The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable

Pay attention to the title "A Leadership Fable", it indeed is. It starts with a story of a silicon valley company in trouble. The Board decides to bring in a new CEO, a woman who is a mother, teacher and leader. The story of how she takes this company and rebuilds its team is amazing. The people on her team are realistic: the CTO with his notebook open during meetings or the eager Sales head who wants to make another acquisition to add a feather to his cap. She writes down the five things on a dysfunctional team at their first meeting and how they tackle each of this is what the book is all about. Every team lead or manager can relate to this book very well. At some point or another, most of the teams have been dysfunctional and there is some reality there.

What it tries to convey is cohesive teams :
- trust one another (duh!)
- engage in conflict around ideas (conflict is a good thing after all!)
- commit to decisions and plans of actions (yeah... give me a date when it will be done and how it will be done!)
- hold one another accountable for delivering against those plans (there goes your pay cut!)
- focus on the achievement of results (ta-da!)

Seriously, the pros of this books are many : simple and easy read, morals taught through story (well it is a fable!) and a lot of points just stick. The only con I can see is: A lot of effort/pages have been wasted in describing some unnecessary details like someone frowning or biting nails (I am exaggerating here). Sometimes the effect is lost because of this.

Well, easier said than done, try putting all this to practice. May not be as easy as it was for the fictional Kathryn.

God of small things

When I finished the Kite Runner, I wanted another book that would keep me headed in a similar direction. Now, I don't know what direction that is, but I think I wanted a book that would be a page-turner. Several reviewers compared Kite Runner to God of Small Things (GOST). So I picked this book. It is not a page-turner. It is not an easy read. It takes time to understand the characters. While some characters are well introduced, some aren't. The characters are definitely interesting esp the twins Rahel and Estha. The book is not in the first person like Kite Runner, so I was a little annoyed initially. The plot takes some turns but nothing that makes you jump off your seat. The only similarity I see between GOST and KR is "guilt". Everything else is different. There are a lot of metaphors used and it may come in the way of your reading pace. I did not think this book was exceptional but who knows, you may enjoy it. It probably requires a certain kind of reader to appreciate it and I may not be one of them.
Maybe my review is more biased since I read KR right before this and enjoyed it immensely.

The Kite Runner

One word to describe this book : Gripping. This book is hard to put down once you start. The story set both in Afghanistan and US, comes together very well. It is a story about redemption. Can we correlate to the story? Most of us can. The setting, the innocence of childhood and the darkness of the past all make this book a very compelling read. The story starts with 2 young boys, Amir and Hassan. Their world seems so diffent : one rich the other poor, one educated the other illeterate, one master the other servant. But they share a bond. But one incident changes their lives forever and this is when the story takes a turn. The twists keep coming. The selfishness of youth and guilt of old are all portrayed very well. For me, having born and raised in India, it was very easy to relate the settings to my own childhood. The warmth of friends and relatives were very easy to understand and it did not seem unreal, even for a moment. It is a very emotional ride.

Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions

As the title explains, this is the story of some MIT grads, who took Las Vegas casinos for a ride. They used probability theory, which is quite popular now (the ho-lo trick in blackjack), and the entire team, made millions at the casinos. This story is all about how the team was formed and how they made it big, before their secret was compromised. The first half is a little drag but the second half is quite gripping. It is hard to put the book down once you start the second half. The writing style is not very appealing, but the story itself moves fast.

Well, it is still hard to believe that this is a non-fiction book. I strongly feel that some of the facts may have been exaggerated to the length of the book. But I believe, it is consoling to know that most of is probably non-fiction. I recommend this book for some fun. There may be more books in the "fiction" section of your library that gives more adrenaline rush, but this is pretty darn good!

Rich Dad Poor Dad

With the flu season on, all four of us are down. I took a couple of days off from work so I can be with the kids. With nothing much to do when the kids slept, I looked for a book to read. I had bought some books at the airport store in Bangalore and this was one of them. I still remember the look my husband had given when I picked this book. With one child next to me and another in my tummy, he had expected me to pick some books on parenting. But, I remembered one of my friend mentioning this book and I picked it. I had never read a book on investment and I felt all the more compelled to pick this.

Well, this book is quite an easy read; give it a couple of evenings. It teaches you common sense and these books fascinate me. How people make millions by writing about common sense? Aren't we supposed to know it? Well, let me save that topic for another day. There are most of us that pay very little attention to investment. While we all dream of a happy retired life but not many of us plan for it. This book is an eye-opener of sorts if you have never ever read an investment book, like me :-) The author emphasizes that rich people teach their kids to make money work for them, while the poor teach them get an education and work for money. By poor, the author does not mean people that cannot afford 2 meals a day. When he says poor, they are the people who have more liabilities than assets. The sort that spend too much on car, clothes etc and assume they are living a rich life. For instance, he says that if someone considers their home the biggest investment, then that person is in trouble. He points out a couple of ways to make money like real estate and stocks, which of course has worked for him but the same may not work for everyone! The author does a good job at narrating ideas but has very little information on implementing them. This book is more of an inspirational book than a financial book. So get hooked, if you want some inspiration to save money! If you are looking for a recipe to get rich, pass this one.

A lot of people seem to suggest "The Millionaire Next Door" is a better book. I may read it sometime but this is FYI.

The Alchemist

This is a book that different people may see differently: a fairy-tale for adults, a self-help inspirational book or it can be a simple easy book with some good quotes.
Basically, the books tells you to follow your heart, dream of something and live a life trying to achieve it. That is when life feels fulfilled. It is a story about a shepherd Santiago, who follows his dream and very prectiably, realizes them. Well, it is certainly a page turner, describing the various people he meets and the path to his destination. While this book can be a life changer for some, it was refreshing for me. There were some inspirational quotes and it was a different book. A very easy read and the book can be finished in one evening. What I take away from this book is, lead a life following a dream but the journey to achieve the dream is more beautiful than the dream itself.

More quotes from this book:

* When a person really desires something, all the Universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream

* There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.

* The fear of suffering is worse than suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity.

* Every search begins with beginner's luck. And every search ends with the victor being severely tested.

* Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.

* It's not what enters man's mouth that is evil, it's what comes out of their mouth that is.

* When someone makes a decision, he is diving into a strong current that will carry him places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.

Blink: The Power Of Thinking Without Thinking

While I am writing one review for Malcolm Gladwell, I decided I should review the other book I have read too. Next time Malcolm Gladwell writes a book, I will buy it without blinking. I have read his Tipping point and this is his second book I read. I truly respect this author for the way he presents his ideas and the data. Coginitive science is presented in the form of a story book. He debates throughout the book if we should follow our gut-feeling or not. There are times when this have proven right and sometimes it has proven wrong. There are some good examples of how instincts may not be always right : as in sipping Pepsi and deciding if it is better than Coke (note : its just a sip), listening to one song by an artist and deciding if he is good or bad. There are no conclusions drawn whatsoever. If you are looking at core Cognitive science as in "science", then this is not the book for you. This book has more examples than explanation of human behavior.
All in all, it is a very light read like his previous book. It leaves you hungry, looking for more than what you read and an explanation of why we do what we do. Well, don't expect answers. Read it for the fun of reading! Have fun.

Some lines I liked:

* It is quite possible for people who have never met us and who have spent only twenty minutes thinking about us to come to a better understanding of who we are than people who have known us for years.

* There can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis.

Tipping Point

This is a book I read about a year back. And if I remember something today, then I believe that book has left some impression. This book is about data. Data gathered and presented well. Malcolm Gladwell does a wonderful job of correlating data. So if you are the kind that says "Show me the data to prove your point", then go for this one. The author starts the book with a Hushpuppies example. They were out of trend and a bunch of teenagers made them the fashion statement. The drop in the crime rate in NY city is another example of a phenomenon that reached the tipping point. This book is not only about mass behavior that causes a huge change but there are examples of personaities too. Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend this for a light Sunday afternoon on the deck.

Books and more books!

I often wonder, when I look at the books on Amazon.com; how can one life be enough to read so many books. My wishlist keeps growing and so does my library at home. I know that not all books are read-worthy, but I don't want to miss out on any of the best books. So, even with my hectic schedule, I am trying to make time to read some books. I will post some reviews as I read them, maybe some favorite lines from the books, but feel free to add you comments and/or suggest books.