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BBB 2010
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Books to be reviewed:
Leadership and Self-Deception, The Arbinger Institute
Leadership is about making things better. To the extent that a leader is “self-deceived” he will fail to achieve exactly what he is charged with doing.
The book explains how we are “self-deceived”, the consequences of self-deception, the harm it causes to the business and to relationships (business and personal,) and what to do about it. Self-deception is the state of believing that the problem is everyone around us, when the problem is ourselves. The consequence of our self-deception is that it destroys relationships with staff, leads to underperformance, politicking, lying and the flight of good people from the company.
This is not a new book. It is a new edition with some extras. If you missed it on round one, don’t miss it this time. If you have read it, you will benefit from reading it again. I did.
Obliquity - Why our goals are best achieved indirectly, John Kay
The success of the physical sciences has led us to believe that there is a science of decision making. If this is so, all kinds of problems in our business and financial lives, in the political and personal arena, could be managed objectively. What would then differentiate great business leaders, what would measure their financial acumen, would be their ability to arrive at the right answer faster and more reliably than other people.
The purpose of this book is twofold – one to prove that the “science of decision making” is simply untrue and to offer a more accurate description of what is true. We don’t solve problems in the way the concept of decision science implies – because we can’t! The contribution of obliquity is the insight that the answer to the question “what is the correct course of action” is not a solution, but an alternative way of thinking. |
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Hoodwinked , John Perkins
The book is a description of where we are now economically, how we got
to this desperate place, and where to go next. Many books have been
written about the economic crisis, but Perkins goes further by
identifying "the virus that infected us" and the prescription for a
long-term cure.
 The End Of Food, Paul Roberts
Until the late 20st century, the modern food system was seen as a
monument to human ingenuity that was producing more grain, meats, fruit,
and vegetables than ever before. We were producing it more cheaply than
ever before, and with more variety, safety, quality and convenience at
levels that would have bewildered previous generations.
Knowledge worth having
Gateways Business Book Breakfasts have been held every year from February through November for the past 15 years!
Venue and Date:
Michelangelo Hotel, Sandton Square, WEDNESDAY 7 April 7:45 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.
Please confirm your attendance or non-attendance by replying to this email or by calling 011 788-8903
We look forward to seeing you
Ian Mann & David Hendrie
Note: We charge you only the cost of the breakfast, which is now R220.00 inclusive, so invoices are raised on your confirmation of attendance.
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
to email Seipati to make your booking.
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Read more... [April 2010 Johannesburg]
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Googled: The end of the world as we know it , Ken Auletta
Aluetta has had unprecedented access to the notoriously private founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
They take their motto seriously "Don't be evil" which is important when your ethos is to question everything and you believe in acting without asking permission and Google is a disruptive force in business. Think of what they have done to advertising: 40% of all the money spent on online advertising is spent at Google.
The influence of Google has been nothing short of spectacular. We don't search for information, we "google" it. Google aggregates 25,000 news sites daily, they are seeking to make almost every book every published available in digitized form.
They might well become the world's first $100 billion media company soon - twice the size of Time Warner, Disney or News Corp the world's three largest media conglomerates. Not bad for an 11 year old business.
Find out why. Find out how. Find out why not.
 Strenghts based Leadership,Tom Rath & Barry Conchie
Caution! When picking up a book on leadership, check for the following two dump-it-immediately signals. One: All leaders, have, do, say, etc.
Two: The leadership lesson from a historical figure, a famous politician, sports coach, business person etc.
So why is this book worth knowing? For starters on page 10 the authors assert that great historical leaders, such as Winston Churchill, or Mahatma Gandhi have more differences than similarities and that it was the differences that defined them and made them great. And then their basis for the book is decades of Gallup's (the research firm) data on this topic that includes more than 20,000 in-depth interviews with senior leaders, studies of more than one-million work teams, and fifty years of polls regarding the world's most admired leaders.
Interesting findings emerge, which will add your insights into what it takes to be even more successful at leading.
Knowledge worth having
Gateways Business Book Breakfasts have been held every year from February through November for the past 15 years!
Venue and Date:
Michelangelo Hotel, Sandton Square, WEDNESDAY 3 March 7:45 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.
Please confirm your attendance or non-attendance by replying to this email or by calling 011 788-8903
We look forward to seeing you
Ian Mann
Note: We charge you only the cost of the breakfast, which is now R 210.00 inclusive, so invoices are raised on your confirmation of attendance.
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
to email Seipati to make your booking.
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February 2010 Johannesburg |
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The Squeeze: Oil, Money, and Greed in the 21st Century, Tom Bowler
Why do you need to know about the oil industry? For starters, it is the world's biggest business and then because every aspect of mankind's lives depend on the refining of crude oil into energy, plastics, chemicals and drugs. For a century the commodity has been on a rollercoaster, swinging from surplus to shortage. Cheap oil has fuelled booms while high prices have plunged the world into recession.
It is blamed for the destitution in the Niger delta, the contamination of Alaska's pristine wilderness, the destruction of Canada's forests and spreading corruption across Africa. The oil industry is among the least stable of all business sectors and supplies are utterly dependent on corrupt despotic "petrostates" with uncertain futures.
Join me at breakfast and learn more about the power of BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, the unbridled greed and machinations of the oil traders, the rise and fall of the Russian billionaire oil-oligarchs, and more...
 Owning Up: The 13 questions every board member needs to ask, Ram Charan
Boards of directors are Ram Charan's speciality and his knowledge of the workings of boards has been deepened through his practical work with so many of the finest and largest companies in the world. He currently serves on three boards and was named one the "Top 100 Directors" of the year by Directorship magazine. This book clearly reflects a combination of practical experience and sage advice.
The book is comprised of fourteen questions that every board member needs to ask, and especially as the business environment becomes more difficult. When a company does poorly we need to look to the board as harshly as we do to executive management, says Charan. Most of the examples brought in the book are from enormous companies, but almost all of the questions apply equally to medium-sized companies with few directors.
Knowledge worth having
Gateways Business Book Breakfasts have been held every year from February through November for the past 15 years!
Venue and Date:
Michelangelo Hotel, Sandton Square, WEDNESDAY 3 February 7:45 a.m. to 8:45 a.m.
Please confirm your attendance or non-attendance by replying to this email or by calling 011 788-8903
We look forward to seeing you
Ian Mann
Note: We charge you only the cost of the breakfast, which is now R 210.00 inclusive, so invoices are raised on your confirmation of attendance.
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
to email Seipati to make your booking.
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