The problem with this book is that its title is totally misleading. The book does not help teach the reader how to invest. The book is a collection ofThe problem with this book is that its title is totally misleading. The book does not help teach the reader how to invest. The book is a collection of transcripts from David Rubenstein's podcasts, in which he interviews the leaders in investment firms. The interviews vary in interest; some are fascinating, while others, frankly, are boring.
I did find the interview of Ray Dalio--the founder of a hedge fund called Bridgewater Associates--to be interesting. I am sure that the job is stressful. So Dalio describes how Transcendental Meditation helps give him "the equanimity to think clearly and to think imaginatively." It also helps to reduce his stress.
So why did I pick up this book? Probably I was attracted to the author, who has my EXACT same name! (first, middle, and last) He lives in the Washington, DC area, as I did my entire life (until last year). He is a billionaire, he recently bought the Baltimore Orioles baseball team, is a co-founder of the Carlyle group and a well-known philanthropist in the Washington area. You can watch many of his interviews on a variety of streaming channels....more
This is a collection of 65 interviews with leaders in the field of media composing; not just composers, but also music supervisors, executives, perforThis is a collection of 65 interviews with leaders in the field of media composing; not just composers, but also music supervisors, executives, performers and sound mixers. The range of people who are interviewed is quite impressive. Here I summarize what are for me the most important take-aways. At the end of this review, I relate my recommendations.
Television studios usually limit orchestra size. To conform with this limitation, Bernard Hermann once composed a score with 6 bass clarinets, 6 bassoons, and 6 double-basses. The highest note was middle-C!
Sound effects in films has become sound design, which is not friendly to music.
Cinema schools usually ignore the use of music in films. Therefore, young directors simply do not understand the effect that music has on a film. A cynical composer once said that filmmakers need music, but they don't want it. This reminds me of a similar problem in medicine. Most medical schools severely limit (or even exclude) education about nutrition. As a result, most doctors do not understand how important nutritiion is to prevent diseases!
Christopher Lennertz had some very cogent remarks about his composing of film music. He said that a composer should respect the story. He writes music that characters might hear in their hearts and minds, rather than what the audience sees. For example, if a character thinks he is a tough guy, then play heavy guitars. If a character thinks he is a hero, then play heroic music, and so on.
Some good advice for aspiring composers; be a brand, not a commodity. This means don't make yourself interchangeable with other commodities. Many people in this book interpreted this to mean that a composer should find his own voice. To be successful, you need "to bring something unique to the table." A music score cannot satisfy everyone. An interesting quote: "Artistic death is creativity by consensus."
An interesting work-flow advice from Joel McNeely: He starts each film score with two flow charts. One maps out the dramatic intensity of a story, while the other maps out the themes to be played during the film.
What do film studios look for when hiring a composer? Talent is a prerequisite, but the important factors are: 1) Credits and experience built over years and hard work. 2) A unique voice and versatility. 3) Reputation. A very important piece of advice about how a composer goes from no credits to having experience and reputation? An aspiring media composer has to be willing to start small, find projects where developers or directors are more concerned with having any music at all.
When talking to a director about music for a project, for example during a spotting session, ask him to talk to you as if you are an actor, not as a musician.
So, what did I think about this book? It is certainly not the first book I've read on the subject. This book is useful for the sheer variety of types of people who are involved in composing, producing and distributing music. It is useful to see the perspectives of many other people who are involved in the industry. The people who are interviewed have incredible reputations and experience, so one should carefully take the advice into consideration. I appreciate that each person interviewed received five separate questions that were carefully chosen to fit that person's experience and background. I definitely recommend this book for those who would like to understand how an aspiring composer gets into the industry.
I have a few other comments about the book. First, the book sorely needs a good editor! While most of the content is good, it is just filled with typos, grammatical errors, and incomplete thoughts and sentences. Also, some of the interviews seemed to be just a bunch of name-dropping; this is not very useful to the aspiring media composer.
Second, the film music supervisors are never asked my most burning question: Why do so many movies end with songs that have absolutely nothing in common with the story, and are even in a different style from the majority of music in the film?...more
Innovations come primarily from intersections. These are intersections between fields, between sciences, cultures, and geographic regions. The book isInnovations come primarily from intersections. These are intersections between fields, between sciences, cultures, and geographic regions. The book is fun to read, and seems to be based mainly on anecdotes. But, there isn't much new here. Just a few weeks ago I read the book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, which is so similar, but better....more
What a fascinating book! As of 2009, after the United States, Israel, with a population of only 9 million, has more companies listed on the NASDAQ thaWhat a fascinating book! As of 2009, after the United States, Israel, with a population of only 9 million, has more companies listed on the NASDAQ than any other country in the world. The per-capita venture capital investments in Israel were 2.5 times greater than in the United States, more than 30 times greater than in Europe. Startup companies proliferate in Israel like nowhere else. This is all despite the wars and terrorism that Israel has experienced. The question is, why in Israel?
There are a number of reasons. Israel is a nation of immigrants. One third of its population is foreign-born. And, immigrants are not averse to starting over, as they are by definition risk-takers. Unlike the United States, whose Citizenship and Immigration Service is designed to keep immigrants out, Israel's Immigration and Absoption Ministry is focused on bringing them in.
Another key contributor to innovation is the army. Everybody (with the exception of ultra-Orthodox Jews and Israeli Arabs) serves in the army for a few years. The army is remarkably egalitarian and meritocratic. Responsibility, independent thinking, and innovation are strongly encouraged in the army. The culture of the Israeli army is very different from that in other countries. At the end of the day, everybody participates in a sort of a brainstorming session, where all decisions and actions are discussed, analyzed, and critiqued. The team is held in higher regard than individual achievements.
Innovation and entrepreneurship is also strong because of the tight proximity of great universities, large companies, startups and an ecosystem that connects them. They are in tight proximity--not explicitly stated in the book--because the country is so small! In area, it is the size of New Jersey. The military pumps R&D funds into cutting-edge systems and elite technology units; there is a big spillover into the civilian economy.
Other small countries (Denmark, Finland, Ireland, and Sweden for example) also have an advanced technology and infrastructure, and produce lots of patents and fast economic growth and a high standard of living. But Israel has many more start-ups and more venture capital investments. Israel has a culture of aggressiveness and team orientation, being small yet aiming big.
The book is filled with plenty of fascinating anecdotes. The book describes the history of the government's investments in startups, such as investment in an aeronautical industry when the country couldn't even build a bicycle!
Culture is an essential part of the answer to the problem of innovation. Young companies everywhere, that are developing a new company culture, would be well advised to take a look at this story....more
This is an amazing book about Dr. Harvey Wiley, a chemist in the Department of Agriculture at the turn of the century. He worked tirelessly to keep foThis is an amazing book about Dr. Harvey Wiley, a chemist in the Department of Agriculture at the turn of the century. He worked tirelessly to keep food and beverages safe for consumption. A hundred years ago, adulterated food products were very common. Unhealthful--or even poisonous--additives stretched the volume of foods, making them devoid of nutrition, and even harmful. Sometimes the additives were employed to stretch the apparent volume of products. Sometimes the additives were used to prolong shelf life. Sometimes the foods were deliberately mislabeled, to trick consumers. And, some foods were processed under very unsanitary conditions. It was a very big problem. And it could be argued that the problem still exists.
While Theodore Roosevelt was president, the first law was passed, aimed at these problems. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was passed was passed, to help ameliorate these problems. However, the law did not, by itself, fix any problems. The Department of Agriculture was still in bed with food manufacturers. And, there was no proof that food additives or adulterants were dangerous to health. And, in order to prohibit a manufacturer from adding a chemical to foods, it was necessary to first prove that the chemical was dangerous to health.
Harvey Wiley, the head of the chemistry division at the Department of Agriculture, was the leading proponent of food safety and honesty in labeling. He formed what was known as the "Poison Squad". He had some rooms in the basement fixed up like a restaurant. He invited healthy civil servants to be served free meals there. Participants were admonished to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner at this location, and to eat nothing at any other location. Of course, free meals were a big attraction, but they realized that they would be participating in nutrition experiments. The cooks added different concentrations of food additives, with the purpose of determining who would get sick. These experiments showed that certain food additives were clearly dangerous, and therefore prohibited from use.
Wiley's efforts at upholding the safety of foods made him a nationwide hero in the eyes of women. He had to constantly battle against the Secretary of Agriculture, who very frequently sided with food producers instead of siding with food safety. But Wiley's popularity made it difficult to fire him, although firing was attempted several times.
This book is about the courage of this man who stood for food safety and honesty, above all else. It was an enjoyable read, engaging, and full of surprises. But, I didn't read this book--I listened to the audiobook. It is narrated very nicely by Kirsten Potter. I listened to the book while taking long walks from Arlington to Theodore Roosevelt Island. And the most amazing experience occurred while listening to the discussions between Harvey Wiley and Theodore Roosevelt, while viewing the super-sized statue of Theodore Roosevelt! The central circle on the island is ornamented by Roosevelt's statue and chiseled quotes by Roosevelt that show how progressive he was for his times. What a treat!...more
This is a very short, but fun book about the issues that confront a new film composer. As I am trying to break into this field, it is certainly relevaThis is a very short, but fun book about the issues that confront a new film composer. As I am trying to break into this field, it is certainly relevant to me. The book was published in 2006, and since audio and music technology is flying forward at a very fast pace, the book is a bit dated. Nevertheless, most of the advice is still quite apropos.
The main message from this book is that when it comes to composing music for film, it is a buyer's market. This means that the supply of film composers greatly outweighs the number of film projects. While the number of films and videos has increased very quickly with the number of outlets (movies, cable TV, online web sites, etc.), the number of new film composers has increased even faster. One of the main reasons is that technology has made it much easier to produce "broadcast-quality" music. It is no longer necessary to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in a studio.
This book is intended for the third tier of composers--those who compose for games, television, theme parks, low-budget features, documentaries, industrial films and commercials. But, where the book breaks down is in its discussion of preparing for recording by a live orchestra. The problem is that low-budget projects simply cannot afford to record live orchestras. Instead, incredibly realistic mock-ups are produced and used in just about all low-budget films. This is mentioned in the book, but does not receive the attention it deserves, primarily because the book was published so long ago.
Nevertheless, the book is entertaining and informative. It addresses some of the issues that are still important today. For example, should a prospective composer get a formal education? Should one become an assistant composer before trying to go for the higher levels? How much should one charge for composing? And what about all of the costs that go along with recording live musicians? How should a composer prepare for and behave during a spotting session with the director? With a very limited amount of time to score a feature-length film (maybe 4-8 weeks typically), how should one budget time, and how should one organize the task of composing a coherent score with multiple cues?
The book contains a number of anecdotes, many of them informative or even hilarious. One anecdote is about composer David Raskin complaining to Alfred Hitchcock. In the movie Lifeboat, Hitchcock did not want any music at all during the majority of the film when the action is focused on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean. Raskin confronted Hitchcock about this, and Hitchcock answered that "there is no orchestra in the middle of the ocean". Raskin, quickly responded, "out in the middle of the ocean, where's the camera?".
One of the chief take-aways from the book is the purpose of music in a film. Film music should not merely repeat what a scene is already expressing. Instead, the score should diagnose what the scene needs to by saying, but is not expressing. If a scene is complete without any music, then there shouldn't be any.
Another useful discussion in this book is how a composer should negotiate, when the available budget is insufficient to meet the desires of the director or producer. Where should a composer cut costs, or perhaps negotiate for a higher percentage of the back-end royalties. This book gives lots of suggestions for this situation, a most welcome discussion.
I read this book in a couple of hours; it is written tersely, and does not cover all the issues confronting a film composer. But the book is so engaging, and its advice is extremely good....more
This is an IT business book, cast as a work of fiction. A middle-management IT guy who works for an auto-parts manufacturer is suddenly thrust into a This is an IT business book, cast as a work of fiction. A middle-management IT guy who works for an auto-parts manufacturer is suddenly thrust into a high-level position by an insistent CEO. The IT guy doesn't really understand what led him to accept the promotion--he certainly didn't want it. Immediately after accepting the new job, a cascade of IT disasters hits the fan. Employees aren't going to be paid because of software glitches, A very important "Phoenix Project" that will be a new point-of-sale program is overdue and over-budget, and the CEO insists that it be deployed despite the fact that it is untested. And auditors are at the door, with growing evidence that customer information is leaking out due to faulty security patches.
A grey-beard on the board gives advice to the IT guy--well, he gives him some ambiguous guidance, allowing the IT guy figure much of it out by himself.
This is really a book about IT administration, and it is very clever how the reader starts to sympathize with the characters. There is even a villain in the story, who seems to cause trouble at every step.
I am not in the IT business, but the book was quite entertaining nevertheless. There is lots of jargon and IT-speak, but that does not detract from the enjoyment. And, for programmers as well as managers, this book could be very useful....more
Enrico Moretti has studied why jobs accumulate in certain cities and regions, while other regions remain stagnant or worse. He shows how important a hEnrico Moretti has studied why jobs accumulate in certain cities and regions, while other regions remain stagnant or worse. He shows how important a hub of innovation can be. But while that hub is aided by the presence of a prominent university, it is not sufficient. Other factors tie in, such as the presence of a few prominent innovators--individuals who draw more and more top innovators into the region. People like to "be where the action is".
The whole issue of the geography of jobs, is that there is a vicious cycle at work. A hub of innovation and technology attracts more innovators, while other areas lose them. There are some things that can be done to reverse this trend--and many municipalities try by introducing tax incentives to lure high-tech companies.
The author is informative, and he as done a massive accumulation of statistics and research to back up his findings. There isn't much technical jargon here, and the casual style is quite approachable by the average reader. Actually, I listened to the audiobook, narrated very nicely by Sean Pratt....more
This is a very short book, with a few scattered photographs and narrow pages. The author is engaging, and the plentiful anecdotes are fun to read. TheThis is a very short book, with a few scattered photographs and narrow pages. The author is engaging, and the plentiful anecdotes are fun to read. The book does not go into any technical detail about how to grow a successful business. Instead, it is filled with inspirational platitudes.
The first third of the book is centered on the author's business of establishing a boutique airline. The metaphor that permeates every paragraph is about taking off and flying. An occasional metaphor is nice, but when an author sticks the metaphors into just about every paragraph, it gets to be too much. The second third of the book is about the author's venture into agriculture. Again, the metaphors are shot in your face at every turn. It really reminds me of Peter Seller's character Chauncey Gardiner in the movie "Being There", where his gardening metaphors are mistaken as deep thought. It's a bit much. The last third of the book is about politics where the author simply spouts out his opinions, without much in the way of justification.
Nevertheless, the author's platitudes and inspirational quotes are, indeed, inspiring. For example, when writing about starting a new business, there is a very cogent piece of advice about not feeling ready to undertake a new endeavor: "There will always be one more class you can take, one more book you can read, one more seminar you can go to." The book spends a great deal of energy on the subject of building a good team, and trusting them. The advice given here, is not to micro-manage your team. This seems to be good advice.
The author seems to be overly self-impressed by the advice he has to give, when he writes: "When you put this book down, you will have the power every single time to pick a global or national problem and be steps away from finding a better solution to it." Wow! This must be why the author is impressed by President Trump's narcissism.
Speaking of Trump, the author calls Donald Trump "a raw, honest businessman". There is even a photograph of Trump in the book. In what universe does the author live? Has he forgotten the scandals, the corruption, and the myriad ways that Trump cheated his employees, his contractors and customers? I guess the author covers his rear end by writing: "The world is way too large, there are way too many people, and time is way too short for you to take one person's opinion too seriously."
[Disclaimer: I received this book from Reedsy Discovery, in exchange for an honest review.]...more
This is a marvelous book about the oil and gas industries. It is mostly about companies in the United States, but there are significant diversions intThis is a marvelous book about the oil and gas industries. It is mostly about companies in the United States, but there are significant diversions into a couple of other countries, including Russia. While I believe that Donald Trump is thoroughly corrupt, he really plays second fiddle to Vladimir Putin, who is brazenly corrupt an order of magnitude worse. That's really saying something!
It is well known that large oil and gas reserves help to keep some countries in the dark ages. Rich despotic leaders squash any attempts to promote democracy. But the truth is, these despots are assisted by big oil companies. They seem to use the logic that "if we don't make a deal with this despot, some other company will do it." So, big oil companies race into countries, and pad the pockets of these despots, who in turn do nothing to help the living standards of their populations.
I did not read this book--I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author, Rachel Maddow. She reads her book exactly how she talks on television, in a folksy, dry-humor, sarcastic tone throughout. And, she sings! Yes, she reads her book just as if she were sitting next to you. It's wonderful!
I didn't really know what to expect from this book; it is a how-to book about making a presentation, giving a pitch and persuading someone to your poiI didn't really know what to expect from this book; it is a how-to book about making a presentation, giving a pitch and persuading someone to your point of view. Obviously, it is tilted toward sales people. And, it is not completely intuitive. For example, politeness during a presentation is NOT required. The first portion of the book is called "setting the frame", and a bit of defiance bordering on rudeness is needed. The book is full of examples, and they show just how far one should go in setting the frame.
The book is full of anecdotes and concrete examples. The second-to-last chapter describes the author's "airport deal" in detail. He shows how he beat the two stronger competitors, by going far beyond the numbers game. He comes out sounding very similar to the "Don Draper" character in "Mad Men". He demonstrates why, in this particular case, the project is much more that just making money--it is about history and legacy.
This book is short enough that you can read it in a couple of hours. If your business is selling to people, then this book is definitely for you. It is entertaining, and at times downright surprising.
This book is an engaging look at the multitude of ways in which generalists can generalized thinking is essential in the modern world. The emphasis inThis book is an engaging look at the multitude of ways in which generalists can generalized thinking is essential in the modern world. The emphasis in today's society is increasingly on specializing in specific fields. This book contains many anecdotes about how generalized training and thinking resulted in the greatest successes.
Later in the book, the author shows that societies certainly need specialists. The specialists dig deep into technical areas, increasing our knowledge and skills. The generalists look at disparate areas, and find bridges between them. So often, it is the generalists' bridges, the interfaces between different areas, that result in the greatest benefits and successes. So, it would seem that the book's title is somewhat misleading. Generalists don't always triumph--so often it is a collaboration between specialist and generalist thinking and approaches that combine to generate the greatest advances.
But the author makes some excellent points. So often, we point to celebrity athletes, artists, musicians, inventors, and learn that they were trained to excel by their parents from an early age in their specialties. However, just as often, people who excel did not specialize in a single sport or art or vocation; they trained in many different areas, and perhaps never specialized, or did so at a much later age.
None of this book is revolutionary. We all know about how generalists often excel. The interest in this book derives from putting lots of examples all together into a single volume. The writing reminds me a lot of the books by Malcolm Gladwell. It combines lots of anecdotes together to make a point. It makes for fun reading!...more
This is a pretty good book about how artificial intelligence (AI) can be applied to businesses. It is not a technical book--you won't find any detailsThis is a pretty good book about how artificial intelligence (AI) can be applied to businesses. It is not a technical book--you won't find any details about the wide range of technologies being used for machine learning. Instead, you will find many ingenious ways to put AI to use, as well as all the business ramifications. Three professionals from Toronto's Rotman School of management collaborated to write this book. The book is unified, and reads as if it were written by a single person. However, it is not a particularly engaging book. There is no entertainment value here, definitely no humor. It is a no-nonsense book--almost in the style of a textbook, with good summaries at the end of each chapter. But, the book is not dry, and is easy to read. It is filled with interesting stories and anecdotes.
The basic premise of the book is that the cost of prediction is dropping. Prediction is at the heart of decision-making, so decisions should, overall improve. And, as decisions improve, so should productivity.
The pitfalls of prediction machines are also described. I just love the story about a chess-playing machine during the early days of AI. The machine was fed games from the great grandmasters of chess. The machine successfully analyzed static board positions and suggested good moves. Then, when the machine was programmed to play complete games, something strange happened. Early in its games, it often would sacrifice its queen with no apparent benefit. It turns out the grandmasters occasionally would sacrifice a queen when a masterful quick checkmate could follow. But, the machine could not see that sacrificing a queen without comparable reward was not a good move. [image]...more
This short book offers a set of 18 action steps to help you protect your life from all sorts of frauds and scams. Here are a few of the subjects coverThis short book offers a set of 18 action steps to help you protect your life from all sorts of frauds and scams. Here are a few of the subjects covered in this book in straight-forward recipe-like steps:
Keep your e-mail address private Safe passwords, and how to avoid forgetting them Two-step verifications Dangers of public wi-fi Protecting your home wi-fi network Protecting your phone and tablet Stopping identity theft on social media Tracking your money Avoiding identity theft Protect your children Avoiding extortion from cyber thieves Whom should you trust to protect your identity
The book is brief, well-written, and to the point. Some of the safety precautions are written like recipes, in order to guide the reader step-by-step. There is a lot of good advice here. There are no guarantees--it''s just that the steps are precautions that reduce your risk. None of it seems overly paranoid....more
Ron Friedman is a psychologist who works as a consultant to business leaders, to help them transform their workplaces. He has written a fascinating boRon Friedman is a psychologist who works as a consultant to business leaders, to help them transform their workplaces. He has written a fascinating book about making a workplace into "A Great Place to Work." It is a book about psychology, and the psychological factors that affect businesses. In retrospect it is entirely common sense, but so many businesses do not apply common sense to the workplace. Here I will summarize some of the points that really made a mark in my mind.
In the 1970's, the average office space was 500 square feet per person, but by 2010 it declined to 200 square feet. Cubicles were originally designed to give office workers privacy. Nowadays, they prevent eye contact, but allow hearing people who are hidden behind panels. Cubicles are used to cram more people into tight spaces, which can be truly demoralizing. Friedman writes, "Cubicles are depressing. Private offices are isolating. Open spaces are distracting." Friedman writes about the benefits of offices with windows, giving access to sunlight. Plants also can help. Organizations that have communal spaces have twice the number of employees with a best friend at work, than those that don't.
Friedman writes that the real lesson of telecommuting is "there's something deeply wrong with the design of a workplace when the only way for an employee to feel productive is to physically leave the building.
Interestingly, Friedman writes about the benefits of exercise, short naps, enforced vacations, and turning off email servers after working hours. This may help to put the unconscious mind to work overnight.
One of the ways to help employees get along with each other is by fostering physical activities after hours--not at cocktail parties. It's about what we do outside the office that frequently offers the biggest boon to our relationships at work.
Warren Buffett gives his direct reports complete autonomy over their own decision making. This "pays dividends in the form of better motivation, stronger organizational loyalty, and sustained engagement." Friedman gives advice about how to avoid micromanagement, flexible schedules. He writes that giving praise is not about stroking an employee's ego. It's about providing them with the psychological fuel to feel engaged. Managers who hold high-level positions often get recognition, and take it for granted. They don't realize that lower-level employees need it, too.
Friedman advises about how to promote flow experiences and intellectual curiosity: Make on-th-job learning a requirement. Also, in order to experience flow, one needs clear objectives, and where peer-to-peer coaching can be useful. And, the best communicators are good listeners, and are therefore the most influential. Friedman analyzes a recording of a successful hostage negotiation, and finds that listening was the key. When trying to change behavior, the more you dominate a conversation, the less you persuade.
The book tells of the enormous influence of CEO's on a company's direction and culture. A clever psychological study found that narcissistic leaders make significantly more volatile business decisions. They pursue more bold attention grabbing and strategic shifts than competitors. Hmm... this sounds an awful lot like someone in the news a lot these days .... The book gives lots of practical suggestions for employees, emerging leaders and managers.
Friedman gives a lot of advice about interviewing new hires. He writes about an amazing psychological experiment having to do with interviewing. He writes about the benefits of employee referrals, and how to build employee pride in a company. He advises how to make each employee feel like their contributions are valued--and to do this without phony, fancy titles, which often backfire.
I highly recommend this book to everyone interested in psychology, and to anyone who works for an organization or business. It contains a lot of sound, common-sense advice. And, some of the advice is not very obvious. Even when the advice is obvious, it can be useful for managers to get some reminders--these reminders are sorely needed.
This is an engaging book about how big data can be used to improve our understanding of human behavior, thinking, emotions, and preference. The basic This is an engaging book about how big data can be used to improve our understanding of human behavior, thinking, emotions, and preference. The basic idea is that if you ask people about their behavior or their preferences in surveys, even anonymous surveys, they will often lie. People do not like to admit to low-brow preferences; racists do not want to admit to their prejudices, most people who watch pornography do not want to admit to it, and even voting is often misrepresented; some people who voted for Trump would not admit to it.
But, by analyzing immense datasets from Google, public archives, social media, and the like, Seth Stephens-Davidowitz has been able to unearth a lot of fascinating answers to puzzling questions. For example, he is able to predict, through Google searches for various symptoms, who is likely to have early stages of pancreatic cancer. He can predict epidemic breakouts of some contagious diseases well before they are announced by the CDC (Center for Disease Control). He shows that the single factor that correlates with voting for Trump is that of racism.
Then there are the fun factoids, about the sorts of things that people search for most often on Google. Most commonly, the search "Is my son ..." is followed by "gifted", while the search "Is my daughter ..." is followed by "overweight". That tells us something about stereotypes for the way people think about their children. Interestingly, the release of a new violent movie in a city is correlated with a decrease in violent crime in that city. Perhaps the reason is that violent people who are watching the movie are not out on the streets, committing crimes.
And here we get to the main problem with this sort of analysis. Undoubtedly, the research and analysis of big datasets is done correctly. However, once a surprising result is found, understanding the motivations behind the online activity are often subjective and open to interpretation. While this book is very careful about its underlying assumptions, it is a slippery road to getting the correct interpretations and explanations.
This is a very short book about motivation. Money is not the only factor in motivating people; sometimes it isn't even a major factor. The scientific This is a very short book about motivation. Money is not the only factor in motivating people; sometimes it isn't even a major factor. The scientific evidence is clear, from psychological experiments, that usually internal rather than external factors are more important. People are much more motivated to work efficiently if they have a sense of purpose, that is to say, if their efforts have meaning and the end-products are visible.
All pop psychology books describe experiments, and this book follows the same pattern. Many of the experiments are surprising, and give fascinating insights into the human psyche. In the beginning of the book, Ariely describes a presentation on the subject of motivation to a group of staff members at a Seattle software company (Microsoft?). They were deeply depressed because the project they had been working on for a few years had been cancelled. All of their labor had been wasted. It was truly an ironic experience, for this was a perfect example of how to de-motivate people.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It starts out like many other pop psychology books, describing an array of psychology experiments that are soI was pleasantly surprised by this book. It starts out like many other pop psychology books, describing an array of psychology experiments that are so often in the literature. But, at some point in the book, the story takes a turn into a direction that few other books seem to touch. Nudge is really about the small, subtle pushes that our modern-day world makes to sway one's opinion or real-world choices.
The book devotes a separate chapter to each of several real-world scenarios. When a company gives employees a choice among investment plans, how should the be described? Should there be a default plan such that, if no explicit choice is made, gets chosen automatically? What about health plans--they are very complex, and is there one that is best for everyone? (Probably not.) Then there are mortgage plans, organ donation, college funds, and on and on.
People are often lazy, and they make a choice once and then forget about it. But, should a company or a government give a subtle nudge by intelligently designing a form, an intelligent default, and so on? Or should the choice be left 100% to the customer?
The authors of this book argue that libertarian paternalism may be the answer. Give people the full cast of choices, and give people the freedom to make the wrong choices. But, also give people a default choice that may be better than most of the choices.
Some choices are fixable. If you take your clothes to a dry cleaning establishment and they do a poor job, then the next time it is easily correctable; in the future just take your clothes somewhere else. But other choices are not correctable. How many chances do you have in choosing a spouse? While in theory it is a correctable choice, it is not one that my people make over and over again. And, by the way, why should the government have any say at all about marriages? If there are any government benefits to marriage, say taxes, laws, etc., why not distribute those benefits to everyone? The authors argue that there is not reason for the government to be in the marriage business at all.
This book is a quick and easy read. I recommend it to people who are trying to formulate policies and even to those who are designing forms for public use....more
This is a book about how businesses can best use digital technologies to compete. The basic premise is very interesting; web site content is not the mThis is a book about how businesses can best use digital technologies to compete. The basic premise is very interesting; web site content is not the most important aspect of the digital world--connections are much more important. There are three types of connections; user, products, and functional.
It is true that newspaper circulation per household has been declining steadily since 1945. But digital technology is not killing newspapers; it is only continuing the trend started by radio and TV. What really is killing newspapers is the loss of classified ads to the Internet. The book discusses the New York Times' paywall-pricing strategies that seem to be inconsistent, but are actually adjusted in a near-optimal arrangement for maximizing profit.
Everyone complains about cable TV bundles; we don't like to pay for channels that we never watch. However, this book argues that the bundling is actually good not only for cable companies, but for consumers as well. Anand makes a good argument, that the best strategy for cable companies would be to drop all content, and simply provide infrastructure for broadband Internet connections. Anand calls this "the Dumb Pipe Paradox."
The transition to digital technology is only profitable if fixed costs can be kept down. For publishing companies, it is a difficult transition to e-book publishing. It will continue to be difficult, as long as publishers distribute their content both in print and in digital form. Amazon, on the other hand, has reduced its fixed costs. Amazon built IT servers, and sold access to the cloud. In other words, Amazon built infrastructure that it needs, and sells the excess capacity to other companies.
Anand also discusses the concept of complements in a lot of detail. As an example, music CD's and concerts are complements. The demand for one product goes up as the price of the other goes down. The price of recorded music fell--frequently to zero--as the prices of live concert tickets rose. In earlier years, Apple was never very successful because it ignored complements. Apple prevented software companies from creating applications for its products. But the iPod succeeded because of the complementarity of iTunes. The system was open: iTunes could run on a PC. But, iTunes was practically a loss-leader. It was a complement for selling iPods. There are many other examples of complements: razors and razor blades, printers and cartridges, CD's and concerts, NFL and fantasy football.
From 1990 to 2015, NFL broadcast contracts increased from $1B to $6B, while viewership remained flat. The reason? A loss-leader deal by Fox network. But the deal by Fox network put it on the map in rural areas where it had previously been absent. Fox understood connections better than the other networks.
Anand makes a very interesting observation about vertically-integrated companies. He claims that vertical integration is a zero-sum transfer. Nobody really comes out ahead. There is no net gain to either party of a vertical buy-out. While there are a few exceptions, they are very subtle.
The book covers many other industries, including higher education. My interest stayed with the book for a awhile, but since I am not a business-person, it waned after the half-way mark. It is difficult for me to judge how much of this book is already well known and understood, and how much is truly new and insightful. But, if you are involved in an industry making a digital transition, this book could be valuable....more
Before reading this book, I had never heard of Eli Broad. Now that I read the book, I wonder how I could ever have missed him! He four careers; accounBefore reading this book, I had never heard of Eli Broad. Now that I read the book, I wonder how I could ever have missed him! He four careers; accounting, homebuilding, retirement savings, and philanthropy. He is the first person to build two Fortune-500 companies, in completely different industries. He is now helping to reform public education, he has assembled world-class art collections and put them into publicly accessible museums, and he contributed $600 million to start a large biomedical research institution.
This book contains the advice of Eli Broad; lessons that can be applied to business as well as personal life. For example, he shows how unreasonable persistence can produce "big payoffs", although it is also important to "know when to quit". He advises the reader to forget conventional wisdom, because it strangles innovation. For example, his goal was to build single-family houses that were more affordable than any others on the market. So, he built houses without basements, which at the time was contrary to conventional wisdom. That, and other no-frills cost-savings allowed him to charge about 8% less than any other homebuilder. He describes many other innovations that made his business prosper.
Eli Broad shows how hard work and research can help the planning of any innovation. He shows how being first with an innovation is not necessary; being second can sometimes be preferable. He describes the value of delegating work to others. He describes how he hired the best people for the job, and how to keep them from leaving. He discusses the value of leverage--sometimes leverage is monetary, but at other times it is possible to leverage people, too. He has excellent advice for marketing and investing, and how to motivate people.
At the end of the book there is a long appendix. It lists the highlights of Eli Broad's career. It lists all of his business ventures, civic activities, educational activities, art activities, government and political activities, philanthropic activities, and honors. The list is 35 pages long!
In the very last paragraph of the book, Eli Broad mentions the most important decision of your life; to choose the right person to marry, and spend your life together. In my opinion, that is absolutely good advice.
I highly recommend this book. It is entertaining, engaging, and contains a wealth of excellent advice....more
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