Summary

A historical analysis of the working mechanisms of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

Takeaways

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been the sole legitimate governing authority in China since 1949. By the end of 2009 when the book was published, the CCP had 78 million members.

The Party consists of a giant network of people that are involved in every important decision and its members have built up the skills and experience to run the country. It has remained in power by supporting a boisterous private economy and keeping strict control over personnel, propaganda, and the army. Since the Party was founded it has systematically “has eradicated or emasculated political rivals; eliminated the autonomy of the courts and press; restricted religion and civil society; deningrated rival versions of nationhood; centralized political power; established extensive networks of security police; and dispatched dissidents to labour camps.”

Quotes

“As an organization, the Party sits outside, and above the law. It should have a legal identity, in other words, a person to sue, but it is not even registered as an organization. The Party exists outside the legal system altogether."

“The Party’s control over personnel was at the heart of its ability to overhaul state companies, without losing leverage over them at the same time. So important does the Party rate its power to hire and fire government officials that it places it on a par with its control over the media and the military."

“The policy cycles follow a familiar pattern, the Chinese economists say: ‘Decentralization leads to disorder; disorder leads to centralization; centralization leads to stagnation and stagnation leads to decentralization.’"

“Deng, and Jiang after him, grasped what many of their conservative opponents never did–that the Party had much in common with private entrepreneurs, who disliked democratic politics and independent unions as much as they did. The Party’s authoritarian powers not only kept workers in line. They also bestowed on policy-makers a flexibility that politicians in democratic countries could only dream about. Even by the standards of a capitalist economy, the Party could be unusually pro-business, as long as the state got a cut along the way."

Author

William Dalrymple

Summary

The history of the rise and fall of the East India Company.

Takeaways

The East India company was a trading company based in London that rose from humble beginnings to a fully fledged imperial power that managed to replace the ruling Mughal empire on the Indian subcontinent in a short period of time between 1756 and 1803. In that time period the East India Company extended their sphere of influence through treachery, forged contracts, collaboration with local banker, bribes, and military prowess in armed conflicts and wars.

As a company, the EIC was answerable only to its shareholders. With no stake in the just governance of the region, or its long-term well-being, the Company’s rule quickly turned into the straightforward pillage of India, and the rapid transfer westwards of its wealth.

Quotes

“In many ways the East India Company was a model of commercial efficiency: one hundred years into its history, it had only thirty-five permanent employees in its head office. Nevertheless, that skeleton staff executed a corporate coup unparalleled in history: the military conquest, subjugation and plunder of vast tracts of southern Asia. It almost certainly remains the supreme act of corporate violence in world history."

“In the end it was this access to unlimited reserves of credit, partly through stable flows of land revenues, and partly through the collaboration of Indian moneylenders and financiers, that in this period finally gave the Company its edge over their Indian rivals."

“Because it was not the British government that seized India in the middle of the eighteenth century, but a private company. India’s transition to colonialism took place through the mechanism of a for-profit corporation, which existed entirely for the purpose of enriching its investors."

Author

Timothy Ferris

Summary

Practical tips to develop a richer lifesyle.

Takeaways

Working hard for decades to afford an enjoyable retirement is an outdated concept. It is better to schedule mini-retirements and other exciting activities periodically. A “newly rich” lifestyle can be financed by developing products or ideas that can be sold to generate cash flow outside of established employment patterns.

Quotes

"‘Someday’ is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with you. Pro and con lists are just as bad. If it’s important to you and you want to do it ‘eventually,’ just do it and correct course along the way."

“What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do. As I have heard said, a person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have."

“It’s lonely at the top. Ninety-nine percent of people in the world are convinced they are incapable of achieving great things, so they aim for the mediocre. The level of competition is thus fiercest for ‘realistic’ goals, paradoxically making them the most time- and energy-consuming."

“The question you should be asking isn’t, ‘What do I want?’ or ‘What are my goals?’ but ‘What would excite me?'"

Author

Ray Dalio

Summary

The life and work principles of Ray Dalio, founder of investment firm Bridgewater Associates.

Takeaways

An idea meritocracy is the best way to make decisions in a company. An idea meritocracy requires a commitment to truth and transparency. It can be achieved if people are open minded and ideas are evaluated based on the track record of the people who contribute them. The process can be supported by writing down and refining principles that support decision making and reflect learnings from the past.

Quotes

“In 1966, asset prices reflected investors' optimism about the future. But between 1967 and 1979, bad economic surprises led to big and unexpected price declines. Not just the economy and the markets but social sentiment deteriorated as well. Living through that taught me that whilst almost everyone expects the future to be a slightly modified version of the present, it is usually very different."

“People still make the most important decisions better than computers do. To see this, you need look no further than at the kinds of people who are uniquely successful. Software developers, mathematicians, and game-theory modelers aren’t running away with all the rewards; it is the people who have the most common sense, imagination, and determination."

“Be especially wary of those who comment from the stands without having played on the field themselves and who don’t have good logic, as they are dangerous to themselves and others."

“Good metrics come about by first thinking of what information you need to answer your pressing questions and then figuring out how to get it. They do not come about by gathering information and putting it together to see what it tells you."

Author

Brendan Reid

Summary

Advice for a more strategic approach to career planning.

Takeaways

Corporations typically don’t operate rationally as they consist of people who have their own benefits in mind. Career progression requires a strategic approach and tactical steps contrary to commonly accepted practices.

1. Don’t be overly passionate about your ideas and rather be objective in providing optionality
2. Embrace the changes everyone else hates
3. Learn to promote your ideas instead of refining them without feedback
4. Avoid a too strong focus on result orientation and instead spend time expanding your skill set
5. Don’t be a part of the heard, and don’t gossip about peers and superiors
6. Find big problems to solve
7. Don’t hold peers accountable and mentor them wherever possible

Quotes

“People inherently want to work with people similar to themselves and who they like. Any strategy for managing a career that includes not being liked by others is flawed."

“Isn’t passion what will make people want to follow you? That is only partially correct. Passion for the best path, irrespective of whose idea it was, is a virtue that endears people. Passion for your path, because you know it to be right, is just a bullying tactic disguised as innovativeness."

“Results have a short shelf life. Skills have value over many years and roles."

“Avoid the herd mentality at all costs. Start promoting your projects. Be at your best when difficult change is afoot and everyone around you is rebelling. Stop holding people accountable and start helping them to succeed. Choose to be objective over passionate when presenting ideas and strategies. And favor high-scoring projects over reliable performance of everyday tasks."

Author

Carl Anderson

Summary

A blueprint to create a data-driven and analytics focused organization.

Takeaways

Data-driven organizations are more successful and generate more value through better decision making.

For a company to be data-driven it must have the right culture and talent in place to use data effctively along the so called analytics value chain. Sponsorship from high profile positions in the organization is needed to implement a culture that values testing and experimentation to derive insights that can give a competitive advantage.

In a data-driven organization, relevant data of high quality feeds reports and stimulates deeper analyses that are presented to decision makers who incorporate them in their decision making to influence the direction of the company.

Quotes

“A data-driven organization will almost certainly be choosing among future options or actions using a suite of weighted variables. Resources are always finite, and there are always pros and cons for different reasonable courses of action. One should gather data for each of the set of variables that are of concern or interest and determine weights among those to generate a final leading decision."

“Data is the raw, unprocessed facts about the world. Information is captured, processed data, while knowledge is a set of mental models and beliefs about the world built from information over time."

“This pseudo-progression is often labeled as analytics maturity. If you do a Google image search for ‘analytics maturity’, you will see what I mean; that many BI vendors and practitioners present this as set of stepping stones with unidirectional arrows pointing from one level to the next. Analytics is not like that: it cuts across levels within an analysis, and different parts of the organization can be engaged in analyses of differing degrees of sophistication at any one time."

“The key here is to start with the question to be answered—be question and decision focused rather than data focused. By setting out the objective clearly and unambiguously, you stand a better chance of defining which questions need to be answered and consequently which data should be collected, which experiments should be run, and what metrics you are trying to drive."

Author

Reed Hastings, Erin Meyer

Summary

The story of establishing a culture of freedom and resonsponsibility at Netflix.

Takeaways

Netflix leadership has identified two key ingredients for a creative and innovative culture: candor and talent density. Employees are empowered to contribute their opinions and ideas. They need to get enough context about the business priorities to take ownership and make informed decisions without the burden of a buerocratic approval process. Netflix aims to attract top talent and rather pays for one highly capable employee than for ten mediocre ones.

Quotes

“If you can’t afford to pay your best employees top of market, then let go of some of the less fabulous people in order to do so. That way, the talent will become even denser."

“When you succeed, speak about it softly or let others mention it for you. But when you make a mistake say it clearly and loudly, so that everyone can learn and profit from your errors. In other words, ‘Whisper wins and shout mistakes.'"

“These are all ways of controlling people rather than inspiring them. It’s not easy to avoid chaos and anarchy as you remove these controls, but if you develop every employee’s sense of self-discipline and responsibility, help them develop enough knowledge to make good decisions, and develop a feedback culture to stimulate learning, you’ll be amazed at how effective your organization can be."

“What we’ve learned is that in order to integrate your corporate culture around the world, above all you have to be humble, you have to be curious, and you have to remember to listen before you speak and to learn before you teach. With this approach, you can’t help but become more effective every day in this ever-fascinating multicultural world."

Author

Bob Joseph

Summary

A sample of 21 of the destructive and damaging statues and policies that constitute the Indian Act.

Takeaways

The Indian Act, passed in 1876, regulated and still regulates the lives of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. One of the most damaging and destructive parts of the act was the introduction of residential schools that forced children to move away from their families and forbade them to speak their home language and practice their traditional religion.

In recent years, the Canadian public and government have increased focus on reconciliation, paving the way to dismantle the Indian Act and move towards self-governance for Indigenous Peoples.

Quotes

“If Canada and Canadians are going to reconcile with Indigenous Peoples, then the existing relationship —the one based on the Indian Act— has to be rebuilt. The past cannot be overlooked or dismissed as ‘ancient history’, because it isn’t; the impacts of the past are ongoing."

“The focus should now be on dismantling the Indian Act, moving towards self-government in an orderly and timely fashion, and creating a self-governing future for Indigenous Peoples outside of the Indian Act."

“While self-government is not a quick fix for the deeply rooted social, health, and economic issues that plague Indingenous communities, it is a step towrds empowering communities to rebuild and heal from the intergenerational effects of residential schools."

Author

Ed Catmull, Amy Wallace

Summary

Practical advice on how to establish and maintain a culture of creativity and innovation in an organization

Takeaways

Running a large organization requires dealing with great complexity, and high uncertainty and instability. It is easy for managers to lose sight of the problems of their employees. The only way managers can avoid this is to encourage candor and open feedback, and to actively work on uncovering and understanding anything that is hidden.

Leaders need to embrace a mindset of humility, admit mistakes and course-correct when new evidence comes to light. Being too fixated on goals and stability is ill-advised as change and failure is unavoidable. Leaders should hold on to their ethics and values, but re-balance priorities and adjust goals as they learn.

Quotes

“I will discuss many of the steps we follow at Pixar, but the most compelling mechanisms to me are those that deal with uncertainty, instability, lack of candor, and the things we cannot see. I believe the best managers acknowledge and make room for what they do not know—not just because humility is a virtue but because until one adopts that mindset, the most striking breakthroughs cannot occur. I believe that managers must loosen the controls, not tighten them."

“Creative people must accept that challenges never cease, failure can’t be avoided, and ‘vision’ is often an illusion. But they must also feel safe -always- to speak their minds."

“Unleashing creativity requires that we loosen the controls, accept risk, trust our colleagues, work to clear the path for them, and pay attention to anything that creates fear. Doing all these things won’t necessarily make the job of managing a creative culture easier. But ease isn’t the goal; excellence is."

“Do not accidentally make stability a goal. Balance is more important than stability."

Author

Jocko Willink, Leif Babin

Summary

A set of leadership principles from the Navy Seals and how to apply them to the business context.

Takeaways

Successful leaders need to take ownership to the next level. “Extreme Ownership” includes owning up to mistakes, believing in the mission, and providing enough context for subordinates and supervisors. The best leaders keep their egos in check and critically assess how they can contribute to the team’s success.

Quotes

“On any team, in any organization, all responsibility for success and failure rests with the leader. The leader must own everything in his or her world. There is no one else to blame. The leader must acknowledge mistakes and admit failures, take ownership of them, and develop a plan to win."

“In order to convince and inspire others to follow and accomplish a mission, a leader must be a true believer in the mission. Even when others doubt and question the amount of risk, asking, “Is it worth it?” the leader must believe in the greater cause. If a leader does not believe, he or she will not take the risks required to overcome the inevitable challenges necessary to win. And they will not be able to convince others—especially the frontline troops who must execute the mission—to do so. Leaders must always operate with the understanding that they are part of something greater than themselves and their own personal interests."

“Ego clouds and disrupts everything: the planning process, the ability to take good advice, and the ability to accept constructive criticism. It can even stifle someone’s sense of self-preservation. Often, the most difficult ego to deal with is your own."

“Simplifying as much as possible is crucial to success. When plans and orders are too complicated, people may not understand them. And when things go wrong, and they inevitably do go wrong, complexity compounds issues that can spiral out of control into total disaster. Plans and orders must be communicated in a manner that is simple, clear, and concise."