The Right Decision: A Mathematician Reveals How the Secrets of Decision Theory - A Review

I love this book! But solutions to some of the questions didn't sit well with me.

In "Hacking It", I felt the 2nd possible solution was the better bet compared to the 3rd because if you stayed at a well-paying job for a little while, you'd be able to have enough financially to start off as an independent contractor. Even if you had a lot of contacts, it won't matter much if you can't even stay afloat for a few months while waiting for payment from your clients.

Sometimes, I think the author is purposefully trying to make sure that the right solution never involves taking a life. While that is correct, I do wonder whether it made sense to let Napoleon live as in the "Nine Lives" quiz. I didn't think that the exile solutions were best because he was a popular guy. And I think he didn't escape from Elba without some help.

Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior - A Review

Sway holds a particular interest to me in that no where do I see it more played out than in the world of consumerism.

Celebrity endorsements, price offs, real people testimonials etc. etc. All these methods are used to get people to part with their money.

While some may say that such tactics are useful to consumers i.e. that they present benefits to consumers, they are still sneaky tactics because in the end they serve to sway you towards irrational behaviour.

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us - A Review

Am disappointed. This book sounded more like a self-help, ra-ra you-can-do-it diatribe than it is a how-to book.

As usual, it's sprinkled with many anecdotes of little and unheard of people and companies , which as Godin asserts, are leaders in their own right. All of which helped make this book less boring, thankfully.

I distrust any business book that doesn't have a content list or even index pages, not to mention bibliography list. Is this a sign of leadership or fiction?

Problem Solving 101: A Simple Book for Smart People - A Review

In my work, we're already using these methods. However, what Watanabe has done are 2 things; 1) give clarity as to why the steps are necessary and 2) he has shortened the steps.

We go through our lives not knowing why we do things and we tend to take a really long route in order to get things done.

At work, we're required to adhere to certain protocols because "that's how things are done around here", which is not really a good reason why we should adhere to them in the first place. Or it could just mean that nobody really knows why we must abide by protocols.

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - A Review

This book is proof positive that greed for money is the root cause of all evil. But I'm not sure whether this is really about a bunch of guys who sat down one day in college and planned for world domination or what they saw were plenty of opportunities to make money.

The Pirate's Dilemma: How Youth Culture Is Reinventing Capitalism - A Review

Brilliant. Insightful. A great account of modern-day piracy. A clarion call for all to embrace the pirate within us. Mason makes the term 'pirate' cool.

The part I found most profound was how marketers nowadays are quickly latching on to the latest fad/'in-thing" as a way to connect with their consumers which I think is a terrible thing to do (and this coming from an ad person). That latest fad or craze could've have become part of modern culture but instead it becomes commercialized. Instead of endearing the brand to its target audience, it only succeeds in making itself look like someone who's trying too hard. And horror of horrors, not "real".

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions - A Review

An excellent read. Yet another economics-type book that I'm picking up lately when I would not go near one years ago in college, even when it was required reading.

Easily readable, the experiments themselves were entertaining. The one particularly illuminating was the 'hot' and 'cold' experiments, results of which were alarming.

While irrational behaviour could, one might say, be expected in matters involving relationships or matters of the heart, what is disturbing to me, as a marketer, is how it is being exploited in commerce.

StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup's Now, Discover Your Strengths - A Review

Took the test and discovered the 5 strengths that I should be leveraging on. But I found the questions asked and the results a bit questionable.

The developers of the test assumes that those taking the test have complete and truthful knowledge of themselves. Several times during the test, I did wonder whether my responses were really accurate. Were they really a true reflection of me?

Another quibble is the online offerings. Yeah, I signed up to take the test. But the results and action plan available online were mere regurgitations of the book, spliced and put together according to the results! I do not see any added value of signing up on the site other than taking the test and the results and action plan to me seemed like an anti-climax.

Think and Grow Rich - A Review

I had seen this book in stores for the longest time. Never picked it up. Maybe I thought his name was strange.

Anyway, the title got quoted many times in all these financial and marketing books I've been picking up a lot lately. And one fine day, at a book warehouse sale, it jumped out at me.

And I'm glad I did pick it up. Had I read it years ago, I would not have been in the right frame of mind to accept the learnings within.

Although the book was published at the tail end of the Depression, it is still relevant and some areas do resonate with the economic events currently occurring.

The Power of Your Subconscious Mind - A Review

This reads like a something about nothing. An all fluff self-help book that I've been avoiding all these years.

My cynicism is of course, the problem. Since this is the year of trying new things and keeping an open mind (for me), I am pleasantly surprised by the logic presented in this book. This is of course, after I've told my conscious mind to go easy on the criticism.

Logic. Common sense. That is essentially how a self-help book sells itself. And how the old me would have protested and said "I'm not learning anything new from this book". And would've felt cheated at the end of the read.

Rich Dad's Advisors: Guide to Investing In Gold and Silver: Protect Your Financial Future - A Review

Reads like a Nostradamus prophecy which unfortunately may well turn out to be true. And how catastrophic it would be for all of us.

While the metals may be the hottest ticket yet, unfortunately not everyone can really afford it. As one reviewer has mentioned, Maloney makes it sound so easy when it's not.

This is the gripe that I have with writers like Maloney. They make a complex topic like gold and silver investment so fascinatingly simple that when a simpleton like me wants to really get into it, I stumble at the deep knowledge required to actually make this work.

But it is a good book. It tells the history of money and the metals and how metals always wins.