Outliers
This is the second book by Gladwell I've read, (the first being Blink) and once again he does not disappoint. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell poses some pretty interesting ideas, not due to their complexity, but rather due to their simplicity. These are the kinds of statements that you've probably always wondered about in the back of your mind, but never expressed or reflected upon.
If you want to understand success, this is a great place to start. Also, as with any Gladwell book, you'll learn a great deal of interesting facts and tidbits of information about everything from aerodynamics to hockey along the way.
Finding the Cheese in Life
Sometimes big things can come in small packages, as with the short story titled “Who Moved My Cheese?” After first flipping through the pages of this thin 96-page book, I was surprised that it wasn’t supposed to be in the children’s section of the bookstore. I noticed the large font, wide margins and simple syntax and thought it would be almost impossible to learn anything useful from a book of such simplicity. Looking back, I see how wrong I was for making such a hasty judgment and from here on out, I vow to never judge a book by the size of the letters or the number of pages, in addition to the more well-known maxim of not judging a book by its cover. I say this not without warrant; for I probably learned more pertinent information about life and success from reading “Who Moved My Cheese?” than from tons of other business books combined. The author of this great story has accomplished something worthy of applaud. Spencer Johnson has taken a great deal of tried-and-true advice and cut out the fat, strained out the fluff and boiled it down to the pure necessity of what works in real life. With his philosophy at hand, anyone can realize that change happens whether we’d like it or not. It is up to us to either adapt to that change, or be left behind in the dust of our own stubborn foolishness.
Jeff Bezos
Creating Earth’s Largest Store, One Book at a Time
The Internet has impacted our lives in more ways than we can describe and yet we seldom know the names and faces behind the brands, products and services that made it all possible. Everyday, we check our email, buy gifts, track stock prices, read news articles and watch videos all thanks to a relatively few number of individuals who took the first leap into an unknown and unproven abyss. One of those individuals was a 30 year-old Harvard MBA who revolutionized the world of retail and in doing so became one of the first Internet billionaires. His name is Jeff Bezos and his company is Amazon.com. This is Jeff’s story, which chronicles his amazing path to fame and fortune as the founder of Amazon.com.