Listened to the audiobook via Libby, highly recommend since Will narrates it, does voices of the other characters, and does some music asI loved this.
Listened to the audiobook via Libby, highly recommend since Will narrates it, does voices of the other characters, and does some music as well.
I didn鈥檛 realize how 鈥渂ig鈥� Will was even before The Fresh Prince.
It was fascinating to learn about how parents and grandparents shaped his world view, how he arrived to the conclusion that 鈥減erforming鈥� meant that he would be psychologically safe in a variety of ways. It was also powerful to learn how Will reached his heights of success despite primarily being driven by this childhood mechanism.
And finally, it was awesome to hear that when his life was crumbling apart in various ways, he turned to ayahuasca to find answers in undoing his childhood trauma and coping mechanisms....more
IMO, this is the deep dive / breakdown / guide on how to implement the findings from Google's Project Aristotle (there's a NYT article on this that caIMO, this is the deep dive / breakdown / guide on how to implement the findings from Google's Project Aristotle (there's a NYT article on this that came out in 2016).
Project Aristotle's findings in a sentence: - Psychological Safety is the #1 factor in creating a high performing and effective team
The sentiment behind The Culture Code (TCC) seems the same.
When there is high psychological safety, everyone shares more, people aren't worried about ego, about position, titles, everyone is bought in to solve the problem at hand, and as a result, the team is more effective.
Some key excerpts: - In a study, groups of kindergarteners routinely built taller structures (26 inches) than groups of business school students (10 inches) using uncooked spaghetti, tape, string, and a marshmallow. - Will Felps ran a study where they brought in an actor to basically be a "bad apple" in 40 groups of 4 tasked with developing a marketing plan for a start up. He'd play one of 3 roles: jerk (aggressive/defiant/deviant), slacker (withholder of effort), and downer (depressive). The "bad apple" successfully reduced the group effectiveness by 30-40% with the exception of one group. The reason why the one group did well was simply because they had a person who did a really good job of being warm, friendly, optimistic, lighthearted, and inviting regardless of what the bad apple did. - A call center changed their onboarding process to include things like 1) training on company identity 2) meeting a company "star performer" 3) giving fleece sweatshirt with company name/logo as well as their name 4) asking them reflection questions about their skills and past work experiences. The result? 250% increased likelihood of team members still at the company after 7 months. - Team of psychologists had middle school teachers include a single line in their feedback when grading students' essays, "I鈥檓 giving you these comments because I have very high expectations and I know that you can reach them" and it directly led to a 40% increase of revisions for white students, and 320% increase of essay revisions by black students (there were 22 white students and 22 black students in the study, all of whom had average grades of B's or C's) - The Allen Curve -- in a work setting, when team members are more than 50 meters away from each other, frequency of communication drops off a clip (pre-pandemic of course), when team members are 6 meters or less communication frequency skyrockets. - How Danny Meyer has opened 24 successful restaurants (e.g. 11 Madison Park, Union Square Cafe, Shake Shack) and one of the core drivers of his success is cultivating a particular culture around kindness, thoughtfulness, giving people the benefit of the doubt, generosity, reciprocity, and creating the atmosphere of home.
To me, TCC is one of those "science proves the obvious" kind of books. It's a book that lots of people in positions of power need to read AND implement, and one that, if the average employee read, they'd probably think,"Uh yeah, you needed a book to tell you that?"
Want to run a great company or organization? Don't treat people like shit. Don't be an asshole. Treat people like people. Be kind, be fair, be human, be humble, be generous, be patience, be friendly, give credit where it's do, etc. And the better job you do of doing that in pursuit of your goals and objectives, you'll probably outperform another company/org with the same objectives but treat people like shit. ...more
It鈥檚 been a while since I鈥檝e read a book that made me think this much. Maybe re-think is a better word.
5 stars mostly because it made me think.
This bIt鈥檚 been a while since I鈥檝e read a book that made me think this much. Maybe re-think is a better word.
5 stars mostly because it made me think.
This book is like a mash up of business/marketing, psychology, leadership/influence, and anthropology. There are definitely better books in each of those verticals by themselves, but I鈥檝e just never read a book that combines all of them together.
From a biz/marketing perspective, I loved how there were multiple concrete examples of F100 companies applying Clotaire鈥檚 methodology/findings to inform their marketing strategies in different countries (this is the core premise/frame of the book), how they went about applying it, and the outcomes it drove.
Some of the business examples: - Helping Nestle (BOooooooo) introduce coffee to Japan - Helping Chrysler figure out marketing for the PT Cruiser - Helping Jeep figure out how to recapture market share after losing a lot to SUVs - Helping L鈥橭real frame their products in America to be about health/confidence (whereas in France it鈥檚 about sensuality and seduction)
From a psychology perspective, the core thesis is about how humans 鈥渋mprint鈥� our associations with ideas/topics/things and the role emotions play in the strength of that imprint (e.g. with alcohol, my dad let me taste beer when I was 7 and I hated it, so I never had a poor relationship w/ alcohol because I was imprinted with a relatively negative experience at a young age).
From a leadership/influence perspective, it reinforced the importance of not just listening to what people say, but listening to the emotions underneath to gain a truer assessment of where someone is.
From an anthropology perspective, it was like being able to travel to Japan, Germany, UK, France, and Italy and picking up on cultural norms in each respective country on really big ideas like love, food, alcohol, sex, luxury, or shopping 鈥� but also being able to see how each country differs from each other on those topics. Reading these sections reminded me of when I was in South Africa for 6 weeks and seeing how everyone completely violated some of the cultural norms I was brought up with, forcing me to question the 鈥渞ightness鈥� of the norms I was taught. These were my favorite sections of the book.
For context, I鈥檓 quite poorly read when it comes to anthropology so my bar is probably low here.
As a caveat, Clotaire does make a lot of blanket statements like, 鈥淎mericans are X鈥� or 鈥淭he French are Y鈥� which did prompt me multiple times to think, 鈥渙k I鈥檓 not 100% sure about that.鈥� Some of his blanket statements felt completely on point, others seemed like a stretch, a few I simply disagreed with (this seems to be the major gripe based on other GR reviews). So if you鈥檙e thinking about picking this up, you may need to suspend some judgement to appreciate it 鈥� I understand not everyone has the same tolerance. Ultimately, I enjoyed the read because it challenged me with a different perspective.
If you鈥檙e looking for a review that does a better job of sharing excerpts from the book, this one is pretty good:
I picked up this book as it came recommended by fellow GR readers as a follow up to Thinking in Systems (TiS) by Donella Meadows.
I want to caveat thaI picked up this book as it came recommended by fellow GR readers as a follow up to Thinking in Systems (TiS) by Donella Meadows.
I want to caveat that I only got through 53% of the book as I鈥檝e developed a norm of not continuing book I鈥檝e lost interest in, so 4 stars because I got good value from it, but there鈥檚 an entire half of the book I can鈥檛 vouch for, but not at the fault of the author.
Bottom line: The first 30% of The Fifth Discipline (TFD) is a fantastic follow up for TiS.
TFD shares a far more relatable examples when it comes to systems thinking (human body, company dynamics) so it made it easier to follow along and understand. I feel much more confident in my grasp of systems thinking after TFD.
The next 20% of TFD that I read was about how to address common dysfunctions of organizations. I did appreciate his distinction between 鈥渃ommitment,鈥� 鈥渆nrollment,鈥� and 鈥渃ompliance.鈥� I鈥檓 a fan of Dave Logan鈥檚 Tribal Leadership where he talks about 5 levels of organizations, and I think the rest of TFD serves as a more practical handbook to implement level 4/5 practices into an organization. His thoughts on vision/purpose, discussion/dialogue, and mental models and how they hamper a company鈥檚 progress are thorough and useful distinctions. If I was in a different stage in life/career, I鈥檇 probably enjoy reading the rest of the book, but it鈥檚 just not my focus atm.
I think TFD is a fantastic read for newer managers looking to be a better manager on a holistic level.
For systems thinkers, I鈥檇 just read the first 30% and call it a day.
And in comparison to Systems Thinking for Social Change (previously reviewed book), TFD鈥檚 section on systems thinking was far easier to read, digest, and as a result was more effective in enriching my systems thinking understanding....more
I鈥檓 putting the book down at 75% because it鈥檚 become too hard to read.
I read Thinking in Systems a few months prior and was looking for a helpful follI鈥檓 putting the book down at 75% because it鈥檚 become too hard to read.
I read Thinking in Systems a few months prior and was looking for a helpful follow up. At the recommendation of a few 欧宝娱乐 readers, I picked this one up.
I think the real world work being done by the Author is commendable and is helping the world in a good way.
I enjoyed the first 1/3 of the book learning about how groups have approached reducing recidivism (harsh sentencing actually increases recidivism), improving childhood education outcomes, and reducing homelessness (permanent housing is the real solution, not homeless shelters) and the counterintuitive learnings that came with it.
The reasons why it became hard to read: - toggling between different examples too frequently - not the best scaffolding to help the reader effectively learn how to read systems diagrams (there are a ton) - it seemed like it was written for someone who already has an intermediate understanding of systems thinking and its frameworks/language
As someone who used to do a lot of work with the homeless and generally wants to work on things that have a positive social impact, I think the concepts in the book is powerful, I just wish it was more newbie friendly....more
Great commentary on the current state of society and closes well with something we can all do to counteract.
Example: - We believe we are more trustwortGreat commentary on the current state of society and closes well with something we can all do to counteract.
Example: - We believe we are more trustworthy than we think the average person in society is - We subscribe to a more holistic definition of success (being happy, following your curiosities) than we think society does (fame/prestige)
As a result of things like these two examples, we end up preaching, acting, and speaking up in ways that might betray our own beliefs in fear of being ostracized by our communities.
Fear of being ostracized shows up neurologically similarly as physical pain.
So on average, humans will misrepresent their beliefs and stances based on what they think others, on average, believe, whether it is true or not.
The reality is that if we were more honest about our own individual beliefs, we will find more congruence within ourselves and hopefully help society move forward in a meaningful way. ...more
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