Hidden Potential by Adam Grant, June 2024

A book about being our best and producing at a high level.

• To perform at our best we need to be constant uncomfortable.
• We cannot be afraid to fail. Those who excel fail often.
• Do not shoot for perfection. Those who shoot for perfection measure themselves against others standards.
• We must be sponges, constantly looking to absorb knowledge and to also give knowledge back.
• Make practice fun and make it measurable. Keep objective score to see how you are improving.
• Those who teach learn at a high level and outperform others even if they are not experts in what they teach.

Outlive, the Science and Art of Longevity, May 2024

A book about the keys to living long, more fulfilling lives by expanding our lifes and lifespans.

• The four horsemen are: 1) atherosclerotic disease (cardiovascular disease) 2) cancer 3) neurodegenerative disease (alzheimers) 4) fountational disease (like diabetes)
• We can expand our lifespans by focusing on certain things such as: nutrition, exercise, sleep
• Studies show that people who are stronger and have higher VO2Max live longer
• Most people do not get enough protein so are not strong enough and therefore decline quickly in old age after one major event
• Regular exercise is the single most important thing one can do to prolong life
• Nutrition wise Protein is needed more the carbs or fats.

Chatter: The Voice in Our Head Why it Matters and How to Harness It, by Ethan Kross, January 2024

A book about our inner dialogs, how it can hurt or help us, and how to manage it.

• Our inner voice is what sets humans apart from other animals.
• Our inner voice transports us to the past or the future to reflect or plan.
• We spend roughly 1/4-1/3 of every day engaged in an inner dialog with ourselves.
• Our inner voice is chatting at an equvalent rate of 4000 words per minute. A standard hour-long state of the union address is about 6000 words.
• The inner voice is often critical. Those of us who ruminate on negative thoughts tend to chat with others about our thoughts, which eventually pushes others away and results in less effective support networks.
• People who ruminate tend to share their negative thoughts online or in person. Often others then co-ruminate by reliving the negative thoughts. As a result sharing doesn't help.
• In order to help those who are ruminating we should help them to find distance and try to balance the Kirk (empathy/emotion) with the Spock (logic).
• Shrinking helps to put our thoughts into perspective by experiencing awe. Examples include nature, experiences, and events.
• Sometimes when our thoughts are out of control it helps to use compensitory controls. An example is how Nadal is compulsive about his routines on the tennis court.
• The placebo effect can have powerful effects on the body and mind even when we know it's a placebo
• Rituals can help to add structure to our inner chatter.

7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey, June 2023

A classic about habits that help a person move from Individual Effectiveness into Team Effectiveness.

1. Be proactive
2. Begin with the end in mind
3. Put first things first
4. Think win-win
5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood
6. Synergize
7. Sharpen the saw

Essentialism, The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, by Greg McKeown, May 2023

A book about deliberately focusing on the stuff that really matters and avoiding the stuff that doesn't.

Jack Reacher - Personal (#19), by Lee Child, 2023

Another Jack Reacher book just like all the others. Reacher has to track down some roque sniper in Paris.

Jack Reacher - The Persuader (#7), by Lee Child, 2022

Another Jack Reacher book just like all the others. Reacher has to go under cover to take down a drug dealer and an old nemesis (Quinn).

The Great Influenze, by John M Barry January, 2021

A book about the influenze outbreak of 1918 and the state of medicine at the time.

Antifragile, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (audiobook) November, 2020

A book about how some people, companies, and things can thrive and benefit from uncertainty, thus being anti-fragile.

Jack Reacher - The Midnight Line, by Lee Child (audiobook) October, 2020

A Jack Reacher book involving the search for an army veteran who has gotten herself mixed up in an opioid drug ring.

Drive, by Daniel H. Pink (audiobook) September, 2020

Didn't finish, seemed too long and redundant

Drive is about what motivates us in life and work. Some key takeaways:

• Carrot and stick motivation works well for repetitive tasks, but fall short for creative tasks
• For creative tasks, intrinsic rewards work better than extrinsic rewards
• Humans have 3 innate psychological needs: competence, autonomy, and relatedness

Book Summary

Dare to Lead, by Brene Brown (audiobook) September, 2020

Brene talks about the keys to great leadership, including:

• Being vulnerable is an essential element of courage, since courge is acting in spite of fear
• Knowing what core values drive you and other will help you to be better as a leader

Book Summary

Antifragile, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (audiobook) November, 2020

A book about how those that thrive and benefit society the most are not on the sidelines, but actually involved in what they preach.

Start with Why, Simon Sinek (ebook) August, 2020

In Progress

This is how the most successful companies inspire and lead

Book Summary

Rework by Jason Fried (Audiobook) August, 2020

This is a book by the owners of a company named 37-Degress that sell productivity software. It's all about how they succeed by keeping their business small and streamlined and by going against conventional wisdom of how to build a successful company.

Takeaways

• Business plans are overrated; when starting out, the ability to pivot is critical
• Start small and stick to what's important; most importantly, get started
• Focus only on what's most important, which keeps resources limited
• Build the critical features well, don't build all of the features poorly
• Ensure your company is productive by minimizing distractions
• Don't overwork yourself and your people at the expense of sleep, creativity, etc.
• Good enough is fine. Don't wait for perfection; it will never come.

Book Summary

Leonardo da Vinci, by Walter Isaacson (Audiobook) July, 2020

In Progress

This is a biography of Leonardo Da Vinci.

• He was interested in all sorts of topics and disciplines, and let his knowledge in one discipline influence his other.

Book Summary

Measure What Matters, How Google Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs, by John Doerr (Audiobook) July, 2020

This book is written by the guy who introduced OKR's to Google and The Microsoft Foundation.

• OKR's must be measureable and should align up through the organization
• OKR's have 5 superpowers:
  1. Focus: keep the organization focused on what matters most
  2. Alignment: give the organization a clear mission, but allow creative latitude
  3. Accountability: provide regular check-ins
  4. Tracking: OKR's are public and trackable
  5. Stretching: OKR's should be stretches; 70% achievement is an effective success rate
• There are 2 types of OKRs: Committed and Aspirational
  1. Committed: Are expected to be met. Failure to meet at 100% indicates poor planning and execution.
  2. Aspirational: Are stretch goals that may not have a clear path. These are not always expected to be met.
• Several common mistakes with OKRs:
  1. Confusing committed and aspirational OKRs
  2. Having OKRs that are just business-as-usual
  3. Having key objectives that, if all achieved, don't lead to a successful objective
• Good KR's will pair quality and output. Ford built the Pinto with only performance goals, but neglected quality.
• Includes examples from companies like Intel, Google, The Gates Foundation, MyFitnessPal, Neeva, Adobe, and Remind
• Recommended practice: retroactively review and score OKR's to understand why they worked or fell short

Book Summary

Extreme Ownership, How U.S. Navy Seals Lead to Win, by Jocko Wilink and Leif Babin (Audiobook) June, 2020

This book is a leadership guide based on the premise that leaders must take full ownership of the outcomes that their teams produce. Successful leaders don't make excuses for failures, they own their failures and learn from them. Some of the underlying principles include:

• There are no bad teams, only bad leaders: Good leaders at all levels take ownership for the results of their teams
• Clarify and Believe: You need to understand and believe in your mission before you can convince your team to believe in it
• Manage your ego: great leaders don't let their ego get in the way of the mission
• Cover and Move: this basically means teamwork, in and between teams; if you have the same mission, teamwork is essential
• Keep things simple: keeping things simple allows everyone to understand and allows for decentralized leadership
• Prioritize and Execute: when things get hectic, you need the ability to execute towards your top priorities; having contingency plans can help leaders to stay a step or two ahead
• Decentralized Command: top leaders need a clear vision and mission, but then need to allow their team leaders to execute
• Sound Planning:
• Discipline Brings Freedom: by being top of your game and having discipline, you create an environment that allows you to execute (and pivot) successfully

Book Summary

Call Sign Chaos - Learning to Lead, by Jim Mattis (4 Star General) (Audiobook) June, 2020

This is a book by former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis. He talks about his time in the Marines and with the White House. The book is broken up into three sections that follow his career: Direct Leadership, Executive Leadership, and Strategic Leadership. I covers the many commands that General Mattis held during his 40+ years of service.

• Quote: "You don’t always control your circumstances, but you can always control your response."
• Quote: "By traveling into the past, I enhance my grasp of the present."
• Quote: "I’ll tell you what leadership is: it’s persuasion and conciliation and education and patience. It’s long, slow, tough work. That’s the only kind of leadership I know."
• Quote: "I was out to win their coequal “ownership” of the mission: it wasn’t my mission; rather from private through general, it was our mission."
• Quote: "If you can’t talk freely with the most junior members of your organization, then you’ve lost touch."
• Quote: "Attitudes are caught, not taught."
• Quote: "If you can't be additive as a leader, you're just like a potted plant in the corner of a hotel lobby: you look pretty, but you're not adding substance to the organization's mission."
• Quote: "Be brilliant in the basics. Don’t dabble in your job; you must master it."

Book Summary

The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg (Audiobook) May, 2020

Great book that discusses the habit loop, how it works, and how to build/change habits. Lots of great examples.

Decisive, by Chip and Dan Heath (Audiobook) February, 2020

This book was a great walkthrough in how to make better decisions. Not too long, great content. They used the WRAP acronym:

• Widen your options
• Reality-test your assumptions
• Attain distance before deciding
• Prepare to be wrong

Book Summary

Atomic Habits, by James Clear (Audiobook) February, 2020

Great book about how habits work, with steps and tips you can take to improve your own habits. This book really emphasizes that small habits, if repeated again and again, can have HUGE impacts. This book is great!

Book Summary

Accelerate, by Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble & Gene Kim‎ (Audiobook) February, 2020

Book Summary

Power of Moments, by Chip and Dan Heath (Audiobook) February, 2020

Great book about how we remember our experiences, which are impacted by specific moments. Peak and ending moments matter the most. Moments are especially impactful at transitions, milestones, and pits. Examples include Southwest airlines, Ritz Carlton, the Magic Castle, and YES prep. The authors discuss an EPIC model for building impactful moments:

• Elevational - are uplifting and emotional, build on peaks
• Pride - involve moments of pride, such as graduation, birthdays, etc.
• Insightful - provide a moment of insightful clarity
• Connection - builds connections to others

Book Summary

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, by David Epstein (Audiobook) January, 2020

Book Summary

The Infinite Game, by Simon Sinek (Audiobook) January, 2020

In this book Simon contrasts a short term mindset with a longterm mindset and explains that companies and individuals will be most successful if they focus on the long game rather than short term goals. He provides a bunch of examples, including Microsoft versus Apple & Kodak. The long game will focus you on what's truly important, including trust, loyalty, community, and your 'Just Cause'.

Book Summary

Never Split the Difference, by Chris Voss (Audiobook) November, 2019

Chris Voss is a former lead FBI hostage negotiator. In this book he talks about how strategies to negotiate with anyone. The topics and strategies that he discusses can be employed when buying a car, negotiating a raise, or negiotiating with co-workers. He provides plenty of examples based on his career in the FBI.

Book Summary

Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker (Audiobook) September, 2019

This book dives into the science of sleep. It's was a really eye opening book that explains the benefits of sleep, the different types of sleep, and the downside of not getting enough. I can't recommend this book enough. Rather than emphasizing hard work at the expense of sleep, we'd all be alot better off making sure we got our 7-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep every night.

Book Summary

Thinking Fast and Slow, by Daniel Kahneman (Audiobook) August, 2019

Great book about human behavior. While we think that we make decisions in a rational way, this book makes it clear that most decisions based on biases. By being aware of our biases, we can make better decisions.

Book Summary