In the book ‘Code – The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software’, Charles explains the basic concepts of how computers work.
Category Archives: Book reviews
April
25
What you could learn from ‘Product Mastery’ by Geoff Watts (2017, 267 pages)
posted by Max
Product Owners (PO) outline the vision for the product, collate the input from the business, customers and the team and forge all of the requirements into a prioritised list of things that need to be built.
March
17
What you could learn from ‘Smartcuts’ by Shane Snow (2016, 198 pages)
posted by Max
What makes some people wildly more successful than others?
In his book ‘Smartcuts’, Shane argues that there 9 things that super successful people do differently.
March
10
What you could learn from “The Art of Innovation” by Tom Kelly (2001, 297pages)
posted by Max
“The problem is not that big companies don’t see change coming, it is just that they fail to decide what to do about it and/or fail to execute their plan.” IDEO is now one of the world’s top design consultancies. IDEO’s success includes the first Apple mouse and the Plam V. Tom Kelley, the founder […]
February
17
What you could learn from ‘Design Thinking’ by Nigel Cross (2011, 148 pages)
posted by Max
Design thinking is now cool. Pepsi CEO has credited ‘deign thinking’ with turning her company around (see HBR here), and Stamford has set even set up an institute of design DSchool. What is design thinking? “Design thinking can be described as a discipline that uses the designer’s sensibility and methods to match people’s needs with what is technologically […]
February
11
What you could learn from ‘The Innovator’s Dilemma’ by Clayton Christensen (1997, 228 pages)
posted by Max
Customers train companies to allocate resources. Customers only buy products and services they value, based on functionality, reliability, convenience & price. This encourages well-managed companies to develop sustaining technologies that improve their existing products in ways that matters to their existing customers. This focus on existing products and incremental improvements prevents companies from creating disruptive technologies. Clayton […]
January
29
What you could learn from “Scrum: a Breathtakingly Brief and Agile Introduction” by Chris Sims and Hillary Johnson (2012, 46 pages)
posted by Max
This is the best introduction to Scrum and Agile that I have read. At 46 pages, if covers all the basics, specifically: The roles of: Product Owner Scrum Master Team Member The key events: Sprint planning Daily stand-up Story generation Sprint review Retrospective Read this book if you want to know the basics, or give […]
January
19
What you could learn from ‘HBR’s 10 Must Reads 2017’ (2016, 200 pages)
posted by Max
Each year HBR publishes its most popular articles in a single book. The type of articles and the topics they cover are a bellwether for what academics and global business leaders find important. In the latest edition, the articles focus on data analytics, design thinking and innovation. Below, I have briefly summarised what I felt where the most […]
January
18
The best business books I read in 2016
posted by Max
For 2016, I committed to reading a book a week. While I only managed to read forty-six books, just short of my goal, I learnt some great lessons along the way. My top book on leadership was ‘Superbosses’ by Sydney Finkelstein (2016, 220 pages). In the book, Syndey does a great job highlighting the role amazing […]
January
17
What you could learn from ‘Team Genius’ by Rich Kalgaard and Michael Malone (2015, 250 pages)
posted by Max
How did the team that designed and delivered the US’s first ever fighter jet (P-80 Shooting Star) do it in less 143 days? In their book ‘Team Genius’ Rich and Michael suggest that there are five things contribute to team effectiveness. Stay as small as possible, and stick to optimum group sizes. That is 7±2, […]
January
07
What could you learn from ‘Difficult Conversations’ by Douglas Stone (2016, 234 pages)
posted by Max
There is no magic wand to get people to bend to your will. While I have explored persuasion in previous books reviews (Pre-suasion) and in my blog (here), there are elements I missed. In ‘Difficult Conversations’ Douglas Stone presents a compelling framework and set of tools that can help you understand the perspective of others and use […]
December
09
What could you learn from ‘Pre-suasion’ by Robert Cialdini (2016, 233 pages)?
posted by Max
To be successful, you need to sell. You may not be in sales or even interact with customers, but you will need to sell yourself. You will need to convince people that you are the person to hire, that you are the person to trust with work and that you are the person that can […]
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