Time for taking stock and re-reading!

 

I had reached a juncture in my reading life that is familiar to those who have been there.

 In the allotted time left to me on earth, should I read more and more new books, or should I cease that vain consumption - vain because it is endless, and begin to re-read the books that gave me the intense pleasure in the past.

                                                             ~Lydia Davis

 

It is not that, I have read so many books, but I see her point.

At least, for a year or two except some specific technical books,

I would like to go in the re-reading mode. :-)

 

Wishing you all a safe holiday season Happy NEW Year 2022 ahead.

Cheerz,

madhu

The IP Papers

"Reading makes a man ready"- You might have heard variations of this notion many times when you were in primary school.  Well, at that time, I understood it as reading the text books prescribed by the school :-)

 

I have come across many people who read extensively and are erudite enough. Famous people like Bill Gates post a subset of books they have read every year.

 

But there are professions like Medicine, Law, Design where the professionals are still awesome readers, but simply never have the time to catch up in other distant domains. Their main vocation is demanding enough. 

Surprisingly, when I interact with them, they are excellently informed and exhibit a good grasp of concepts that are quite outside their area. It turns out that, while they might not have read any tomes, they got hold of a few seminal papers in those areas. One may not become an expert but know enough to understand the experts. 

This insight made me wonder about seminal papers. Such a trigger, usually ends up like a list provided in a travel agency's advertisement:  "Top 50 destinations you should visit before you die". Yet, I thought, reading good "papers" is at least a clever way towards gaining a decent understanding of a new terrain. 

Thought of sharing some such papers with a following caveats. 

1. People whose main job is in that domain may find it elementary. They are likely to ask, "Can a sunrise sneak past the rooster?". Well, it is for the others then :-). Please excuse. 

2. While such "seminal/great" papers may be in the range of 100s, if not more, I have applied one simple criteria. I ought to have read  and benefited from it in some way.  

3. Paper should be reasonably simple. It should not require an apprenticeship to understand. Maximum effort required could be  "phone-a-friend" to get quick clarifications! 

4. Finally, it should impel the reader to study a few more papers in that area since one may be hardly enough.

 Now you may be wondering what IP paper means?. I meant "Interesting" and "Personal" papers. Each one of us will have different IP papers in their mental wardrobe.

The second and third caveat ensured that the number is in single digit. So here is my Table. Feel free to share "your papers" list in the comments. 

#	Paper	Comments/Remarks
1	Science and Statistics   By George E.P Box	"All models are wrong, but some are useful" is attributed to him. Neat examples and anecdotes. It lead me to an equally interesting work of Darrell Huff, MJ Moroney
2	Managing Oneself   By Peter F Drucker	Management guru outlines, among various critical stuff, how to figure out if bosses are readers or listeners and advises us to adapt for effectiveness accordingly. Since one cannot customize the boss this paper  should be part of campus induction training material. I learnt much later!
3	Text of Moon Speech by JFK	Heavily influenced by one of my teachers who used to often quote this speech for bold vision, nuanced sense of humour and leadership articulation.
4	More is different   By Phil Anderson	My friend who shared this explained it before  handing over the printout. Else he knew I would have lost the import of this. It argues that reductionism may not be good enough to address all scientific approaches. The ending conversation is as cinematic  as "Gone with the wind"  - hence I use the last portion alone :-)
5	Why future doesn't need us?  By Bill Joy	When a proven techie is uneasy about a set of technologies, you get a little apprehensive and try to take notice of it. It is a long read and full of de-tours. But, overall keeps you aware of the flip side of the coin.
6	Can a biologist fix the radio?   By Y.lisebnik	How to validate an approach or methodology? This paper answers that pesky question well. Some of the observations he raises transcends many domains. It is great reference article.
7	Content is not the king By Andrew Odlyzko	When, the then prevailing Wisdom was "Content is THE king", I really liked this devil's advocate paper. In my view, it had great data points set as well as strong views on the other way around.
8	The feeling of power By Isaac Asimov	Took AI as electives long back just for novelty and chanced upon this story. Frankly, it was too weird for me at that time. Just by reading it again now, many strands are relatively clear from at least on Philosophical angle. Futuristic, Poignant and evocative whenever you check back this counter intuitive tragic story.
Note: Links to the papers are not provided. I assume you will be inspired enough to find out.

Thanks for reading this far.

Regards,

madhu

Range (by) David Epstein

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.  

F. Scott Fitzgerald 

Took up this book called "Range: Why generalists triumph in a specialized world" by David Epstein. With the diet of Gladwell (10 k hours rule), I am used to the Talent is overrated notion and so this book was a "binary jolt". I reasonably believed, you should get to the stadium as early as you can and practice, get closer and closer to "pole position" and give your best shot to be successful (pick-n-stick approach).

While that approach tells you that earlier you start the better, suddenly, you come across a proposition which is orthogonal, making it difficult to digest. Eventually got over it and I think he has some germane points to make his side of the case.

Of course, I did have a modicum of reservation about the early start approach, since if it was that straightforward, almost everyone would have followed suit. Such a mild side eyed doubt helps you to keep the balance. Another interesting thing is that, Gladwell himself has a comment about this book saying "being told that everything I thought about something was wrong".

He like Gladwell,refers with the same Tiger Woods (as an example to start very early with a laser focus) and next he takes Roger Federer who experimented with several  ball games before he settled on Tennis.

You can appreciate the examples because it is almost contemporary (not from History books) and establishes the context for full "range". 

He takes up some fascinating and compelling stories where sticking to the expertise did backfire or even fatal as in the case of Montana fire accident where the fire fighters refused to give up their tools and ends up dying.He also talks about Para jumpers' episode - where thinking on the usual lines would not have yielded such a decision. In order to save space for the injured soldiers and emergency medical supplies, the key person makes the most important decision of his life - to stay back and guide the team rather than going with them. They were always trained as a super close knit team, the very idea is unbelievable and unthinkable. But in the end, mission worked out well. The captain would later remark "If something bad happens and if the officer is not there, think of explaining to 10 families" - a shuddering thought even as a reader.

He takes NASA challenger disaster in detail in order to explain how the culture "In God we trust, all others bring data" did not help. He explains well how to balance the risks that two extremes generate: That is, "mindless conformity" and "reckless deviation". He quotes Richard Feynman when he investigated the challenger disaster "When you don't have data, you have to use reason".

Author gives many data points and anecdotal evidence to support the fact that experts are no better forecasters than normal people. He adds a neat corollary that "Good forecasters are good belief updater. If they make a bet and lose, they embrace the logic of loss just as they embrace the reinforcement of win". When there is a dearth of data, he suggests "sense making" rather than decision making. He says, if I take a decision, will take pride in it and defend it whereas if I try to make sense, it would entail listening to others and goes on to say "Hunches to be held lightly". This is akin to futurist Paul Saffo's remark on forecasting "Strong views held lightly".

Our personalities change over time. Specializing too early has its disadvantages since THAT person has not yet arrived. Most of the significant changes occur during the ages 18-20 and then in late 20's. His repeat point is, when a specialist encounters novel or unfamiliar situations, they would not consider eschewing their experience entirely which usually result in a disaster (but I wonder how many times when you play chess Queen sacrifice for example is required and that too at a tournament level to win the game). He quips that, patient has more chances of living when cardiologists caucus because common treatments with dubious effects are less likely to be performed - apparently there is enough data to support this claim.

In his book Frames-of-mind, Howard Garder observes, "If a particular behavior is considered important by culture, nearly every normal individual would attain impressive level of competence". All of us can cite many examples to support this conclusion - for example, now a days, being plain mobile phone user just to make calls to mobile savvy like using exotic apps in the mobile phone. In this era of super-heated competition, starting early resonates with society more than broad brush and later deep dive - except that one will be unprepared for unexpected turns.

In systems theory, one of the key maxims on the risk side is: "Aggregation gives protection against UNKNOWN. Specialization gives protection against KNOWN". But then, wisdom lies in acceptance of this mutual spectrum.

We have to take a pick between Unknown and Known - all the best. 

Thanks for reading this far.

regards,

madhu

Connecting the Dots: Leadership Lessons in a Startup World (by) John Chambers with Diane Brady

“In human affairs of danger and delicacy successful conclusion is sharply limited by hurry. So often men trip by being in a rush. If one were properly to perform a difficult and subtle act, he should first inspect the end to be achieved and then, once he had accepted the end as desirable, he should forget it completely and concentrate solely on the means. By this method he would not be moved to false action by anxiety or hurry or fear. Very few people learn this.” - John Steinbeck, Nobel Prize, 1962.

John Chambers has given the business equivalent of that thought. “Write the press release for the results you want before your start the project.” He then goes on to stress how maniacal focus to execution is the key to success.

His sound bites or distilled wisdom are striking. Some of them here:

1. Dream big: Be bold again and again.
2. You compete against market transitions – not against competition.
3. Better to stumble first than arrive last.
4. In any setback, determine how much is self-inflicted and how much is market driven. If it is mostly the latter, don’t alter the strategy too much. (To me, it is one of the clearest recommendations. Easy-to-understand but hard to implement.)
5. Sell people only what they really need.
6. Move on when the outcome can no longer be achieved.
7. My favorite: Worst mistake you can do is to do the right thing for too long.

He adduces each point with at least one convincing example. The thought momentum he progressively builds is unmistakable.

Author’s proclivity for West Virginia area is clear but is not surprising. Wherever you have spent the childhood, one has a deep emotive connection.

Author enlists 7 attributes that he looks for in a leader. He has made the job very easy for recruitment agencies.

One interesting counter-intuitive point he makes while recalling Cisco<>Huawei lawsuit. Key is to focus on what the other player is likely to do – and not what you would do in that situation – understand the other side’s mindset is the main message.

Cisco has mastered the art-n-science of acquisitions. His narrative on this is a very compelling read.

He has great sense of humor. When a meeting is over, mentally summarize before you head to the next. For that take small break. To make that point he quotes a quip from one of his friends: “Never pass up a bath room on your way to meeting. It becomes even more important as you grow older”.

His meeting anecdotes with Henry Kissinger, Shimon Peres and other stalwarts are very interesting to read. Also, his comparisons between India and France was the one I enjoyed the most.

Book’s Chapter 11 is about Entrepreneurship and that has 13 Questions. While it is one of the best chapters, it is clear John does not believe in numerology 😊.

They say, Pearl is Oyster’s biography. Connecting the dots should you consider it as a nuanced biography, you can walk a with a couple pearls for sure.

Thanks for reading this far.

Regards,

madhu 

Originals by Adam Grant

Adam Grant is one of the popular writers of our time. In this book, he focuses on Originals who are some kind of non-conformists (perhaps from the stand point of widely accepted world views) that are changing the world.

Incredibly, he dedicates one full chapter in this book to Procrastination. He claims that this commonly hated vice is useful when it comes to the question of creativity albeit it is a sworn enemy of productivity. Actually, I did follow the prescription by delaying this post for more than a quarter :-).

He is a master in introducing terms which are relatively unused in interesting ways, for example,Vujade (opposite of Dejavu) which means look at the familiar situation in a new light and so on.

The points he adduces are also equally compelling. Couple of examples.

1.  When parents encourage their children to develop strong values, they effectively limit their influence:  When Winstead went public with her rebellion political views, her father quipped: "I messed it up. I raised you to have an opinion and I forgot to tell you that, it was supposed to be mine!".

2. "Appeal to the Character rather than behavior”. For example, instead of saying "Please don't cheat" say, “Please don't be a cheater". When the emphasis shifts from behavior to character, people evaluate their choices differently. Instead of asking if the behavior will achieve the results they want, they take the action because that is the right thing to do. It is like if somebody is drowning, you don't ask which god but tend to just jump and save.

He cites, more diversified the exposure, greater the chance of better idea(s) selection in future. Gives examples of Edison, Galileo kind of luminaries - chronologically , they are far too much in the rear view mirror to be germane for us, yet I will take the examples with more than a pinch of salt. I personally think we are in "deep dive" era where occasionally lateral exposures would come handy and perhaps make a good story. 

Interestingly, he gives examples of how artistic hobby and correlates to of winning  Nobel Prize. Music (2x), Drawing, Painting (7x), Modelling, Mechanics (12x), Performing arts, Magic (22x). For example, someone who is practicing magic is 22 times more likely to win the Nobel assuming he/she also focused on the main job!

Sure enough, no management book can escape one matrix (usually 2x2). Here, he discusses four options (1) Exit (2) Voice (3) Neglect (4) Persistence based on change/maintain the situation (Vector-1) and Beneficial/Detrimental to the organization (Vector-2). The discussions thereof are very good.

In the long run, we always regret the errors of omission rather than commission. If we were to run our lives again, he strongly feels we would censor less. I tend to agree with him on opportunities but not sure about people interactions or let us say spirituality - anyway, we get the message.

This book with all the wonderful snippets, gives us a good approximation of the ORIGINALS and how they are only subtly different from the rest - not vastly different. It is a warm and comfy feeling.

Scot Adams famously said, "Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes - Art is knowing which ones to keep". So, with many examples, you need to artistically navigate to decide which ones to keep.

Thanks for reading this far.

regards,

madhu

Ref:

1. TED Talks by Adam Grant.

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vuja_De

Throwing rocks at the GOOGLE bus by Douglas Rushkoff

When you read a book, sometimes you get the feeling of dejavu – a feeling that we have already seen or gone through it before. But how about reading a book that gives a feeling that is orthogonal to it – I mean vujade? That is, we have never seen this familiar thing in that light feeling.

This is my first book by Doug albeit he seems to be a prolific writer and has been writing for quite some time and I am impressed. 

(FYI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Rushkoff)

Doug is a worried man like many of us about the direction in which the world is moving. He discusses the unequal distribution of wealth, and technologies like robots, AI, and algorithms moving rapidly to replace millions of jobs without much societal deliberation about the resulting consequences. He presents his thoughts on how they can be optimized to help the society as a whole instead of blindly running with the changes to wherever they take us. He might not give solutions for everything, but he does point out many potential pitfalls.

Key ideas that got my attention (by no means exhaustive).

1.  Concentration of wealth is not self-correcting.

2.  One has design for the velocity of business instead of focusing on growth - to quote him, Money is a verb not a noun. Don’t hoard keep it circulation.

3.   Growth cannot be an end by itself. He gives “twitter” as an example.

4.    Technology does take away jobs and the next generation jobs are less than previous one in terms of number and usually involves less skill and prone to commoditization.

5.    Most of us are in “extractive” business rather than generative and circulatory business which alone is sustainable over long run. This may sound forbiddingly abstract but will be clear when you read the book.

6.    Alternatives to charted business corporations models like Benefit corporations, Flexible purpose corporations are well explained with examples.

7.    Corporations did not emerge – they were invented and hence there is a scope for re-inventing them in order to restore the power of middle class. His focus is on distributed prosperity.

8.    His views on social media is very refreshing. (He gives examples in music and host of other industries.)

9.    He has brilliantly applied Marshall McLuhan classic litmus test questions on media

a.      What does the medium enhance or amplify?

b.      What does the medium make obsolete?

c.       What does the medium flip into when pushed to extreme?

He takes Automotive and Cellphone as examples – and I am convinced by his explanations.

10.  He highlights the benefits of local currencies and importance of thriving local economies.

Now coming back to his Twitter: It was successful, but it is not successful enough to justify the money investors have pumped in. Already it had good revenues, happy employees, users were well served, but it may never grow enough to win back 100 times the initial $20Billion bet. To do that, it has to grow bigger and faster than the economy of many nations! Isn’t that a bit too much to ask of an app that sends out messages of 140 characters or less?

He says that there is a disproportionate relationship between capital and value.

He points out that for some of the products prices may be low – but costs (he means social to a large extent) are high. Receptionist being replaced by answering machines, managers getting replaced by algorithms, workers being replaced by robots etc. His examples are really striking and poignant.

In any case, I am going to read more of his works.

Thanks for reading this far.

Regards,

Madhu

PS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_bus_protests

My Linked-IN 2016 Posts

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/morphing-delivery-compliance-consultation-madhu-parthasarathy?trk=mp-author-card

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/contacts-portability-madhu-parthasarathy?trk=mp-author-card

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/team-building-queen-bee-effect-madhu-parthasarathy?trk=mp-author-card