Book Review: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Anytime you get a book with 1,000+ reviews and its average number of stars is 4.5 it must me good and must create a loyalty among the readers. I can say this book had that effect on me and everyone I had the pleasure of recommending it to. 


What this book really does well is what it doesn't do. This book does not fit the "popcorn", "beach" reads of summer, yet brings the pleasure of a beach read. Patrick Rothfuss does such a good job of description you can vanish into the world that Kvothe occupies. Many easy read books are predictable in how they turn out so much so that you know the end well before you get there, The Name of the Wind is not one of these books. This book gives you reason to continue reading. I look at it almost like a more adult form of Harry Potter or the Hunger Games (both of which I am a fan). 


The magic and the university have a real feeling to them, the magic appears to be almost "knowledge" in an era when the majority of the population was illiterate. I found it believable in the context of the story. I especially liked the reality of the mistakes Kvothe makes from his impulsive and often selfish behavior along with the results of these mistakes. Patrick Rothfuss gives us a hero with faults and I believe that is what drives the story. A main character who is heroic to the point of cockiness This cockiness is the root of his mistakes and his mistakes create considerable difficulties for him. Thus the story is able to unfold in multiple pages that hold your interest to the point you cannot put the book down until you reach the end; only to grab for the second book because you just cannot get enough of the story of Kvothe. 


Highly recommend this book, I really wish the third book would come out soon.

Book Review: 4 Hour Work Week

I just completed the 4 hour work week by Timothy Ferris not because as a senior manager I believe I could actually achieve a 4 hour work week, rather it was after reading Tim’s blog that I became intrigued with many of his ideas and having a 14 hour flight to the US ahead of me I figured this would pass the time quickly. I am pleased say that I was impressed and the flight did go quickly. Being a bit of a self help junkie I have read many books in the genre because I recognize that there is always a chance to have a sliver of a take away that can be applied into my daily life with an immediate impact. For me it was his advice on email and interruptions, which I tweaked slightly to fit my work environment, gibing me an additional two hours of productivity per day!

Timothy Ferris is a 29 year old who through exploitation of flaws in the system became a Tango champion and a Chinese Kickboxing champion. If you take a serious look at how he accomplished both it can only be defined as “going ugly”; which isn’t necessarily bad because it worked. I really enjoyed this book and if you effectively applied any one of the following approaches he espouses in your daily life you will recoup the cost of the book a thousand times over:

• Time manage that focuses only on high value tasks
• Avoiding busy work for the sake of working
• Mini sabbaticals rather than the standard two week vacation
• Setting up a self operating business
• Outsourcing your life
  

There are plenty of examples of Tim’s advice being applied for real success and if you can apply them in whole to your life there is an amazing new world that will open up to you. Most of his techniques have little downside risk to your current job and one of the more salient pieces of advice is that you can always get another one.

Get the book and apply it where it makes sense.

Book Review: Change Management

A 94 page manifesto on how to manage change in an organization and I would recommend all management professionals should have this book in their desk reference books. People and organizations naturally resist change and having the proper tools within reach to identify and manage through this resistance will enable you to bring your the organization to the next level. Adding the additional 54 pages of appendices including tools and worksheets to speed your implementation and this book becomes a complete tool set.

Jeffrey Hiatt has written two additional books on change, ADKAR and Employee’s Survival Guide to Change. Both of these books build upon the ADKAR model introduced in Change Management: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement. Jeffrey Hiatt and Timothy Greasey make the case that this model is applicable to both personal and organizational changes and when used properly will allow for the process of change to happen; carefully laying out the case that “as individuals we, experience change differently, we go through change in stages”. From my personal experiences change is never an easy process to manage especially when dealing with tight deadlines; some classroom training in the ADKAR model will enhance the benefit of this book.

The authors have broken down the change process into 7 basic principles:

Principal 1 – Senders and receivers
Principal 2 – Resistance and comfort
Principal 3 – Authority for change
Principal 4 – Value systems
Principal 5 – Incremental versus radical change
Principal 6 – The right answer is not enough
Principal 7 – Change is a process

Each principal is demonstrated to bring you back to the ADKAR model. I have taught change management extensively to business managers, project managers, and analysts and when ADKAR was effectively applied the result was consistent success. Yes the material is a bit text book but the purpose is to provide a quick desk reference tool and if your organization wants to be effective in a challenging global environment the books simple layout provides quick access the keys elements for managing change.

Book Review: Mastery, the keys to success and long-term fulfillment

I just finished reading the book, "Mastery, The Keys to Success and Long-term Fulfillment" by George Leonard. George Leonard practices and teaches Aikido, considered to be the most difficult of martial arts to learn and achieve. The beauty of Aikido is the path on which you travel rather than the speed at which you attain the levels or trappings of success in this sport. By interweaving the teaching of Aikido into how you can achieve mastery in your life whether it be marriage, work, or learning he argues you can live a more fulfilled life by appreciating the path you are on.

For the most part this book is a call to forsake the instant gratification and instant achievement society professed by the American popular media and return to the joy of the journey. George argues his point in a short 175 page book broken down into three parts:

- The Master's Journey
- The Five Master Keys
- Tools for Mastery

While I did enjoy this book as a brief read, outside of a couple of quotes there is little that you could take away and apply to your life that would actually produce results. The essence of this book can be summed up with the following quote:

"Those we know as masters are dedicated to the fundamentals of their calling. They are zealots of practice, connoisseurs of the small incremental step. At the same time, and here's the paradox, these people, these masters, are precisely the ones who are likely to challenge previous limits. To take risks for the sake o higher performance and even to become obsessive at times in that pursuit. Clearly, for them the key is not either/or, it's both/and".

Essentially enjoy the periods of plateau, when you feel like nothing is happening in your life, focusing on the simple yet boredom inducing; for the beauty it posses. Your ability to appreciate these periods that will grant you a life of fulfillment.

I enjoyed the book but it left me feeling like I wanted more, but not certain I was willing to make the effort to find the "more" I was looking for. I would say it was like watching a movie trailer and when the trailer finished remarking to those with you, "I am not sure I want to see this movie... maybe I will wait for it to come out on DVD".