Category: Book

Book worm

Fashion Babylon A cook's tour.jpg The Starbucks Experience

So I just finished the 8th books in the hospital, and would like to recommend 3 of them. The first one is “Fashion Babylon”, from the same author of “Hotel Babylon” and “Air Babylon”. Thru this book, you will have a peek into the ins and outs of the fashion industry like how to copy ideas from previous designers, how to run a show and how the beautiful models live thru the days with drugs. A very interesting read.

The second one is “A Cook’s Tour” by Anthony Bourdain (who runs the show No Reservations in Discovery channel). Unlike other cooks who only enjoy good food and wine in luxury restaurants, Tony went to some very odd places to find some exotic cuisines and recorded those experience like a journalist. A very different tour book.

Lastly, the “Starbucks Experience” … I recommend the short stories or customers’ comments in the book about how Starbucks run their business – some are really touching. But I really hate that book as it really believes Starbucks is the best company in the world. A shoe-shining book.

A Bookworm’s Killer Application

Steve Jobs once said the killer application of the iPhone is making phone calls. It’s very very true, of course; but to me, my SmartPhone is more than making calls, checking emails and appointments.

One of the killer applications to me, as a bookworm, is to check whether a book worth buying … especially you find a book very interesting in a bookstore, but has no access to the Amazon.com to check the ratings and the “Internet price”.

Now with my Smartphone, all I need is to start the Internet Explorer in the phone, go to the Amazon mobile site and enter the book name …

Amazon Mobile Search

Find the right book, just in case there are books with similar name …

Amazon Mobile 2

Check the book cover to confirm it is the one you’re buying …

Check the cover image

And check the book details, ratings and Internet price … then decide to buy it or not.

Check the price and rating

Isn’t it great ?!

The First 112 Pages

I’ve told myself many times not to buy this book – The World Is Flat. Not because the book was poorly written, but probably because I didn’t believe we need another book about how Internet changed the world.

But just before the trip to Thailand, I decided to give it a try – after all, being a book-addict, I could not leave a bookstore empty-handed 😎

So after 112 pages, what did I find ? I found that if you’re living in Asia, and if you’re working in IT / Internet industry … then, don’t buy this book, it’s probably a waste of time. In these pages, the author wrote about outsourcing industry in India and China; and then how the fall of Berlin Wall changed the world; and then same to the Internet, fiber optic cables, Netscape browser, open-source software etc. etc..

All these topics were no doubt written in a lucidly clear fashion, and the author did research a lot for the book … but hey, all these topic are old news … so old that everyone should already knew it – unless you don’t know what’s going on in Asia and Internet.

Then you will probably ask, why it’s such a hot book in U.S.A ? My view is, excuse me, many American just don’t know much about what’s going on in Asia, outsourcing, Internet and globalization … Of course, I will read the rest of the book (another 400 pages) and I may change my view of this rather well-written book. In the meantime, stay tuned.

The Definitive Drucker – Chapter 3

Chapter 3 in The Definitive Druckeris about Innovation and Abandonment. Why “abandonment” ? It’s from the four basic questions about innovation by Peter:

  1. What do you have to abandon to create room for innovation ?
  2. Do you systematically seek opportunities ?
  3. Do you use a disciplined process for converting ideas into practical solutions ?
  4. Does your innovation strategy work well with your business strategy ?

Another heavy weight question in this chapter is: “If you weren’t already in the business, would you enter it today ? And, if the answer is no, what are you going to do about it ?”

The Definitive Drucker – Chapter 2

The title of this chapter is “The Customer: Joined at the Hip”, but what I like very much is the short brief of P&G in this chapter. By 1995, P&G was in deep trouble and the CEO was replaced. The new CEO decided to save the company by 1) Rapidly create new products and 2) Break up the bureaucracy through massive organizational changes – in effect, to create a cultural revolution.You probably think it was a good move, but what were Drucker’s comments to this ?

“… You’re still looking from the inside out, and the landscape you see is yesterday’s landscape.”

“And when you look from the outside in, it isn’t P&G that has changed. It’s the landscape that has changed.”

“… I don’t like the way you talk about changing the culture. My question is, how do you utilize your culture?”

“When I look at your company, it represents enormous achievements. Your job is not to repudiate them, but to build them.”

“And to be proud of them. Otherwise you alienate far too many of your people and tell them you are no longer worth anything.”

“… And so I don’t like changing the culture. I like how we build on it for a changed world.”

I think all manages involving in Change Management shall buy this book …