Looking for book recommendations

[Vickie]

Someone I passed in the park had "Antifragile," and I almost stopped to ask what it was about. Intriguing title. H@ns and vicve, please let us know what you think.

Definitely will, John!

Additionally, I posted a recent blog post with my "If-I-Could-Only-Read/Reread-Three-Books-This-Year" list. Of course, GTD was #1! I've read all of David's books but only once and have heard so many state how beneficial it is to reread them. Definitely something I plan to do for the coming year!

 

[TesTeq]

Does he give any logical example?

He comes up with all sorts of examples where a certain amount of disorder is actually preferable to order: for example, what's the first thing you do when you pick up a deck of cards that are all in order? You shuffle them, because they're more useful in a random order. He admits that order is also useful; he's just pointing out that in many situations, the optimal amount of order or disorder is something other than perfect order.

I don't agree with his statements that you quote and I think that "deck of cards" example is demagogic. I can give you many similar examples - you put trash in the trashcan in a random order, you use tennis balls in a random order etc. but it does not prove anything. Does he give any logical example?

 

[mak2011]

How will you measure your life - Clayton Christensen
Nudge
Succeed - Heidi Grant Halvorson
Mindset - Carol Dweck
Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson
No shortcuts to the top - Ed Viesturs
Endurance - Alfred Lansing
Predictably Irrational - Dan Aierly
To sell is human - Dan Pink

Enjoy ; )

 

[cwoodgold]

I can give you many similar examples - you put trash in the trashcan in a random order, you use tennis balls in a random order etc. but it does not prove anything.

I put trash in a random order because it takes less effort -- not because a randomly-ordered trash container is actually better than an ordered one. Randomly-ordered trash could be better because you'd be unlikely to end up with one light-weight trash bag and one heavy back-breaking one, or because small objects might often go inside large ones and take up less space; or ordered trash could be better because similar objects might stack and take up less space. Some stuff gets recycled or composted, requiring some sorting.

Does he give any logical example?

He gives both types of examples: where it's not worth the effort to impose perfect order, or where a degree of randomness is actually preferable to perfect order and sometimes worth spending effort to obtain, as with the deck of cards.

 

[TesTeq]

I cannot accept this "perfect mess" concept.

He gives both types of examples: where it's not worth the effort to impose perfect order, or where a degree of randomness is actually preferable to perfect order and sometimes worth spending effort to obtain, as with the deck of cards.

I am really sorry but I cannot accept this "perfect mess" concept and I consider this idea to be a ridiculous marketing trick to sell a book with a controversial title.

You once again gave the same "deck of cards" example which - in my opinion - proves nothing. Randomness is the element of many games. It gives us fun of unpredictability in games. And that is all. Do we need such unpredictability in our projects? Do we need it when we are looking for our car keys or socks?

I've read first paragraphs of the book available from amazon.com. The authors describe an example of two magazine stores on Broadway in Manhattan - messy and tidy. The messy one wins and it is meant to be a "proof" that messiness can be good. I think that authors know nothing about running a business and about a complicated nature of factors that determine if you win or lose.

 

[cwoodgold]

I've read first paragraphs of the book available from amazon.com. The authors describe an example of two magazine stores on Broadway in Manhattan - messy and tidy.

Those paragraphs are part of the Google Book preview; here's a link to it for anyone interested.
http://books.google.ca/books?id=GWj...a=X&ei=_SX8UKGHB5SE8ATDuYHYBw&ved=0CEMQ6AEwAg
This magazine store example is one of the ones where (apparently) order is beneficial, but the cost of maintaining that much order is greater than the benefits gained from it.

 

[jsreed]

Not linked to GTD but valuable on different levels:
"Antifragile, Things that gain from disorder" from Nassim Nicholas Taleb (Black Swan)

Actually, I think "Antifragile" is linked to GTD. The whole point of GTD is to keep your personal system from being fragile - from crashing when it is subjected to the various inputs that hit it.

Taleb's point is that some things are fragile, and some the opposite of fragile, which he calls "antifragile". The human body can be fragile but in some cases - such as exercise causing damage which results in muscle growth, or a vaccine of some kind introducing a small amount of disease designed to force the body to react and strengthen its defenses against that disease - it is antifragile.

I don't know that GTD would make your system antifragile - that it would grow stronger as it handles various inputs, but it is certainly designed to make it robust - something that will not break no matter how hard it is hit.

Though I doubt I'm good enough at GTD to really say. Maybe a personal management system using GTD does get stronger as it is tested. I'm certainly getting better at handling things that hit me without having a meltdown...

 

[maxleibman]

Well, two quickies come to mind:

One is self-serving--I have a book called Higher Process that's about evaluatin self-help and productivity advice via paychological research. GTD is featured in several chapters. (http://www.amazon.com/Higher-Process-Personal-Productivity-ebook/dp/B007Z739BS/).

I also started the year reading Susan Cain's QUIET. Very good book on introversion with implications for business, work style, education, productivity, etc. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0307352145/)

 

[liamhrory]

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Tanley is one of the best one I read and I would definitely recommend it to you.

 

[Foxman]

As I prepare for 2013 I want a list of management, self help, business books to read over the year. Do you have a recent favorite?

order from chaos is a great self management book, I've been trying out the Air Traffic Control system and it's fantastic. It is a built in Weekly Review and project management system which works.

 

[jmsmall]

Willpower books that I've found useful and a couple of others

1. The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal. Based on a course at Stanford.
2. Willpower: rediscovering the greatest human strength. Baumeister. More research than (1) but also very good.

Anything from Brene Brown, especially if you find yourself hampered by perfectionism, guilt, or shame. (Look up her TED talks if you want a nice intro to her work.)

The Most Important Lesson No-one Ever Taught Me is fascinating; the subtitle is, "How I feel matters." (a favorite book of Peter Attia, MD at eatingacademy.com.)

jim (jmsmall)

 

[ArcCaster]

orbiting the giant hairball -- yes!

I am on vacation, halfway through Orbiting the Giant Hairball, and I just want to say 'thanks -- great recommendation!'.

One thing I like about the book is the way it is arranged into little standalone nuggets -- I can read one, put the book down and let the thoughts bounce around my head, then come back later for another nugget.
Organizationally, the book it most reminds me of is Iron and Silk -- another book you can enjoyably read, nugget by nugget.

Thanks again,
Rob

 

[CJSullivan]

I am on vacation, halfway through Orbiting the Giant Hairball, and I just want to say 'thanks -- great recommendation!'.

One thing I like about the book is the way it is arranged into little standalone nuggets -- I can read one, put the book down and let the thoughts bounce around my head, then come back later for another nugget.
Organizationally, the book it most reminds me of is Iron and Silk -- another book you can enjoyably read, nugget by nugget.

Thanks again,
Rob

Glad to hear it! It's one of my favourite books, full stop... I'll have to look into Iron and Silk!

 

[LEAJ4]

Books read that you might consider:

• Will There Be Donuts? David Pearl (great book on meetings)
• Thinking in Systems by Donella H. Meadows
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (a bit hard slogging, but insightful)
• The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
• Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World by Margaret Macmillan (comprehensive view of the end of WWI--interesting to see how much has and hasn't changed in nearly 100 years)
• Plutocrats: The rise of the new global super-rich and the fall of everyone else by Chrystia Freeland (she grew up in my town, but went on to much bigger things; fascinating look and with experience in the Soviet Union/Russia, she brings a world view we don't often see)
• Made to Stick: Why some ideas survive and others die by Chip & Dan Heath
• Switch: How to change things when change is hard by Chip & Dan Heath
• The Sketchnote Handbook by Mike Rohde (visual note taking; interesting and it made me get out the sketchbook and pens, but I don't think I'll be implementing--it's easier for me to type)

Thanks everyone for the recommendations.

Leslie