I have never had so many learning opportunities as I do today. When I was young, there were few options for self-education. My parents had a set of encyclopedias that I read in alphabetical order. But there were no online courses, video lectures or podcasts where you could get acquainted with new ideas and thinkers.
Today, all this is, but nevertheless, reading remains my favorite way to learn about new topic. I have been reading an average of one book a week since childhood. Even when my schedule is very busy, I set aside a lot of time for reading.
If you're looking for holiday reading, here are some of my favorites from this year. In them you will see an eclectic mix of topics - from tennis to tennis shoes, from genome science to leadership. They are very well written and they all made a huge impression on me with their unexpected ideas and gave me pleasure.
String Theory by David Foster Wallace. This book has nothing to do with physics, but you will look extremely smart reading it on a train or plane. String Theory is a collection of five of Wallace's best essays on tennis, a sport I became passionate about at Microsoft and still passionate about. You will enjoy this book even if you have never played or even watched tennis. The late author wielded a pen as skillfully as Roger Federer wielded a tennis racket.
"Shoe Salesman" by Phil Knight. This Nike co-founder memoir serves as a refreshingly honest reminder of what the path to business success really is like: messy, questionable, and riddled with mistakes. I have met Knight several times over the years. It is very nice, but also quite quiet and secretive person. Here Knight opens up in a way that not every leader can. I don't think he's trying to teach the reader anything. He does something better. He tells his story as honestly as he can. And this is an amazing story.
"Gene" Siddhartha Mukherjee. Physicians are referred to as a "triple threat" if they simultaneously care for patients, teach medical students, and conduct research. Mukerji, who does all this at Columbia University, is a "quadruple threat" because he is also a Pulitzer Prize winner. In his last book Mukherjee takes us through the past, present and future of genome science, focusing on the ethical questions raised by the latest and greatest gene technologies. Mukherjee wrote this book for ordinary people because he knows that new genome technologies will soon affect each of us.
The Myth of the Strong Leader by Archie Brown. The fierce battle in this year's election prompted me to read this book, written by an Oxford University scholar who has studied political leadership - the good, the bad and the ugly - for more than 50 years. Brown shows that the leaders who make the most significant contributions to history and humanity are usually not what we are accustomed to think of as "strong leaders." On the contrary, they are those who cooperate, delegate and negotiate, those who recognize that no one person can and should not have all the answers. Brown, probably, did not even imagine what resonance his book would receive in 2016.
Honorable Mention: The Network by Gretchen Becke. This book about the obsolescence of our electrical grid is written in one of my favorite genres: "Books about mundane things that are actually charming." I'm interested in this topic in part because I wrote my first software in high school for a business that ran the power grid in the northwestern United States. But even if you've never thought about how electricity gets to your outlets, I think this book would convince you that the electrical grid is one of the most remarkable technological advances in the modern world. And you would understand why upgrading the grid is so difficult and important to building our clean energy future.
Bill Gates' favorites were books for the most different topics Keywords: tennis, sports shoes, genomics and leadership. Here is what he writes about it on his blog.
"String theory" has nothing to do with physics, but you'll look a lot smarter if you open a book with that title on a train or plane. String Theory is a collection of five of Wallace's best tennis essays. I gave up tennis while working at Microsoft, but one day I fell in love with it again. However, you don't have to know how to play tennis to love this book. The author is as skilled with a pen as Roger Federer is with a tennis racket.
The Nike co-founder's story is an extraordinarily honest reminder of what the path to success in business really looks like: hard, unstable, full of mistakes. I met Knight several times. He is very accommodating, but at the same time quiet. In this book, Knight talks about how leaders tend to act in different situations. I don't think Knight's goal is to teach the reader anything. Instead, he does something better: tells his story as honestly as possible. And therein lies the main charm of the book.
Doctors are called the triple threat: they treat the sick, teach medical students, and do their own research. Mukherjee, who does all these things at Columbia University, has a fourth role: he is a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer.
In his latest book, Mukherjee takes us from the past to the present and future of genome science, with a focus on ethical issues. They are becoming especially acute due to significant technological advances in genomics. Mukherjee wrote this book for a wide audience because he understands that new technologies in genomics affect everyone and affect our lives.
A bitter election campaign this year prompted me to read a 2014 book written by an Oxford University scholar who has studied political leadership for more than 50 years - the good, the bad and the ugly. Brown proves that the leaders who contributed largest contribution in history, usually not those who are usually called strong leaders. These are people who cooperate, delegate authority, are open to negotiations and recognize that one person cannot have all the answers. Brown could not even imagine the resonance his book would cause in 2016.
This book about the obsolescence of the electrical grid is written in one of my favorite genres of "books about everyday things that are actually fascinating." Part of the reason I'm interested in "Network" is that my first job back at university was writing software for an organization that manages the power grid in the Northwest.
But even if you haven't thought for a minute about how electricity gets to your outlets, this book will convince you that the electrical grid is one of the greatest engineering marvels modern world. I think you, too, would like to know why grid upgrades are so difficult and so important for the clean energy of the future.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates reads about 50 books a year. Billionaire Mark Cuban reads for three hours every day. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced a decision to read 24 books every year, and investor Warren Buffett spends up to 80% of his time reading. The BookAuthority recommendation service features the favorite books of hundreds of recognized leaders such as Gates, Branson, Buffett, Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Cook and more. Choose from this list something for yourself.
Bill Gates
one of the founders of Microsoft
"Shoe salesman. Nike's story as told by its founder Phil Knight
This memoir instantly and permanently hit the New York Times bestseller list. The book "offers a rare opportunity to learn about the life of the creator of the famous Nike swoosh, known for his shyness when dealing with journalists," and how his company grew from an ambitious start-up to one of the most iconic, revolutionary, and profitable brands in the world.
"Stress Test: Memories of the Financial Crisis", Timothy Geithner
Geithner, former President of the Federal reserve bank of New York City, then Secretary of the Treasury under the Obama administration, takes the reader through the world behind the scenes of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, explaining the sometimes unpleasant decisions he had to make to restore the financial system and prevent the economy from collapsing.
The Myth of the Strong Leader: Political Leadership in modern world», Archie Brown
The book by one of the foremost political historians is a true study of the institution of political leadership throughout the world, from the advent of parliamentary democracy to the Obama era.
Jeff Bezos
CEO and Founder of Amazon.com
"The Innovator's Dilemma: How Strong Companies Die Because of New Technologies", Clayton M. Christensen.
The Amazon editorial team has listed The Innovator's Dilemma as one of the "100 books about success and leadership you need to read at least once." Christensen's work has been quoted by world-famous leaders from Steve Jobs to Malcolm Gladwell.
"Made in America: How I Created Wal-Mart" Sam Walton
The author, one of the most brilliant salesmen of the late 20th century who turned Wal-Mart into the largest retail chain in the world, talks about the inspiration, faith and optimism that helped him lasso the American Dream.
“Data driven marketing. 15 metrics everyone should know Mark Geoffrey
Named Best Marketing Book of 2011 by the American Marketing Association. Jeffrey offers clear and compelling guidance on how to use a rigorous, data-driven strategic approach to dramatically improve your marketing performance.
Warren Buffett
investor
“Rules of the best CEOs. History and principles of work of eight leaders of successful companies”, William Thorndike
This book is number one on Buffett's list of recommendations. It chronicles the extraordinary success of eight leaders who have revolutionized corporate governance. Some of them you may not know by name, but you probably know their companies: General Cinema, Ralston Purina, The Washington Post Company, Berkshire Hathaway, General Dynamics, Broadcasting Capital Cities, TCI and Teledyne.
Bill Gates
Never before in my life have I felt so inspired to learn something new as I do now. In my youth, there were not many opportunities for self-education. My parents had all the volumes of the World Encyclopedia, which I read cover to cover, in alphabetical order. But then there were no online courses, no video lectures, no podcasts, thanks to which we can find new ideas and new thinkers today.
And yet, most of all I like to learn new things from books. Since childhood, I have read an average of one book a week. Even if the to-do list is off the charts, I win enough time for myself to read.
If you are looking for a book that you can enjoy reading during the New Year holidays, here are some of my favorite books this year. All of them are written good language, and all of them led me to unexpected insights.
Phil Knight. Shoe seller
Shoe Dog, by Phil Knight
This autobiography by the co-founder of Nike is a remarkably honest reminder of how ugly the road to success in business really looks: full of chaos, doubt, and mistakes. Few CEOs dare to be so frank. Knight is incredibly strict with himself and his failures and is very far from the usual model of a daring and determined entrepreneur - modest, uncommunicative, insecure. He is prone to a nervous tic - worrying about business negotiations, starts snapping the rubber bracelets on her wrist and wraps her arms around her shoulders. He braced himself for several weeks before he could tell Penny, his wife-to-be, that he liked her. Yet, despite, or perhaps because of, his unusual personality traits, Knight was able to bring to life what he calls "crazy ideas", namely, to radically change his life and create his own shoe company.
The narrative keeps the reader in suspense, in large part due to the fact that Knight's financial situation now and then teeters on the brink of collapse. He started his shoe import business, which at the time was called Blue Ribbon Sports, with just $50 from his father, and that was the start. for long years living heavily in debt. Year after year, he knelt before the bankers, begging for a loan to import Japanese shoes. He had almost no savings left in the bank, because he reinvested all the income in the company to increase the import order. Even as shoe sales began to take off, the business was still on the brink of survival. At the same time, he had a very rocky relationship with a Japanese shoe supplier whose managers were constantly on the lookout for other potential US partners despite Knight's successful sales and shoe design assistance. Eventually, Knight ended the relationship and created Nike, entering a new phase of uncertainty.
Knight is quite open about the contingency of the company's success. Just remember the famous Nike logo - it was drawn by a student art school for $35, and then Knight had no idea what a special symbol this checkmark would become. “That will do,” he thought. The decision to name the company Nike also did not come from Knight himself, he wanted to call it Dimension Six (“The Sixth Dimension”), but the employees persuaded him to choose Nike, and Knight made concessions to them, although he did not share their choice. “Maybe we’ll get used to it over time,” he said at the time.
Siddhartha Mukherjee. Genes
The Gene, by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Doctors are considered especially valuable if they are capable of not only treating patients, but also teaching medical students and doing research. Mukherjee, in addition to these three directions, which he is implementing at Columbia University, has also successfully mastered the fourth - writing, receiving the Pulitzer Prize for his book on cancer, released in 2011. In his latest book, Mukherjee takes the reader through the past, present and future of genomics, focusing on the serious moral and ethical issues raised by the latest gene manipulation technologies. The book is addressed to a wide range of readers, since the author is aware that we are on the verge of a future in which genomic technologies can seriously affect all areas of our lives.
IN currently are undergoing early stages of clinical trials of genome editing tools, and they are full of optimistic predictions for such areas medical science as the diagnosis, treatment and healing of human diseases. But, as much as I rejoice at these discoveries, they should be handled very carefully. It is one thing to change the program code in a computer, and quite another to reprogram the natural code that controls a person as a biological species.
Like any other powerful new technology, genome editing can attract people with both good intentions (in order to reduce human suffering) and evil intentions (in order to cause more suffering). Even while respecting good intentions, we cannot turn a blind eye to serious ethical issues.
In a decade, doctors in clinics will be able to use genome editing to help patients whose diseases are caused by damage in certain genes, such as in the case of cystic fibrosis, and this is certainly an ethical application of the technology. But what about making changes to the eggs or sperm to prevent the development of this disease? This form of therapy can be highly effective, but it will also mean that the children born from these eggs and sperm will pass on the genetically modified genome to their children, thereby changing the germline, and this ethical Rubicon will be crossed irrevocably.
Germline change is no longer a hypothetical possibility. Research teams in China are racing at full speed towards experiments on human embryos. Although they use non-viable embryos, a Swedish developmentalist recently announced that he edits healthy, viable human embryos. He claims he won't let the edited embryos live longer than 14 days, but who knows what plans other scientists might have? “The day this book sees the light of day, we may already be waiting for the first post-genomic human being,” Mukherjee writes.
Technology in itself cannot be moral or immoral, it is neutral. How much to trust a particular technology and whether it is worth using it is for all of us to decide, not just scientists, government officials and fund managers. And the book "Genes" allows each reader to become an active participant in this discussion.
Archie Brown. The myth of a strong leader
The Myth of the Strong Leader by Archie Brown
This year's desperate election race led me to choose a book that was published in 2014 and was written by an Oxford University scholar who has studied examples of political leadership for 50 years - positive, negative and simply disgusting. As the author shows in his book, the leaders who have made the greatest contribution to the history and development of mankind can hardly be called "strong leaders." On the contrary, they often turn out to be individuals who are able to cooperate, delegate authority and negotiate, and also recognize that one is not a warrior in the field. Brown could not even imagine how consonant his book would be with the events of 2016.
In justifying his observations, Brown classifies successful leaders into two categories. Leaders who redefine the political landscape are radically changing the environment, not by finding a balance point, but simply by “shifting the center in their direction.”
But leaders who transform the landscape, Brown argues, go further, fundamentally changing the nature of the entire political or economic system. If you, like many voters today, are disheartened by how rarely an American president changes our political or economic system, consider the fact that, according to Brown, the last American leader to transform the system was Abraham Lincoln. With leaders of this type, the whole country changes radically. Brown includes Charles de Gaulle, Mikhail Gorbachev, Deng Xiaoping and Nelson Mandela in this category.
You don't have to look far for examples of how, in the vast majority of cases, a strong leader is equated with a good one. Brown suggests remembering the last time you heard someone say, "What we need is a weak leader."
Brown does a wonderful job of showing how the same qualities that seem so attractive in a strong leader lead to at least bad decisions and, in extreme cases, to global sacrifice and suffering. The possession of such qualities can lead a person to believe that, as a leader, he (since it is often he) is the only one who knows what the country needs, and he is the only one who can bring it to life.
I read the book for a long time and thoroughly. I discovered a lot of new things for myself that I had never even thought about before. This is a very serious work by Archie Brown, in which he dissects in detail the outstanding leaders of Europe, America, Asia and singles out main idea his research that a strong leader is not always a positive thing. Such individuals, as a rule, accumulate a lot of power in their hands and single-handedly make large-scale decisions. However, such decisions can be disastrous. Therefore, a true effective leader must combine many various qualities that will be useful both to society and the country as a whole. Much depends on the mentality of people living in a particular country. The best option for any state is a leader who has his own close-knit team that has been functioning together for many years. When the solution of problems goes to those people who are responsible for a particular problem area and have extensive experience in working with such situations. Ideal political leadership is a single, well-functioning management system in which each performer has his own place.
The author proves that a strong leader is not a panacea for all ills. Strong man also makes mistakes, and based on his position, his mistakes become more global than those of ordinary people. The leader must be flexible and be able to transform the surrounding reality, expand restrictions, change political horizons. The strongest leader is the one who has an adequate professional team that can solve any problem. The collective model of leadership is now the most relevant in the modern world. However, not every system recognizes this model as effective. To some extent, our world is developing by leaps and bounds, but sometimes some of its phenomena are quite conservative. The book contains a lot of interesting and correct ideas. It will be useful to a wide range of readers. I strongly recommend reading.
