Technology, Security, & Business Solutions with Integrity
Book Reviews
Business book reviews. If You Don't Make Waves You'll Drown, by Dave Anderson This is one of the most enjoyable business books I’ve
read…ever! Starting with chapter one, Don’t
be a Wimp!, this book is hilarious, but also practical. The author starts
off with a list of politically incorrect leadership traits. The first is
“Leaders Discriminate”. This is a great book that is easy to read and very entertaining.
Pitch Like a Girl, by Ronna Lichtenberg This is a fun book for any women in business. It helps boil down the differences between men and women in the workplace, and identifies your individual type of style as either "pink" or "blue" (I tend to be a "blue with pink stripes").
The Long Tail, by Chris Anderson
I listened to this book on CD. It offers an interesting and new way to look at market niches and Internet services.
Good to Great, by Jim Collins We handed this book out to the students in my Security Leadership class at San Fransisco. The basic concept of the book is that good is the enemy of great. Too many companies motor along in 'good' mode, rather than trying to become great. The book follows the research done on several "great" companies and finds that there are key characteristics all of the "great" companies share. Level 5 leadership is one of these characteristics. Surprisingly, a level 5 leader is not a charismatic celebrity. More often than not, the leadership of the "great" companies comes from a quiet, but hard-working leader who has worked himself/herself up from within the corporation.
Other characteristics of "great" companies include: getting the right people on (and the wrong people off) the bus, finding out what the company can be "great" at doing and focusing efforts on those things.
Loving Monday, by John D. Beckett The tagline on this book says it all: "Succeeding in Business without selling your soul". How many of us have struggled at some point in our career with a disconnect between our principles and our desire for success. This book helps you succeed without selling out.
The 7 habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey I'm willing to bet most people in business today have read this book at some point in their career. I read this book for the first time over 20 years ago, when I started as co-founder of an IT consulting firm. More recently, my martial arts Master Instructor assigned this book as required reading for my pre-black belt test. It was interesting to read it a second time, because my focus was different. If you haven't read this book in a while, I recommend you dust it off and review it again. The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield This book is a quick read and fairly entertaining. It starts out by quickly defining the enemy -- resistance. Resistance will do anything to keep you from getting your work done. The War of Art is broken down into 2 books: The first book, Resistance - Defining the Enemy, defines resistance (in a very funny way), to help you understand what you're up against. The second book, Combating Resistance, helps you win the war against this enemy. At SANS, we say "you must do the daily stuff". That's really what this book is about -- staying on track and getting done what must be done.
Martial Arts
Martial Arts Book Reviews Zen in the Martial Arts, by Joe Hyams- This is one of my favorite Martial Arts books! It's a collection of short stories and words of wisdom. Immediately before my first black belt test, I was overcome with nervousness. My nerves were so much on edge that I felt sick. This book helped me calm down. I read the short chapter titled "Seize the Moment", which is about living 100% in the present. This sentence from the book, in particular, helped me to focus on doing my best, rather than being distracted by my nerves: "As long as what you are doing at the moment is exactly what you are doing at that moment and nothing else, you are one with yourself and with what you are doing -- and that is Zen; while doing something you are doing it at the fullest." During my test, I focused entirely on what the Master Instructors asked us to do -- I didn't think about what we just completed, or worry about what was coming up. This skill has helped keep me calm and focused in almost every area of my life. Tao of Jeet Kune Do, by Bruce Lee - This was one of the first books given to me by my Master Instructor, Greg Puriefoy. It is actually a collection of Bruce Lee's notes and fighting techniques. This book helped quite a bit during the first few years of my training and has been a great reference tool over the years. Filipino Martial Culture, by Mark V. Wiley - This book explains the culture behind Filipino martial arts and includes a history of stick fighting, as well as good background on several historical and contemporary masters. A good read for anyone who has an interest in Filipino martial arts -- a martial arts style that is not as heavily documented as Chinese and Japanese forms. Modern Arnis, by Remy Presas - An instructional book on Filipino stick fighting. It includes the basics, single sinawali, double sinawali, redonda (twirling), and disarms against strikes #1 through #12. Dojo Wisdom, by Jennifer Lawler - A short book of 100 "simple ways to become a stronger, calmer, more courageous person". This is a nice book to have handy when you need a quick five-minute pick-me-up. It isn't the type of book you read from cover to cover, but is nice when you want to recharge your work-out and need a little motivation.
Jeet Kune Do, by Paul Vunak - Pual Vunak was the hand-to-hand instructor for the U.S. Navy Special Warfare Department. He uses many of JKD fighting concepts to train people beyond technique to reach 'mastery of the mind'. An example in his book is that of a black belt in karate being beaten by a street-smart fighter who has no martial arts training. This isn't unusual -- it's the result of many martial arts that focus on form rather than a simple reality -- streetfighters have no rules!
The first half of the book condenses his 20 years of knowledge into a few chapters of fighting wisdom. The last half of the book contains the application of technique. Facing the Double-Edged Sword, by Terrence Webster-Doyle - This is a kid's book. Both of my kids take martial arts classes and each belt requires a book report, or assignment. Many of the lower-belt book reports are taken from this book. It's a good kids book that combines a brief history of martial arts with a good anti-violence message. There is a chapter on how to avoid conflict with a bully, karate manners, and awareness.
