Book review

Control is an illusion Most organisations delude themselves that they are in control because they have surrounded themselves with rigid rules and procedures, micro-managers and planners dedicated to predictability and certainty. Most business schools inculcate a rational approach to business.  

But according to Martin Thomas in “Loose: The Future of Business is Letting Go: How […]

We had a Bookbuzz session with a client, using “The invisible gorilla”. The book about the illusion of knowledge, confidence, attention, memory, prediction, cause and effect, expertise and intuition. Basically, if you believe this book, we don’t know what we are doing. A scientific version of Emotionomics. Very interesting. Stories and fact About stories getting

To the surprise and amazement of multimillionaire Family Radio preacher Harold Camping, the world did not come to a dramatic end on May 21, 2011, at 6pm as predicted. Using biblical verses, hints and codes to determine the exact time and date of Judgment Day, Camping’s dire predictions generated a lot of media space in

One of our clients is using “New Normal” This book is about the journey into the digital revolution and that we are only halfway there. Digital natives will take control (everybody over 25-30 is a digital immigrant). The author Peter Hinssen, who has since then has written some other excellent books, such as “The day

Social media and politics Obama’s successful use of social networking created a vast online community that has changed politics forever. As he said in his victory speech, “I was never the likeliest candidate for office.” That’s an understatement. He had an almost empty political resume, a non-American-sounding name, an African father, a white American mother,

(Loosely based on Robert Greene’s 33 Strategies of War) Based on the 12 execution titles surveyed, here are 33 recurring themes as identified by the authors of these books: 1. Never launch an initiative unless you’re personally committed to it. 2. Make execution part of the organisation’s culture and DNA. 3. Build an execution culture

Management can make an impact Gary Hamel makes the case for reinventing management for the 21st century. He paints a vivid picture of what it means to build organisations that are fundamentally fit for the future—resilient, inventive, inspiring and accountable. “Modern” management is one of humanity’s most important inventions, Hamel argues. But it was developed

Build a better mousetrap and the world will take notice Market innovation has long been dominated by the worldview of engineers and economists–build a better mousetrap and the world will take notice. The most influential strategy books, such as Competing for the Future, The Innovator’s Dilemma, and Blue Ocean Strategy, argue that innovation should focus

Technetium “What technology wants” by Kevin Kelly describes what he calls the technium, the technology ecosystem that surrounds us. The technium contains 170 quadrillions (a quadrillion is one thousand million million) chips. The number of neurons in your brain is similar to the number of transistors in the global network. The number of file links