price：$16.24
Little, Brown and Company
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Nothing earthshaking here and some holes.) 『As someone who has been fortunately (more about that in a moment) successful in business I have hired and observed "successful" people. But that begs the question because little is said in this book about how it defines success. It seems to assume that means being at the forefront of your chosen endeavor. That does not translate automatically to success in life. The cases of self-destructive or otherwise unhappy highly "successful" people are too numerous.
In my experience people who possess so-called street smarts are more likely to rise to the top, regardless of background, intelligence or accomplishment. Whether ingrained or taught experimentally people who know how to "play the game" are far more likely to succeed in most endeavors, given even a modicum of expertise in their field. Just look at all the famous CEO's who have bankrupted one company only to be hired to run another. John Thain is the most recent, having presided over the downfall of Merrill Lynch only to be hired to run CIT. I have also seen where pure competence actually has proven detrimental to one's success when it threatens others in the decision chain. It's not good to outshine the wrong people.
A fellow executive once told me that the harder he worked the luckier he got. There is some truth to that but pure luck also plays a hand. The coincidence of skill set and need are the most obvious examples. One has to wonder if Bill Gates came to the marketplace today whether he would be as successful. The creative stagnation of Microsoft suggests not. Steve Jobs is an interesting counterpoint.
So I must join with others in commending Gladwell for his engaging writing but defer as to his insight.』
(Wow! What an amazing book!) 『What an utterly fascinating book. As an educator, I found it promising to read that to learn things it takes time and effort. That kids in China are spending considerably more time on a math problem than they do in the US (and it is because they know how to spend time on something to make it right...like rice farming) is amazing.
No matter who you are though, this book will pertain to you. Great, great book.』
(I respectfully disagree...) 『All right, I realize I am bucking the trend here on this book, but I really didn't care for it. While I thought it was well written, and I found the facts amusing I disagree with the author's conclusions. Perhaps I just have too much of the "hard work equals success" paradigm in me, but I think this guy is wrong.
...Spoiler Alert....
The author makes the point that Bill Gates is who he is because of his unique opportunities, same with certain NY Jewish lawyers, hockey players, and 19th century industrialists. I agree with the role of opportunities (luck), and also with his assertion that it takes 10,000 hours of experience to really become world-class at something.
The point the author overlooks is opportunity cost, that is, what were Bill's other options, his "plan B". What did Bill give up to found Microsoft? So what if Bill was born at just the right time to catch the PC revolution, that doesn't mean that if he were born 5 years later he'd be making fries somewhere! That's like me saying that I define success as being Miss USA (I'm a 300+pound balding American male). Guess what, fate didn't deal me the cards to have a good shot at that crown (I'd loose swimsuit for sure), but that doesn't mean I'm a loser, or that I can't be an outlier and be exceptional at other things. I truly believe that the magic is to discover which opportunities are available, and then be prepared to take advantage of them.
As a counterexample, I'll offer up Arnold Schwarzenegger. Was he born to be a bodybuilder, a top action movie actor, or a politician? Regardless of what you think of his movies or his politics, this guy has reached the top repeatedly. The point is, I believe greatness is available to any of us if we can identify and accept the opportunities we do have, then work to get it. While no amount of work will win me that beauty contest, life does have other opportunities if I'm willing to identify and pursue them. 』
(Praising Mediocrity) 『Outliers, like the rest of Gladwell's books, reels you in with its sensationalist themes, and claims of deep insight into the human or its society. But after lightly reading this large-print, thirty-dollar compilation of "studies", opinions, and idealistic suggestions offered by Gladwell, I felt a sense of emptiness--the same sort of emptiness felt after completing an hour of reality television. This book offers nothing new to the table (except for maybe renewed sense of demotivation). Worst of all, the essence of this book demonizes intellect, upholds mediocrity, and offers the layman an excuse to revert to a bastardized sort of mentality common in pre-Enlightenment Europe, where success was a foreign term and self-improvement was a term used only in the context of muscle-building.』
(New Perspective) 『This is a totally unusual, yet practical view at some of the aspects that lead to success. I had never thought of outliers from the perspective of the author. Very good read and I got my entire family hooked on it.』 『In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different? His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band.
Brilliant and entertaining, OUTLIERS is a landmark work that will simultaneously delight and illuminate.』 『Amazon Best of the Month, November 2008: Now that he's gotten us talking about the viral life of ideas and the power of gut reactions, Malcolm Gladwell poses a more provocative question inOutliers: why do some people succeed, living remarkably productive and impactful lives, while so many more never reach their potential? Challenging our cherished belief of the "self-made man," he makes the democratic assertion that superstars don't arise out of nowhere, propelled by genius and talent: "they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot." Examining the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill Gates, he builds a convincing case for how successful people rise on a tide of advantages, "some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky."
Outlierscan be enjoyed for its bits of trivia, like why most pro hockey players were born in January, how many hours of practice it takes to master a skill, why the descendents of Jewish immigrant garment workers became the most powerful lawyers in New York, how a pilots' culture impacts their crash record, how a centuries-old culture of rice farming helps Asian kids master math. But there's more to it than that. Throughout all of these examples--and in more that delve into the social benefits of lighter skin color, and the reasons for school achievement gaps--Gladwell invites conversations about the complex ways privilege manifests in our culture. He leaves us pondering the gifts of our own history, and how the world could benefit if more of our kids were granted the opportunities to fulfill their remarkable potential. --Mari Malcolm
price：$8.50
Penguin Books
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time) 『Mortenson is a great person with great personality, who is a great role model for Americans. I am grateful that he listened to his heart to help promote education, especially for girls, in a country like Pakistan, which prohibits girls from attending school. He truly used his heart and intelligence to bring peace worldwide.
After reading the entire book from front to back, I thought of Mortenson as a living legend of the legends. He is a true hero. The book is very alive; the minute I started reading the book, I could not put it down or leave it. I just had to keep reading it. This made me recommend it to everyone, including schools here and overseas. In fact, I have already passed on my book to one of my friends. Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time 』
(Education as a key to changing the world) 『A wonderful account of how a man is working to change the world through education. Greg Mortensen, a climber, comes to understand the needs of a remote village in Pakistan. He makes a commitment to help them build a school and this one project becomes a mission to bring education in to people with little chance for improving their lives otherwise. I found it impressive that he was committed to bringing education to both boys and girls, even when it would have been easier to cave into pressure and not help the girls. I find it enlightening that education is the key to bringing about understanding and peace as it gives people hope of a better future. Truly inspiring.』
(Three Cups of Tea) 『A book I would recommend to the President of the United States and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. What we need to do to win in Afghanistan or anywhere else.』
(Peace) 『Three Cups of Tea: One Mans Mission to Promote Peace is a well executed read. It has all the elements: suspense, intrigue, compassion, and hope. In the harsh environments of Pakistan and Afghanistan,in regions most of the world has all but forgotten, Greg Mortensen is able to build friendships and trust in order to provide a basic education for all children----especially women. However, this is not simply about an education, it is about learning to accept, and beleive in others. In a time when most Westerner's beleive that all people of Islamic nations are the same, the story of the founding of CAI, along with the strength, support and determination of not only Greg Mortensen, but the faith and support that village elders place in him, truly enlightens. These people are simply people, and they need to be recognized.
A truly fantastic book---I have already suggested this read to many of my friends, and family.』
(One man's amazing story) 『This book tells Greg Mortenson's amazing story. After he stumbled into a Pakistani village, disoriented and lost, he was moved by the kindness of the villagers and promised to return to help them build a school. And so began his life's mission to spread peace through education. After reading this book, I can say that Greg Mortenson is one of my heroes. His perseverance and dedication to his cause is unwavering, even through an 8 day detainment by the Taliban. What makes him so incredible is that, unlike so-called missionaries who travel through the poorest regions of the world to promote religion, Greg promotes education without demeaning the locals' way of life. He is completely accepting that he is the foreigner, and adapts to his surroundings rather than trying to change them. In doing so he has gained the respect of the people he helps, and it is the basis of work. This is a wonderfully, touching book that sends a powerful message to anyone who reads it. I highly recommend this book!』 『The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban’s backyard
Anyone who despairs of the individual’s power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan’s treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools—especially for girls—that offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortenson’s quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans,Three Cups of Teacombines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.』
price：$14.99
Business Plus
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Tall Tales from the Trigger) 『If you will read the comments from Paulson on this Amazon page, you'll get a good feel for the defensive and self-serving quality of book.
While Paulson didn't lay the foundations for the credit crisis - the whole world did that - it's fair to say, I think, that his action in not supporting Lehman lead directly to the debacle. And Paulson was ambushed by the outcome.
The question is, why did he support Bear and not Lehman? My guess is he called Soros for advice and was told, "Hank, I think you should let them go." Wheels within wheels.
He should have known better. Many people did, and tried to warn him. It was his job to know better, but he apparently failed.
Maybe he did have a good idea of what would happen, and welcomed the consequences, but misjudged the severity.』
(Excellent Illustration of a Clash Between Politics and Markets) 『Not enough attention has beem given to this book's revealing depictions the clash between politics and the credit markets. It is remarkable how little our lawmakers know about our credit market system. Don't miss the description of the bipartisian meeting at the White House that degenerates into "full fledged shouting". "Frankly I'd never seen anything like it before in politics or business--or in my fraternity days at Darthmouth for that matter".』
(An Easy Read) 『I loved the book, and read it in just a few days. While other books on the subject of last year's near economic implosion are out (Too Big to Fail), this one has a unique insiders take on the events.
Secretary Paulson was truly faced with such a series of bad events occurring at the speed of light that thinking on your feet and getting things done quickly became imperative.
The book was fast paced and interesting. I especially enjoyed reading about his interactions with the presidential nominees from both parties and his interactions with them.
The story, if it had not happened just recently would seem too far fetched for fiction.
I believe we were all quite fortunate that we had folks in place who responded quickly before it was too late.』
(A fast-paced first-hand account of a major event and the man at the center of it) 『Investment bankers don't do much second-guessing or soul searching. Paulson tells us, "I'm a straightforward person. I like to be direct with people." His first-person account of the gigantic financial collapse is straightforward and direct. While there are lots of unnamed sources, there is none the less a good deal of detail in this new book and I found it a fairly riveting read.
Paulson knew his move to his new position would be a challenge. He just wasn't sure how much of one.
He found himself at the center of the world's most horrendous financial crisis since the Great Depression. Major institutions including Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, AIG, Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup and others, were close to total collapse. Panic set in all round. The credit crisis spread to all parts of the U.S. economy and grew more ominous daily. It destroyed people, it stole jobs. It hurt stock owners. Few people were untouched.
Everyone turned to Hank Paulson for the solution.
"On the Brink" is Paulson's fast-paced first-hand account of the key decisions made with at warp speed. There was no time to think, to reconsider, to second guess. Decisions had to be made and made now!
The reader feels the tension. He feels like he's actually in the room with Paulson as these momentous decisions are made and the crisis grows daily. We also read about other players, including the CEOs of top Wall Street firms as well as Ben Bernanke, Timothy Geithner, Sheila Bair, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, and President George W. Bush.
A very exciting read.
- Susanna K. Hutcheson
』
(The Paulson Put) 『Paulson's book covers a fascinating subject with too little detail and with frustrating repetition. From pages 100-400 the story reverts over and over again to two repeating themes: 1. We had to save bank x to prevent a financial meltdown; and 2. We couldn't say how bad things were because we were afraid of the market's reaction. Paulson himself appears to base all his actions either on movements in the Dow or on the prices of Credit Default Swaps on big banks. He expresses concern for the broader economy and for taxpayers, but the book only mentions the unemployment rate twice and never mentions the cost to the government balance sheet in spending so much money on bailouts. Paulson's own Treasury staff tried to slow him down at times, but Paulson, at least in this book, was acting like a runaway train. As frustrating as this book was to read at times, nothing could be worse than working with Paulson at Treasury during 2007-08.
Thankfully, the book is not too political although executive and legislative figures do appear throughout. President Bush, for better or worse, seems to go along unhesitatingly with all of Paulson's decisions. Geithner, Bernanke, and Speaker Pelosi all get favorable treatment and some Congressional Republicans are criticized for slowing down passage of TARP. Paulson is also critical of FDIC head Sheila Bair at times, even though Bair seems extremely calm and reasonable compared to Paulson. More than once during "On the Brink" I wished I was reading a book by her instead.
』 『Fast-paced and dramatic re-telling of the financial crisis that nearly bought the developed world to its knees. Hank Paulson was without doubt at the absolute epicentre of the recent economic storm, and his account of how he dealt with the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression will make for absolutely fascinating reading. The book contains all the decisive moments in the economic crisis, including the pivotal meetings with mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as Paulson's personal recollections of and conversations with President Bush, President Obama, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. As well as detailing the major decisions taken during the height of the crisis, Paulson will also put forth the policies he believes need to be implemented to take us securely into the future.』 『When Hank Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, was appointed in 2006 to become the nation's next Secretary of the Treasury, he knew that his move from Wall Street to Washington would be daunting and challenging.
But Paulson had no idea that a year later, he would find himself at the very epicenter of the world's most cataclysmic financial crisis since the Great Depression. Major institutions including Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, AIG, Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup, among others-all steeped in rich, longstanding tradition-literally teetered at the edge of collapse. Panic ensnared international markets. Worst of all, the credit crisis spread to all parts of the U.S. economy and grew more ominous with each passing day, destroying jobs across America and undermining the financial security millions of families had spent their lifetimes building.
This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime economic nightmare. Events no one had thought possible were happening in quick succession, and people all over the globe were terrified that the continuing downward spiral would bring unprecedented chaos. All eyes turned to the United States Treasury Secretary to avert the disaster.
This, then, is Hank Paulson's first-person account. From the man who was in the very middle of this perfect economic storm,On the Brinkis Paulson's fast-paced retelling of the key decisions that had to be made with lightning speed. Paulson puts the reader in the room for all the intense moments as he addressed urgent market conditions, weighed critical decisions, and debated policy and economic considerations with of all the notable players-including the CEOs of top Wall Street firms as well as Ben Bernanke, Timothy Geithner, Sheila Bair, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, and then-President George W. Bush.
More than an account about numbers and credit risks gone bad,On the Brinkis an extraordinary story about people and politics-all brought together during the world's impending financial Armageddon.
I believe the most important part of this story is the way Ben Bernanke, Tim Geithner, and I worked as a team through the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. There can't be many other examples of economic leaders managing a crisis who had as much trust in one another as we did. Our partnership proved to be an enormous asset during an incredibly difficult period. But at the same time, this is my story, and as hard as I have tried to reflect the contributions made by everyone involved, it is primarily about my work and that of my talented and dedicated team at Treasury.
--Henry M. Paulson
Amazon Interview: Henry M. Paulson onOn the Brink
We spoke with Henry M. Paulson in late January 2010, just before the release ofOn the Brink. You can listen to parts one and two of the Omnivoracious Podcast of the interview, and read a full transcript, in addition to these excerpts:
Amazon.com:You accepted the job as Treasury secretary in 2006, with some reluctance. Did you have any idea what you were getting into?
Paulson:I had a pretty clear idea that there would be a credit crisis sometime when I was in Washington. And I told the president I thought there'd be one, and the first major meeting I had with him I spent just talking about that topic. But I did not anticipate a crisis of the magnitude we faced--didn't anticipate that at all--and I certainly was bordering on naive in my understanding of the regulatory powers and authorities in Washington.
Amazon.com:You talked about [Ben] Bernanke's great knowledge of history. How much of a guide could history be?
Paulson:I can answer that two ways. First of all, history is a guide in one very real sense: that if you let the financial system collapse, and don't do enough to stave off disaster, the people who are going to suffer, the innocent victims, are going to be the American people. It's not going to be the banks, or the financial sector. So you need to do everything you can to put out the fire before it gets out of control. I think to that extent history was an important guide.
Otherwise, there wasn't much you could learn from history. That's a big lesson, but we were dealing with a financial system and markets very different from what had existed many years ago. Huge concentration in the industry, so if you had two or three firms go down in succession you'd have a domino effect. The whole system could collapse, and it wouldn't take much to have unemployment levels equal to what we had at the Great Depression, and it could happen very quickly. And we didn't have the tools we needed to work with. The regulatory system hadn't been updated since the Great Depression, essentially; the regulatory authorities hadn't. We didn't have the authorities for dealing with major non-banks, and winding them down. So in many ways what were doing was we were dealing with--I said in the book--duct tape and baling wire. We were making do with the authorities we had, which were woefully inadequate.
Amazon.com:And scrambling to get more authories.
Paulson:And scrambling to get more authorities. And in many ways this book is the story of the collision of politics and markets, and it's the story of a race against time to get more authorities. And I think one of the things that really comes through in the book is all of the different elements of the crisis that were coming at us simultaneously.
You could just see it. We could see it and it was one of the most frustrating--when I look at the things I could have done better, there were a lot of them and they come out in the book, but the communications challenges were huge. I mean, I sat there when the capital markets froze, before we went to Congress, and the money markets weren't working, and I just tried to think about how to explain this. Because I knew--I was seeing major, blue-chip industrial companies that were having trouble raising financing, so I knew with $3.4 trillion of money market funds, and with everything that was just getting ready to break apart, that if the system had collapsed there'd be thousands and thousands and thousands of mainstream industrial companies--middle-sized companies, large companies--that wouldn't be able to raise their short-term funding, finance their inventories, pay their people. People wouldn't have been able to pay their bills. This would have rippled through the economy. We would then have had--well, today we have over 10% unemployment. That's terrible. And that's after everything we've done. If the system had collapsed, when we were on the brink, unemployement easily could have been at the 25% level that we saw at the Great Depression, and the value destruction--much greater than we've had in terms of home prices and in terms of people's savings accounts and stock portfolios and so on.
Amazon.com:And now it looks like 2010 is going to be the year that the Obama administration tackles financial reform. In the last section of your book you mention some lessons that you took out of the crisis.
Paulson:Yeah, this is absolutely critical. And I am not shocked but very unhappy we don't have this yet, because people in this country are angry. Now they're very angry about bonuses and compensation levels on Wall Street, and rightfully so, after everything that's been done to save Wall Street. But what they should be angry about is that we have a system that made this necessary. And so what we need to do is we need to channel some of that anger toward fixing the system so never again do we have major financial institutions that are too big to fail.
Amazon.com:And do you worry that the further we get from the crisis the harder it will be to make those necessary reforms?
Paulson:Of course I do. The thing I worry about the most is I don't want another Treasury secretary to ever be sitting there like I was, without the tools and authorities you need to protect our country, protect our economy, and protect the people. It's a helpless feeling and it's a terrible feeling, and we should never be in this place. Our authorities need to be updated, our financial regulatory structure needs to be updated, and I'm optimistic about the future if we do this.
If we don't, we will have another crisis. You always do. That's the history of mankind. If you go back, as long as we've had banks and financial institutions, there have been excesses, no matter how hard you try to avoid them, and there are going to be financial crises, and we need the tools in place and the regulatory system in place to be able to have a better visibility into what's going on and then be able to put out the fire when it starts, without costing the American people as much as this one did.
price：$19.95
Viking Adult
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Panic in the Street.) 『Amazonian reactions to this book seem to fall into two buckets - on one view it's the definitive account of the investment banking crisis of 2008; on the other it is a slapdash, hastily thrown together, and un-penetrating story that lets itself be distracted by the Herculean egos (are there any other kinds on Wall Street?) and Olympian hubris and therefore fails to get anywhere near the nub of the issue: just how could this car crash ever have happened? There's an element of truth in both views, though I think the complaints of superficiality are - well - a little superficial.
Firstly, be under no illusion that this is a quickly bashed-out pot-boiler; to the contrary, it's a book of monstrous scope. It covers an extraordinary series of dislocations in implausible, blow-by-blow, detail - more on this implausibility in a minute - Sorkin wisely includes a Dramatis Personae at the start, for the cast of events and characters and their various interactions here has the byzantine grandeur of a later James Ellroy novel (I just got through Blood's A Rover: the plotting in Too Big To Fail is comparable). Andrew Sorkin's simple achievement in commanding all these unconnected (if highly correlated) events and knitting them into a coherent, linear narrative is remarkable, particularly given the time in which Sorkin achieved this. It might have been fifteen months now, but it only seems like yesterday.
As noted (and, elsewhere, complained about) Sorkin's interest is in the personalities behind the thrust and counterthrust rather than the macroeconomic backdrop. Far from being a drawback, that's precisely what is so perceptive about this book: the economic fundamentals "which lead to the crisis" aren't the whole story. Indeed they are *just* a story - and you'll find as many different analyses of precisely how this came about and whose fault it was as you could wish for, and while there is much consensus, there is a lot of disagreement too. But it doesn't matter. Once the balls were in motion, what mattered was who did what, when. Sorkin does assume some knowledge of the financial history of the last 15 years, and assumes you'll have a view by now the whole story, and whether it was Greenspan's free market fundamentalism, the disestablishment of the Glass Steagall Act, the rise of derivatives technology which permitted the securitisation of increasingly whacky assets, the negative feedback loop created by the originate-and-distribute model, the flaws and anomalies in CDO ratings methodologies or some diabolical confection of some or all of the above. (Actually, here's a great spin on the crisis: being as he was, the progenitor of modern whacky-asset securitisation when he securitised his back catalog, it's all David Bowie's fault!). You could, and I think Sorkin does, take the view that that's only the prelude to the story. And indeed, the crisis was in part caused by over-reliance on precisely the sort of fundamental analysis and economic theory (for example, the inappropriate probabilistic assumptions built into option pricing and VAR models that Benoit Mandelbrot and Nassim Nicholas Taleb have been banging on about for years; the laissez faire view held by Ben Bernanke's predecessor in the Federal Reserve) that some suggest is missing here.
The rest of the story is that while, these economic theories and fundamental analyses are all well and good, it was the personal and political expedients - the Realpolitik - which actually made the difference. This is what Taleb would call the "intractable reality" of the world which bevils and taunts any neat macro-economic explanation. Black Scholes cannot factor in that Hank Paulson, an incontrovertible Master of the Universe on Wall Street, was a complete ingénue in Washington; that even if he'd wanted to Paulson *couldn't* bail out Lehman, however sensible it may have been, because the Republican majority wouldn't have stood for it; that the Goldman/Wachovia merger was politically impossible because of the multiple Goldman connections at the Fed, Treasury and both firms; that a Presidential election was looming with a grandstanding, flailing republican candidate; that no-one really liked Dick Fuld, Vikram Pandit or Sheila Bair. These things, at the limit (and God only knows, we *were* at the limit) make an enormous difference to the path of history, and macroeconomic hypothesising about why this was happening really misses the point.
That said, there is certainly some (acknowledged, I think) implausibility in the level or detail to which the book descends: it is one thing to report the fact of a meeting or call between two protagonists who clearly would not have talked, on or off the record, to the author; it's quite another to construct (i.e., invent) their dialogue and reactions "verbatim". I don't believe for a moment that any of Paulson, Geithner, Bair, Jester, Steele, Bernanke, Dimon, Lewis, Thain, Diamond, Darling, Mack, Fuld, McDade or McGee spoke to Sorkin at all. So the book, explicitly, takes many liberties, and its recounting of conversations can only have been entirely made up by Sorkin. The somewhat hackneyed on monotonous voice through which Sorkin renders all of his characters would tend to validate this suspicion.
For all that, the content of the conversations is plausible and the account of the actions, in the round, rings true.
So a very good, entertaining, rollicking account. Well recommended.
Olly Buxton 』
(Must read) 『This is an important narrative of the events surrounding the 2008 Wall Street bailout. it is well written amd generally sympathetic to the position of thoe faced with cleaning up the mess. It is not sympathetic to those who created it.』
(TOO BIG TO FAIL) 『Excellent book on a topic we should all read - Written in an easy to understand format. Couldn't believe the fast delivery of the book after I put in the order - just a couple of days!! Thanks』
(Amazing book..) 『Hi all...I am a big wall street fan and a big myster lover. This is like the best mystery book I have read. It takes you deep into the Wall street world and explains indepth on how the washington helped/rescued the wall street. Andrew Ross's approach is soo good and made it lively. One who loves mystery/thrillers movies should read this book except tht this is real and billions if not trillions of dollars are at stake.』
(Too Big to Fail) 『Surreal. //Too Big to Fail// takes everyday folks inside a world most of us will never enter, the world of the rich and powerful: Wall Street and Washington DC. Inside this spine-tingling story of the financial collapse of 2008, you'll find daily helicopter commutes to work; secret meetings in Moscow; tough talk; and hard falls. This is the true tale of the failing of America's banking system and the demise of Lehman Brothers.
Written like fiction, but with all the nausea-invoking trappings of reality, //Too Big to Fail// doesn't miss a detail--sometimes failingly so. Indeed, it could earn the nickname //Too Big to Read// with its 539 pages of text and its 38 pages of what appears to be 8-point font notes.
Yet, its mass is also symbolic. The enormity of the economic crash of 2008, the multiple events leading up to it, and the dozens of players involved could not be chronicled in any smaller a scale. In fact, the tome begins with eight pages listing "The Cast of Characters and the Companies They Kept." While reading, you'll surely flip back to that list frequently as the characters mount and the details unfold.
Author Andrew Ross Sorkin, also a //New York Times// reporter, deftly moves these characters across the chess board that makes up his ultra-in-depth report. He helps bring to life otherwise unknown pawns from our daily newspapers. He provides details of their real lives--the good and the ugly. He reveals their inner motivations, their secret meetings, and their deep interconnectedness. Reading this book is like being a fly on the wall in some science fiction novel.
But this is real; all too real. Sorkin reminds you of this fact with a haunting insert of frat-boy-style men's club images of suited and tuxedoed politicos, bankers, and the general leading men (and a few women) in this horrifying drama.
//Too Big to Fail// plays out the cards that only an elite few were allowed to deal as most Americans watched their television sets in fear. It explains the panic, the missteps, and the strange strategy interlinking Wall Street and DC. You'll find it hard to remember you're not reading fiction, and will be plagued by a foggy feeling of being somewhere between two worlds.
Sorkin concludes the book with his own learned insights, which you'll trust beyond compare after completing his detailed depiction of the crisis. "Vulture investing is back in vogue again, with everyone raising money in anticipation of the collapse of commercial real estate and the once-in-a-lifetime bargains that might be available as a result." Have they learned nothing? Perhaps this book will become required reading for generations to come? One can hope.
Reviewed by Amber K. Stott』 『A real-life thriller about the most tumultuous period in America’s financial history by an acclaimedNew York TimesReporter
Andrew Ross Sorkin delivers the first true behind-the-scenes, moment-by-moment account of how the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression developed into a global tsunami. From inside the corner office at Lehman Brothers to secret meetings in South Korea, and the corridors of Washington,Too Big to Failis the definitive story of the most powerful men and women in finance and politics grappling with success and failure, ego and greed, and, ultimately, the fate of the world’s economy.
“We’ve got to get some foam down on the runway!” a sleepless Timothy Geithner, the then-president of the Federal Reserve of New York, would tell Henry M. Paulson, the Treasury secretary, about the catastrophic crash the world’s financial system would experience.
Through unprecedented access to the players involved,Too Big to Failre-creates all the drama and turmoil, revealing never disclosed details and elucidating how decisions made on Wall Street over the past decade sowed the seeds of the debacle. This true story is not just a look at banks that were“too big to fail,” it is a real-life thriller with a cast of bold-faced names who themselves thought they were too big to fail.』
price：$6.88
Back Bay Books
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Not just for anyone) 『It was a little confusing. I was asked to listen to it for work; I didn't really enjoy it. But someone who likes learning about marketing strategies would probably enjoy it.』
(Put down) 『When is the last time you felt withdrawal when you put your book down. Malcolm Gladwell is a genius somewhere between science, psychology, literature and common sense. A wonderful book!』
(I never received this book!) 『I would have liked to read The Tipping Point but the book never arrived in the mail. I am not ordering from Amazon in the future.』
(Not worth it) 『This book runs all over the place. It seems like Mr. Gladwell did not have enough info to make a full-length book so he just kept going over the same suff. Thoughts come and go without warning. The book rambles and was overall boring. Read Freakonomics by Levitt instead of Tipping Point.』
(What's the big deal?) 『In my opinion, this book suffers from the same "illness" as so many books that may have something useful and valid to say. Once a new point is made the supporting evidence/explanation goes on far too many pages to the point of distraction. I found myself constantly scanning forward to see when the next new point was going to made. If you read some of the intelligent, well-written reviews for this book on the 'net you actually will have the summation of the book and won't need to spend your money.』 『This celebrated New York Times bestsellernow poised to reach an even wider audience in paperbackis a book that is changing the way North Americans think about selling products and disseminating ideas. Gladwells new afterword to this edition describes how readers can constructively apply the tipping point principle in their own lives and work. Widely hailed as an important work that offers not only a road map to business success but also a profoundly encouraging approach to solving social problems.』 『"The best way to understand the dramatic transformation of unknown books into bestsellers, or the rise of teenage smoking, or the phenomena of word of mouth or any number of the other mysterious changes that mark everyday life," writes Malcolm Gladwell, "is to think of them as epidemics. Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do." Although anyone familiar with the theory of memetics will recognize this concept, Gladwell'sThe Tipping Pointhas quite a few interesting twists on the subject.
For example, Paul Revere was able to galvanize the forces of resistance so effectively in part because he was what Gladwell calls a "Connector": he knew just about everybody, particularly the revolutionary leaders in each of the towns that he rode through. But Revere "wasn't just the man with the biggest Rolodex in colonial Boston," he was also a "Maven" who gathered extensive information about the British. He knew what was going on and he knew exactly whom to tell. The phenomenon continues to this day--think of how often you've received information in an e-mail message that had been forwarded at least half a dozen times before reaching you.
Gladwell develops these and other concepts (such as the "stickiness" of ideas or the effect of population size on information dispersal) through simple, clear explanations and entertainingly illustrative anecdotes, such as comparing the pedagogical methods ofSesame StreetandBlue's Clues, or explaining why it would be even easier to play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon with the actor Rod Steiger. Although some readers may find the transitional passages between chapters hold their hands a little too tightly, and Gladwell's closing invocation of the possibilities of social engineering sketchy, even chilling,The Tipping Pointis one of the most effective books on science for a general audience in ages. It seems inevitable that "tipping point," like "future shock" or "chaos theory," will soon become one of those ideas that everybody knows--or at least knows by name.--Ron Hogan』
Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Thinking outside the box) 『Great read to expand one's point of reference. The author's unique and rational perspective on a wide range of issues provides a great read and pause to think about one's innate bias and inherently limited perspective.』
(Unique) 『This was a gift for my boss - he said this wasn't as good as "Freakenomics", but it was still a good read.』
(Freakonomics just jumped the shark....) 『Overall this was a lightweight read. Interesting in a "News of the Wierd" kind of way. I was a bit let down, as I liked the first book more and had high expectations, but I'll no doubt read the next one when it comes out.』
(Interesting and easy read) 『As a sequel to "Freakonomics" this one is fine, with some insightful behavioral economic thoughts like:
1. A drunk walker is eight times more likely to die than a drunk driver, on a per mile basis.
2. Lower birthrate in India when cable TV introduced because of more autonomy of women.
3. Negative externalities using horses for transportation, too much manure and accidents, led to more modern form of transportation. Title 9 for women's athletics led to more male coaches of women's teams.
4. Averages can be misleading because the "average" person has one breast and one testicle, but a good place to start. People are more scared of sharks than elephants yet elephants kill many more people per year than sharks.
5. Expert performers are almost always made, not born, so best to work at what you love since likely you'll worker harder at that.
6. Terrorists are less likely to come from poor families.
7. "Cognitive drift" can lead to many errors, because people can become distracted easily in just a few seconds.
8. Women ER doctors generally are better than men.
9. Nobel Prize winners live longer, so do baseball Hall of Fame members. Also, do annuity buyers because of incentive to collect more.
10. Chemo for cancer is questionably effective.
11. TV watching increases crime - any kind of TV programs.
12. Humans are naturally altruistic, but affected by context, like when being under scrutiny.
13. Law of unintended consequences is very powerful, Seemingly good laws many times lead to the opposite happening more.
14. Simple and cheap fixes are more frequent than one might think. Ammonium nitrate most responsible for feeding the world. Polio vaccine to conquer polio. Car seat belts to save lives. Book offers some possible simple ways to stop bad hurricanes (send some surface warm water down deep) and solve global warming (send sulfur dioxide high in the sky). Don't have doctors wear ties - ties hardly ever cleaned, have doctors follow good hand hygiene in hospitals.
15. Capuchin monkeys can be taught to use money, hence basic economic laws hold for them, also like humans show irrational economic behavior like favoring loss aversion even if it isn't the wisest choice.
If the book is not as rigorous in its proof of assertions, that is OK with me, as it is an easy read and made me think a little deeper about some subjects worthy of deeper thought.』
(very interensting) 『I liked this book, so much new information. AMazes me that they find all these people doing these interesting things and then draw such conclusions.』
price：$14.52
William Morrow
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Thinking outside the box) 『Great read to expand one's point of reference. The author's unique and rational perspective on a wide range of issues provides a great read and pause to think about one's innate bias and inherently limited perspective.』
(Unique) 『This was a gift for my boss - he said this wasn't as good as "Freakenomics", but it was still a good read.』
(Freakonomics just jumped the shark....) 『Overall this was a lightweight read. Interesting in a "News of the Wierd" kind of way. I was a bit let down, as I liked the first book more and had high expectations, but I'll no doubt read the next one when it comes out.』
(Interesting and easy read) 『As a sequel to "Freakonomics" this one is fine, with some insightful behavioral economic thoughts like:
1. A drunk walker is eight times more likely to die than a drunk driver, on a per mile basis.
2. Lower birthrate in India when cable TV introduced because of more autonomy of women.
3. Negative externalities using horses for transportation, too much manure and accidents, led to more modern form of transportation. Title 9 for women's athletics led to more male coaches of women's teams.
4. Averages can be misleading because the "average" person has one breast and one testicle, but a good place to start. People are more scared of sharks than elephants yet elephants kill many more people per year than sharks.
5. Expert performers are almost always made, not born, so best to work at what you love since likely you'll worker harder at that.
6. Terrorists are less likely to come from poor families.
7. "Cognitive drift" can lead to many errors, because people can become distracted easily in just a few seconds.
8. Women ER doctors generally are better than men.
9. Nobel Prize winners live longer, so do baseball Hall of Fame members. Also, do annuity buyers because of incentive to collect more.
10. Chemo for cancer is questionably effective.
11. TV watching increases crime - any kind of TV programs.
12. Humans are naturally altruistic, but affected by context, like when being under scrutiny.
13. Law of unintended consequences is very powerful, Seemingly good laws many times lead to the opposite happening more.
14. Simple and cheap fixes are more frequent than one might think. Ammonium nitrate most responsible for feeding the world. Polio vaccine to conquer polio. Car seat belts to save lives. Book offers some possible simple ways to stop bad hurricanes (send some surface warm water down deep) and solve global warming (send sulfur dioxide high in the sky). Don't have doctors wear ties - ties hardly ever cleaned, have doctors follow good hand hygiene in hospitals.
15. Capuchin monkeys can be taught to use money, hence basic economic laws hold for them, also like humans show irrational economic behavior like favoring loss aversion even if it isn't the wisest choice.
If the book is not as rigorous in its proof of assertions, that is OK with me, as it is an easy read and made me think a little deeper about some subjects worthy of deeper thought.』
(very interensting) 『I liked this book, so much new information. AMazes me that they find all these people doing these interesting things and then draw such conclusions.』 『
TheNew York TimesbestsellingFreakonomicswas a worldwide sensation, selling more than four million copies in thirty-five languages and changing the way we look at the world.
Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner return withSuperfreakonomics, and fans and newcomers alike will find that thefreakquel is even bolder, funnier, and more surprising than the first.
SuperFreakonomicschallenges the way we think all over again, exploring the hidden side of everything with such questions as:
How is a street prostitute like a department-store Santa?
What do hurricanes, heart attacks, and highway deaths have in common?
Can eating kangaroo save the planet?
Levitt and Dubner mix smart thinking and great storytelling like no one else. By examining how people respond to incentives, they show the world for what it really is—good, bad, ugly, and, in the final analysis, super freaky.Freakonomicshas been imitated many times over—but only now, withSuperFreakonomics, has it met its match.
』 『Book Description
TheNew York Timesbest-sellingFreakonomicswas a worldwide sensation, selling over four million copies in thirty-five languages and changing the way we look at the world. Now, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner return withSuperFreakonomics,and fans and newcomers alike will find that the freakquel is even bolder, funnier, and more surprising than the first.
Four years in the making,SuperFreakonomicsasks not only the tough questions, but the unexpected ones: What's more dangerous, driving drunk orwalkingdrunk? Why is chemotherapy prescribed so often if it's so ineffective? Can a sex change boost your salary?
SuperFreakonomicschallenges the way we think all over again, exploring the hidden side of everything with such questions as:
How is a street prostitute like a department-store Santa?
Why are doctors so bad at washing their hands?
How much good do car seats do?
What's the best way to catch a terrorist?
Did TV cause a rise in crime?
What do hurricanes, heart attacks, and highway deaths have in common?
Are people hard-wired for altruism or selfishness?
Can eating kangaroo save the planet?
Which adds more value: a pimp or a Realtor?
Levitt and Dubner mix smart thinking and great storytelling like no one else, whether investigating a solution to global warming or explaining why the price of oral sex has fallen so drastically. By examining how people respond to incentives, they show the world for what it really is good, bad, ugly, and, in the final analysis, super freaky.
Freakonomicshas been imitated many times over but only now, withSuperFreakonomics,has it met its match.
FromSuperfreakonomics: Where do you stand on the freak-o-meter?
Four years ago, you were cool. You readFreakonomicswhen it first came out. You impressed family and friends and dazzled dates with the insights you gleaned. Now Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner return withSuperfreakonomics, afreakquel even bolder, funnier, and more surprising than the first.
Have you been keeping up? Can you call yourself a SuperFreak? Test yourSuperfreakonomicsknow-how now:Question 1:5 points According toSuperfreakonomics, what has been most helpful in improving the lives of women in rural India? A. The government ban on dowries and sex-selective abortions B. The spread of cable and satellite television C. Projects that pay women to not abort female babies D. Condoms made specially for the Indian marketQuestion 2:3 points Among Chicago street prostitutes, which night of the week is the most profitable? A. Saturday B. Monday C. Wednesday D. FridayQuestion 3:5 points You land in an emergency room with a serious condition and your fate lies in the hands of the doctor you draw. Which characteristic doesn’t seem to matter in terms of doctor skill? A. Attended a top-ranked medical school and served a residency at a prestigious hospital B. Is female C. Gets high ratings from peers D. Spends more money on treatmentQuestion 4:3 points Which cancer is chemotherapy more likely to be effective for? A. Lung cancer B. Melanoma C. Leukemia D. Pancreatic cancerQuestion 5:5 points Half of the decline in deaths from heart disease is mainly attributable to: A. Inexpensive drugs B. Angioplasty C. Grafts D. StentsQuestion 6:3 points True or False: Child car seats do a better job of protecting children over the age of 2 from auto fatalities than regular seat belts.Question 7:5 points What’s the best thing a person can do personally to cut greenhouse gas emissions? A. Drive a hybrid car B. Eat one less hamburger a week C. Buy all your food from local sourcesQuestion 8:3 points Which is most effective at stopping the greenhouse effect? A. Public-awareness campaigns to discourage consumption B. Cap-and-trade agreements on carbon emissions C. Volcanic explosions D. Planting lots of treesQuestion 9:5 points In the 19th century, one of the gravest threats of childbearing was puerperal fever, which was often fatal to mother and child. Its cause was finally determined to be: A. Tight bindings of petticoats early in the pregnancy B. Foul air in the delivery wards C. Doctors not taking sanitary precautions D. The mother rising too soon in the delivery roomQuestion 10:3 points Which of the following were not aftereffects of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks on September 11, 2001: A. The decrease in airline traffic slowed the spread of influenza. B. Thanks to extra police in Washington, D.C., crime fell in that city. C. The psychological effects of the attacks caused people to cut back on their consumption of alcohol, which led to a decrease in traffic accidents. D. The increase in border security was a boon to some California farmers, who, as Mexican and Canadian imports declined, sold so much marijuana that it became one of the states most valuable crops.Answers and Scoring Question 1 B, Cable and satellite TV. Women with television were less willing to tolerate wife beating, less likely to admit to having a“son preference,” and more likely to exercise personal autonomy. Plus, the men were perhaps too busy watching cricket.Question 2 A, Saturday nights are the most profitable. While Friday nights are the busiest, the single greatest determinant of a prostitute’s price is the specific trick she is hired to perform. And for whatever reason, Saturday customers purchase more expensive services.Question 3 C, One factor that doesn’t seem to matter is whether a doctor is highly rated by his or her colleagues. Those named as best by their colleagues turned out to be no better than average at lowering death rates--although they did spend less money on treatments.Question 4 C, Leukemia. Chemotherapy has proven effective on some cancers, including leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, and testicular cancer, especially if these cancers are detected early. But in most cases, chemotherapy is remarkably ineffective, often showing zero discernible effect. That said, cancer drugs make up the second-largest category of pharmaceutical sales, with chemotherapy comprising thebulk.Question 5 A, Inexpensive drugs. Expensive medical procedures, while technologically dazzling, are responsible for a remarkably small share of the improvement in heart disease. Roughly half of the decline has come from reductions in risk factors like high cholesterol and high blood pressure, both of which are treated with relatively inexpensive drugs. And much of the remaining decline is thanks to ridiculously inexpensive treatments like aspirin, heparin, ACE inhibitors, and beta-blockers.Question 6 False. Based on extensive data analysis as well as crash tests paid for by the authors, old-fashioned seat belts do just as well as car seats.Question 7 B, Shifting less than one day per week’s worth of calories from red meat and dairy products to chicken, fish, eggs, or a vegetable-based diet achieves more greenhouse-gas reduction than buying all locally sourced food, according to a recent study by Christopher Weber and H. Scott Matthews, two Carnegie Mellon researchers. Every timea Prius or other hybrid owner drives to the grocery store, she may be cancelling out its emissions-reducing benefit, at least if she shops in the meat section. Emission from cows, as well as sheep and other ruminants, are 25 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than the carbon dioxide released by cars and humans.Question 8 C, the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines discharged more than 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, which acted like a layer of sunscreen, reducing the amount of solar radiation and cooling off the earth by an average of one degree F.Question 9 C, doctors not taking sanitary precautions. This was the dawning age of the autopsy, and doctors did not yet know the importance of washing their hands after leaving the autopsy room and entering the delivery room.Question 10 C, the psychological effect of the attacks caused people to increase their alcohol consumption, and traffic accidents increased as a result.Scoring 32-40: Certified SuperFreak 25-31: Freak--surprises lay in wait for you 16-24: Wannabe freak--you’ve got some reading to do 1-15: Conventional wisdomer--you’re still thinking in old ways』
price：$9.54
Gallup Press
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Small investment for great reward) 『How else can you have your strengths identified for less that $13. Highly recommended.』
(BAD EXPERIENCE....) 『Every book has a sealed envelope in the back with an online password so you can take the test. Once you take the test - you can look up your strengths in the book.
The book I ordered through Amazon arrived with the password RIPPED OUT of the back of the book. So 0 obviously I was unable to take the test. Without the test - the book gives me no reference point and serves no purpose . I wrote a letter of complaint but received NO response.
FYI: ordering this book was my second attempt... My first attempt was downloading the book on my Kindle - The kindle version does NOT include an online password either....so another $10 down the shoots....
After hearing nothing back from amazon - I went to the local bookstore and bought a $15 copy WITH the online password. I should have done that the first time! I am learning....to date I've invested over $35 in one little book.』
(Important book for self-understanding) 『This book contains the 34 basic strengths that were introduced and explained in great detail in "Now, Discover Your Strengths." That book does an excellent job explaining how talents, skills, and strengths differ from each other and is a mandatory read. I would recommend reading it before purchasing this Strengths Finder 2.0 book. This book rehashes the basic description of those 34 strengths, but it also adds some insightful commentary for each strength as to how it manifests itself. This book also has the code for the 'updated' StrengthsFinder test, which shows you your top 5 strengths. Just be aware - you don't get access to the order of your other 29 unless you pay lots of money for it.』
(Don't waste your time...) 『This was recommended and I took it, but the test is timed and you only have one chance to answer the questions that are critical to the rest of the book making sense. I was a bit busy when I tried to take it and was quite displeased to find out the only way to update or revise your responses is to buy the book again. There are plenty of legitimate tools out there that let you assess and review your responses as you take them. This seems more designed to assist in improving their bottom line than realistically helping you better assess your personality and strengths.』
(Strengths Finder 2.0) 『I highly recommend this book. It has given me a shift in how I think, from focusing in areas in which I am not gifted, to focusing on my personal strengths, and this has given me a new found sense of self-confidence and understanding of how I can put my talents to use most efficiently in my job and life. After you complete the online portion, the results of the analysis give a clear picture of who you can be when you focus your energy on your personal talents, and the book also offers an online support community. For anyone who is not sure what they should be doing with their life, this book is a valuable resource.』 『
DO YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO WHAT YOU DO BEST EVERY DAY?
Chances are, you don't. All too often, our natural talents go untapped. From the cradle to the cubicle, we devote more time to fixing our shortcomings than to developing our strengths.
To help people uncover their talents, Gallup introduced the first version of its online assessment, StrengthsFinder, in the 2001 management book Now, Discover Your Strengths. The book spent more than five years on the bestseller lists and ignited a global conversation, while StrengthsFinder helped millions to discover their top five talents.
In its latest national bestseller, StrengthsFinder 2.0, Gallup unveils the new and improved version of its popular assessment, language of 34 themes, and much more (see below for details). While you can read this book in one sitting, you'll use it as a reference for decades.
Loaded with hundreds of strategies for applying your strengths, this new book and accompanying website will change the way you look at yourself -- and the world around you -- forever.
AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY IN THE NEW&UPGRADED EDITION OF STRENGTHSFINDER 2.0 (using the unique access code included with each book)
* A new and upgraded edition of the StrengthsFinder assessment
* A personalized Strengths Discovery and Action-Planning Guide for applying your strengths in the next week, month, and year
* A more customized version of your top five theme report
* 50 Ideas for Action (10 strategies for building on each of your top five themes)
* The more user-friendly StrengthsFinder 2.0 companion website, with a strengths community area, library of downloadable discussion guides and activities, a strengths screensaver, and a program for creating display cards of your top five themes--
Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (The glass Castle) 『This is a terrible book. Why would anyone be interesting in reading about this awful family? It's exploitation at its worst.』
(Glass Castle) 『My sister refered the book but I haven't read it as yet. It came in excellent condition』
(Captivating) 『Amazing, horrifying, and absolutley captivating. The further I got the harder it became to put this book down. This novel was at times funny, usually disturbing, and always thought provoking. Amazing to see what some children live through and how sometimes they become wise and self sufficient beyond their years. One of the best books that I have read, and one that I won't forget.』
(A Story That Touches the Heart) 『I could hardly put it down. The Glass Castle is masterfully written. The Author Jeannette Wall is a gifted writer who knows how to give her characters heart and flesh. I could see, hear and feel her pain and pride in the midst of a dysfunctional but fascinating family. I loved watching as she emerged into an intelligent and motivated young woman. I loved seeing her begin the personal healing process of accepting the things she could not change and the courage to change the things she could. This is a story that can give hope to many in similar circumstances. One caution is worth noting. Because the language in this book is raw and in-your-face, it may be too graphic for some readers. I feel that it would have been an excellent book without it; however, some could argue that at least one of the characters could not have been accurately portrayed any other way. Reluctantly, due to the language, I've given this book a four-star rather than a five-star rating.
』
(Captivating!) 『I couldn't put this book down. The book was so well written that I felt I was there along with the writer in her struggle to make sense of what was going on around her. I found myself angry, sad, frustrated, puzzled and pulled into a world that I could not quite comprehend. I was forced to examine my own prejudices and my own family relationships.』
price：$14.95
Riverhead Hardcover
Usually ships in 24 hours Core2Duoノートレビュー 's review (Progressive Ideas but Hard to Implement) 『In "Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates US," author Daniel H. Pink surmises a future where Frederick Taylor's mechanical rigid top-down management principles of reward and punishment (as embodied in Ford's assembly line) are supplanted by organic flexible principles that value the diversity and individuality of professionals. Managers and entrepreneurs will find this a thought-provoking read, but they -- including the author -- will struggle to find ways to actually implement the author's refreshing insights into the workplace.
Mr. Pink begins by discussing how humans have been thought to be motivated: the biological drive (the need to eat and the desire to mate), and the social drive (the carrot and stick principle of rewards and punishment). What behaviorial psychologists have now discover is that there is a third drive that cannot be fathom or explained. What propels programmers to create open source software such as Firefox and individuals to contribute at their cost to projects such as Wikipedia? Mr. Pink believes it's because above all individuals want to feel as though they have control over their lives ("autonomy"), be engaged and passionate about what they're doing ("mastery"), and believe in a higher cause than themselves ("purpose"). In other words, we ought to be elevating the status and humanity of individuals instead of reducing them into statistics and machines to be manipulated with performance bonuses.
In fact, Mr. Pink offers harsh admonitions for rewarding employees for performance. This approach adds stress of the employee's life, blinds them into short-term narrow goals (thus decreasing their creativity), encourages them to cheat and conduct unethical behavior, and ultimately lowers their morale as well as commitment to their job. Indeed, Mr. Pink compares this reward mechanism as a drug that will jolt workers into performing fast before ultimately depressing them and lowering their self-esteem. Educators also know that they shouldn't reward a student for his performance, but rather should offer positive specific feedback for effort and attitude.
This is a point that can be observed to be true throughout society. Consider Wall Street, which even though Mr. Pink does not mention, is really the epitome of the short-term "do or die" culture that Mr. Pink so detests. Then there's the Amazon reviewer rankings, where individuals are so determined to climb in the rankings that they will adopt strategies that increases their rank (such as only writing positive reviews for the most trendy books) but decreases their enjoyment of reading the book. In our society's pursuit of numbers and statisics and rankings, we forget too easily that the objective is to take pleasure from one's work, and for that to happen the worker must be constantly challenged by it, grow from it, and ultimately believe his work is contributing to the betterment of humanity.
Mr. Pink does not say anything new here, but he systemizes with Malcolm Gladwell style and logic something that progressive educators and cutting edge entrepreneurs have been saying for decades. Unfortunately, even though his ideas are right, they're also impossible to manage because of the inherent contradiction between mass society and the individual. The individual yearns to be free, independent, and in love with life, whereas mass society must control, regiment, and shackle that individual.
This is a pivotal point that Mr. Pink ignores, and that's why his last section -- on how to implement his ideas -- comes across as lame and glib. Consider Google and its use of 20 percent free time to develop independent projects. That may have been effective in the beginning, but as Google grew the vast bureaucracy meant that there was no longer an immediate feedback loop between the engineer's ideas and desires and the manager's needs and expectations; today, once considered the best place to work, Google is bleeding talent.
There's also the persistent question of cheaters and free-loaders. When the company is small, peer pressure and competition can motivate employees into using their 20 percent free time effectivley, but in a large vast bureaucracy where there is little oversight and supervision cheaters and free-loaders become the norm.
Mr. Pink's insights can only be applied if we cease being a mass society with stifling bureaucracies, and divide into manageable knowable communities with small enterprises (no more than 200 individuals). That won't happen, and so Mr. Pink's ideas -- like Mr. Gladwell's ideas -- will instead just become official chatter at corporate cocktail parties, and that as both Mr. Pink and Mr. Gladwell know is a pretty good motivator to continue to write.
』
(Always a must rear.. Daniel Pink is in the Flow Again with "Driver") 『The opening page talks about studies that SHOULD have changed the world but didn't.
Hyperbole? Perhaps a bit.. but the point is well taken... We have scientifically proven that most management DE-motivates and decades of information on what does work.
Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose have bee shown to work, feels right, and can make the workplace more fun!
It's a simple as that.』
(Update your business OS) 『Drive by Daniel Pink
One main drive has propelled us for centuries. Biological Drive. This covered eating, drinking and reproducing.
Reward/punishment response is the second most used drive, we'll call it Carrot/Stick Drive.
Now there appears to be another drive, a third drive we'll call "Intrinsic Motivation" and it is the basis for the new business OS.
Motivation 2.0 has served us for many decades and carried us out of the depression by making the bulk of the workforce into cogs/drones/etc who mindlessly followed a set of protocols. To a degree that same mentality followed many into the cubical farms of white-collar work.
But many of us have noticed over time (and probably therapy) that our creative side was crushed, pushed so far deep inside us that many of us forgot what it was like to color outside the lines.
We have been so programmed by Motivation 2.0 to reward good behavior and to punish bad behavior that when someone tells us another OS is available we probably want to laugh.
It's hard to believe, but some people will do something just for the sake of doing it and the reward associated with doing it well.
Pink starts out explaining how several components of our every day lives are the result of projects that are worked on for free by people who only wish to be rewarded by the ability to work with others who share their passion.
If you paid these folks to do what they do it would stifle their creativity and bring the project to a screeching halt. Wikipedia is free and was built for free. It is also a creative work of an aspect of Motivation 3.0
A few jobs can be enticed with reward, but those jobs are fewer and fewer in our country each year. Mostly algorithmic (repetitive processes) work can be (and has been) outsourced or offshored and in some cases done better and with more attention to detail. Of note: only 30% of job growth comes from this type of work.
However, heuristic, creative work such as design or finding out something that we didn't know we couldn't live without cannot be enticed or punished in its execution. This less step-by-step work now accounts for 70% of US job growth.
Enticing people to do a task has the effect (according to forty years of research) of making folks actually not want to complete the task or do it again. Punishment also has a similar effect. Parents punished for picking their children up late from pre-school with a fine, were more apt to actually be tardy since the only relation to the act was to be fined. The relationship with the teacher had been monetized in relation to being late and was no longer a factor.
As we have seen in our culture, reward can lead to shortcuts and poor judgement. Sears technicians who overcharged customers is one example. As Pink states "The problem with making an extrinsic reward the only destination that matters is that some people will choose the quickest route there, even if it means taking the low road."
One way around this backfiring is to give the reward after the fact, but do not make it a condition of future behavior. Making the reward more sporadic is better in the long run.
Pink points out many interesting studies done in various environments that in themselves make for interesting reading. One example was that of artists who executed both commissioned and non-commissioned works. The commissioned works, when judged by a panel who knew nothing of the source of the works found the non-commissioned works to be more artistic and expressive while the commissioned works were too "constraining" according to the panel of experts.
"If-Then" rewards are being replaced by "now that" rewards that work in conduction with nontangible rewards. The reward of working on a team that produces an amazing work for an event is as rewarding to some if not more than the money. Useful information, instead of efforts to manipulate behavior also work well with creative teams.
Studies have shown that we exhibit two main types of behavior. Type I and Type X. Type I is Intrinsic. These types are motivated by the act of doing the work itself. Creating environments where our innate psychological needs flourish will see more of this behavior.
By default we have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined and connected to one another. When we are allowed to be in our "natural" state, we satisfied, motivated and productive.
Any other behavior is learned. At the center of Type X behavior is motivation so wrapped up in Carrot/Stick that to take that away is to remove the air that person breathes. Type X does succeed, in the short run. But in the long run, Type I will outperform and master the tasks needed. And Type X's end up in the cardiac ward.
Motivation 3.0 has three major upgrades built in that help bypass "short-term-itis" and move you in to more long-term thinking/working:
Autonomy, or giving someone the freedom to act is a good thing. Without it we would not have "Post-it" notes. They are the product of what William Mcknight of 3M called "experimental doodling." We would also be without Gmail from Google, another product of what is turning out to be the most productive time spent at Google, or "20% Time" as they call it.
Mastery, the glassy-eyed look one has when they are so connected with their work they become one with the task. Some call it "flow" and athletes have used it to describe the feeling akin to runners-high at times. Mastery is attained in many ways, each discipline has its own path, but most of us know that simply attempting to master a skill is a rush in itself. Outliers: The Story of Success
Purpose is what makes some people get up at the crack of dawn and stay up late into the evening. It is like a burning desire. Desire is what helps you push through the hard times and enjoy the good times and getting past the difficulty.
In the end, it appears we have evolved as workers aAnd future executives. A group of Harvard Business School 2009 graduates decided to take an oath that they hope will shape the business decisions made in future boardrooms. Words like "purpose," "greater good," "sustainable" and others like them were used and hopeful in 25 years will reflect in the outcomes of future business conduct.
Your business may need a new operating system and Motivation 3.0 may be just the thing to make your business find its flow.』
(The "Light Bulb" turns on in your brain) 『Okay, so that's the way it really works!
Every now and then, I come along a book that challenges enough lifelong assumptions I've held about myself and others to be "enlightening", and this is such a book.
The book is easy to read and accessible, and the research backing up the author's conclusions are also laid out to impact.
I spent the first hour reading this book sitting next to my wife, and about every 3-4 minutes, I'd blurt out "Did you know . . ." or "I never knew . . . " and then read her a passage. A day later, the book was gone from the end table next to the sofa, and my wife had absconded with it. If you are a professional or manager, you will see major implications into your own behavior and that of others. If you are just reading out of interest, you will learn a lot about yourself I haven't seen in another place.
The writing is worthy of the exciting revelations -- fresh and vigorous, making the book as enjoyable for me as it was informative.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED』
(A home run) 『Revealing "The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us," contrarian Dan Pink delves into decades of long-neglected psychological research to demonstrate what generations of corporate and nonprofit managers have been doing wrong. Pink shows how the research proves traditional carrot-and-stick incentives may work well in a world of rote learning and assembly-line production but can easily be counterproductive in a new world that demands creativity and self-reliance -- the right-brain thinking about which Pink wrote so cogently in his earlier book, "A Whole New Mind." If you lead or manage an organization of any sort, this is must reading.』 『Forget everything you thought you knew about how to motivate people--at work, at school, at home. It's wrong. As Daniel H. Pink explains in his new and paradigm- shattering bookDrive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, the secret to high performance and satisfaction in today's world is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.
Drawing on four decades of scientific research on human motivation, Pink exposes the mismatch between what science knows and what business does--and how that affects every aspect of our lives. He demonstrates that while the old-fashioned carrot-and-stick approach worked successfully in the 20th century, it's precisely thewrongway to motivate people for today's challenges. InDrive, he reveals the three elements of true motivation:
*Autonomy- the desire to direct our own lives *Mastery- the urge to get better and better at something that matters *Purpose- the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves
Along the way, he takes us to companies that are enlisting new approaches to motivation and introduces us to the scientists and entrepreneurs who are pointing a bold way forward.
Driveis bursting with big ideas-- the rare book that will change how you think and transform how you live.』
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The pace of events during the financial crisis of 2008 was truly breathtaking. In this book, I have done my best to describe my actions and the thinking behind them during that time, and to convey the breakneck speed at which events were happening all around us.
Four years ago, you were cool. You readFreakonomicswhen it first came out. You impressed family and friends and dazzled dates with the insights you gleaned. Now Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner return withSuperfreakonomics, afreakquel even bolder, funnier, and more surprising than the first.
