What I'm Reading

What I’m Reading/read recently:

(I will update regularly and add books to the top of the list)

Check out my two bestseller books – The DevOps Adoption Playbook, and DevOps For Dummies.

Team Topologies, by Matthew Seklton and Manuel Pais. Currently reading. Will post review/notes shortly.
Seeing Around Corners, by Rita McGrath: Written by a Columbia university professor, the book is designed to be consumed by senior executives setting the strategy of a company. However, the principles and lessons covered in the book apply to any leader looking to drive a change in her organization. Anyone looking to make their organization or team more innovative in their thinking. To be ready for what is ‘around the corner’ for them.
The Story of Philosophy, by Bryan Magee: Another gem from @naval. Not sure which post/tweet of his he recommended this book. I have had it on my backlog for a while now. Still reading it – it is fascinating. I have read very few books/blog posts on Philosophy. I prefer reading modern philosophers like Taleb, but knowing the history and the evolution of Philosophy is changing my perspective.
Astroball, by Ben Reiter: Actually read this last year. My son is reading it now, so iy reminded me to add it to the list. A brilliant look at the Astros use of Data Science, and human ‘gut’ to build a world series winning team (discussion on cheating not included). While some of the actual accomplishments have been tainted by the sign stealing scandal, reading the book from a Date Science perspective provides excellent insights into real-world applications of analytics, and its limitations.
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, by Carlo Rovelli: As someone who reads Physics papers and articles for fun, I almost did not pick up this book – too basic. Pooh-pooh. Holy cow, was I wrong. This book is brilliant. How to distill complex physics concepts and explain them in simple enough terms, while not treating your readers like 5th graders – a masterclass! And at under 90 pages. I am just as fascinated by the format and structure of the book as I am the content. The thinking aroundheat and probability – that was new to me. I am going to write my next book using this as a template. Also, to give full credit, I heard of this book from @naval blog post.
Bluefishing, by Steve Sims: An interesting book by a self-made millionaire about hisjourney building a company that delivers unique experiences to the ultra-rich. My take away from this book was on
network-building. How the author uses personalized contact to keep and grow his network. In today’s tech-driven, micro-second lasting world of
interactions, his approaches are refreshing and a lesson on ‘high-touch’.
Open Data Now, by Joel Gurin: A great book on the breath of data available across the globe today, and how best to leverage it. This is a must-read for anyone in the data science, AI/ML world looking to understand ‘open-data’ – datasets that are available in the open/public domain.
Sprint, by Jake Knapp: Jake and his peers from Google Ventures share their approach to developing, testing and validating ideas using 1-week ‘Sprints’. These are not your traditional ‘Agile’ 2-week Sprints. These are a variation on the Sprint idea to quickly validate ideas and solve problems facing fast-moving companies. This book was a very helpful in forming how I now approach short consulting engagements focussed on solving key problems.
The man who solved the market, By Gregory Zuckerman: A great biography of Jim Simons, the person who started the ‘Quant’ movement. Jim led the founding and growthof the Millennium Fund, what has become the most successful Wall Street fund ever. Great book for any math or trading geek.