Lots of holidays in December and I want to make best use of it. So, I've a rather ambitious plan for December.
Product Strategy for High Technology Companies - Michael McGrath
This is one of the "must read" books for senior managers in my organization and I thought of reading and understanding the two critical components taught in the book - Core Strategic Vision (CSV) and Market Platform Plan (MPP).
This is a guide that continues to be the only book on product strategy written specifically for the 21st century high-tech industry. More than 250 examples from technological leaders including IBM, Compaq, and Apple—plus a new focus on growth strategies and on Internet businesses—define how high-tech companies can use product strategy and product platform strategy for competitiveness, profitability, and growth in the Internet age.
Profit from the Core: A return to Growth in Turbulent Times - Chris Zook
This is another "must read" in my organization.
In a new economic environment, where should executives look for the next wave of profitable growth? How can executives make the right choices for their businesses, even when faced with a new and different set of opportunities and challenges today? Achieving sustained and profitable growth is extremely difficult in any economy. But as the economy recovers and returns to a path of growth, building from a strong and differentiated core is even more critical now than ever. In this updated edition of "Profit from the Core", strategy expert Chris Zook shows that the most enduring growth pattern builds from a strong or dominant core business that benefits from continual reinvestment, constant adaptation to circumstances or business environment and persistent leveraging into new markets or geographies, applications or channels. In particular, Zook shows senior executives and their management teams how to rebuild the core business by following these four crucial steps: define the core business; identify the sources of differentiation that will continue to create market power and influence over customers, competitors and the industry profit pool; assess whether the core is operating at or near its full potential; and, use a strong core as a platform for expanding into adjacencies. Based on over ten years of Bain & Company research and analysis and fully updated with new research data and examples reflecting today's unique challenges, "Profit from the Core" is the bible for achieving profitable growth
Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work - Chip and Dan Heath
Chip and Dan Heath, the bestselling authors of Switch and Made to Stick, tackle one of the most critical topics in our work and personal lives: how to make better decisions.
In Decisive, the Heaths, based on an exhaustive study of the decision-making literature, introduce a four-step process designed to counteract these biases. Written in an engaging and compulsively readable style, Decisive takes readers on an unforgettable journey, from a rock star’s ingenious decision-making trick to a CEO’s disastrous acquisition, to a single question that can often resolve thorny personal decisions.
Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger - Peter Bevelin
Seeking Wisdom is the result of Bevelin's learning about attaining wisdom. His quest for wisdom originated partly from making mistakes himself and observing those of others but also from the philosophy of super-investor and Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charles Munger. A man whose simplicity and clarity of thought was unequal to anything Bevelin had seen. In addition to naturalist Charles Darwin and Munger, Bevelin cites an encyclopedic range of thinkers: from first-century BCE Roman poet Publius Terentius to Mark Twain-from Albert Einstein to Richard Feynman-from 16th Century French essayist Michel de Montaigne to Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett. In the book, he describes ideas and research findings from many different fields. This book is for those who love the constant search for knowledge. It is in the spirit of Charles Munger, who says, "All I want to know is where I'm going to die so I'll never go there." There are roads that lead to unhappiness. An understanding of how and why we can "die" should help us avoid them. We can't eliminate mistakes, but we can prevent those that can really hurt us. Using exemplars of clear thinking and attained wisdom, Bevelin focuses on how our thoughts are influenced, why we make misjudgments and tools to improve our thinking. Bevelin tackles such eternal questions as: Why do we behave like we do? What do we want out of life? What interferes with our goals? Read and study this wonderful multidisciplinary exploration of wisdom. It may change the way you think and act in business and in life.
Dare to Run - Amit Sheth
I've been a runner now for 2 years. The frequent breaks that I take after training continuously for 5-6months, is not helping me to move to next level (whatever that is). I restarted my training 2 weeks ago and was looking for some inspiration and ran into this book by an accomplished runner and I was not disappointed.
Dare to run is the inspiring story of Amit and Neepa Sheth, a husband-wife duo who took up running as a sport in their late 30s. In this collection of essays written over five years, Amit, a self acclaimed couch potato takes us long with him on an incredible journey of determination, discovery, courage, self-awareness and self-belief. He takes us with him from his first, almost fatal, 200 meter jog on a beach in Mumbai, to the finish line of The Ultimate Human Race: the 89 km Comrades Ultra Marathon in South Africa. Along the way, Amit uses a combination of poetry, philosophy and scriptures to explain his unique perspective on life, religion, spirituality and running. This is a book not just about running but about the need to relentlessly follow your dreams and passions, no matter what they may be. It is a book which encourages you to be the best you can be in all walks of life while at the same time maintaining a certain sense of balance and appreciation for the beauty of existence. It encourages you to enjoy the gift of life to its fullest.
Product Strategy for High Technology Companies - Michael McGrathThis is one of the "must read" books for senior managers in my organization and I thought of reading and understanding the two critical components taught in the book - Core Strategic Vision (CSV) and Market Platform Plan (MPP).
This is a guide that continues to be the only book on product strategy written specifically for the 21st century high-tech industry. More than 250 examples from technological leaders including IBM, Compaq, and Apple—plus a new focus on growth strategies and on Internet businesses—define how high-tech companies can use product strategy and product platform strategy for competitiveness, profitability, and growth in the Internet age.
Profit from the Core: A return to Growth in Turbulent Times - Chris ZookThis is another "must read" in my organization.
In a new economic environment, where should executives look for the next wave of profitable growth? How can executives make the right choices for their businesses, even when faced with a new and different set of opportunities and challenges today? Achieving sustained and profitable growth is extremely difficult in any economy. But as the economy recovers and returns to a path of growth, building from a strong and differentiated core is even more critical now than ever. In this updated edition of "Profit from the Core", strategy expert Chris Zook shows that the most enduring growth pattern builds from a strong or dominant core business that benefits from continual reinvestment, constant adaptation to circumstances or business environment and persistent leveraging into new markets or geographies, applications or channels. In particular, Zook shows senior executives and their management teams how to rebuild the core business by following these four crucial steps: define the core business; identify the sources of differentiation that will continue to create market power and influence over customers, competitors and the industry profit pool; assess whether the core is operating at or near its full potential; and, use a strong core as a platform for expanding into adjacencies. Based on over ten years of Bain & Company research and analysis and fully updated with new research data and examples reflecting today's unique challenges, "Profit from the Core" is the bible for achieving profitable growth
Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work - Chip and Dan HeathChip and Dan Heath, the bestselling authors of Switch and Made to Stick, tackle one of the most critical topics in our work and personal lives: how to make better decisions.
In Decisive, the Heaths, based on an exhaustive study of the decision-making literature, introduce a four-step process designed to counteract these biases. Written in an engaging and compulsively readable style, Decisive takes readers on an unforgettable journey, from a rock star’s ingenious decision-making trick to a CEO’s disastrous acquisition, to a single question that can often resolve thorny personal decisions.
Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger - Peter BevelinSeeking Wisdom is the result of Bevelin's learning about attaining wisdom. His quest for wisdom originated partly from making mistakes himself and observing those of others but also from the philosophy of super-investor and Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charles Munger. A man whose simplicity and clarity of thought was unequal to anything Bevelin had seen. In addition to naturalist Charles Darwin and Munger, Bevelin cites an encyclopedic range of thinkers: from first-century BCE Roman poet Publius Terentius to Mark Twain-from Albert Einstein to Richard Feynman-from 16th Century French essayist Michel de Montaigne to Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett. In the book, he describes ideas and research findings from many different fields. This book is for those who love the constant search for knowledge. It is in the spirit of Charles Munger, who says, "All I want to know is where I'm going to die so I'll never go there." There are roads that lead to unhappiness. An understanding of how and why we can "die" should help us avoid them. We can't eliminate mistakes, but we can prevent those that can really hurt us. Using exemplars of clear thinking and attained wisdom, Bevelin focuses on how our thoughts are influenced, why we make misjudgments and tools to improve our thinking. Bevelin tackles such eternal questions as: Why do we behave like we do? What do we want out of life? What interferes with our goals? Read and study this wonderful multidisciplinary exploration of wisdom. It may change the way you think and act in business and in life.
Dare to Run - Amit ShethI've been a runner now for 2 years. The frequent breaks that I take after training continuously for 5-6months, is not helping me to move to next level (whatever that is). I restarted my training 2 weeks ago and was looking for some inspiration and ran into this book by an accomplished runner and I was not disappointed.
Dare to run is the inspiring story of Amit and Neepa Sheth, a husband-wife duo who took up running as a sport in their late 30s. In this collection of essays written over five years, Amit, a self acclaimed couch potato takes us long with him on an incredible journey of determination, discovery, courage, self-awareness and self-belief. He takes us with him from his first, almost fatal, 200 meter jog on a beach in Mumbai, to the finish line of The Ultimate Human Race: the 89 km Comrades Ultra Marathon in South Africa. Along the way, Amit uses a combination of poetry, philosophy and scriptures to explain his unique perspective on life, religion, spirituality and running. This is a book not just about running but about the need to relentlessly follow your dreams and passions, no matter what they may be. It is a book which encourages you to be the best you can be in all walks of life while at the same time maintaining a certain sense of balance and appreciation for the beauty of existence. It encourages you to enjoy the gift of life to its fullest.
