The Blockchain and the New Architecture of Trust
by Kevin Werbach, 2018

I’ve incorporated some of the ideas of this book into my lecture on trust in supply chain networks in my Operations Strategy class. I introduce blockchain as a vehicle for trust and shared truth before discussing the potential for smart contracts to handle many simple business interactions. The book is well-researched and written. I found the first-half, focused on trust problems and blockchain capabilities, to be more interesting and relevant for me than the second-half, which mainly focused on legal and governance issues.

The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google
by Scott Galloway, 2017

I’m a bit late to the game with this one, and I think that helps explain why I enjoy Scott’s blog more than I did this book. The blog is more timely, while the explanations in the book are a bit stale. Still, it helps explain the success and corruption of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google. Entertaining, but not always convincing. I think the conclusion about these tech titans creating immense wealth, but for only a few people, is timely and pairs well with other things I’ve read about the future economy and income inequality. Multiple data inconsistencies (numbers on one page not agreeing with those on the next page) annoyed me.

The Book of Dust (Vol 2): The Secret Commonwealth
by Philip Pullman, 2019

Some cool connections to the first volume in the Book of Dust, La Belle Savage (set 20 years earlier), and the original His Dark Materials trilogy (set ~10 years earlier). However, this book is really just setting up the third volume. The Secret Commonwealth ends with half a dozen story lines hanging uncompleted. Kind of frustrating. I would recommend waiting until the third volume is published before reading this one (which was published in Oct. 2019), so that you’re not left hanging after reading. Unfortunately, there is no current expected release date for the third volume.

Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness
by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, 2008

I’m late to the party on this one, so I don’t need to say too much about it. Good description of why defaults matter and why data should be available in human understandable formats.

Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career
by Scott Young, 2019

Anecdotal, but somewhat helpful. Wish he had more examples/data to draw from. The goal is to teach you how to learn a lot of hard things in a short amount of time.

Principle 1 – Metalearning: First Draw a Map
Principle 2 – Focus: Sharpen Your Knife
Principle 3 – Directness: Go Straight Ahead
Principle 4 – Drill: Attack Your Weakest Point
Principle 5 – Retrieval: Test to Learn
Principle 6 – Feedback: Don’t Dodge the Punches
Principle 7 – Retention: Don’t Fill a Leaky Bucket
Principle 8 – Intuition: Dig Deep Before Building Up
Principle 9 – Experimentation: Explore Outside Your Comfort Zone

When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing
by Daniel Pink, 2018

Some interesting tidbits, but ultimately tries to accomplish more than it does. Many topics, such as the closing chapters on synchronization, really fall outside the purview of “when.” Audiobook read by the author, which was actually not a negative for once.

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World – And Why Things are Better Than You Think
by Hans Rosling, with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund, 2018

Terribly interesting book about the (uplifting) state of the world. Builds on Hans’ famous TED talks. Recommended. Check out this pretest to see how much you really know, and then go watch the moving bubbles.

The Invention of Air: A story of science, faith, revolution, and the birth of America
by Steven Johnson, 2008

Profiles and the work and persecution of Joseph Priestley, a pioneer in chemistry, religion, and politics in the 18th century. Very interesting biographical take, with connections to Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams.