Born to Be Good

This book is the result of the suggestion of Dr. Banaji that I look into Dacher Keltner who is a professor at Berkeley. The idea was to look into power, but this book pertains to many of the reasons we do things, such as smile, touch, express awe - a whole raft of things. Interesting, but didn't come close to answering my issue of power.

He has yet to reply to my note; clearly, not Harvard material. As a matter of fact I never could find an address for this guy, I used a general mail box for his Berkeley freak fest advocacy group.

Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes

There were a few behavior issues, but mostly it was a non-investors guide for non-investing.

It did; however, reinforce several concepts already made, and as an old person reinforcement is a good thing.

Super Freakonomics

He saved the best for last. The research with the capuchin monkeys is mind boggling and the fact that the first real act of money exchange was for sex is even more impressive.

Good book, thanks for suggesting it.

Desperately Seeking Members

Shoger sent me a link to this book by a company called Legendary Marketing - the book cost $24.95. I purchased it because I have been toying with the idea of writing a book and this was more along the lines of my thinking.

However, it was simply an exaggerated marketing piece for Legendary Marketing - interesting concept. The stories were simple, but it has given me thought. This is clearly a mechanism to promote the business, but I believe that a teaching manual in this format, only constructed with some intelligence, would be interesting.

What the Dog Saw

You know - I'm not sure what the deal is with Gladwell. Yes, he's a good writer, but nothing he does is original thinking - it's all about what others have done and he compiles it. This particular book seems to me as a requirement fulfilment for a deal; like, you have a certain number of books to write and this is one. It's a compilation of articles that he wrote for the New Yorker.

O.K., it's interesting and readable, but if you don't read it read this; pages 368 & 369:

"The broader failing of McKinsey and its acolytes at Enron is their assumption that an orgaization's intelligence is simply a function of the intelligence of its employees. They believe in stars, because they don't believe in systems. In a way that's understandable, because our lives are so obviously enriched by individual brilliance. Groups don't write great novels, and a committee didn't come up with the theory of relativity. But companies work by different rules. They don't just create; they execute and compete and coordinate the efforts of many different people, and the organizations that are most successful at that task are the ones where the system is the star."

But, you already know that.

Predictably Irrational

Well written book with interesting facts about how we are irrational. Actually, there's a lot to be taken from this book. I've already quoted several research examples in conversations pertaining to work - oh, no actually it was about Tiger Woods and the predicament men of power get into - yes, there is a section on this.