Books
On this site, you will find reviews about some of the most interesting and inspiring books, that I read.
All books contain concepts to learn and follow in order to do things better in life.
The more perspective one learns, the broader the mind is, the more one may understand.
Cultures and Organisations - Software of the mind
Summary: This is the bible of cultural competence. It is the only book, I read twice in my life, and I enjoyed it so much. Cultural behaviour of almost all people in the world will be examined scientifically in this book, from USA, Britain, Germany to Peru, China and Indonesia, from African, Arabic to Asian and Northern European, from Western to Eastern cultures, the circles can be drawn in different radiuses.
Narrative: When you learn about others, you learn about yourself. The authors explain cultural differences by using five main dimensions, which are 1. power distance, 2. collectivism vs. Individualism, 3. feminity vs. Masculinity, 4. uncertainty avoidance and 5. long term vs. Short term orientation. Additionally, there are the dimensions of exclusionism vs. Universalism, indulgence vs. Restraint and monumentalism vs. Flexhumility. The book closes with a brief excursion into human anthropolgy. Eye opening and mind blowing.
Why I recommend: In todays world, chances are high for anyone working in any sort of organisation, to have frequent touchpoints with someone from a different cultural background. This book will give you so many different perspectives, angles and explanations, to understand the other. Its a must read for everyone. It will take some time to read it, as its 400 pages with not to big font and you wiIl have to concentrate here and there to capture the flow, but I like very much, that this book is based on scientific research and the authors also explain to which extend the validity of the emperically derived data has limits.
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I have read it the first time after I have worked and lived 1 year abroad. I've read it a second time, after I had lived and worked 10 years abroad on 4 different continents. And reading through it was so enjoyable then, as it complemented my own experiences so well and yet, it offered so many more insights and learnings, its unbelievable.
Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't (Rockefeller Habits 2.0)
Summary: The book contains a plethora of concepts and practical guides for growing leaders and growing companies.
In general its a guide to how to be more efficient and more effective.
Narrative: In its core, the book is structured in four main categories; people, strategy, execution and cash. It explains, that operational activities for top management, should be reduced by 80% and instead the senior team rather focuses on market facing activities.
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Each section provides a lot of concepts and practical guides in how things should be done. The book talks about, Team Building, Meeting Rhythm, communication rhythm, hiring and coaching people, as well as how to align all employees to company's values and goals in order to drive execution and results.
Why I recommend: Its a good overview about the important areas of growing a company; people, cash, strategy and execution. It may require some professional experience before you understand all concepts in this book well.
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I recommend buying it as a hard cover, as there are many tables and illustrations inside, that may not be visualised on Kindle or Audible versions.
Hacking Growth: How Today's Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success
Summary: This is book explains in detail concepts of growth hacking that will affect customer acquisition, retention and revenue growth and is suited best, in my opinion, for everyone who works in a digital company as the level of data accumulation and measurability of customer facing actions are higher than in traditional companies.
Narrative: The core problem is, that marketers “are always asking for money but can rarely explain how much incremental business this money will generate.” The book explains, how the creation of cross-functional teams combines the talents, that break down the traditional department silos along with the use of qualitative research and quantitative data analysis to gain deep insights into user behavior and preferences; as well as the rapid generation and testing of ideas leads to revenue growth.
Why I recommend: Many examples of growth hacking methods are provided in this book, that makes it easy to read and understand. You will read about how the author and other famous silicon valley startups experimented with many iterations of marketing copy, page designs, tested links and features in order to adapt nimbly to the ever-changing needs and desires of customer and thereby engage, activate and win customer over so they keep coming back for more. The book builds upon the Lean Start Up methodologies of validated learning.
First 90 days - Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter
Summary: The book provides a good overview about the various aspects one has to consider, when joining a new organisation successfully. You will have to learn everything from an organisations norms, values, behavioural expectations, power distribution, existing alliances, what information you can get from which type of people, what are decision making processes and how to deal with you new team.
Narrative: Inform yourself well before you go to an interview and join the company. Then, stay close to your immediate superiors and identify what is expected from you, set priorities and think about early wins to impress and add value quickly. Then build supporting alliances and understand the decision making process and other general tactics.
Why I recommend: Perfect guidance not only for anyone who is joining a new company / organisation, but it is also a good read for anybody already working in an organisation for long time. There is special added value for anyone in a leading position. Every onboarding process is a critical moment for both the person who joins, but also for the organisation. I have seen many examples, where talent and all the efforts that went into the hiring process has been wasted, because the first three months onboarding were not done properly, especially from company side, which was hiring side. Its an advantage for both the employee but also the manager, who hires, to know the traps, that exist for the one who joins.
Non-Zero - The Logic of Human Destiny
Summary: The book explains human history and the evolution of civilization in a philosophical way through the lens of using game theory.
Narrative: The interaction of two groups (can be business, politicians, countries) are defined by mechanisms of increasing complexity with a greater reward for cooperations, so called "non-zero-sum benefits" (win-win-outcomes), where both participants benefit. Accordingly, while technology advances, the complexity of how governments, organisations, institutions etc, interact with each other, mankind willingly or unwillingly draws bigger circles of cooperation, which ultimately makes war with each other unlikely.
Why I recommend: Game theory lays one foundation for explaining the dynamics of decision making processes between groups of humans that interact with each other. I would not exaggerate by saying, that especially in international politics or business interactions, the consideration of zero-sum games and non-zero-sum games are always on top of mind of the participants. No wonder, that former US president Bill Clinton recommended for everyone reading this book.
The Lean Start Up - by Eric Ries
Summary: The concept of Lean is centered on value adding activities and reducing everything else. The Lean Startup Methodolody is an iterative process, originating from agile software development and focuses on creating a minimum viable product and receiving customer feedback along the way for further gradual improvements.
Narrative: The books comes down to two things, how to work with Minimum Viable products (MVP) and "validated learning". Whereas, the MVP approach is very central to software development, it can also be applied to other areas, however the second aspect of "validated learning" is the more important one in my opinion, as it is more universal in applying to so many other areas. Its a general approach to how to derive to effective decisions.
Why I recommend: Well, the application of validated learning is a standard practise in software development. But it may still be a ground breaking concept for everyone in more traditional non-software development areas, where opinion based decision making may be more pertinent. Understanding and applying validated learning, this alone, makes it worth absorbing the book. Further, the book itself became a bestseller and is cited frequently by people from the startup and venture industry. It may be even given a status of a standard literature, especially for anyone in software development. The drawdown is, that reading the book may feel a bit lengthy and repetitve as the author talks in great length about his various stages in the start up industry.