Fault Lines
A great read, although the author is an academic in the dismal science so it’s a bit dry. With all the bluster in the popular press documenting the finger pointing from the political right and financial types that it was bad policy and regulatory lapses that caused the meltdown, and finger pointing from the political left and socialist types that it was capitalistic greed (led by the dark cabal that is big finance) that caused the crisis, this was a really well grounded essay explaining...
Read MoreLean Software Development: An Agile Toolkit
This book was written by a husband and wife team who have extensive experience in software development as well as a host of other industries that have been touched by the lean movement. It is an excellent read. The authors are not shy about expressing their disappointment in how strong the Project Management Institute’s influence has grown over how software development projects are planned and managed. The book outlines 7 principles derived from lean methods. Among these are eliminate...
Read MoreWhat Would Google Do?
What Would Google Do? was written by Jeff Jarvis, founder of the popular buzzmachine.com blog. I liked this book but didn’t love it. I’d give it a 7 out of 10. My main complaint is that I found about only a quarter of it useful. The rest seemed a bit fluffy and written mostly to create enough content to make it a book. The author himself says he is somewhat breaking his own rule by making this into a book when he claims mainstream publishing is dying and irrelevant. Having said...
Read MoreThe Opposable Mind
The Opposable Mind was written by Roger Martin, Dean of the Rotman School of Management at York University. The book’s premise is that small minority of business leaders think in a very unique manner compared to their peers and this manner of thinking is what Martin coins Integrative Thinking. These leaders, when confronted with a problem, are unlikely to settle for a solution that requires trade-offs when compared to the other available solutions. He likens this approach to choosing...
Read MoreLife Entrepreneurs
I’ve recently finished reading Life Entrepreneurs: Ordinary People Creating Extraordinary Lives. The premise of the book is that to be a successful entrepreneur without sacrificing other aspects of your life (ie. family life, hobbies, etc.), you need to blend the two together rather than trying to find a balance. A couple of tidbits I really like from the book were the reference to Martin Seligman’s Authentic Happiness where his research shows that happiness comes from three...
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