BRAToSPHERE

Tag: book

  • Who moved my Cheese – Book Review

    Had heard of this small tiny book long back, and I recently stumbled on it again on my bookshelf on the iPad. Right time I thought, as I was looking for something light and quick to read.

    This deceptive book is none of it. In spite of the small volume of the book, and a seemingly simple story, it takes you on a thinking spree and gets you completely in a reflective frame of mind.

    The book starts with a gathering of several former classmates, and their conversation leads them to work and relationships. Everyone seemed to be coping with the changes that were unexpectedly happening over the recent years. Most of them admit that they do not know how to handle this, and this is when the author recites them a short story.

    The story is about two mice – sniff and scurry, and two little men – Hem and Haw,  and their search for cheese. Initially they feast on what seems like a never ending station of cheese and they settle in, growing fat and lazy. One fine day the Cheese station becomes empty and the cheese is all gone. This is where the mice decide to put on their running shoes and start scouting for new cheese. Hem and Haw, on the other hand, sulk around the maze.

    After some time, Haw decides it is time to move on and puts on his running shoes accepting the fact that the cheese station is no longer going to be the same and he would have to work to look for a new source. Hem refuses to join his quest. Along the way, Haw finds small morsels of cheese but nothing that can sustain for long. He keeps searching and learns new truths which he keeps drawing graffiti of for Hem to follow, just in case. Examples of the life truths –

    If you do not change you become extinct

    Change happens

    Adapt and Enjoy Change

    In the end, Haw discovers an even bigger Cheese station and this time he is wise. He enjoys the cheese at this new station, but still keeps his running shoes ready for the time he might have to enter the maze again.

    The mice and the little men, in spite of the differences in their brain processing powers, woke up everyday searching for new Cheese. The mice did this immediately and the little men, using their complex brains, took some time to realize this reality – Change happens.

    The book continues with the room full of former classmates now reflecting on the story and draw parallelisms to the change in their own lives.

    Cheese here is the metaphor for everything we want in life – good job, loving relationship, money, health, peace, etc..

    The reality of life, very well explained through the simple story, is the fact that the cheese would keep moving and the sooner we adapt to the new environment, the higher the chances of attaining our goals.

  • Konjo – Book Review

    Recently while browsing a book store, I stumbled upon this book with a weird name which immediately attracted my attention. The subject seemed interesting and relevant, and I ended up buying the book then and there.

    Konjo, which in Japanese means – “The Fighting Spirit”, is the story of Dentsu’s entry into India and is written by Sandeep Goyal, the person who got Dentsu to India.

    The book is in a chronicle format detailing the author’s life from the point where he quit Zee, to heading and making Dentsu a formidable advertising Agency in the Indian Industry.

    Goyal is not one to forgive, and at no point does he mince words or not mention names. He is brutal and honest in recalling incidents. Like the time where he mentions wanting to slap the CEO of a prominent agency, or accusing an insurance firm of using a tag line created by his agency much after their association was cut. He is honest to the point of embarrassment.

    At the same time, it is not a “unleash my grudge” kind of book, and the author details out the entire ardous journey of him convincing the Japanese of why he is the most suited person to mantle Dentsu in India. The process of setting up a winning team, and the many snippets and anecdotes of various pitches and campaigns during the crazy years in Dentsu makes this book an interesting read.

    it provides a good insight on the ways of working of the Japanese, and the subtle cross cultural differences that need to be kept in mind during interaction with them.

    It also has some hilarious short anecdotes like the one where Sandeep was regarded as a very rich person in Japan Dentsu office as he had served Mangoes to his Japanese guests during Dinner. Or the incident where the entire Dentsu mechanism got into chaos looking for a missing Japanese employee, who was later found to have locked himself up in his room watching TV!

    After selling his partnership back to Dentsu, and making a lot of money in the process, Sandeep is now left with enough free time to pursue his many interests. He is now writing a PhD thesis on “Human Brands”, is involved with a food channel and dabbles in other interesting stuff. After reading the book, I am now curious to read his other book – “The Dum Dum Bullet”. A must for someone curious about the Indian Advertising Industry.

  • Everyday is for the Thief – Book Review

    Like many other books, I had first picked up this book at the Airport and was interested. I later got the ebook version of it, and read it on my iPad.

    The author, Teju Cole had returned to New York after a trip to Lagos and decided to record his trip on a blog. The result – a fictionalized mix of memoir and reportage, this book “ Everyday is for the Thief”.

    This book is direct and on the face. It delves in detail about the corruption and the sense of hopelessness that captures the Nigerian society. The book provides some powerful insights into Nigerian beliefs and social practices.

    There are many authentic glimpses of the prevalent bribery and rampant corruption across the city. The book details the situation at the Nigerian Consulate in New York where an additional payment is required for the VISA – an expediting fee that goes straight into the official’s pocket. As soon as your reach Nigeria, a Mufti clad official asks you very blatantly for Christmas gifts in Dollars.

    The simple mentality of “you have become wealthy, we should become wealthy too!” runs through the book.  Teju Cole has a photographer’s eye for detail. From the authors account it feels like the Nigerians have no choice but to leave the country and establish themselves outside before their voices can be heard.

    In many ways, the African society seems to be so much similar to the Indian society. Is this the normal curve that a developing country needs to tread, or is there an actual historical connection that makes us so much similar?

    The book is beautifully written and is compelling and concise. A good quick read for someone interested to know how it is like to live in Lagos.

  • The Firm – Book Review

    It has been quite some time that I have started reading on the iPad and to say the least, it is very very convenient. Now my travel bags no longer get weighed down with the heavy books. It is all on the iPad. (Having said that, my weakness towards buying books has still not withered a little bit, and my house is still inundated with all kinds of books, with regular additions)

    The Firm – I first picked up this book in a bookstore at the airport, and it seemed quite interesting. I did not give in to the impulse purchase and forgot about it. A couple of days later I bumped into an article about the book, and I immediately knew I had to read it.

    The title of the book, The Firm: The Story of McKinsey and Its Secret Influence on American Business, is self-explanatory. McKinsey has always intrigued me, and I always used to wonder the reason an organization (Mc Kinsey’s client) hire such expensive services. Why could a company just not hire the people? That would be so much cost effective. I still remember the long debate with Doc about the futility of hiring a consultant. This was during our campus days just after we had returned from our summer internships, and Doc had interned at McKinsey. Like a good consultant, we concluded the argument with “it depends”.

    The Firm (this is how the company refers to itself) was started in 1922 by James Mc Kinsey, by decoding the story within the accountant’s ledger. This led to the beginning of a new industry – consulting. Companies were now ready to pay a hefty amount to someone from outside, who would tell what to do.

    The book captures the history of the firm, right from its humble beginnings in the 20’s to the present day in elaborate detail. Having said that, this is not just a company history book, it delves into the evolution of the consulting industry in general and its ways of working.

    The Book is full of anecdotes throwing light on the various engagements and the background role of McKinsey in many historic decisions. Like in the 1970’s, McKinsey was such a big item in Tanzania’s finances that Tanzania was paying the firm so much amount that it was a line item in the country’s budget. In spite of the huge expense, the tyrant ruler of the country (who had hired McKinsey’s services) ran the country into the ground. These and many such examples make it for quite a rich reading.

    McKinsey prides itself being behind the scenes, and has an unwritten rule – “Take no pride, but take no blame whatsoever”, absolving itself of any potential outcomes of its recommendations

    The McKinsey model is pretty straight – it sends in a team of super smart, well dressed, driven MBa’s (typically from Harvard) to understand the core of the problem. After a detailed fact collection exercise, the team does its analysis and comes up with its recommendations. (Gathering from the rich experience of working in similar companies with similar situations across industries)

    Now, these recommendations would probably be just what the company in question would have right in the beginning, but the McKinsey approval now gives it a complete legit turn and makes it much easier to drill down through various levels of the hierarchy.

    The book also deals with the controversies that have surrounded the Firm – right from the initial days of organizations restructuring where it implemented the same structure one company after another, to the latest scandal involving Rajat Gupta.

    The author Huff Mc Donald, has put in a lot of effort in reaching out to the various sources possible, and referred to countless works. Especially in dealing with such a firm, which prides in its secretive way of working?

    Overall, this Management book is a good read for anyone with an interest in to know the inside world of consulting and the origins of the company credited with establishing the industry.

  • 60 Minutes – Book Review

    About two years back, on my way Home for Diwali, I picked up a book, on sheer impulse, at the airport. I just could not resist the out-of-the-box name of the book and the interesting blurb behind the book. The book is 31 by Upendra Namburi.

    The latest book by the author, 60 minutes is in the same corporate Thriller/Drama genre and the setting this time over is FMCG, so I had to pick it up.

    The story primarily revolves around two seasoned corporate rivals – Agastya and Saliesh. How they take their professional rivalries to every realm of their lives – personal, romantic, financial, to settle scores, forms the crux of the story.

    The book touches upon multiple relevant subjects – competitive corporate dynamics, ruthless ambitions, day trading games, domestic violence and love.

    The entire episode occurs from 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM on what seems like a normal working day. The screenplay, interspersed with flashbacks, forms a compelling read.

    The blackberry messenger chats, game of chess and the constant flashing ticker of the stock market, makes one feel that the protagonist is unnecessarily complicating stuff. At the end it just ends up in confusion, making one wonder the real reason of the actions!

    Also, the detailing at many places felt like it could have been avoided. Also, the characters spend too much time in their own thoughts, motives and intentions, taking away from the main plot. The book has too many details, making the plot complex and boring at times.

    One interesting technique used by the author is the haiku at the beginning of each chapter. It pretty well tells you the core of what is in store. Example this,

    a battle turns to war
    we wash our dirty linen 
    with sweat and blood

    The narrative is pretty fast paced and it sometimes feels too unreal for so much action to be happening in so little time.

    Overall, a good read, more so for lack of options in this genre in Indian writing scene.

    Of course, this stands nowhere close to the first book by the author.