On Reading Books, Writing and Adventures in 2021

Reading, Writing and Adventures keep me centered and provide further impetus to continue contributing more in my professional life as well.

I have been an avid reader in the genres of business, sales, leadership, classic fictions and poetry. In the recent years, I have also picked up books dealing with the subjects of exploration, adventure and sports. This has been refreshing to the mindset, apart from broadening my world-view. Curiously enough, these ties back to my interests and participation in triathlon or indulging in outdoors & adventure activities.

As I look back to the year 2021, some of the key messages and ideas from the books that have stayed with me are –

-?????????IT Strategy: A 3-Dimensional Framework to Plan Your Digital Transformation and Deliver Value to Your Enterprise by Jim Maholic : An excellent reference book to strategize and execute digital business transformation from a CIO’s perspective. The author takes a strategic lens from both business and IT perspectives, further deep-diving into the components of detailed IT strategy including Technology, data, security, IT governance, talent, culture, partner ecosystem and so on.

?-?????????Ahead in the Cloud by Stephen Orban – Cloud and digital transformation are inter-linked and this book lays the principles of cloud economics and provides blueprint for cloud deployment in any Org including approaches for cloud migration, re-architecting apps, DevOps.

?-?????????Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win - Jocko Willink, Leif Babin - A compelling read on techniques of Navy SEAL during combat and how some of those techniques can be applied to business leadership. I picked the book as I have always been intrigued by how this elite force train and operate.

?-?????????Firestarters: How Innovators, Instigators and Initiators can inspire you to ignite your own life – the book delves deep into the mindset and processes that inspire world changing ideas, creations or organizations. Strongly recommended read.

?-?????????Write to Speak: How to go from blank page to speaking on stage by Mike Acker - An easy read, the title is self-explanatory.

?-?????????ChiRunning by Danny Dreyer, Katherine Dreyer?and Born to Run by Christopher McDougall - Both are amongst the highest selling books on ‘running’ and came recommended from the groups that I am part of , and they didn’t disappoint.

?-?????????Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way To Swim Better, Faster, and Easier by Terry Laughlin and The Triathlete's Training Bible: Joe Friel - I have been working on my Swimming form and techniques while training for Triathlon and these books come in handy. Still in the middle of reading both, as I like to use them as references during training.

?-?????????The Everest Years: The challenge of the world's highest mountain , Chris Bonington – Suggested by my Kindle and I picked it up over one weekend evening. It’s an easy read in story-telling format about a big goal that subsequently leads to the journey of preparation and training for it.

?-?????????The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen – considered a Classic now, it charts the author’s journey through Himalayas blending elements of mountaineering and Zen Buddhism.

?-?????????In Ocean’s deep by Bill Streever – Deeply fascinating account of the exploration of Earths’ oceans told by a highly accomplished Diver.

?-?????????Jupiters travels by Ted Simon – Fascinating account of the author’s motorcycle trip around the world in 70’s

On the topic of writing, the paucity of time stands in the way of being more frequent and consistent. Whenever I could, I borrowed from my reading and outdoors time to jot down articles for India Currents or few verses in poetry form. Glad to have finally published my first book during the last week of Dec., and it would also be displayed at the New Delhi World Book Fair later this month.

On the topic of adventures, I continue to realize they speak to my soul directly and keep me energetic and motivated. During the course of the year, I am glad that I could participate in Triathlon and a Duathlon, apart from indulging in other outdoor activities including mountain biking, kayaking in Sausalito bay, a weekend motorcycle trip or skiing at Tahoe to cap the year off.

As we enter into 2022, I am excited on the work front, about the tremendous opportunity ahead of us in the Technology business with digital transformation, cloud and data leading the growth charter. Outside work, I feel energized about seeking challenges in adventures, writing and reading.