MMH Toronto

Engaging

Reviewed: 2020-02-01

I've read The Power of Habit and Atomic Habit. Listening to this series is a great way to review and summarize the learning from these books.

Happiness preceeds Success

Reviewed: 2020-02-01

Well done, professional, informative and interesting series. well worth your time to listen to. More of an introduction to the subject that a full analysis of it.

1 person found this helpful

The limitations of specialization ..

Reviewed: 2020-01-17

There is a German expression .. "Fachidiot". A specialist in a narrow field incapable of recognizing multifaceted problems or effectively dealing with the complexity of real life outside of their direct area of specialization.

This book is a discussion of the emphasis we are placing on such specialization.

Conventional wisdom has it that the earlier and the more narrowly someone specializes, the better.

The author makes a compelling case against this paradigm. Explaining how systemic dynamics and narrow self interest drive this mindset. How kind and wicked environments provide feedback which can either inadvertently reinforce specialization or discourage it. The author shares many examples and narratives to reinforce his point.

Over specialization is not just at times ineffective, it can even - often - be detremental.

I see some correlation with Professor Colin Cambell's excellent book "Whole". A book which discusses "reductionism" in science and nutrition.

In my humble opinion, there is a stubborn effort to avoid acceptance of creation and a Creator by some parts of our society and some of our scientists.

Reductionist dogma is born of this stubbornness. Rather than accept the "Whole" and accept that the Whole can be (and very often is) greater than its individual parts, reductionist try to bring everything down to the smallest possible part.

By specializing in these individual parts, they expect to influence the Whole. A futile attempt.

If only we find the specific gene or the one chemical or the one ...

But life does not work this way. There is deliberate synergy and an amazing complexity in all creation around us. Life was created Holistically!

An interesting read and an interesting subject.

Just "okay" ...

Reviewed: 2019-11-29

My first book by Mr. Sinek and most likely my last one. Don't get me wrong, I don't regret listening to the book, but I didn't enjoy it either.

Reflecting on why I have this sense of disengagement from the book and the author, I think it comes down to two reasons.

Firstly, the material is dragged out and extended more than it needs to be. It felt repetitive and offered limited (if any) new insights vs earlier parts of the book. Long winded.

Secondly, and I think more importantly, I don't agree with the main premise of the book.

The author states that business needs to be managed with an infinite mindset and that it needs to be guided by a just (read altruistic) cause.

I'm not sure about that.

I think life should be lived with morals and a view to eternity and that such moral and religious standards will affect everything we do, including how we manage our businesses and how we treat people.

I see spirituality affecting business, but I don't see business as a substitute for spirituality. Which seems to be what the book - indirectly - implies.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it or misunderstanding. If you've read the book yourself, I would love to learn more about your impressions.

8 people found this helpful

Another brilliant book by Gladwell

Reviewed: 2019-10-19

This is the third book by Gladwell which I read. Brilliant and insightful.

A mentor once told me that understanding negates judgement.

This book is proof of this. From a racially charged encounter with a policeman, judges who seem biased, fraudsters who steal millions and millions from intelligent and experienced investors .. and many other examples.

All of these scenarios and more are discussed and explained with a deeper understanding and a more comprehensive perspective and suddenly I found my judgement set aside and a more reflective view of these stories emerged.

Not an easy read, some chapters were painful to read, just because I found it hard to see the the disproportionate amount of pain caused by a little misinterpretation and our unwillingness to rise above our bias.

Truly, understanding negates judgement.

A really "big" deal ...

Reviewed: 2019-09-30

There is an idea in economics that consumers vote with their money. Every dollar you earn is a reward, a vote and affirmation that you have added value to someone else.

If you subscribe to this idea, then Mr. Schwarzman is someone we need to listen to and pay attention to. With $500 billion under management, Mr. Schwarzman and the company he co-founded, Blackstone, sure have a lot of "votes" and they created a lot of value.

The book shares a story of privilege, educated in Yale and Harvard, a successful career from day one and the right opportunities at the right time. Combined with a brilliant intellect, talent and ambition.

The result is phenomenal BIG success.

The reader needs a basic understanding of economics and finance to follow some of the deals Mr. Schwarzman describes. With that foundation and an interest in the subject, you will find the book informative and interesting.

Beyond sharing his knowledge, Mr. Schwarzman shares his wisdom.

Enjoyed it and learned from it. Recommend read.

1 person found this helpful

Brilliant!

Reviewed: 2019-09-20

This is the third book I read by Malcolm Gladwell (Blink, Outliers).

One word describes the man .. BRILLIANT!

In this book he describes how fashion, technology, copy cat behavior and epedemics spread - all in the same fashion.

He talks about the influential few who affect the rest of us, about the power of context and about stickiness (yes stickiness).

He talks about how graffiti in a train or a broken window can have huge ramifications in the not so distant future and about how influencers and word of mouth will have an increasingly more powerful role as we move further and further into the information age.

An enjoyable, engaging and thought provoking book. Highly recommend.

His newest book (Talking to Strangers) is already in my library and I plan to read it soon.

1 person found this helpful

A fine book ...

Reviewed: 2019-08-19

One key message, eat more starch in its natural state!

It didn't take the whole book to get this across to me, but the other material in the book as (while not new) relevant, informative and interesting.

Glad I read it, would not read a 2nd book on this same topic though.

I do plan to implement the suggestions in the book into practice.

1 person found this helpful

A profoundly touching book ...

Reviewed: 2019-08-10

A profound and deeply touching book.

Sincere, humane and genuine.

Not easy to listen to. Many segments of the book were painful and sad to listen to.

Yet somehow in the midst of the suffering the therapist is sharing I felt a deeper insight into the human condition. I felt awakened from the state of numbness we sometimes escape to. I felt compassion, a lack of judgement and a deeper understanding.

Well worth the time.

Good Read

Reviewed: 2019-06-24

interesting, a bit long winded, applicable, relevant. Glad I listened, but I would not re-listen a second time.