Author: Charles Duhigg
I enjoyed Duhigg’s “Power of Habit” and felt compelled to read this new title so I too could be Smarter, Faster and Better. From the start you can tell that you are in the hands of a professional writer as the book is engaging, well written and interspersed with anecdotes to keep your interest.
The chapter on decision making is both entertaining and educational. He deconstructs a few Texas Hold'em poker hands explaining the probabilistic and psychological analysis of the game. The lesson is that we are confronted by numerous decisions in everyday life. While our brain is remarkable at conducting Bayesian analysis it can easily be biased because we inherently have exposure to more outcomes that are successes than failures. The more we stick to the fundamentals of probability in our decisions the better off we are.
In the discussion on Teams, he draws heavily from Project Aristotle at Google which went to considerable lengths to examine what makes one team more effective than another. The composition of the team didn't matter as much as the group norms. It was important that the members felt comfortable to suggest ideas and weren't afraid of retribution. It was important that everyone's opinion is heard and they felt a sense of "psychological safety" in the group.
For the chapter on focus, Duhigg emphasizes the importance of having a mental model before you evaluate any situation. He uses examples from pilots dealing with unexpected situations in the cockpit; the one who applies a mental model to the situation is best able to figure out what is wrong and can quickly rectify the situation.
Setting goals is a well established method for achieving more in life. I didn't find any new nuggets in this chapter. Also the chapter on managing others covers the much written about details on Toyotas lean manufacturing process and the success in transforming NUMMI in Fremont.
Overall, it is a good book with a lot of material that you are likely to have encountered elsewhere. Read it to be reminded about the things that will help you be more successful in whatever you do.
Author: Tom Wainwright
Tom Wainwright presents a thorough business analysis of the narcotics industry. He looks at the parallels that it has with current industry mores. There's a discussion on the economics of supply and demand, of competition vs collusion, corporate social responsibility of the drug lords, offshoring the production of drugs and even the most American of all business inventions - franchising.
After evaluating the drug industry from all these angles, he argues that just like the CEO of a multinational company, the drug baron is looking to diversify into new markets. The one where the infrastructure that he has built up gives him the most advantage is "people smuggling" and you will find plenty of the drug cartels now moving into this adjacency.
Tom makes a compelling case for why the heightened activity around limiting the supply of drugs has had very little effect on reducing consumption. Instead it has greatly increased the violence in places like Juarez, Mexico. Describing the high death toll in Juarez as a result of Felipe Calderons war on drugs, he says "more than 25000 people simply vanished during Calderons presidency, many of whom have ended up in the chilled cabinets of the newly enlarged Juarez morgue”. Furthermore it has raised the street prices of drugs resulting in a bigger $$ market.
Tom explores the drug industry from every possible business angle. He has many an anecdote on the Human Resources side and claims that the drug cartels use prisons as recruiting centers. As a counterpoint he argues that “better jails make for worse job centers".
Finally he concludes the book by exploring the recent moves by a few states to legalize marijuana in the US. Colorado is at the forefront of this experiment and initial prognosis is that is working by greatly reducing the market for illegal drugs. It is too early to declare victory but Tom is hopeful that this will become a global trend.
Author: Marie Kondo
I could never imagine that someone could make a science out of cleaning up. Marie has done that and more; she has written an engaging book that is a joy to read.
The basic premise is to hold something I your hand and ask yourself "Does this object give me joy?" If the answer is no, then you should give it up. This seems straightforward with items like clothes and toys, but what about other mundane stuff like papers and books. Marie has tips for you on almost every major category of items that might be cluttering up your home and life.
Ultimately, she reminds us that "It is not our memories, but the person we have become... that we should treasure".
Author: Yuval Noah Harari
This book can be best described as the philosophical musings of a person who has learnt a good deal from the history of life on earth. Surprisingly, the first thing I learnt from this book is that "sapiens" means wise!
Yuval's prose is lucid and he will get you thinking as you read the many interesting theories of how we came to dominate this planet. For instance, Yuval presents convincing arguments that humans crossed over from Siberia to Alaska and got to the Americas somewhere near 12000 BC. Within 3000 years of this crossing, they had occupied all of the Americas, all the way down to Tierra del Fuego and “drove to extinction about half of the planet’s big beasts long before humans invented the wheel, writing, or iron tools.”
I like the way he views the advent of Agriculture as a luxury trap. It was a bad deal for the early hunter gatherers. However, once they were hooked on Agriculture, there was no turning back. The settled life and the availability of cereals allowed them to have many kids and multiply rapidly. The common man who worked the fields day and night was no better off. However as a gene pool we dominated by sheer force of numbers.
There are many parallels to the above discussion in the life we lead today. Does our hyper-connected life with mobile phones and the Internet really mean we are better off individually? We can certainly point to productivity improvements for the population as a whole, but are we, as individuals, leading a more relaxed life? Yuval clearly feels that we are not!
There are many nuggets of wisdom all through this book and it certainly got me thinking. For instance, Yuval argues that happiness does not depend on objective conditions but rather on whether or not our subjective expectations are met. In the old days, we compared ourselves to our neighbors and there were relatively few of them. Today we are bombarded with pictures of beautifully clad, stunning celebrities that leave us feeling inferior and unhappy. So are we really better off today with all our technological advancements?
I found many memorable pieces of information that I have saved up, like “Each year the US population spends more money on diets than the amount needed to feed all the hungry people in the world” followed by the irony of how it is good for the economy in that “Instead of eating little, which will lead to economic contraction, people eat too much and then buy diet products - contributing to economic growth twice over”.
Read this book for a different view into our history that will leave you scratching your head and wondering if you are really better off than some of our early ancestors. You will find plenty of arguments that are bound to challenge the way you feel about life and happiness.
