My reading list from 2021

Here are my readings from 2021, with my personal ranking. With a mix of fiction, general learning and business reading, it's about comparing peers to apples, but I like compote :-).

I use also this opportunity to recommend the app Readwise (https://readwise.io/), that helps me getting more value from my readings. With that simple app, I 1/ select highlights I'd like to get reminded about and add them to my "highlight library" 2/ get random daily reminders of highlights from the highlight library.

1. "Factfulness"

A must-read to get a fresh, optimistic look on the world. Based on facts, statistics, the book demonstrates that humanity has done tremendous progress for better prosperity, health, happiness... For sure, there are challenges ahead (such as climate change), but always good to get reminded about the "half full" glass. One thing I take away is to avoid clichés about "third world", and think more about similar behaviors and expectations based on the category of revenue one falls in.

2. "The principles of product development flow"

I was looking for a good reading mixing lean concepts and product development (R&D), which has some specific needs. For example, variability is an enemy for lean manufacturing, but variability is welcome in R&D as if there was no changing demand, there would be no need to develop something new and therefore no R&D (to make it short). In this book, some "principles" are proposed to move to a lean R&D. No surprises, it's about decreasing Work In Progress, Queue size... classical lean concepts but that need to be redefined when talking about development activities.

3a and 3b. "The body" and "A short story of nearly everything"

These ones are fun-to-read, while still providing a new learning at each page. Titles are self-explaining: "The body" is organized in chapters about specific parts of our bodies and provides interesting historical and scientific facts about each of them. The "Short history" is a journey from the start of the universe to modern times, here again with the same mix of science, history and humor.

4. "Blackout"

The best fiction novel I read this year. The principle is simple: what would happen if we lost electricity for a few days...and how fast the world would turn into chaos... Very relevant topic in this period with all the debates about energy sources and national sovereignty...

Now, I think twice about the supply stock I keep in my basement...

5. "The design thinking playbook"

I wanted to get introduce to design thinking principles and this book is a good introduction. However, when you are familiar with Agile, and Lean concepts, learnings are relatively limited. Structure of the book is also not very linear and easy to follow, with some chapters I thought quite not-so-relevant with the main topics of the book.

6. "The spy and the traitor"

When I bought it, I thought it was a fiction novel. In reality, this is a bigger-than-life real story about a double agent in the cold war... and reality is better than fiction.

Incredible life, incredible times, I read it as a thriller.

7. "Product roadmaps relaunched"

I have my ups dans downs with roadmaps: for sure, I understand the need for long term vision, but I see so many 10-year plans becoming obsolete after a few months, that I've progressively moved to a more pragmatic way. This book reconciled me with roadmapping, by providing a simple way of developing and presenting roadmaps. I even offered it to a colleague...

8. "High-impact tools for teams"

Another year, another Strategyzer book. This one is more addressed to team dynamics, coordinations of tasks/goals/meetings, etc... Strategyzer is always an interesting reading, but, as opposite to the other books of the series, I did not take away a specific tool I intend to use in my daily life.

9. Doing Agile Right

Practicing Agile (Scrum) since a few months now, I wanted to have a perspective on how to make it evolving. Interesting to get some helicopter view and look back on my Agile journey. But not so many ah-ah points or key take-aways I can remember about.

10. Vous allez redécouvrir le management

This book is divided in short chapters (4-5 pages) on a specific management topic (brainstorming, holding meetings...) and makes a link between academic research and recommendations and real-life practices.

For example, research shows that brainstorming should emphasize individual and personal writing moments...

I could have ranked it upper, but I got a little bit frustrated by the chapters who were too short on each topic.

11. The flow system

I was expecting a lot from this book, to learn about tips and framework for next-generation lean-agile management... but got disappointed. The authors are clear: do not expect to get recipes from this (this was what I was looking for). So a little bit too theoretical reading for me.

12. Invisible women: Exposing Data Bias in a World designed for Men

This one is about fact collection on how the world is designed for men (drugs are tested mostly on men in clinical trials, car crash tests use average male body, etc...)

For sure, as a man, I am on the privileged side of the equation. The facts are eye-opening, but the tone of the book was a little bit one-directional. Ok, I understand the world is designed for men... but as a man, what can I do except feeling guilty...

So, I was missing some key actionable items at personal level.

13. The underground railroad

A fiction happening in the context of slavery times in Americas.

I mostly appreciated learning about the historical part of it and living conditions of slave in that period... but I did not really was embarked into the story.

14. L'égarée

A thriller novel, follow-up of "Le chuchoteur" and "L'écorchée" that were in the top of my 2020 list.

But this felt like some TV series where you loved season 1 and 2, but get disappointed by the season 3. A little bit the same here, even if I still recommended "Le chuchoteur" as a good thriller.