Mindset: How You Can Fulfil Your Potential

By Carol Dweck

I have been busy downloading a pile of Amazon Christmas special kindle books for 99p.  Some of them are definitely overpriced, however one gem which has come my way is Mindset by Carol Dweck, Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University.   

The basic premise of the book (which has been developed from Dweck’s extensive academic research) is that there are two fundamental mindsets.  The first, characterised as “fixed”, is a way of thinking based on the principle that talent or ability is innate, that intelligence and skill, and indeed other personality traits are fixed factors.  The second mindset, called the “growth” mindset believes the exact opposite: that no matter one's original level of innate talent, hard work, a desire to learn and improve and a willingness to make mistakes in order to develop is the right perspective.

The result of a fixed mindset, the author contends, is a fear of failure and thus an unwillingness to take risks – ie if my intelligence is fixed, failure to master something means I am stupid, and therefore I won’t risk it.  When failure does occur, there is a tendency to blame external circumstances or others, rather than accept that more work needs to be done.

The growth mindset, on the other hand, sees a failure as an opportunity to develop further, to practice more and achieve mastery over oneself.

The author cites many examples of both types of personality in sport (rather too many US sports analogies, unfortunately, for someone with no interest in baseball, basketball or American Football) business, and academia, comparing high achievers such as John McEnroe (fixed mindset, blaming others for failure) and Mohammed Ali, limited natural ability (apparently!) but a man determined to learn and develop his approach to the sport.  In the business world, Jack Welch (growth) and the leaders of Enron (fixed) are compared.  

Although the book was written prior to the London Olympics, I think we can probably all agree that the feats of the Paralympians bear out every word of the idea that an ounce of grit and determination is worth a pound of talent.

The most interesting point for me was that praise of achievement or ability (whether in a child or a colleague) is actually counter-productive as it sets the recipient up to fear failure on another occasion and thus encourages him to stay within his comfort zone, rather than striving to do better. The best motivation is praise of effort, or recognition of a willingness to accept constructive criticism and guidance.  

So, whilst not a great practitioner of New Year's resolutions, I shall definitely be challenging myself to keep learning, keep striving, and trying to guard against complacency and mental laziness.

You can buy Mindset: How You Can Fulfil Your Potential on Amazon.

Reviewed by: Melita Thomas

 

Let IT Go - The Memoirs of Dame Stephanie Shirley

By Dame Stephanie Shirley

I have just finished reading “Let IT Go”, the autobiography of Dame Steve (Stephanie) Shirley, the founder of the firm that eventually became Xansa.  I am ashamed to say that I had not previously heard of her and had no knowledge of the pioneering work she did in setting up a consulting business in the 1950s aimed at recruiting talented female IT programmers who, because of the prejudices of the time, found it difficult to achieve the levels of responsibility at work they were intellectually fit for, or the flexibility to continue working after they married and had families.

Dame Steve’s philosophy of business – to trust the team, to share the benefits of success with the workers and to continually strive to deliver reliable, top quality results to clients - should remain the touchstone of all consulting businesses. 

However, what I have really learnt from this book is not so much the insight into a successful business (although I will be looking to see what Remit can learn) but how the human spirit can make the best of almost anything, and how believing we can make things better is the key to achieving anything in life.

Dame Steve was evacuated, aged 5, from Vienna in 1933 on the Kindertransport.  Separated from her parents, she was fostered by an English couple, and went on via scholarships and hard work to attain various Mathematics and IT qualifications.  She worked on early IT projects at the Post Office, then set up her consulting firm which eventually became so financially successful that she was enabled to give huge amounts to philanthropic causes, and became the UK’s first “Ambassador for Philanthropy”.   Her devotion to philanthropy was inspired, in part, by the profound autism of her only child.  The anguish of the parents is hard to read, even in a very unemotional book, but the effect this had on her, and how it drove her to use her enormous intellectual and organisational talents, to improve the lives of others is at the heart of this book.

You can buy Let IT Go - The Memoirs of Dame Stephanie Shirley on Amazon.

Reviewed by: Melita Thomas

 

Tubes – Behind the Scenes at the Internet

By Andrew Blum

Andrew Blum is a journalist who in 2009 lost his connection to the internet when a squirrel chewed through his telephone cable. This minor disaster was the catalyst that launched him on a quest to find out what exactly the “internet” is.

The internet is not a cloud or a culture or a concept and Andrew’s exploration of the internet world reveals that it is actually a very significant chunk of physical infrastructure.  It is made up of tubes (hence the book title) containing hundreds of thousands of miles of fibre-optic cable criss-crossing the globe linking anonymous exchanges with vast data-warehouses, all in secret locations.

Contrary to public perception, the internet is not infallible. In 2011 a seventy five year old woman sliced through a cable in her garden and deprived Armenia of its internet access. Earlier that year, the Egyptian Government simply switched off most of the country’s internet connections hoping to quell a revolution.

The internet comprises of many hundreds of players, all of whom co-operate with each other to provide a global network. However, they sometimes fall out and, in 2008, two players in the US stopped working with each other and for 3 days the US Department of Justice, NASA, ING and many other organisations completely lost their connectivity and their web sites.

This book demystifies the internet and introduces the disparate group of insiders and eccentrics who are constantly redesigning and managing the internet. A bit like London Underground, the internet works despite its shortcomings. However, this book exposes the potential vulnerabilities of the internet which could have a major impact on all the companies and government bodies that rely on it for day-to-day business activities.

You can buy Tubes - Behind the Scenes at the Internet on Amazon.

Reviewed by: Rob Oldham

The Power of Habit

by Charles Duhigg.

I read this because I was interested to hear about how habits are formed in the human psyche and how improving the habits of individuals can be harnessed to change the habits of organisations, and thus their outcomes.

What's it about?

I read this because I was interested to hear about how habits are formed in the human psyche and how improving the habits of individuals can be harnessed to change the habits of organisations, and thus their outcomes.

The first part concentrates on the neuroscience of habit forming and looks at why some people can break a cigarette, gambling or alcohol habit, but others can’t, no matter how hard they try.  Once you understand what your brain is doing, it becomes easier to understand how your own habits are developed.  There is no quick fix to breaking a bad habit, but if you decide to set some good habits, understanding how to create them is extremely helpful.  Funnily enough, it is all about reward.  Humans are no different from Pavlov’s dogs, although rewards are not always as tangible as chocolate treats or money.  Often they are more intangible - a sense of achievement, respect from peers or (in the case of the Crackberry habit) a momentary distraction from boredom!

The second part looks at habit forming in organisations.  This part of the book had some rather more tenuous links between action and outcome, but the core thesis seems to be that to truly change an organisation, management has to instil new habits from the top down, and ensure every member of the team has the right habits, based on the appropriate “Cue, Routine, Reward”.  In particular, whilst new habits are being inculcated, it is helpful for staff to have a plan of action if things don’t go quite as expected.  They need an alternative to just falling back into the old habits.

Finally, the author looks at how the reward mechanism works in a social context to create habits, change them, and potentially harness them to achieve wide-reaching social change.  The basic hypothesis is that if you want to change something, share the goal with like-minded people in your social network and their peer pressure will help you to keep up the good work.  The key example he uses is the Civil Rights Movement in 1960’s America.  I am not sure that I entirely agreed with his extrapolations, but it certainly made interesting reading.

Key Takeaway

If you can identify the cue that sets off your habit, and understand the reward, then it becomes easier to control the habit.

Score

3/5

Buy it from Amazon here.

Posted by: Melita Thomas

Growing your Property Partnership

Growing your Property Partnership

by Kim Tasso

What's it about?

The book's subtitle is Plans, Promotion and People and it covers a huge amount of ground from leadership strategies to managing relationships. There are references to all the key concepts and theories in this area and there are a series of case studies to illutrate the points made.

Most useful idea

We like the reference to Database Nirvana - Kim identifies the culprits of poor data as the fee earners - not the IT system!

Best Quote

Each chapter starts with 2 or 3 excelent quotes - I'll leave you to read them yourself.

Buy it: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Growing-your-Property-Partnership-Promotion/dp/072820553X

The Cash Nexus

by Niall Ferguson

What's it about?

You may have watched The Ascent of Money, presented by Niall Ferguson on the Beeb recently.  He is the author of a number of works, including The Cash Nexus, which is a history of money, and its effects on global power.  His central thesis is that financial innovation has been inextricably linked to war and states' lust for power. It is an interesting and extremely readable book - if a little long.

Most relevant idea to current times

Ferguson attributes Britain's rise to power over France and Spain in the 17th and 18th centuries to the fact that Britain never defaulted on its sovereign debt, so interest rates were lower, allowing industrialisation.  From this, amongst other things, he concludes that a high public debt can be sustained, if interest rates are low.  In these current times, perhaps we can take comfort from this, provided that excessive devaluation of the currency does not require increased rates to be payable to foreign bond holders. 

Permission Marketing

by Seth Godin

What's it about?
Everyday we are subjected to Interruption Marketing - Godin estimates that everyone sees 4,000 brand messages every day... and you avoid the messages. His book describes an ideal state where your customer gives you Permission to market to them, and how to use it effectively.

Most useful idea.

Once you have permission to market to someone, use it wisely to develop trust. How do you get permission? That is the weakest part of the book - you'll need to read his next book, "Unleashing the Ideas Virus".

The Wealth of Nations

What's it about?
This is the seminal work on which much of the modern theory of economics is built - even Marx quoted him! Despite being written in the 1770s it is still very relevant today. Smith is best known for his free market stance, but he is not the one-dimensional hard-line capitalist he is sometimes portrayed as. .

Best Quote:
Difficult, as it is well written with many amusing or satirical observations. "...that insidious and crafty animal...called a politician"
"Our merchants complain of the bad effects of high wages in raising the price and thereby lessening the sales of their goods...They say nothing concerning the bad effects of high profits. They are silent with regard to the pernicious effect of their own gains. They complain only of those of other people."

Posted by: Melita Thomas

The Undercover Economist

What's it about?
Embracing the basic lessons:- fight scarcity power and corruption, correct externalities, try and maximise information, get the incentives right, engage with other countries, embrace markets that do most of these jobs at the same time.

Best Quote:
Sweatshops pay low wages and work long hours. But workers go there voluntarily because the alternative life is worse. And the country gets richer, and will pay more wages and create more skilled jobs

Most useful idea:
A raft of fresh ideas as to why things happen. How China is growing richer. How to target aid. The G3 auction success. NHS funding. Free Trade better than Fairtrade. Difficulty in buying a decent used car. Why Mocha costs so much more than Cappuccino.

Posted by: Richard Waller

The Long Tail

What's it about?
Anderson argued that products that are in low demand or have low sales volume can collectively make up a market share that rivals or exceeds the relatively few current bestsellers and blockbusters, if the store or distribution channel is large enough.

Best Quote:
57% of all the books sold at Amazon are not among the 100 000 most sold titles.

Most useful idea:
The Long Tail is a potential market and the distribution and sales channel opportunities created by the Internet often enable businesses to tap into that market successfully.

Posted by: Magnus Svantegård

The Black Swan

What's it about?

A Black Swan is an event which could not have been predicted, profoundly changes people's views and is often the cause of post-incident justification - "Well, of course that was bound to happen".

It takes its name from the discovery of Black Swans in Australia by Europeans who had not considered the possibility of swans being anything other than white.

The majority of events which significantly change the world are Black Swans, and by nature these cannot be predicted. This entertaining and thought provoking book describes why we can't predict important events and what we can do about that.

Best quote:

There is a good idea on nearly every page but to illustrate why we can't spot Black swans, here is one:

“Organized competitive fighting trains the athlete to focus on the game and, in order not to dissipate his concentration, to ignore the possibility of what is not specifically allowed by the rules, such as kicks to the groin, a surprise knife, et cetera. So those who win the gold medal might be precisely those who will be most vulnerable in real life.”

Most useful idea:

Taleb suggests not reading newspapers because analysis close to the time of an event rarely provides any real perspective – he claims not to have read any newspapers since he was 24!

Submitted by Andrew Waller

Sony eReader: no more bad backs

Melita, who has several thousand books crammed onto overflowing shelves has become an early adopter of the Sony e-Reader in an attempt to save space (and trees) and is beside herself with delight.

“The gadget is sleek and well crafted – a little smaller than a standard paperback in height, but much thinner (even in its rather nasty faux-leather jacket) and about the same weight as a slim hardback.

Connecting it and downloading content is very similar to using an i-pod.  The user experience is excellent – the controls are simple, intuitive and well placed.  Holding it is very similar to holding a book, with page turning possible with either hand.  The screen could be a little bigger, there is about an inch of wasted space, which would allow slightly more content per page.

The initial reviews suggest that the page turn is annoying – a flicker of black, lasting less than a second.  It is not quite as smooth as turning a physical page, but I soon got used to it.  It can be read in bed, on the train, in the same level of light as a paper book, with none of the glare of a computer screen.

The price is a bit steep - £199, but there is a fabulous site www.feedbooks.com where you can download hundreds, if not thousands, of free out-of-copyright books, perfectly legally.  (Good stuff too, not just remainders).  This can be off-set against the price. (It comes with 100 on a disk already.)

It is also possible to download news-content from a range of sources, including BBC and The Economist (not the FT as yet, sadly).  Obviously, it is not internet connected, but if you connect it up to the pc and go to your download site (I have used feedbooks.com again, there may be others) it can be busy downloading the news from an RSS for you to read on the train whilst you are having your morning cuppa.  I am sure this will become slicker as the mainstream news sites adapt.

All in all, it is absolutely the best gadget I have ever had!  It will have to be prised from my dead hands…”

Meltdown - The Predictable Distortion of Global Warming by Scientists, Politicians, and the Media

What's it about?
Patrick Michaels uses the same scientific results as those published by the UN and the media workdwide to show a very different view of global climate. He does not dispute global warming, but  he does point out that this may not be due to mankind and that the rises are within limits defined over thousands of years. His thesis is that many people have manipulated the figures to show an extreme scenario.

Best Quote:
Temperature charts show that the glaciers on top of Mount  Kilimanjaro receded most in the cooler period from 1953 to 1976 rather than the warmer years since. This is due to the fact that cooler air carries less moisture leading to less snow.

Most useful idea:
This book has almost too much scientific data but it is well presented and very easy to read. At least it should divert people from concentrating on global warming and help people focus on the real issues of wasted resources.

Posted by: Andrew Waller

An Inconvenient Truth

What's it about?
Al Gore, one-time vice president of the USA and now global environmentalist, uses impressive graphics and fightening statistics to convince the reader that mankind is responsible for a significant increase in global temperatures.... and what we should do about it.

Best Quote:
The photographs and graphics are truly stunning - the photograph of the earth from space showing areas of heat and light shows the amount of gas being burnt off from the Siberian oil-fields - the middle East captures their gas.

Most useful idea:
Tips and links on how people can reduce energy consumption in their own homes.

Posted by: Andrew Waller

An Appeal to Reason

Book Title: An Appeal to Reason

Book Author: Nigel Lawson (yes, that Nigel Lawson)

What's it about:
Much has been made of the proposition that use of carbon=based fuels is warming the planet. This book suggests that although the planet's climate is changing, the arguments used to support the carbon fuel case are weak. It seeks to redress the balance so that a sensible debate can take place.

Best Quote:
Probably the table on Page 7 showing actual global temperatures since 2001 standing still and going down since 1998.

Most useful idea:
 Just to help get a sense of perspective in a global argument - reducing the use of fossil fuels is a good thing but at least base the argument on facts which can be supported.