The Myth of Work-Life Balance

The Myth of Work-Life Balance: The Challenge of Our Time for Men, Women and Societies by Richenda Gambles, Suzan Lewis & Rhona Rapoport. The is book is directed at high level government and industry polices that affect work life balance and the effect of those policies. It is not directed at individuals seeking to manage there own work life balance.

Ayn Rand

One should read Ayn Rand in a library. I'd like to think that's my own original thought-- At a recent lunch however, two people independently came up with this quip.

Even though I am a rationalist who believes strongly in individual liberty, Rand puzzles me. She got much right, but when I look at what she got wrong, it boggles me how people could obsess with her and how her philosophy thrives.

I don't think she understood the difference between communism, socialism and teamwork. her ideas were so... uh... objectivist that she lost nuance and failed to realize that two people can collaborate to create something greater than two individuals and both of them would be happier for the experience.

She was naive about elitism and the nature of invention. Her elites could do no wrong, only be oppressed or held back by the socialists. How different would Atlas Shrugged be if it was discovered that the new steel was radioactive, or rusted out after two years? What would have happened if some of Roark's buildings had structural problems and leaky roofs? (See Lloyd Write and Gehry) But no! These are elites! Everything they create must be perfect.

The unintended moral I always get from her books is perfect people should lead us and we should just respect them. I can't accept that. I don't believe in perfection. I believe in elites that makes mistakes. How they handle their mistakes is as much a marker of there status as any innate perfection.

Self Promotion for Introverts

Self Promotion for Introverts by Nancy Ankowitz.

The book subtly equates introversion with shyness or low self esteem.

I read the first half of the book, but then lost interest.

The Bed of Procrustes

The Bed of Procrustes by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

To paraphrase Tycho, I'm fairly critical of Teleb precisely because I do love his writing, and want it to be better.

The Bed of Procrustes is a book of Taleb's aphorisms. They are smart and well written. But a whole book of them is disappointing.

I so wish this book had more depth, more meat. It's insightful for Taleb to say "never trust a man who earns a salary (or, more specifically, has a dependent source of income) – unless he is on minimum wage." But, that statement begs to start a debate, not be the witty conclusion. How should people live? Is it robust to build a society where everyone earns independent income? If so, how do we get there? If not, do we have to accept the fact that a large portion of our society, the wage earners, should be deemed untrustworthy?

Where is your deep insight Taleb? Your vision? Your philosophical leadership? The Bed of Procrustes is not worthy of you.

Taleb rightly says "a good maxim allows you to have the last word without even starting a conversation." With whole book of maxims though, a whole book of last words, you end up with thoughts that's are aways ending-- that never start.

Another minor irritation, at least for me; Taleb frequently uses 'freedom' to mean 'free from responsibilities' and not 'free to choose responsibilities' or 'free to create' The these types of freedom are very different. While one man's freedom may mean he has hours of idle time, for another man freedom means that his days are filled with the responsibilities and creations of his choosing and acceptance of there consequences.

Having said all that, I've read the book twice and I'll probably read it again.

The 4% Universe

The 4% Universe by Richard Panek. A chronicle of the scientists quest to discover and explain why we can only detect 4% of the universe. The rest is filled with dark matter and energy which we can only indirectly detect.

The book spends as much time discussing the people and the politics of dark matter research as it does the science. For example, the book notes that historically, astronomers are tend to be loaners and very possessive of there data while physicists tend to be very collaborative because astronomy lends its self to individual research while physics experiments offten require the co-operation of hundreds of people. (See CERN, or the LHC) Problems result when the two groups have to work together.

A good read, but it won't go on my re-read list.

Rolling (audio) book list

How to manage multiple priorities when you're overwhelmed with work [audio CD] [1 v.] 03/17/11

Still need to read

How to effectively manage remote employees [audio CD] [1 v.]

Still need to read

01/14/11 Eat that frog! [audio CD] [3 v.] : 21 great ways to stop procrastinating and get more done in less time

01/14/11 Never eat alone and other secrets to success [audio CD] [10 v.] : one relationship at a

time

01/13/11 Yes! [audio CD] [5 v.] : 50 scientifically proven ways to be persuasive
Read again.

12/10/10 It's called work for a reason [audio CD] [5 v.] : your success is your own damn fault

A no-BS guide work that spends so much time calling out how no-BS it is that I lost interest.

11/15/10 HBR's 10 must reads on managing yourself

Didn't retain anything from reading this. Don't feel like reading again.

10/26/10 Life by design [audio CD] [4 v.] : making lifestyle choices that contribute to better physical and emotional health

Life planning.

09/07/10 Self-discipline & emotional control [audio CD] [6 v.] : how to stay calm and productive under pressure

08/24/10 Converse with charisma! [audio CD] [8 v.] : talk to anyone and enjoy networking

Did not enjoy

08/16/10 Nudge [audio CD] [10 v.] : improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness

Fun pop-psych

08/09/10 Punished by rewards : the trouble with gold stars, incentive plans, A's, praise, and other bribes

read again

07/13/10 How to measure anything : finding the value of intangibles in business

read again

06/15/10 How to think like a CEO : the 22 vital traits you need to be the person at the top

Ink

I loved Ink. It has its weaknesses. It also plays to my soft spots-- beautiful visuals, great music and oozing with the creativity and effort of the director.

On the downside, some of the acting is weak, and the plot could have used more polish. In the end, I didn't care. Here is a film that took it's shoe string budget and made it look like millions of bucks.

Bravo!