Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton is so well-known, we can’t even imagine a world without it. Of course, someone had to be the first person to think of it, to make the world and to make it come alive. The book is entertaining, exciting, and dangerously good. The same can be said about some of the movies that were made about it, yet still, I saw all the sequels. Here is some more from Wikipedia.

“In 1989, a series of strange animal attacks occur in Costa Rica and on the nearby fictional island of Isla Nublar,[8] the story’s main setting, one of which is a worker severely injured on a construction project on Isla Nublar, whose employers refuse to disclose any information about. One of the species is eventually identified as a Procompsognathus. Palaeontologist Alan Grant and his paleobotanist graduate student, Ellie Sattler, are contacted to confirm the identification, but are abruptly whisked away by billionaire John Hammond — founder and chief executive officer of International Genetic Technologies, or InGen — for a weekend visit to a “biological preserve” he has established on Isla Nublar.”

I also read The Andromeda Strain.

Here is some more from my exploration of the story structure:

You: researcher and other characters, not really focussed.

Need: Hammond needed to change the world, make dino’s come alive again

Go: go to the park, make the animals live again

Search: show the park, see what is there, explain how it’s done

Find: see what has been done there, amazing

Take: ahhh panic, animals attack, longest part here

Return: fight for survival, barely make it many times

Change: know that nature is not a computer. And some animals are running around the world XD. And island is bombed.

The Andromeda Strain

I liked this sci-fi book, The Andromeda Strain, by Michael Crichton (who also wrote Jurassic Park) as it’s a short book that explores a new idea in a novel way. The book is about an extraterrestrial virus/life-form that they have to study to know how to deal with it. There is enough tension in the book, enough good thinking, and some good science. The conversation/writing isn’t the best ever but still very decent. Here is some more from Wikipedia.

“The Andromeda Strain is a 1969 techno-thriller novel by Michael Crichton documenting the efforts of a team of scientists investigating the outbreak of a deadly extraterrestrial microorganism in Arizona.

A military satellite returns to Earth. Aerial surveillance reveals that everyone in Piedmont, Arizona, the town closest to where the satellite landed, is apparently dead. The duty officer of the base tasked with retrieving the satellite suspects that it returned with extraterrestrial contamination and recommends activating Wildfire, a protocol for a government-sponsored team intended to contain threats of this nature.

The team of scientists believes the satellite, which was intentionally designed to capture upper-atmosphere microorganisms for bio-weapon exploitation, returned with a deadly microorganism that kills by nearly instantaneous disseminated intravascular coagulation (lethal blood clotting). Upon investigating the town, the Wildfire team discovers that the residents either died in mid-stride or went “quietly nuts” and committed bizarre suicides. Two Piedmont inhabitants—the sick, Sterno-addicted, geriatric Peter Jackson and the constantly bawling infant Jamie Ritter—are biological opposites who somehow survived the organism… etc”

Writing That Works

“If language is not correct, then what is said is not what is meant; If what is said is not what is meant, then what ought to be done remains undone.” – Confucius

Lessons learnt: First things, first. Keep it simple – keep your audience on target. Write with a purpose. And the lessons learnt in writing are as relevant in presentations, talks, emails, and so forth.

Improve your writing, make it easier and give yourself a confidence boost. That is what the back of Writing That Works by Kenneth Roman and Joep Raphaelson promises – and they deliver. In less than 200 pages they take the reader on a journey along the basics of effective writing. First, they tackle the most common mistakes we all make, like mumbling, writing too difficult, or non-specific. After that the book tackles specific areas such as writing for audiences, writing a report that makes things happen, and how to write a resume. If you want to know how to communicate effectively (in business), then this book may be something for you!

“Write. Rewrite. When not writing or rewriting, read. I know of no shortcuts.” – Larry King

Writing That Works was originally written on a typing machine. Still many of the chapters remain virtually unchanged. One that has been added is on writing an email. The authors show that they can get along with Generation X and provide some very useful tips on how to approach this constant distraction we have to deal with:

1. Limit the number of copies (i.e. do not copy unneeded persons on your e-mail)
2. Discuss ideas face to face (and prevent endless conversation threads)
3. Email only when it contains a) relevant new information, b) agrees to a request, c) responds to a question, or d) asks a question or makes a request

The chapter on writing for an audience is very illuminating. One thing to keep in mind is that your reader will always have a limited amount of time and will have other (non-congruent) motives than you. With that in mind Roman and Raphaelson state the following “Decks are a reality, the business tool that gets things done.” A presentation deck should be your tool of choice. It is best to follow this flow of logic: 1) objective, 2) background, 3) facts, 4) conclusions, 5) recommendations, 6) next steps. Consultants may argue to reverse 5, 4 and 3 and luckily the Pyramid Principle (by Barbara Minto, McKinsey) is discussed “The easiest order is to receive the major, more abstract ideas before the minor, supporting ones. And since the major ideas are always derived from the minor ones, the ideal structure of the ideas will always be a pyramid of groups of ideas tied together by a single overall thought.”

Along the chapters, the reader is informed of more specific concepts and general principles are applied to actionable areas. One of these is in writing your CV: the test of what to include is as simple as it is powerful – 1) Is it relevant? 2) Is it true? I myself would like to add a third question – 3) Is it consequent? In the last chapter, the art of making things easily readable is explained. Things like headings, casing and using white space are all explained. All in all the book features great tips and techniques that even the most experienced writer can make use of. A book on writing is important, but not very urgent.

Animal Farm

“Four legs good, two legs bad.”  – George Orwell

Lessons learnt: Without proper checks and balances leadership will always corrupt. A common cause unites. The collective memory is really short, and without language (knowing the right arguments/words) opposition is futile.

Imagine a world where animals can talk. Imagine a world where pigs start a revolution and take over a farm. Imagine a world where the pig’s initial promises and rules are twisted and turned for their own promotion and the domination over the rest of the farm. If you are like me, you might think the first two are for children’s books and that the latter is as plausible as can be. It is sad to realize that the story told in Animal Farm by George Orwell is one that has repeated itself throughout history so many times. At the same time, it also conveys some of the best qualities mankind has.

To give here a summary of the book would not be correct, it is only very short and is easily read in a couple of hours. Much more important, and interesting, is the message(s) it tries to convey. Written in 1945, it leans heavily on the events that happened in (and before) the Second World War. One of the pigs (named Napoleon) is said to represent Stalin and the actions he took in his life. Where he first overthrows the ruthless leader (the farmer), he later becomes corrupted himself. To cover his (and the rest of the leadership – read: communistic government) tracks, the rules (the 7 Commandments) are changed. This is something that we think of happening a long time ago, but when you hear of Russian government officials changing the Wikipedia page of the MH-17 crash, you start wondering if this is really in the past.

“Four legs good, two legs better! All Animals Are Equal. But Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others.” – George Orwell

 

Forbidden until 1989 in the Eastern Bloc, Animal Farm shows how strongly people believe in their own ideas and their right to only broadcast their ideologies. Everyone who is reading Animal Farm should be happy to live in a system where these kinds of things are not happening anymore, and if not to strive to make your country better and use it to recognize where things can go wrong. The book, however, is not for everyone. It requires your attention and you need to be aware of the history the analogies are about. I do believe that it is worth the few hours of reading and then please read some more about it.

Good to Great

“Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.” – Jim Collins

Five years after Built to Last (Jim Collins and Jerry Porras) Jim Collins is back with another extensive research on leadership, management and a basic how to run your company. This time the focus is shifted from the large corporations that have stood the test of time. He now looks at how to become great and stop being ‘merely’ good. Using a very large set of data (1,435 companies) and narrowing it down to 10 great and 10 good companies, the research is not something you can easily ignore. It is a great read and will definitely give you some food for thought!

In the first chapter ‘good’ is portrayed as the enemy of ‘great’. To transfer from the former to the latter he states you should succeed in three areas: 1) disciplined people, 2) disciplined thought, and 3) disciplined action. The first sign of these is found in the second chapter. Level 5 leadership is defined and examined. Level 5 leaders are not the people that usually make the cover of magazines, nor are they the ones that boss around people with great efficiency. They are the people that have the unusual mix of intense determination and profound humility.

5 – Executive – Building enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will

4 – Effective Leader – Catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, stimulating higher performance standards

3 – Competent Manager – Organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives

2 – Contributing Team Member – Contributes individual capabilities to the achievement of group objectives and works effectively with others in a group setting

1 – Highly Capable Individual – Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills, and good work habits[/toggle]

Another key concept in Good to Great is ‘first who, then what‘. Only with the right people, in the right place, you can truly achieve greatness. This may mean you need to sacrifice in the short-term, having to hire only the very best can take much longer than taking a suitable candidate. Removing employees from positions where they feel comfortable – but are not actively contributing to your company – can also be a tough thing to do. In the long-term, however, Collins argues it can save you time, effort, and resources.

Doing many things well is good, it is something you may even make a profit with. Doing one thing great (The One Thing), however, makes for a much more compelling story. Collins names this the hedgehog concept. For this he compared the strategy of a fox – who can attack the hedgehog via 100 different strategies – to the hedgehog – who just rolls up. It is about doing one thing better than anyone in the world. To find what your hedgehog concept is Collins proposes three criteria: Determine what you can be best in the world at and what you cannot be best in the world at; 2) Determine what drives your economic engine; and 3) Determine what you are deeply passionate about.

Growing your business can be seen as pushing a log along a road. It is a hard thing to do, but once you get started it can keep on rolling. The flywheel concept is about making this push easier. It is about getting more people behind the log, making the road smoother, rolling along a decline, etc.. Reducing resistance and improving your capability to make your company grow. Many companies, however, do not embrace this thought and keep pushing uphill, get other to push back or push a log that is actually still a three. The flywheel concept turns the hedgehog competencies into positive momentum.

“Visionary companies pursue a cluster of objectives, of which making money is only one—and not necessarily the primary one.” – Jim Collins

In the rest of the book, other concepts are also mentioned. Collins speaks about discipline, technology, confronting the brutal facts, and more. All together they outline a few key things any company should adhere to. With many years of research and as a leading management consultant, Jim Collins has quite the reputation going for him. In Good to Great, he proves his knowledgeability and teaches about how to become a great company. Written five years after Built to Last, it actually features as a prequel, but both books can easily be read independently.