Business Book Ideas and Notes Archives - Page 4 of 9

December 17, 2015

Zero to One – Peter Thiel

There was a book written about entrepreneurial success by Bo Peabody called Lucky or Smart? that springs to mind whenever I read books by "successful" CEOs and entrepreneurs. Peter Thiel obviously has some pretty good credentials, and it's easy to conflate that success with wisdom. Too often celebrity professionals don't back up their ideas because they don't have to - we just assume that because they are successful they must be right. I think Zero to One skirts this nebulous zone. I wouldn't read this as a "how-to" book, but rather as a way to meditate on what it means to create in the business world. Big Thought Building a start-up … [Read more...]

December 10, 2015

The Starfish and the Spider – Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom

This article was originally published on August 6th, 2009 at the RockStar Success Library. And decentralized organizations continue to multiply! The Starfish and the Spider is very obviously a love story. In mapping out how decentralized organizations have evolved, Ori and Rod take great pains to show how the decentralized organization (DO) is nimbler, faster, and more efficient than the lumbering oaf that is the centralized organization. They point out how new technologies (especially in communication) allow the DO to be much more robust and powerful by creating flexibility and adaptability. They submit that decentralized … [Read more...]

December 3, 2015

The Six Secrets of Change – Michael Fullan

This article was originally published a few years ago at the RockStar Success Library. I have to admit, I was a little surprised by The Six Secrets of Change. I’m usually pretty leery of any book that has the word “secret” in the title or has a number in the title (that smacks of “prescriptions” for success i.e., short cuts that don’t work). Michael Fullan undercut my fears, though, in his introduction, when he suggests his secrets as ideas that people already know, but don’t engage with fully. In doing so, he presents an interesting theoretical study of how to effect organizational change. What makes The Six Secrets of Change so … [Read more...]

November 19, 2015

What’s Your Story – Craig Wortmann

Every once in a while you meet someone and you think "Why haven't we met earlier!?" Craig and I were actually introduced by a mutual friend and we share a similar outlook on how to be successful in business. And he knows his stuff - he's a professor at the University of Chicago (while not quite at the level of my alma mater Northwestern, it's still a pretty good school...). In fact, I knew that I would like his book right away because he used the term Luddite in the opening chapter of What's Your Story?. I thought I was the only person geeky enough to put that in a business book. Big Thought Stories are a powerful leadership tool that … [Read more...]

November 12, 2015

The Halo Effect – Phil Rosenzweig

This article was originally published a few years ago at the RockStar Success Library. Many of the tools it contains are still part of my regular approach to uncovering the real challenges that organizations and professionals face. I'm not sure why, but I've definitely found myself reading a lot of "iconoclastic"books lately. I'm not even doing it on purpose - I read The Halo Effect because it was on the clearance shelf of my local Borders. I'm so glad that it was. I think it appealed to my focus on how to create clarity in how we view life and the things that happen in it. Since I work with people as a coach to help them develop … [Read more...]

October 22, 2015

The 4-Hour Work Week – Timothy Ferriss

This article was originally published on May 9th, 2008. This was before Tim was the household 4-_____ name that he is today. It was the first time I encountered a lot of these ideas. They've been hugely influential - as I agree with some of them more and more...and disagree with others more and more. In my mind, that's the hallmark of a good book! I’ve read the 4–Hour Work Week twice now, in detail. The first time I read it I was so blown away that I had to put it down, digest it, and then come back for a second go. I think I was checking to see if I would still think it was great – which I did. Timothy is basically starting with … [Read more...]