Chris

A brilliant book which challenges the notion of talent and allows us to re-look at the possibility that maybe,

Great by Choice was a difficult & long read where the authors felt that iterating through full lists opposed to summarizing their conclusions would help emphasise points -- it does not. Although having facts to frame & support a statement does help, running through absolutely every redundant figure opposed to using an appendix quickly took away from valuable statements and watered it down with unnecessary filler. You can however tell that a lot of research went behind Collins book, analysis with comparison companies over decades, finding similar characteristics between the winners while also challenging those concepts with competing companies to vet why something works in once scenario but not when applied to another. I do support his findings & therefore recommend "Great by Choice" (although I'd prefer a summary book if it existed). Having a consistent pace through bad times while not overexerting your self through the good, keeping cash on hand for those unforeseen situations, and what I feel is of most value: productive paranoia -- making quick, but well educated decisions with many supporting "what if" scenarios already thought through. A long read, but there are a handful of gems in here.

From those in marketing, project management, product design, engineering, etc. The Lean Startup is a brilliantly written book which reinforces how iterative Agile type development, from concept through to creation, deployment, user feedback & analysis may be achieved, potential downfalls to be aware of and avoid, and examples on many of the challenges businesses face. For both startup organizations to larger corporations looking to introduce or better improve the value their product changes can offer, Eric Ries walks us through examples, techniques, and continually reinforces the message & value that Agile thinking brings with it. The Lean Startup goes beyond explaining Agile (for which there's little or no new revolutions identified in this book), and instead brings strong value as it ventures into execution, introduction of methodologies, and moving from simple strategy into actual results.

Captivating topic, perfect examples & study dives, and excellent delivery – The Invisible Gorilla had my attention on page one and maintained it while Chabris & Simpons challenged my perception on how our minds capture & recall memories.

Right at the onset of an event, it’s remarkable how some artifacts one would assume to be obvious may be completely oblivious & never recorded. How we fill in the blanks (such as assuming a bookshelf was full of books), or don’t capture elements that you wouldn’t expect to be there (such as a giant red gorilla beating it’s chest on a basketball court). The Invisible Gorilla highlights how our minds deceive us, and leaves me with the takeaway to recognize that, as must as we want to believe that our memories are sound, we all have illusions. Recommended.

I read Outliers after Gladwell's previously published The Tipping Point and found many of the talking points & examples similar among the two books. I can recommend either as a fascinating read that pushes us to look deeper into trends or reasoning behind abnormalities in data; however taking on both books may be redundant. Gladwell's masterful storytelling and capturing information points makes this difficult to put down, and sparks conversation among those whom have read it.

Recommending Outliers -- The Story of Success.

Public parts is an excellent counter-argument to the strong privacy advocates surrounding the internet, social networks, facial recognition, and other challenges within today's society. Jarvis presents his points of view in well written, non-emotional (often found in privacy articles) and factual manors, both challenging as well as complementing privacy concerns. He takes the perspectives from many cultures, looking at their history & diving into why different countries are pro or against various elements of the digital age.

As we're constantly bombarded with the negatives of these technologies, Javris' Public Parts is a recommended read to help broaden our understandings & talking points.

While understanding the motive behind this book, I believe it's delivery was stretched out with more-than-obvious and unnecessary examples. I didn't find that profound realizations or new concepts were being presented; although I'll give credit that it's repetitive nature may help sink in for those needing a boost in motivation. High level and common sense guidelines from which (in my opinion) came from a narrowed view of the world. I would have to recommend that your

Written and based on Steve's life before his passing, this insiders, colleague written view of his morals, practices, and often stubborn-for-the-best-user-experience attitude is an excellent observational based reading on the work life of Steve Jobs. Given the explosion of since-released biographies, I'm interested in

"Everything is Obvious" dives into how we interpret the world, make decisions, and how we are unknowingly influenced. Watts makes us reexamine simple decision making scenarios, and then with references to Gladwell's "The Tipping Point," add's additional layers of social or group of complexity. The controllable variables set out in lab tests often become irrelevant when we try to sell into our markets containing millions of other influences. Although some questions may be reproduced many times (batting hit averages for example), others simply cannot (such as invading a country). The information collected from our social networks adds new possibilities for understanding our target market which has been previously unavailable. A thought provoking & recommended read.

A well written quick reference guide to social & business etiquette for North American business persons traveling to India. As it references India as a whole opposed to focusing in on specific regions, I recommend taking the time to work with and appreciate the customs & culture from your colleagues directly - although a great book to help prevent obvious faux pas, nothing replaces learning a different environment through experience.