book review # 15 : The Communist Manifesto : A Modern Edition

Book Review # 15: The Communist Manifesto : A Modern Edition

Before we start let me clarify one thing to you, NO I’m not in to communism and never will be. 

Born and raised in a capitalism arena, I always wonder what is actually the core of the system I’m living in. In order to find out about that, perhaps reading something from the total extreme opposite ideal would help me to understand capitalism even more. 

That’s is the pure single idea when I bought this particular book.  Needless to say, authors of this book are prominent figure in the world’s history and we are pretty familiar with both of them. 

This is no doubt a literature that plays important part in political history of our world. When I said important it doesn’t necessary means good or vice versa. 

This manifesto was written by an extreme idealist, the content therefore was extreme. Frankly, I do not agree with most of the contents which seems narrow-minded, yet some of the contents also raised questions to me. Is capitalism have more of its flaw than we originally thought? Is capitalism the best system we have?

Anyway, readers must be warned that some part of this book is quite outrageous and provocative in nature. Some of the methodology are outdated as well. However, considered that it was written well over 150 years ago, some of the situation described in the manifesto are happening at the very moment, up, close and personal. 

The language used in the Manifesto rather elaborate which I think mainly is to stated superiority. I found it somewhat pleasant to read. 

Growing up in the wings of Democratic system,  I think it’s kind of nice to study the other side of the story as well. 

To me, It was literally a book describe an evil side of capitalism. The price majority of society have to pay for embracing capitalism as well as the price leaders have to pay to keep their positions.  

Here come the question, are we paying too much? 

Tough some part of it is obsolete, a merely other part of it is surprisingly up to date.  Perhaps it might even predict other important “ political trends” in the future as well. For example there is one part that said: 

"The conditions of bourgeois society are too narrow to comprise the wealth created by them. And how does the bourgeoisie get over these crises? On the one had by enforced destruction of a mass of productive forces; on the other, by the conquest of new markets , and by the more thorough exploitation for the old ones. That is to say, by paving the way for more extensive and more destructive crises, and by diminishing the means where by crises are prevented. " 

Surprisingly, it sounds too familiar. Oh I see, it’s what’ happen in 2008. 

Bottom line is, It’s important to study the past in order to foresee the future even from the people we totally disagree with. If you are interested in how the global power is shifted from time to time, this is definitely your book.  

Truth be told, do to the hostile and extreme content of this book, I will not give my rating as usual. 

Cheers 

Tab

Book review # 14: the 80/20 principle

Review # 14: The 80/20 Principle 

The pages in this book written by Richard Koch already turned yellowish from the fact that the last time it read it was probably 8 years ago.  The thoughts from the book, however, stays with me through the years. 

Lately I have been facing with some difficult decisions to make. In the nutshell, it’s a resources management problem. There are lots of questions going, where should I put who to work or how much different would I compensate my average staff and the outstanding one... you know stuff like that.  In one gloomy day I picked up the book and go through it all over again. Surprisingly, it’s now much more interesting than 8 years ago. 

This is the book I categorized as an awakening book (doesn’t necessary mean good book). The first time I read it,  the book somehow putting the fact of life right into my forehead. It confirms my believe that nature has its selection process and our world do organized in 80/20 principle. 

In almost every organization, 20% of employees produce 80% of profit. In almost every business portfolio, 20% of the portfolio contains 80% of profit. In almost every country, 20% of the people owned 80% of the wealth and the lists goes on and on. 

The interesting thing to notice is that in the top 20% there is also another 80/20. Meaning, in the top 20, there are 4% that product 16% of everything. And I’m sure you can imagine it goes deeper and deeper depends on how much population sample we are looking at. 

It seems that the principle itself touches every angle of life whether it’s business or personal. The important point  is that we decide to be in 80 or 20 by choice not by chance. To be more exact, it’s an accumulate of choices. Our faith is decided by few important decisions in life. Rule of thumb, the easy way usually gets you to the bottom 80. 

Everyone can achieve something but most people didn’t. It might not be about effort, it’s about finding the right thing to achieve. Most people are putting average effort into too many things rather than superior thoughts, effort  and determination in to only few important things. Also, most people spend 80% of their time into what is only 20% important to their life. You can go ask every successful people, one skill they all share is how to prioritized things. This skill is a core of 80/20 principle. 

Overall, this is quite a good book. I admit there are few overrated chapter and perhaps slight exaggeration in some context but still worth reading it. 

If you wonder,  yes, I only did skim through about 20% of the whole book. That’s all I”ll ever need!

8/10

Cheers 

rawithan: Book Review # 12: Harvard Business Review 10 must ...

rawithan: Book Review # 12: Harvard Business Review 10 must ...: Harvard Business Review 10 Must Read on Change I can’t remember buying this book no matter how hard I try. Out of nowhere, ...

rawithan: Book Review # 13: Marketing 3.0

rawithan: Book Review # 13: Marketing 3.0: Marketing 3.0 “Marketers should target consumers’ minds and spirits simultaneously to touch their hearts.” – Philip K...

Book Review # 13: Marketing 3.0

Marketing 3.0

“Marketers should target consumers’ minds and spirits simultaneously 

to touch their hearts.” – Philip Kotler 

I just realized that I haven’t done a review on Marketing 3.0, a

impeccable work from the legendary Philip Kotler (with Hermawan Kartajaya

and Iwan Setiawan) . This book, of course, was one of the bestselling

marketing books of our time. I have read it twice already. 

Please do not be mistaken, this is not the best marketing book

ever printed. However, I do believe everyone that have career in marketing or even remotely connected to marketing should have this book on their bookshelf.  Going in to a discussion today without knowledge of Marketing 3.0 is like going to a gym without sneakers. 

In the nut shell, we are entering into the new era of marketing. According to Kotler, our world have seen marketing 1.0 as product based, 2.0 as customer-based and of course we are now in the era marketing 3.0, the value driven marketing.  The traditional way of so called marketing has lost its touch. Change is inevitable. The big question here is “change to what?“

Since the start of the new millennium, consumers have been

bombarded with information. We literally see and/or hear thousands of

commercial a day. Whether it came in form of traditional TV, radio,

billboard, POP, online media etc., it might come directly or indirectly literally too much to care. The point is all of controlled media has losses effectiveness. Word-of-mouth

becomes robust advertising medium.      

The theory of marketing 3.0 has presented fresh new

perspective where the real focus on marketing activity is at the human

spirit. The tools of marketing 3.0 are focusing on trying to be part of consumer’s life by not just to make it better but also to make it more meaningful.  It is about changing the way consumers do things in their lives. In other words, the future of marketing lies on value

management.Consumers are human beings which combined with mind heart and spirit. Therefore, the value proposition will have to cover functional, emotional and spiritual benefits. There is no place for inauthentic brands to stand in market

anymore. 

Only brands with honesty, originality and authenticity will

survive and grow. As you know, consumers actually own the brand not the

company.  

There is also the point of rising of the creative class people

which are now more and more important to the evolvement of the society.

Steve Jobs is definitely one of a very good example of Creative Class

people.  The community, tribes and group will play an important role in

developing any kind of marketing effort. 

Companies will have to strive to create the “character” in

consumers’ mind. Only those who can do will thrive.  

The book also talked about co-creation with other stake holders as well. 

Surprisingly some of the issues Kotler mentioned in this book is something

Chinese people or the Eastern world has been practicing for centuries such as the

philosophy about gratitude with long established suppliers (in this book

they used the term co-creation but the meaning is pretty much the

same.)         

I would like to list the important point Kotler stress on chapter 10 about

10 credo of marketing 3.0

1.       Love your customers , respect your competitors

2.       Be sensitive to change, be ready to transform

3.       Guard your name, be clear about who you are 

4.       Customers are diverse,; go first to those who be benefit most from

you

5.       Always offer a good package at a fair price

6.       Always make yourself available, spread the good news. 

7.       Get your customers, keep and grow then

8.       Whatever your business, it is a service business

9.       Always refine your business process in terms of quality, cost and

delivery 

10.     Gather relevant information but use wisdom in making your final

decision. 

I think all of them are very useful and I also do like no.8 in particular.

In summary, this book is a talked about a cutting edge marketing angle. If you haven’t read it yet, you should definitely do it immediately. 

My take : 9/10

Cheers

Tab

Book Review # 12: Harvard Business Review 10 must reads on Changes

Harvard Business Review 10 Must Read on Change 

I can’t remember buying this book no matter how hard I try. Out of nowhere, it’s kind of appear in my library. Anyway, this book sold at Kinokuniya for THB 898. It’s about 200 pages and full with useful stuff. 

It’s basically a what the book claimed to be, it’s a package of articles on “Change” that considered best articles from publisher’s opinions. 

The articles were written by the following authors

John P Kotter

David A Garvin and Michael A Roberto

Paul Hemp and Thomas A Steward

Dabra E Meyerson

W Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne

Ronald A Heifetz and Marty Linsky

Robert Kekan and Lisa Laskow Lahey

Michael Beer and Nitin Nohria

Harodl L Sirkin, Perry Keenan and Alan Jackson

Michael Beer, Russell A Eisenstat and Bert Spector 

Each article is about 20 pages give or take, the good thing is that it’s self contain. Thus, by reading each of the article, you will get a whole story in less than 30 minutes. 

However, it’s still an academic articles. It totally remind me of reading organizational behavior text book while I studied my MBA. Boring Boring Boring....

Also, since they organized in un-related chapter although it’s on the same topic but writing style is totally different from article to article. Therefore, it’s lack on continuity. 

The essences of the book is to emphasize on why and how it is so important to change your organization (and I always thought that the same principle can be used to change our own behavior too). Step by step, this book will guide you on how to implement the change strategy and what are the issues that need to addresses. Also, what are the general mistakes people do when trying to implement change strategy in their organization. It also contains case studies and example what have been done right or wrong. 

The book is “complete” in the sense that if someone go through all the guidelines, it’s pretty much ensure that that people will be successful at implementing the change strategy in their organization. Beware though, things are easier said than done as usual. 

To sum it up, it a very good reference book when you want to do a presentation to impress your boss or client. It’s contains models, theories and fancy charts that can be used to convince people in the meeting room. 

It’s a boring book that you should have on your book shelf and from time to time, you might find it useful. 

Like Hemingway said, not all the good books are fun. Judging from that principle, I give this book 8/10. 

Cheers 

Tab 

Monocle : Best Magazine In the World (so far)

Like most people,  I don’t have a chance to travel the world as much as I wanted too. 

Juggling to balance work, family and personal life, sometime we lost touch to the world without even knowing it. 

That, my friend, can sometimes be dangerous in this creative economy world. That is, of course, if you considered  falling behind lethal. 

To keep up with the world in this hectic life of Bangkokian, I read Monocle. 

Monocle to me is not just a magazine, it’s more like a journal of creative minds. It walked me to the current affairs of the planet in a way other magazines can’t. Well, to be more precise, Monocle gives you  news, trends and updates in a stylish way. 

This success comes from a vision of Tyler Brûlé, founder and editor in chief of Monocle magazine. He also a founder of Wallpaper Magazine which is one of my favorite magazine as well. (however, even I subscribed to both magazines, I do like Monocle much better than Wallpaper)

Even with a lot of nice picture in this magazine, I still think that the amount of text in it can easily equal to a thick novel. 

Every time I read this magazine I realized two things. First, I  amaze to see many extraordinary creativities/initiatives from around the globe from it’s a Japanese way of designing a modern temple to how Copenhagen kick up culinary standard another notch. Second, unlike other magazines, Monocle only have one edition : the global edition thus it reminds me of how much Thailand still left behind and what a tragic on the way we cultivated on our recourses and culture. I can feel that other Thai people who read this magazine probably have a similar feeling to me. Frankly, it reminds me that in the global scale we nearly existed. It’s time for Thai people to start changing their country not just for the sake of themselves but for the sake of generations to come. 

The content of the magazine also encourage me to imagine more. In some way I have the same feelings as when I read cartoon during my childhood. It’s not only entertaining but also igniting the creative process. 

If you only have time to read one magazine a month, read this. You won’t regret it. (on another issue, Monocle only published 10 magazines a year) 

This is not a book thus I’m not gonna rate it but on a category of magazine, it’s definitely a ten. 

Cheers

Tab