Q1 Book Review

1) Principles 

Ray Dalio 

Ray is a humble, wise human being, with a good dollop of practical intelligence thrown in. 

I didn't read his book. I STUDIED IT. If you're in business, I strongly suggest you do too. 

I enjoyed many things about this book; I love the way Ray uses nature as a source of his theorem. He believes that evolution is the most potent force in the universe, and postulates that everything should be in a constant state of improvement. One of the comments he makes is along these lines: if you're not looking back on elements of your life every twelve months and thinking, "I was a bloody idiot to think/do/say that", then you're not evolving. I love this, as I often cringe at things I've said or done ;-) 

The book is divided up into 3 parts;

Part1: "Where I'm coming from" is an exciting history of Ray. It helped me understand the nature of this man. Allowing me to understand the reasoning behind the choices he makes and the designs he suggests implementing. It is his past experiences that have led to his principles. These etch out the framework of the beautiful lessons contained within. This section provides essential background and context to his thinking.

Part 2: "Life principles" Before discussing forming your algorithms/systems for achieving your goals, Ray builds upon the life stories. One is now exposed to his five-step process, or the ‘beginnings’, as Ray calls it. I found this section most riveting. Ray sees potential complexity and turns it into simplicity; this is a talent that I have personally found rare in the business world.  

Part 3: "Work principles" Ray sets it all out in what I call a " Detailed guide to business success. A piece by piece tutorial. He shares memos he's written to his staff members. And sets out precisely how to design your own system's to achieve just about anything, from hiring to firing. To……

Dislike's 

I had to ‘hang on in there with some of the chapters. Some points are made repeatedly and somewhat laboriously illustrated.  

Overall, 

A fantastic business bible. Well constructed with plenty of diagrams and structured page design, to convey important points and lessons, You really get the feeling that Ray wants you to succeed. 

Rating: 9 out of 10

2) OUTLIERS

Malcolm Gladwell 

You often hear quotes from this book. Though some 13 years old now ( it took me some time to grab it ). Malcolm digs deep into the circumstances behind success. It's both enlightening & refreshing.

My favourite parts are the stories of professional sports stars and what relevance the time of year they are born has on their talent. It also uncovered some of the reasons why the big tech giants became successful. 

Dislike's 

I thought some of the stories and examples in the epilogue of the book wandered into territories that I felt were unnecessary. One particular story was shocking and left me with an image in my mind that I really didn't sign up for when purchasing the book.    

Overall:

A well-written book that conveys Malcolm's well-researched facts with humour, excitement and pace. It will help you focus on your own goals, and most certainly puts scenarios into context. 

Rating: 7 out of 10

3) Relentless 

Dean Stott 

Dean remains humble & inspiring throughout. He is clearly a great man with a beautiful outlook on life. 

The book is divided into three phases of Dean’s life. Phase one: The military story of man and boy, Phase two: The private civilian security contractor, and phase three: The internal search for meaning in the pursuit of world records. It's also self-evident that Dean is a great communicator and excellent at understanding people. His tier 1 Special Forces experience has clearly made a stamp on the way Dean approaches ANYTHING. Anyone reading this book will gain tremendous value from it.

Dislikes:

Dean tells a story of a time in his military career when he was an instructor on the Commando Training Center wherein a demonstration he shows a part of his body off with appendages, From that point on, I kept getting unwanted traumatic visual images popping up in my mind of Deans manhood. thanks, Dean!

Overall :

Exciting, entertaining, humorous. Written with pace, and will most definitely hold your attention.

Read it, then go do some exercise and I bet you get a PB!

Rating :9 out of 10

4) THE TALENT CODE

 DANIEL COYLE 

I profess to be a bit of a geek when it comes to social science and phycology. I love understanding what makes people ( and myself ) tick.  This book certainly scratches some of those itches. It lays out mechanical ways to learn and how to become incredible at almost anything while explaining the phycology behind it all. 

Dislikes: 

Perhaps provides a few too many examples, when conveying certain points.

Overall 

Very well written and holds your attention. It keeps potentially complex explanations light & metaphorical, For me, this is key to a good educator. 

Rating :8 out of 10

5) Thinking fast and slow 

Daniel Kahneman

Wow, what a piece of work. As mentioned before, I love social science and phycology. This book certainly took some reading. It's a dense and comprehensive book. I had to re-read a lot to get it. 

It will enlighten you about the errors one may make in judgement. Not actually stemming from emotions at the time, yet instead from the actual mechanics and wiring of our brains.

It will educate you on how to navigate your instinctual thoughts and make better choices. You may be surprised how the design of your brain will often trick you into making poor choices. 

The book is broken down into five parts. 

Part 1 your two systems 

Part 2 Heuristics and Biases,

Part 3 Overconfidence 

Part 4 Choices 

Part 5, Our two Selves. 

Dislikes:

Too heavy in parts. I purchased the paperback version, which had annoyingly small text and fragile paper. Can at time's lose you and requires focus.

Overall 

Incredibly well-researched book. An intense dive into physiology and phycology. Has several great stories and explanations. I certainly learned a lot from reading it. 

Rating :7 out of 10  

6) Shackleton’s Way 

Margot Morrell & Stephanie Capparell 

Although I am familiar with Sir Ernest Shackleton and his work, for me this book still presented some nuggets of gold.

A good factual story of the Man and his adventures that takes time to sum up each section highlighting the lessons. Then making practical business application examples. Its interesting and exciting. I'd say it’s aimed at a newcomer to management or indeed someone who just wishes to brush up. 

Dislikes: 

I feel the practical examples could be pithier.  

Overall 

Who can’t enjoy reading about the BOSS! 

Rating:7 out of 10 

Human Kind 

Rutger Bregman 

This is a lump of a book. Good if you are in a dodgy neighbourhood, as you could club someone if they upset you. 

It's a beautiful human social science book that comes at many popular narratives from a very different perspective. It rightly criticises the news cycles and media of today and makes excellent points about how we are all being made to be afraid of one another. The essential premise is that human nature’s default modus operandi is not to be violent and aggressive, yet to be polite, caring and community-minded. In all but a few ways, this book really resonated with me.

Dislikes 

Some of the leaps Rutger takes when stringing examples with his theories most certainly challenged me, as I felt they were a little bit of a stretch.  

Overall :

It is well written and relatively easy to read. Many good factual stories uncover some critical truths behind the pasts phycological experiments and how they have done us a great disservice. 

Rating :7 out of 10