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3.94 AVERAGE
3.94 AVERAGE
Don’t settle for this book that pretends we don’t live in a capitalist society. Lots of corporate bullshit, especially after the pandemic and multiple layoffs… corporations treat us as numbers and we need to do the same with them. Leads roles should focus in make the trajectory within the company a bit more light to everyone, but the focus is personal gain and if someone says money is not everything, they are trying to indoctrinate you, so they can get more money on your expense.
Audiobook
Audiobook
Very interesting read about leadership, about an employee's job really is, and how incentives can perversely prevent that job from being done, and about creating a culture of commitment and integrity with a very simple framework.
I didn't like much the last third of the book about self-transcendence, it became too non-practical for what I was looking for.
I didn't like much the last third of the book about self-transcendence, it became too non-practical for what I was looking for.
Great read on the importance of helping people find purpose in work. I strongly disagreed with one section of this book (Fred's chapter in defense of capitalism was simplistic and shallow), but the other 80% of this material feels super-solid to me, and fits well with the philosophies espoused in Start with Why, The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, and Sapiens.
Powerful and applicable thoughts on leading with soul, empathy, morality. Could have been a little more concise.
I was unable to finish this book. It was recommended to me by a coworker I respect, but this book is not worth reading for several reasons. There are a handful of good bits, but they're few and far between. In the introduction, Kofman refers to his own work as a paradigm shift (p 25) and later says things like that he thinks of himself as Morpheus--the arrogance is really hard to see past. Anyone whose written work exudes arrogance had better have something really good to say--but he doesn't. He has ~300 pages that, if the chaff were cut, would easily fit into 100 or less and are largely rehashings of other works.
The part that bothers me the most, is Kofman's description of Marissa Mayer (p34-35): "I met Marissa Mayer when she was at Google, before she went to Yahoo. I was consulting for Sheryl Sandberg, who was then Google's head of online sales and operations. Talking with Mayer was an eerie experience; in the hour-long conversation, she didn't make eye contact with me a single time. The interaction was so cold that I suffered from brain freeze. I do recall my thought at the end, though: I would never work for this lady.". So this is both name-dropping ("my friend Sheryl Sandberg" [paraphrase]) and really makes me wonder--what was he doing during that interview that caused Mayer to literally never make eye contact? I really don't believe that she *never* made eye contact during an hour-long interview unless he was interviewing her on behalf of HR about some discrimination case or something equally unpleasant--he doesn't say what the interview was about, so who knows--but based on the amount of hyperbole in this book I doubt that's actually true anyway.
He also (p33-34) blames Mayer for Yahoo's decline. Does he seriously believe that Yahoo could have been "saved" when Mayer took over as CEO? Saving Yahoo would have been an amazing feat at that point in the company's lifespan--I'm not sure it was even possible. The company was already in decline when she became CEO, which is probably why she was ever offered the position. His portrayal of Mayer is not only something I just don't believe but also seems deeply unfair.
Much of the book is like the section I described above. The rest of the chaff is things like:
* Many many anecdotes whose purpose seems to be to impress the reader (e.g. "I went on a safari and X happened" or "I met (insert name of important person here) and gave them this advice")
* Lots of "citation needed" moments. For instance "Study after study concludes that a caring manager is essential to employee engagement"--sure, I could believe that, but where are your sources? What studies?
* Lots of rehashing things that really should just be something like "negotiation is important and well-studied so I'm not going to cover how to negotiate here (I recommend these books on the topic ...)" but are instead multi-page extemporaneous thought with little credit to others.
* Far too much hyperbole. For example: "Monetary incentives can't inspire people to care, to work for a common goal, or to support intelligent decision making." In context, I think he really means "once basic needs are met", but he really needs to not present things as tautologies that are actually conditionals.
* There is an entire chapter of what has to be a made-up airplane conversation between Kofman and a salesman. Maybe parts of this conversation actually happened or maybe multiple conversations like this happened that are merged here. Regardless, Kofman could have written this entire chapter as useful prose instead of preaching to a random person who had the misfortune of sitting next to him on a long flight.
The part that bothers me the most, is Kofman's description of Marissa Mayer (p34-35): "I met Marissa Mayer when she was at Google, before she went to Yahoo. I was consulting for Sheryl Sandberg, who was then Google's head of online sales and operations. Talking with Mayer was an eerie experience; in the hour-long conversation, she didn't make eye contact with me a single time. The interaction was so cold that I suffered from brain freeze. I do recall my thought at the end, though: I would never work for this lady.". So this is both name-dropping ("my friend Sheryl Sandberg" [paraphrase]) and really makes me wonder--what was he doing during that interview that caused Mayer to literally never make eye contact? I really don't believe that she *never* made eye contact during an hour-long interview unless he was interviewing her on behalf of HR about some discrimination case or something equally unpleasant--he doesn't say what the interview was about, so who knows--but based on the amount of hyperbole in this book I doubt that's actually true anyway.
He also (p33-34) blames Mayer for Yahoo's decline. Does he seriously believe that Yahoo could have been "saved" when Mayer took over as CEO? Saving Yahoo would have been an amazing feat at that point in the company's lifespan--I'm not sure it was even possible. The company was already in decline when she became CEO, which is probably why she was ever offered the position. His portrayal of Mayer is not only something I just don't believe but also seems deeply unfair.
Much of the book is like the section I described above. The rest of the chaff is things like:
* Many many anecdotes whose purpose seems to be to impress the reader (e.g. "I went on a safari and X happened" or "I met (insert name of important person here) and gave them this advice")
* Lots of "citation needed" moments. For instance "Study after study concludes that a caring manager is essential to employee engagement"--sure, I could believe that, but where are your sources? What studies?
* Lots of rehashing things that really should just be something like "negotiation is important and well-studied so I'm not going to cover how to negotiate here (I recommend these books on the topic ...)" but are instead multi-page extemporaneous thought with little credit to others.
* Far too much hyperbole. For example: "Monetary incentives can't inspire people to care, to work for a common goal, or to support intelligent decision making." In context, I think he really means "once basic needs are met", but he really needs to not present things as tautologies that are actually conditionals.
* There is an entire chapter of what has to be a made-up airplane conversation between Kofman and a salesman. Maybe parts of this conversation actually happened or maybe multiple conversations like this happened that are merged here. Regardless, Kofman could have written this entire chapter as useful prose instead of preaching to a random person who had the misfortune of sitting next to him on a long flight.
I'm glad that I started the year with such a strong book. Every part of it resonated with me.
It focuses on the "meaningful work", how it motivates us, and how, as leaders, we can create a working environment where meaningful work can happen.
Great read. Highly recommended.
It focuses on the "meaningful work", how it motivates us, and how, as leaders, we can create a working environment where meaningful work can happen.
Great read. Highly recommended.
Great read on the importance of helping people find purpose in work. I strongly disagreed with one section of this book (Fred's chapter in defense of capitalism was simplistic and shallow), but the other 80% of this material feels super-solid to me, and fits well with the philosophies espoused in Start with Why, The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, and Sapiens.