Showing posts with label adventure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adventure. Show all posts

The Two-Second Advantage: How We Succeed by Anticipating the Future--Just Enough Review

The Two-Second Advantage: How We Succeed by Anticipating the Future--Just Enough
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Are you looking to buy The Two-Second Advantage: How We Succeed by Anticipating the Future--Just Enough? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on The Two-Second Advantage: How We Succeed by Anticipating the Future--Just Enough. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

The Two-Second Advantage: How We Succeed by Anticipating the Future--Just Enough Review
At least a century ago, Oliver Wendell Holmes observed, "I don't care a fig for simplicity on this side of complexity but I would give my life for simplicity on the other side of complexity." I was again reminded of that observation as I began to read this brilliant book in which Vivek Ranadivé and Kevin Maney explain how and why we can achieve success (however defined) by anticipating the future "just enough." The book's title refers to what is often the difference between success and failure. However, with all due respect to the co-authors' intentions, I do not think the greatest value of this book can be measured in terms of time; rather, in term of proceeding from the simplicity of raw impulse through the complexity of probable implications, multiple perspectives, and potential consequences to "the other side of intuition" where correct decisions can be made almost spontaneously. The U.S. Airways pilot, Chesley Burnett ("Sully") Sullenberger III, who successfully ditched US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River off Manhattan, New York City, on January 15, 2009, offers an excellent case in point. Once aware of the circumstances, he made the correct decision with little (if any) consideration of options. The same is true of countless other airline pilots as well as diagnostic surgeons (especially in hospital emergency rooms) and military leaders in combat who quite literally must make life-and-death decisions.
Long before Malcolm Gladwell published an article in The New Yorker that was later developed into a book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005), Michael Kami (in Trigger Points, 1988) and then Andrew Grove (in Only the Paranoid Survive, 1999) explained how and why, as Ranadivé and Maney describe it, "judgments made in two seconds are often more accurate than those made after months of analysis." For decades, we have known - as revealed by a wealth of research in psychology and behavioral economics on the adaptive unconscious -- that mental processes can work rapidly and automatically from relatively little information.
However, there is an "if" (a HUGE "if") and it is this: Those who wish to develop a more predictive brain, one that can quickly process huge chunks of information, and then act upon that information, must be willing to commit the time and the attention required. That's what Sullenberger demonstrated when deciding to land the plane on the river. Wayne Gretzy always claimed that his advantage was knowing where the puck would go. Larry Bird describes his advantage differently but makes the same point: "When I'm playing basketball, everybody else seems to be moving in slow motion." It probably took all three about 10,000 hours of highly disciplined, iterative practice under strict, expert supervision to develop that capability...plus some luck such as being in the right place at the right time, with the right support, while developing various skills under the right conditions.
That said, the fact remains that few people are prepared to make such a commitment of time and effort and even if they did, it is possible but unlikely that they could achieve success comparable with what super talents such as Gretzky, Bird, Bobby Fischer, Michael Jordan, and Yo Yo Ma have. However, Ranadivé and Maney are convinced (and I fully agree) that many of those who read this book with appropriate can, over time, work their way through the complexity to a point at which they have increased their predictive talent. How? By increasing their knowledge and understanding of previous efforts (i.e. what works, what doesn't, and why), by strengthening their ability to recognize early-indicators of imminent probabilities (e.g. a quarterback "reading" a defense to know what to do next), and sharpening their ability to identify root causes after recognizing symptoms (e.g. an ER physician diagnosing a stranger who is near death after an traffic accident). The process of personal development that Ranadivé and Maney explain can be completed by almost anyone, anywhere, whatever the given circumstances may be.
A brief commentary such as this can hardly do full justice to the wealth of information, insights, and wisdom that Ranadivé and Maney provide. I also wish to commend them on the lively style with which they present their narrative. To those who read this commentary, I offer two assurances. First, any limits on your development - one that is guided and informed by the material in this book -- will be self-imposed. The two-second advantage must be earned and there are no short cuts. Also, the opportunities for applying what Vivek Ranadivé and Kevin Maney offer throughout any organization are unlimited, whatever the size and nature of that organization may be.
The Two-Second Advantage: How We Succeed by Anticipating the Future--Just Enough Overview

Want to learn more information about The Two-Second Advantage: How We Succeed by Anticipating the Future--Just Enough?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now
Read More...

Giving 2.0: Transform Your Giving and Our World Review

Giving 2.0: Transform Your Giving and Our World
Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)
Are you looking to buy Giving 2.0: Transform Your Giving and Our World? Here is the right place to find the great deals. we can offer discounts of up to 90% on Giving 2.0: Transform Your Giving and Our World. Check out the link below:

>> Click Here to See Compare Prices and Get the Best Offers

Giving 2.0: Transform Your Giving and Our World ReviewLaura Arrillaga-Andreessen's Giving 2.0 provides an eye opening and practical read on new ways and methods to give. Here are my personal takeaways from Giving 2.0:
1) Anyone can be a philanthropist - if you give away $1 a year or 1 hour of your time, guess what? You're a philanthropist.
2) You have much more to give than you think. Most people think of giving as giving money or time. But in Giving 2.0, you quickly realize that those definitions are much too narrow. Through dozens and dozens of examples and stories, you can see how contributing expertise, giving a loan (instead of a donation), volunteering online, giving to solve long term structural problems or giving to solve short-term emergency ones are all different ways of giving. WIth so many new options available, and so many examples that pave the way, it's easier than ever to give in a way that's make sense for you.
3) Give strategically -- Think carefully about who you are, what you're passionate about, and how you might benefit from your own form of philanthropy. At the end of each chapter in Giving 2.0, there are a list of questions -- questions to ask yourself and questions to ask the organizations you might choose to give to. I found the questions to ask one's self to be the most helpful to me. What do I care about? Where does my time go during my week? What am I good at doing? What am I passionate about? These questions prompt you to think very critically about how to give strategically and pro-actively, instead of just giving in a haphazard disorganized way.
By understanding yourself well (which is the basis of any strategy), you can find a way to give that's both easy and rewarding. For example, I found Arrillaga-Andreessen examples of how interweaving giving and parenting (something I care a lot about as a Dad). She points out and gives examples of incorporating giving into children's allowances, taking international "volunteering-vacations" with one's kids, using giving as a way to teach the values you believe in, involving children in deciding how to give away one's quarterly giving budget, etc... As a busy working Dad, I find it hard to find the the time to work, give and parent. My takeaway was why not combine all three?
For someone else, the strategy might be donate one's expertise -- as a way to say keep career skills sharp during a stint of unemployment or perhaps as a retirement career. Sometimes giving what you know is more valuable than giving how much you can afford to donate financially.
For others, the strategy might revolve around a key issue that's near and dear to one's heart -- disease prevention, addressing domestic violence, issues in education.
My personal takeaways aside, the underlying message of Giving 2.0 is that each of us should find our own personalized giving strategy that makes sense for us. This strategy should based on who we are, what we care about, and the totality of what we have to give (financially and non-financially). Arrillaga-Andreessen then shows us a range of options available to us (with numerous interesting anecdotes), so that in the span of a few pages we can make more strategic giving choices more conveniently and easily.
Whether you are donating a few hours of time a year, or setting up a family foundation (and everything in between), there is something for everyone in Giving 2.0. I highly recommend it.
Giving 2.0: Transform Your Giving and Our World Overview

Want to learn more information about Giving 2.0: Transform Your Giving and Our World?

>> Click Here to See All Customer Reviews & Ratings Now
Read More...