My 2020 booklist
They say that the average CEO reads 4-5 books per month, which gives us an estimate of 48-60 books per year. I am not the average CEO so in 2020 I read 20 books and I plan to share with you 5 of them. That’s a lot of numbers for 3 sentences, don’t you think? Anyway here we go!
The Fourth Industrial Revolution by Klaus Schwab
Science fiction of yesterday is today’s reality. From virtual assistants and 3D printing to smart factories and implantable phones this is happening. Question is, are we ready for it? The moment I am writing this article 940 million people have no access to electricity, which means that the second industrial revolution is not complete, there is a remaining 13%. This is also true for the third industrial revolution with 41% of the world’s population lacking internet access. So what is the place of these percentages in a world where drones will be flying around? Yes great things are about to happen but they need to happen in line with our values as a global society. Klaus Schwab starts a discussion on the major impacts of the fourth industrial revolution expected on goverment, business, civil society and individuals.
The fourth industrial revolution has the potential to robotize humanity, and thus compromise our traditional sources of meaning — work, community, family, identity. Or we can use the fourth industrial revolution to lift humanity into a new collective and a moral consciousness based on a shared sense of destiny. It is incumbent on us all to make sure that the latter is what happens.
No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention by Reed Hasting & Erim Meyer
There has never before been a company like Netflix. But what makes the company? Is it the product or the service, is it the founder or is it the culture? If it is culture how we create it? I guess you can’t just say “I want an innovative, fast paced environment of mutual respect” and magically get it. There are certain steps you need to take. Firstly you need star performers, but star performers have high salary expectations so you need to pay top of the market. Are we done? Most certainly not! Star performers want to make sure their voice is being heard and they definitely don’t like processes. So another step is to eliminate processes to the minimum and create a culture of candor. Of course this way of working is not suitable for everyone. Most employees like to feel safe on their work and the keeper test is certainly not helping. Still this book is about the Netflix culture, it’s not a panacea to every organizational inefficiency and it certainly doesn’t respond to the needs and ambitions of every employee out there.
Brian the day you find yourself sitting on your feedback because you are worried you will be unpopular is the day you’ll need to leave Netflix. We hire you for your opinions. Every person in that room is responsible for telling me frankly what they think.
The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates
This book is a Melinda Gates memoir, an inspirational deck and a thoughful framework on how to lift up women. To be completely honest in the beginning I was kind of hesitant towards it. Rich philanthropist will throw some heartfelt stories of her travelling and then that’s pretty much it. I was wrong. This book is the perfect combination of storytelling and data. It’s a great argumentation on why we should empower women if we want to lift up humanity and it offers context on poverty.
If the barrier is distance, money, knowledge, or stigma we have to offer tools and information that are closer, cheaper and less tainted by stigma. To fight poverty, we have to see and study the barriers and figure out if they are cultural, or social, or economic, or geographic, or political, and then go around them or through them so the poor aren’t cut off from benefits others enjoy.
Humankind: A Hopeful History
People are good. And that’s not a cheesy statement it’s a fact based, scientifically proven argument. Rutger Bregman uses historic examples to create a beautiful and most important real story about humankind. Yes again this book is a combination of empowering storytelling, compelling data and wittiness. Teaser: During the Second World War only 1/5 of US infantry ever fired their weapons.
This is a book about a radical idea. An idea that’s long been known to make rulers nervous. An idea denied by religions and ideologies, ignored by the news media and erased from the annals of world history. At the same time, it’s an idea that’s legitimised by virtually every branch of science. One that’s corroborated by evolution and confirmed by everyday life.
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
Anne Frank wanted to go on living even after her death. And she certainly did. As a Jew Anne Frank went into hiding for two years. During this period she wrote a diary. Her diary made it to the list of best selling books, translated into 75 languages and sold 35 million copies. Anne is perhaps the most famous child of the 20th century. While I was reading her diary I was astounded by her wittines and spirit. There is no doubt she would have become a succesful writer. The reason I decided to share this book is to offer you some perspective. At the moment we are under lockdown and it is very likely that if we go out after 21:00 we will pay a fine. Anne and her family were also in a lockdown but if they would go out they were likely to end up in a concentration camp. In that case it’s good to remember what humankind has been through and managed to overcome. It’s definitely not a comparison, wouldn’t dare to place current situation next to the Holocaust. It is more of a reminder that some people had it way worse not so long time ago. So in case you feel tired of the current situation I definitely recommend this book. It offers a whole new meaning on the lockdown term. As for the aspiring writers, this diary has been rejected by at least four Dutch publishers
In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.
