Book Notes

25 posts


Feb 18
Dark Horse: Achieving Success through the Pursuit of FulfillmentHow to achieve breakout success and deep fulfillment when you don't fit the traditional mold
Jan 04
Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They HappenReading Notes on Preventative Interventions In a Nutshell: Upstream is a book about prevention: how to not just mitigate the damage of problems after they happen (downstream) but address the underlying drivers of the problem such that the problem no longer occurs or is much less severe. * This type of
Oct 11
Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and WhyIn Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why [https://bookshop.org/books/deep-survival-who-lives-who-dies-and-why/9780393353716] journalist Laurence Gonzales combines his own personal adventure history with time spent with white water rafting experts, mountaineers, fighter jet pilots, and wilderness survival guides to understand how people survive (or fail to survive) in
Dec 11
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized WorldWhy it's ok to be a jack of all trades
Jul 28
The Fuzzy and the TechieI just finished Scott Hartley’s new book The Fuzzy and the Techie: Why the Liberal Arts Will Rule the Digital World [https://www.amazon.com/Fuzzy-Techie-Liberal-Digital-World/dp/0544944771/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1501252541&sr=8-1&keywords=fuzzy+and+techie&linkCode=ll1&
Sep 28
Remote: Office Not RequiredI just finished reading Remote: Office Not Required [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0804137501/ref=as_li_ss_tl%3Fie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0804137501&linkCode=as2&tag=helpyour-20] , by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, partners at 37Signals [http://37signals.com/
Sep 24
The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our FutureToday, we’re taking a look at the book The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future by Kevin Kelly. I really enjoyed this book and if you work in technology or even have a passing interest in how technology will shape our world in the
Aug 25
Tribe: On Homecoming and BelongingI recently finished reading Sebastian Junger’s excellent new book Tribes: on Homecoming and Belonging [https://jason-shen.ghost.io/%22http://amzn.to/2bqyqJL/%22]. It’s a slim volume that addresses something really important: how hardship builds group cohesion and solidarity. In my keynote speech [https://jason-shen.ghost.io/%22https:
Jan 11
The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything ElseI recently finished reading The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else [https://web.archive.org/web/20160921075050/http://amzn.to/1VCM2PO] in business by Patrick Lencioni. You’ve definitely heard Lencioni’s other books: Death by Meeting [http://amzn.to/1La6Uxa] and The Five Dysfunctions of a Team [https:
Sep 24
Don’t Call it That: A Naming WorkbookToday I’m sharing the insights I gleaned from a wonderful (and fairly short) book Don’t Call it That: A Naming Workbook [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I1MRY80/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00I1MRY80&linkCode=as2&tag=
Sep 24
The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked AgeMy reading notes The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1625275773/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1625275773&linkCode=as2&tag=helpyour-20&linkId=QLOVYSURY5HDAKLQ] by Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha and Chris Yeh.
Jul 28
The Little Book of TalentFive years ago, I stood in a bookstore for about an hour and read half of a wonderful book called The Talent Code [https://web.archive.org/web/20160622022700/http://amzn.to/1Sexp7L] by Daniel Coyne. It had come out around the same time as a few other books in
Feb 28
The Success Equation, Untangling Skill and Luck in Business, Sports, and Investing.These reading notes began life as an “Ignite-style” 5 minute presentation with slides automatically progressing every 15 seconds — which I gave on a Monday morning presentation for Percolate. The words below are essentially what I said during that talk. The Success Equation, Untangling Skill and Luck in Business, Sports, and
Nov 24
Zero to One: Notes on Startups or How to Build the FutureIn spring of 2012, Peter Thiel, cofounder of Paypal and Palantir and early investor in Facebook, taught a course at Stanford in the Computer Science department calledCS183: Startup [http://blakemasters.com/peter-thiels-cs183-startup]. One of the students in the class, a law student named Blake Masters, took meticulous notes that were
Sep 28
How Google WorksToday, I’m sharing thoughts from the book How Google Works [https://web.archive.org/web/20160525213329/http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HUU13Y0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00HUU13Y0&linkCode=as2&tag=helpyour-20&linkId=PTHPN6KB6TVDYUMN] , which I
Sep 24
How to Make Sense of Any MessReading Notes on Abby Covert's How to Make Sense of Any Mess [https://bookshop.org/books/how-to-make-sense-of-any-mess-information-architecture-for-everybody/9781500615994] The Book in a Nutshell: The human race is creating more information than ever before, in the form of signs, articles, websites, apps, and much more — and the world would
Sep 24
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to LeadDisclaimer: as a man writing about gender inequality, I acknowledge my privileged (and biased) viewpoint in this discussion. I’ve run this post by several smart, awesome women and incorporated their feedback, but I know I still run the risk of getting things wrong. Still, this topic is so important
Apr 04
The Year Without PantsOne of the few people who can match Paul Graham [http://paulgraham.com/] as writer is Scott Berkun [http://scottberkun.com/]. They have both succeeded as technologists, Graham in Viaweb + YC, and Berkun in Microsoft and Automattic. They both write thoughtful essays on a wide range of topics, like the
Feb 20
Product Design for the Web: Principles of Designing and Releasing Products for the Web (+ Author Interview)While on my Peru trip earlier this year, I read a great book  calledProduct Design for the Web: Principles of Designing and Releasing Products for the Web [https://web.archive.org/web/20180929085121/http://tinyurl.com/productdesignftw] . As one of two interaction designers who joinedEtsy [https://web.archive.org/web/
Feb 19
Product Design for the Web: Principles of Designing and Releasing Products for the WebNo Silver Bullets: An Interview with Author Randy Hunt While on my Peru trip earlier this year, I read a great book  called Product Design for the Web: Principles of Designing and Releasing Products for the Web [https://www.amazon.com/Product-Design-Web-Principles-Designing/dp/0321929039]. As one of two interaction designers