.  OK, there are ups and downs.  But overall, I am contented.  So what can “Happiness at Work” possibly teach me?  It turns out that there are more than I have anticipated.  And throughout my working life thus far, I have met friends who are more prone to feeling angry, envious, afraid, exhausted, disgusted, drained, anxious, betrayed, confused, cheated, frustrated, guilty, humiliated, impatient, inadequate, vulnerable, manipulated, embarrassed, neglected, heartbroken, trapped, fatigue, victimized, resentful, or worn out – borrowing the descriptions from the book.  I sincerely wish that they could take some time, read this book, and make a positive change to their lives.

Reading “Happiness at Work” is a journey.  The author has divided the book into bite-size chapters filled with parables and advice.  The materials are largely derived from his experience of conducting workshops to corporate executives on this very topic.  Some of the parables and ideas, I observe, are based on Indian tradition or Buddhism so they could be familiar to some, intriguingly foreign to others.  Depending on your background and level of experience (or shall I say how unhappy you are at work in reality?), be prepared to be confronted and you may find yourself denying or not wanting to accept what the author says.  I too, at times.  But if you read this book with an open mind and go through the exercises as instructed by the author, you may be surprised at how you would view the world and yourself differently.  Some parables, you may recognize, are similar to other self help books or real life stories.  Such as the idea of beginning with an end in mind from the book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Steven Covey (which may also be based on materials from elsewhere).  Or the powerful theme of “This, too, shall pass” that I use daily, in fact, prior to reading this book.  There are still much to learn such as always being positive may not be the most ideal way of dealing with the external factors, investing on the process instead of the outcomes, understanding that there is no right or wrong and the different mental models that work or do not work for you, examining what happiness is and how some are able to attain that, and more.

One powerful lesson I have learned, perhaps, is that there is no dream job or passionate work.  Passion is what inside of us and our ideal job will find us once we start kindling that enthusiasm.  One colleague at work joked with me when he saw me carrying this book.  He said, “Are you not happy at work?  Why do you need to read this book?”.  I humbly think that even if you think you are happy at work, there are still much to learn, to your surprise.  “Happiness at Work” has a high re-read value as you would need practice and constant reminder to get the ideas to work.  And it can be a nice gift for your friends too.

External Sites: Purchase this book from Amazon.com, Dr. Rao’s official site.

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Book Reviews Non-Fiction

Numbers Rule Your World By Kaiser Fung – With Depth, And Figures To Support

It is hard not to make the comparison between “Numbers Rule Your World” and “Freakonomics”.  Even the book has made a reference once.  Ten real life case studies are used, paired up in five chapters, to illustrate how different aspects of statistics affect our lives.  Blogger statistician Kaiser Fung has made the topic surprisingly accessible, narrated in an engaging manner.  Each chapter, the author picks two contrasting statistically related topics, juxtaposes them by taking turn to have the story told, and arrives at a conclusion.  The narration is honest, impartially inquired from different angles.  One of the author’s objectives – besides convincing us that like it or not, numbers play a major role in our world today – I believe, is to expand our mind and horizon when interpreting certain situations as numbers are presented.  And to appreciate what goes on behind the scene in your everyday life.

To impart the various aspects of statistical thinking upon his readers, the author uses the case studies of highway engineers versus Disney ‘Imagineers’, epidemiologists versus credit modelers, insurers versus test developer (education), anti-doping agencies (sport) versus polygraph (lie detector), and the chances of jet crashes versus jackpots.  Each case study – unlike Freakonomics – is backed up sufficiently by figures and facts.  At times, I have to slow down my reading and think through the numbers, which I do greatly appreciate.

In practical term, how would reading “Numbers Rule Your World” help your work and life?  For one, when you take in the news around you, you may wish to see things in a different perspective.  Should you take in the reported figures on the papers as they are?  Why are things or processes made that way?  Some see an imminent risk, others do not.  Should you follow the crowd?  At the end of the book, the author has made a bold statement that if you know how to use numbers in making everyday decisions, you rule the world.  While I am unsure if most of us has the ability and even access to a reliable data-set in using numbers in making decisions, this book does change the way how I see this world operates when it comes down to numbers.

External Links: Purchase This Book from Amazon.com, the Author Kaiser Fung’s Website.

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Book Reviews Non-Fiction

Superfreakonomics By Levitt And Dubner – Good Conversational Materials (And It Stops There)

Although this book is not going to change the world – at least I do not think so – like its predecessor “Freakonomics”, “Superfreakonomics” is an entertaining read, full of good conversational materials.  That is, if you can remember the numbers and details.

Backed by numerous reports (the note section alone takes up 36 pages) and the authors’ personal interviews, “Superfreakonomics” does appear as a credible read.  Some parts, yes.  Others, draw criticism from others.  I personally find some of the topics non-conclusive.  Like the car seat experiment that the authors that have personally paid for.  If the conclusion is that Americans should not waste money in equipping car seats for children who are beyond a certain age, that message does not seem to come out clearly, from what the authors appear to lead me in believing with numbers and statistics.  And when the authors write on the topic of climate change, even I as someone not from the field nor has studied economy, I smell something not right.  Indeed, that chapter alone comes under fire from fellow economists and scientists.

All these aside, “Superfreakonomics” is a good effort in making cold hard numbers that the micro-economists study highly readable.  Some topics, I have already known.  Others, I thought I have known.  As random as the layout of the topics as it may seem, “Superfreaknomics” does start with [human] prostitution and end with [monkey] prostitution.  Below are my chapter-by-chapter thoughts.

Putting The Freak In Economics

An interesting introduction setting the stage of using observable statistics to look through the lens of an economist.  Walk drunk is more dangerous than drive drunk, more people are killed by elephants than sharks.  These are interesting topics.  But to single out one particular race and comment on their penis size not able to fit into the condoms?  My inquisition mind would direct to the investigation on why World Health Organization specs do not take that into account.  Instead of writing “penises too small … to fit” that set some readers’ minds wild (it is always fun to laugh at other people’s penis size without thinking that yours doesn’t enter into the Guinness Book of Record either), I would – if I have to – write, “The condoms are manufactured with the wrong specs that do not fit well.”  Then again, with such a non-sensational piece of writing, I doubt if it would fly as far as book sales is concerned.

Now, why am I so passionately defending another race?  I do not think that it is the right thing to write.  And I am pretty sure that my race does not enter into the Guinness Book of Record as the largest penis size on average either.

How Is A Street Prostitute Like A Department-store Santa?

I am not sure if I am 100% comfortable reading a chapter on the the pricing plan for the different tricks prostitutes turn nor the discount they give for various incentives.  If you are genuinely interested in this topic, I would strongly recommend books that are written from the sociology instead of the economics perspective.  I have read a few in the past.

Why Should Suicide Bombers Buy Life Insurance?

I see a subtle linkage between the topics on Islamic terrorists and the higher birth defect rate due to Ramadan (an Islamic tradition), innocent as it may seems.  While I am not entirely convinced on the latter, this chapter is an interesting read on how one’s birthday – from the cold eyes of the statisticians – affects one’s destiny significantly.  There is also a good write-up on the emergency room too.

I sincerely hope that terrorists will not pick up this book and read.  Ideas to more efficiently carry out terrorist acts and more effectively hide the identity?  Do we really need a book on “Terrorism For Dummy”?

Unbelievable Stories About Apathy And Altruism

I enjoy reading this chapter.  People may not be as altruistic as we think we are, nor with such apathy as we are told we are.  Some of the experiments are not new to me.  In Malcolm Gladwell’s “Tipping Point”, a case study is used to illustrate the power of tipping point.  It is a well known news – or so we think – that a number of witnesses in an American suburb failed to report a murder happened in their very street.  Malcolm Gladwell’s theory is that because people think that others would pick up the phone and call the police – since it was obvious that someone should because the murder happened just outside their houses – no one picked up the phone.

Now, if Levitt and Dubner is right that someone did and we are not as cold hearted as we are told we are, this would make the book “Tipping Point” looks really bad.

The Fix Is In – And It’s Cheap And Simple

I enjoy reading this chapter too.  Some fixes are indeed cheap and simple.  It is true that we love to complain, particularly about how terrible the modern world is compared with the past.  Many times in the past, we thought the situation was doomed and we managed to find a fix, much cheaper and simpler than what we would have imagined.  This gives hope and encouragement to today’s world of course.

What Do Al Gore And Mount Pinatubo Have In Common?

This chapter draws fire from the critics.  I can understand why.

If I read this chapter right, global warming is not as doomed as we think it is due to the followings.  First, every hundred years of so, a major volcano eruption sets the world back to global cooling, hence reverses the global warming effect.  Second, carbon dioxide is not the right villain (and immediately disputed by the source of that claim after the book is published).  Third, there is a cheap and easy way to send sulphur dioxide to the stratosphere high up in the sky using lightweight pipes supported by hot air balloons in order to cool our planet.  Is it necessary to spend trillions of dollars to tackle the global warming issue?  The authors appear to say no.

That, I have my doubt.

Monkeys Are People Too

A short chapter on how in an experiment, monkeys can be taught to use money to purchase food and services.  What does it really mean?  I do not know.  It is a great conversational material nonetheless.  Like the rest of the book.

Categories
Book Reviews Non-Fiction

Your Next Move by Michael Watkins – A Good Resource For Your Major Career Transitions

A new book by Michael Watkins
I have read Michael Watkins’s “The First 90 Days” quite a number of years ago.  Arguably one of the must-have books for the corporate executives.  In fact, the initial reception was so successful that the author has released a similar book targeting at the public sector.

6 years have passed since the author talked about critical success strategies for new leaders at all levels, what you should do and tackle on the first 90 days in your new role.  Like many I suppose (half a million English copies sold and translated to 26 languages), I have a high anticipation for “Your Next Move”.  Perhaps because I have gone through a few major career transitions in the past, or perhaps I may be anticipating a new move (don’t we all?), “Your Next Move” is an engaging read.  I find myself constantly reflecting on my past transitions as well as reflecting upon what some of my colleagues – my bosses included – have done right or wrong when they first stepped onto their new roles.

While it may take a C-level to fully benefit “Your Next Move” (i.e. CEO, COO, CFO, and etc.), executives in any form of leadership capacity should find the first 5 chapters (out of eight) useful.  Namely, the followings:

  • A promotion up the career ladder.
  • A promotion amongst your peers and now, you are the boss. 
  • A move from the position of authority to the position of influence.
  • Joining a new organization with a new corporate culture.
  • Relocating to a new geographic location and faced with a new culture.

Unless you have freshly graduated from school, you should have experienced at least one of the above transitions.  The author uses real life examples to kick start each chapter (masked by fictitious names of course) and present the unique challenges faced.  Guidelines to overcome the challenges are then presented in concise points that come with graphs, tables, and supported tools.  The materials are practical, down to earth.  One tip off my head is for those who are posted overseas to put family matters as the first priority and perhaps to start a blog to continue having family and friends’ support (!).  It is evident that they are a result of years of dialogue between the author and the leaders.  In several occasions, the author brings in different analogies to illustrate his points.  Such as the organizational resistance to change as compares to the immune system of our human body (that has its merit for being resistance to potentially bad changes).  Or to apply engineer’s thermodynamics concept to an organization environment.

The last three chapters are more for those who are in the position to turnaround an organization in trouble and to realign an organization in dire need for change.  To accomplish that, the author introduces the STARS model – start-up, turnaround, accelerated growth, realignment, and sustaining success.  And for those who are in the field of human resource or organizational excellence, there is also a concluding chapter on the design of “companywide transition-acceleration systems”.  A list of what company can do to help new leaders in transition.

As a final note, “Your Next Move” covers a wide range of topics on career transition that also includes organization politics, which I find valuable as it is not a topic that can be easily dealt with.  Useful tools aside, it is certainly a good set of checklists and tips (or guidelines) based on the lessons learned of many.  Some of which I wish I had a chance to read during my past career transitions.

Hardcover: 256 pages
Suggested Retail Price: S$43.50 (US$26.95)
Publisher: Harvard Business School Press (October 6, 2009)
ISBN-10: 1422147630
ISBN-13: 978-1422147634

You may wish to get this book from Amazon.com.

Categories
Book Reviews Non-Fiction

The Case For God By Karen Armstrong – What Religion Really Means?

A new book from Karen Armstrong

Karen Armstrong is right.  Any book about God is not going to be an easy read.  At least she put it upfront via one of her readers’ feedback.  Compare “The Case For God” to her shorter books I have read “Islam” and “The Bible”, this book is an intense read for two reasons.  One, the variety of topics.  Not only is she well versed in the three monotheism, but also the ancient religions too.  Theology aside, Karen Armstrong ventures deep into philosophy and science supported by historical events that spans a vast timeline of 30,000 BCE to the present.  Two, “The Case For God” requires the readers to think deep into the unfamiliar grounds (unless you are of the author’s caliber) as the author builds up the case that only becomes clear at the second half of the very last chapter: Death of God?

We live in a perplexing time, according to the author.  For the first time in history, many of us (especially in the West I suppose) do not want anything to do with God.  New atheists insist that all the modern world’s problems are entirely due to religion.  At the same time, religious fundamentalists also develop an exaggerated view of their enemy as the epitome of evil.  As for the faithfully devoted, do we have the right concept of what religion really means?  The good news is, as observed by the author, we are currently experiencing a religious revival.  But the question remains: Where shall we go from here?  In what form?

On that end, Karen Armstrong aims to bring something new to the table, in this perplexing time of ours.  Her aim of this book is not to give an exhaustive account of religion in any given period – her other books have taken care of that I believe – but to highlight the trend of the apophatic (of the belief that God can only be known to us as what He is not, i.e. God is unknowable).  This trend speaks highly of our current religion perplexity.

To understand this trend, Karen Armstrong brings us back to the caves of 30,000 BCE where religion was first practiced.  Back in the old days, religion is an attempt to construct meaning in the face of relentless pain and injustice of life.  For our ancestors, to experience religion is like to experience ekstasis (a Greek word ecstasy, literally ‘stepping out’, to go beyond the self and to transcend normal experience).  It is to step out of the prism of ego and experience the divine.  In the beginning, no one knows what God is, set aside God’s existence (more correctly, in the beginning, there was no concept of one God).  When Buddha’s disciple asked was there a God, had the world created in time or had it always existed, Buddha’s reply was: What difference would it make to discover that a god had created the world?  Pain, hatred, grief and sorrow would still exist.  And in the beginning, the two aspects of the religion – logos (reason) and mythos (myth) – coexists.  Mythos is an important aspect as a living religion needs to be practiced upon, via rituals and the various forms of meditation.

Pre-modern religion according to the author has three principles that are of importance to our trend.  First, the nature of the ultimate reality (later called God).  Second, religious discourse was not intended to be understood literally.  And third, the truth of religion are accessible only when you are prepared to get rid of the selfishness, greed and self-preoccupation that, perhaps inevitably, are engrained in our thoughts and behaviour but are also the source of so much of our pain.  Besides exploring in detail of Aryan’s Brahman as an illustration to pre-modern religion, the author also highlighted that religion as defined by the great sages of India, China, and the Middle East was not a notional activity but a practical one.

With the story of Eden came the concept of one God, of which Judaism – and later Christianity and Islam – was born.  As we progressed, we entered the age of reasoning.  Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and other fellow philosophers all played an important part in shaping our religious trend.  To Socrates, an unexamined life is not worth living.  According to Plato’s The Laws, there are three articles of faith: that gods existed, that they care for human beings, and that they could not be influenced by sacrifice and worship.  And to Aristotle, the life according to reason is best and pleasantest since reason, more than anything else, is man.

Towards the end of 1500 CE, the influx of the new knowledge – of religion and philosophy – sparkled an intellectual renaissance.  We created faith (it was purely a matter of commitment and practical living), doctrines, and we elevated theology to a state of arid theoretic.  What happened to the old mystical theology that had been accessible all the faithful?  As we were reasoning with the unknown, without the discipline of the apophatic, we were in danger of becoming idolatrous.  And with that, Karen Armstrong has ended part one – The Unknown God – and moved onto the era of The Modern God starting 1500 CE.

In modern time, we see a constant conflict between science and religion that it ought not to be.  The two are not supposed to be merged.  According to Augustine’s principle of accommodation, a scriptural text should be reinterpreted if it clashed with science.  Early science was rooted in faith.  Scientists often linked their discoveries to the divinity.  Kepler mentioned that the study of geometry was the study of God, and by studying the mathematical laws that inform all natural phenomena, we communicate with the divine mind.  Similarly, Galileo, Isaac Newton, and many others during that period of time. 

16th century sees the acceleration of Secularisation due to three crucial and formative movements: the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Scientific Revolution.  And in the mist of all the conflicts of that time, philosopher Descartes attempted to find a truth on which everybody could agree – Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, deists, and ‘atheists’ – so that all people of goodwill could live together in peace.  His most famous phase, I believe, is cogito ergo sum – ‘ I think therefore I am’ – making the experience of doubt the foundation of certainty.

Back then (probably even now), science, and not religion, was the path to the truth.  We examined things of the smallest scale through the microscopes to the things of the largest scale through the telescopes and we could not find God.  Religions in reaction to the attack by science have become more and more rigid.  We have moved into the age of Atheism led by the ideas and discoveries by Karl Max, Charles Darwin, and Sigmund Freud.  God did not exist (Max), God had certainly not created the world exactly as we knew it (Darwin), and God was indeed dead (Freud).

To make things worst, advance in military strength led us to the world wars.  Holocaust survivor and Nobel Price winner Elie Wiesel believed that God died in Auschwitz after witnessing the slow death of a child hanged by a Gestapo in front of all the prisoners.  Where is God in our modern world?

The last chapter of the book “Death of God?” is perhaps the climax of the entire book.  In that chapter, Karen Armstrong highlighted the flaws of the new atheism and pledged for an open dialogue between the theologists and the new atheists.  She also highlighted the origin of fundamentalism, with Islam as the last of the three monotheism to develop a fundamentalist strain.  In this challenging time of ours, not all hopes are lost.  We have advanced science to such a state whereby we know there is always an unknown and whatever we have proved today may not be correct in the future.  We too should stress the importance of the apophatic.  God is unknowable and religion is to be practiced upon, for that ekstasis.  I in especially enjoy reading the epilogue and the following paragraph has much impact on me, a good example of mytho.

One day a Brahmin priest came across the Buddha sitting in a contemplation under a tree and was astonished by his serenity, stillness and self-discipline.  The impression of immense strength channelled creatively into an extraordinary peace reminded him of a great tusker elephant.  ‘Are you a god, sir?’ the priest asked.  ‘Are you an angel … or a spirit?’  No, the Buddha replied.  He explained that he had simply revealed a new potential in human nature.  It was possible to living this world of conflict and pain at peace and in harmony with one’s fellow creatures.  There was no point in merely believing it; you would only discover its truth if you practised his method, systematically cutting off egotism at the root.  You would then live at he peak of your capacity, activate parts of the psyche that normally lie dormant, and become fully enlightened human beings.  ‘Remember me,’ the Buddha told the curious priest, ‘as one who is awake.’

Afterthought: “The Case For God” is certainly no easy read for me.  It took me a long time to read, re-read, make notes, and to get to the bottom of what some of the words mean for this is not a familiar topic of mine.  This book mostly focuses on the theology, science, and the philosophy of the West.  I don’t think it really matters which religion you are from (I am a Catholic).  We live in an extremely connected world today.  And hence, this trend affects you and I, no matter how far apart we physically are.

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Book Reviews Non-Fiction

The Silver Lining by Scott D. Anthony – Now It’s the Time to Innovate

The Silver Lining

“The Silver Lining” is a timely read.  Great Disruption is here, today.  Just about half a year or so ago, companies were further revising down their targets, cutting cost, and have stayed cautious for the uncertain times.  The economic downturn affects both the multinational corporations and the local companies.  I have had a chat with some of the local business owners and all of them have experienced some level of hardship with their business, have made or at the verge of making some difficult decisions.  As for myself, an employee of a MNC, I too am frustrated with the disruption to the funding that is much needed to continue fueling some of the key initiatives.

The bad news is: resource has become scarce.  The good news is: constraint is the enabler of innovation as pointed out by the author of “Silver Lining”.  It is the time to transform and leave the old market.  Because for many, not to transform is the way to extinction.  Scott Anthony uses case studies from Cisco, Google, Nintendo, Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, Procter & Gamble, and more to illustrate what they have done differently from others, in making them successful through the challenging times.

What strikes me as the most interesting idea from this book is that innovation is not necessarily a random encounter.  Instead, it is a discipline that can be structured for success.  In his book, Scott Anthony shares with us a toolkit to audit the organization’s innovation capabilities.  He takes us through the pruning and diversification of the innovation portfolio, how we can ‘refeature’ our offerings in order to cut cost, and how we can effectively innovate.

Some of you may ask: how exactly can we innovate besides gathering a group of people with diverse disciplines and hope for some big ideas to spark off?  The organization and the internal processes have to be structured in a way to make innovation repeatable, hence increases the innovation productivity.  We have to be creative to experiment and test our key assumptions.  Sharing the innovation load can be an option too if we need to lower the expenses and risk.  And in uncertainty times, we may need to look into the ‘low end’ and see what customers value.  All the details can be found inside the book.  “Silver Lining” ends with one chapter on how you can strengthen your personal innovation muscle (which I find it useful) and another one – which is my favorite – on the 10 disruptive developments to watch today according to Scott Anthony.

Excess is a root cause of many innovation struggle.  There are already organizations out there that look at the current time of uncertainty as their silver lining.  New innovation is brewing in the horizon ready to change the game.  The question is: will your organization emerge as a winner?

Hardcover: 145 pages
Publisher: Harvard Business Press (June 1, 2009)
ISBN-10: 1422139018
ISBN-13: 978-1422139011

You may wish to get this from Amazon.com.

Official Site: The Silver Lining Playbook.

Categories
Book Reviews Non-Fiction

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami – An Inspirational Read

Haruki Murakami's Running

Recently, I have started reading the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami’s works and I love them immensely.  The rather long short stories collection “Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” and the rather short full length novel “After Dark”.  When I saw his [rather short] memoir on the book shelf using running as a central theme, as someone who enjoys jogging once in a blue moon, I bought the book thinking that I may like it.  In fact, more than so, I love “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running”.

I often wonder who this person Haruki Murakami is behind the books that are written with such mystery, dreamy abstraction, darkness, and loneliness.  The shocking revelation is that Murakami is someone whom I can relate to.  In his memoir, he talks about him being a workhorse and not a racehorse; on why he prefers sports and activities that he can set his own goals; on the good things derives from “life is not fair”; and amongst other life philosophy of his.  Besides a glimpse of what kind of music he listens to, what products he uses – all in relationship to jogging of course – at the age of 60 (which he did not even mention in his memoir), he has run and completed more marathons and triathlons than most people I know.  Majority of the contents evolve around how he prepares for all these races, mantras that he has derived, and some of the jogging journals – success or failure, official or unofficial (such as running from the Greece town Marathon to Athens – the original marathon in reverse direction as well as an ultramarathon) – all of which are inspirational even if you are not a runner.

“Running” is not your typical page turner.  Some parts on how much pain he suffered and overcame are rather painful to read.  In fact, reading “Running” reminds me of my own rather painful experience back in Mount Kinabalu trip whereby some are touched by my personal journal.  If you enjoy running and or writing, “Running” is a strong recommendation.  In his book, Murakami shares the quality and attributes a novelist should possess.  A humbly written memoir, this book certainly touches me.  I especially admire how he would like his gravestone to say.  And I won’t spoil your reading pleasant by sharing it here.

Categories
Book Reviews Non-Fiction

Mission, Inc. by Kevin Lynch and Julius Walls, Jr. – Using Business for the Common Good, Yes We Can

Mission Inc

By the authors’ definition, social enterprises are businesses whose purpose is to change the world for the common good.  And “Mission, Inc.” is a practitioner’s guide of building and sustaining such businesses of unique nature.

Maybe you too share the same sentiment with me and wonder why our economy rewards businesses that do not bear the full cost of the products they sell, passing the true cost to our next generations or the indigenous peoples.  There are initiatives out there such as the Equator Principles (see Wikipedia) as guidelines for the institutions to finance with the environmental and social responsibilities in mind.  And there are social enterprises of various forms – for-profit or nonprofit – that compete with the traditional business.  As the authors rightfully put, to change the world, your business has to be successful.  To be successful as a social enterprise faces a different set of challenges.  “Mission, Inc.” tackles these challenges by unlocking the ten paradoxes of social enterprise interjects with lots of concise and relevant tips and formula.

Kevin Lynch is the president of Rebuild Resources and Julius Walls, Jr. is the president and CEO of Greyston Bakery.  Both come with solid credential in this topic.  I would describe their book collaboration as passionate, honest, packed with useful tools and real life stories from more than a dozen social enterprises.

Though I am not from the social enterprise background, there are quite a number of major takeaways for me.  I enjoy reading the various aspects of running a business condensed into something easy to absorb.  Like how to derive a business plan, how to read the company financials (I am hopeless when it comes to balance sheet and income statement), the practical ways to enhance the internal process within an organization, and more.  For those who are already in this business or planning to join one, “Mission, Inc.” is a strong recommendation.  For the rest, “Mission, Inc.” opens our eyes to the reality of using business for the common good.  I am very keen to see the day when social enterprise passes the tipping point.  What a world it would be.

Paperback: 187 pages
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers (January 1, 2009)
ISBN-10: 1576754790
ISBN-13: 978-1576754795

You may wish to get the book from Amazon.com.

Categories
Book Reviews Non-Fiction

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby – Getting the Most from Your Software

Lightroom 2 Book by Scott Kelby

I own the full version of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 and have bought and read this guidebook prior to trying out the software, when I was holidaying in Bandung.  And it was not the first time I read a guidebook before even trying out a product.  I read a book on Canon 40D and have decided to buy a Nikon dSLR instead.  Bizarre as it may sound – as people normally do it the other way round – I reckon I value tips and advices from the experts with hands-on experience more than my own initial discovery journey (besides, I am a lazy guy at times).  Also, if I don’t find things that excite me from these experts, I wouldn’t find the product exciting anyway.

But that is just me.  If you are interested in buying a guidebook, I reckon you must have started playing around with Lightroom 2.

As a side note, this is not a review on the product itself.  Stay tune.  I am writing an article on that and more.

If you have read the previous works by Scott Kelby, this book does not disappoint.  Perhaps more a step-by-step approach compares to the short and sweet and humorous style of his Digital Photography Book Vol. 1 & 2, his personality and honestly still shines the same way.  You can clearly see that Scott Kelby has a lot of passion using this software that is designed from ground up for the digital photographers; you can also feel his frustration on some of the functionalities and features that Lightroom 2 does not do too well. 

I know your time is precious.  So here are my thoughts after reading this book once, and then more.

  • In theory, you could learn all the hot keys and where is what from the online manual.  In reality, I find it hard to internalize all these to put them in good use.  This book is a wonder.  It is as though you have a tutor siting by your side walking you through what you ought to know while sharing his experience along the way.  When I first downloaded the Lightroom 2 trial version, I was just a little bit overwhelmed.  I referred to the book every now and then and in no time, I surfed through what I need to do at ease.  In short, I spend more time developing my photos than trying to make the software works for me.
  • This book is organized much like how the software is structured: library, develop, slideshow, print, and web.  In each section, not only does the author tell you all that you need to know, Scott Kelby does share much of his wisdom beyond the step-by-step guide.  From his advise on the digital format that he would use and why, to getting that trendy, gritty portrait look that is highly sought after in the commercial market these days.  And there are lots of tips on how to add punches to your photos.  There is even a chapter on how to merge HDR images in Photoshop.  As a small disclaimer, I did try out some of his highly skilled tricks and somehow, the results are not as fantastic.  I am pretty sure that it was my photos and less on the author’s wisdom.  Most of the tips they work as they should be.
  • What I find most fun (and inspiring) to read is the last chapter on his step-by-step on-location portrait shoot process.  I think in time to come, all of us photographers would develop one work-flow that works best for our individual need and artistic inclination.  But it is good to read how the professionals work in real life, what they use, how they do certain things, and why.

If you feel that you may wish to get the most out of your software, this book is it.  You can spend S$63 to buy one in Singapore.  Or order from Amazon.com, it is US$30 before shipping –The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter).

Categories
Book Reviews Non-Fiction

Leadership in the Era of Economic Uncertainty by Ram Charan – Loud and Clear, Concise Yet Actionable

Leadership in the Era of Economic Uncertainty

The message is clear, the timing couldn’t be more appropriate, getting the right things done in difficult times calls for a different kind of leadership, a different set of strategy.  It is because the rules have changed.  Global economy no longer favors a revenue growth strategy; profitability and cash-efficiency are now the keys to survival.  “Leadership in the Era of Economic Uncertainty” is as current as a business book can get.  As mentioned in the book, liquidity crisis in September 2008 has brought down a few US Investment Banks; by November, our world economy has entered into recession or a slowdown in growth for some countries.   Ram Charan – a world-renowned adviser to business leaders and corporate boards – makes it loud and clear that unless the business leaders do the right things, they would well be joining the list of Richard Fuld of Lehman Brothers, James Cayne of Bear Stearns, Daniel Mudd of Fannie Mae, Richard Syron of Freddie Mac, Martin Sullivan of AIG, Ken Thompson of Wachovia, Alan Fishman of Washington Mutual, and Fred Goodwin of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

“Leadership” is primarily targeted to the CEO, CFO, COO, Business Segment Managers, the Board of Directors, and their supporting offices.  It also touches onto other key supporting units such as Research & Development, Public Relations & Investor Relations, Human Resources, Information Technology, Supply Chain, and General Counsel.  Starting with the CEO role, Ram Charan has authoritatively stressed the importance of cash efficiency, the intensified real time management mandate, the decisive confidence that a CEO must exhibit, amongst other essential leadership traits that he has highlighted in his book.

For the Sales and Marketing people at the front lines, what should the new organizational structure be?  How should the new set of key performance indicators be like in this downturn?  Which customers to drop?  How to protect brand reputation? 

For the CFO, in this toxic environment, being called to step up as a leader of the organization, what are the things that need to be done?  Do people outside the CFO office understand the effects and impact of a shortage of liquidity and how their decisions can affect liquidity?  Are the real time metrics of cash flow, cash generation, cash collection, cash usage, and etc. ready at hand?  Can the budgeting process become a streamline exercise that only takes a few days?

For the COO, what is the lowest cash break even point that is achievable?  How to get there?  For the R&D, how to make the best use of resources?  For the Supply Chain, how not to compromise cash flow and customer service?  For the HR, what are the considerations for head count reduction?  What about compensation, succession and talent planning, and training?  For the Board of Directors, what kind of guidance shall be given during hard times?

According to Ram Charan, for those companies that survive this economic uncertainty, they will emerge smaller, fewer customers, sell fewer products, fewer suppliers, few layer of management.  However, the process will be simpler and more efficient and the company will become stronger.  “Leadership” is concise (138 pages) and after working in the consulting and corporate environment for more than a decade, I believe that it is of beneficial to the business leaders and their supporting officers as well as the internal and external advisers to the business.  Even for those who have just started their career, this is a good book to give the readers an overview on the key components of an organization and the role each component plays.  I wish I had read such a book when I was much younger.

Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (December 22, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0071626166
ISBN-13: 978-0071626163

External Link: Ram Charan