Books – Page 16 – Mike Bostan – personal blog on book reviews and energy studies

Presentation Thinking and Design – Ed Gruwez

Published on June 3, 2016June 4, 2016 by mikebostanLeave a comment

It is also important to remember the principles of the working memory:

Ask for, and hold, your audience’s attention.

Make your message easy to understand by limiting its cognitive load.

Fix your message in your audience’s mind through repetition, stories and the use of sensory detail. (Presentation thinking and design)

How many times you cursed your days and the speaker for the most insipid, unreadable and tedious presentation that has ever seen the light of a projector?

There are so many tips floating around, just at the fingertips of an Internet research. Why do people do not read them, even the top 5?

Presentation design — Book cover, the inside full of notes

Ed Gruwez shows the basics of creating interesting and memorable presentations. While nothing the author presents is totally new, he puts forward a clear structure, where indeed, the message and the inner logic of the presentation is more important than the fluffy part.

The book comes also with a sum of examples and tips that help create better presentations, quicker. For example, would you delete a slide you worked for2 hours, despite the fact that brings only unrelated information? This is why is better to put the outline of the presentation first on paper, rather than jumping on creating the slides.

Ed (Edouard) Gruwez specializes in presentation thinking and design, and works as Managing Director of “Ogilvy Internal Communications”.

If you know you will do presentations in your lifetime, where you have to deliver a message, this book is helpful. It is easy to read and follow, and you can learn something useful after browsing it for only two minutes.

Duty – Robert Gates

Published on April 25, 2016June 4, 2016 by mikebostanLeave a comment

I concluded by saying that the SEALs in the room truly gave meaning to George Orwell’s observation that “people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”

[…]Lessons learned from the disaster in Iran in 1980 led to the creation of the Joint Special Operations Command and development of the training and equipment that undergirded the success at Abbottabad. In 1986, as deputy director in charge of analysis at CIA, I agreed to provide more than a dozen analysts to the new Counterterrorism Center in the clandestine service, an unprecedented and controversial assignment of analysts to help inform and plan counterterrorist operations. […] (Duty)

In a surprisingly open and detailed memoirs book, Robert Gates, the former U.S. Secretary of Defense, unveils his struggles and challenges while leading the U.S. Military in two wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama_and_Biden_await_updates_on_bin_Laden — Gates, on the left, during Operation Neptune Spear, that killed bin Laden.

The ex CIA Director reveals the strings between the Pentagon, the Congress, the White House and the Joint Chiefs, within two administrations, Bush 43 and Obama. A lengthy volume that hides candid comments and many gems of wisdom. A great read.

The Chimp Paradox – Steve Peters

Published on April 5, 2016May 19, 2016 by mikebostanLeave a comment

Whenever you want to stop the Chimp, always actively slow your thinking down. This will work in ALL situations. It is another excellent way to manage the Chimp (The Chimp Paradox).

The Chimp Paradox is a great book on human psychology, written with the intent to explain how the mind and the psychological processes work.

Dr. Steve Peters is a psychiatrist, particularly involved in sports. He worked with the British cycling team (14 medals at the Beijing Olympics, while Peters was mental coach), with the snooker champion Ronnie O’Sullivan (helping him win his 4th and 5th World Snooker titles), with the football club Liverpool F.C and with the England National Football Team.

The author talks about self-motivation, happiness, understanding and dealing with others. But most of all, the book is about patience. We all have a chimp inside, strong and taking childish decisions. The book teaches how to deal with our and others’ chimp, in a fascinating journey through human psychology.

The Uncharted Path – Lee Myung-Bak

Published on March 24, 2016May 16, 2016 by mikebostanLeave a comment

The Uncharted Path is the autobiography of the former CEO of Hyundai, mayor of Seoul and president of Korea, Lee Myung-Bak.

It is seems an almost unbelievable life trajectory, but he actually achieved all that. His career mirrors in a way the values and the success of South Korea.

A rag to riches story, a story of gratitude, optimism and self-sacrifice that shows the power of perseverance and hard work. A truly life inspiration and brilliant read.

Panzer Leader – Heinz Guderian

Published on March 16, 2016May 16, 2016 by mikebostanLeave a comment

Half memoirs, half military tactics, the book offers a glimpse into the mentality of Heinz Guderian, the brilliant tank general of the Nazi Germany.

Guderian shows how he developed and organized the Panzer corps, his campaigns during the Second World War and the key relations between Nazi party members. Very little is described of his personal life, the vast majority of the book being on his professional military career.

Bild 101I-139-1112-17 — General Guderian on the front

The general is revealed as an intelligent, professional soldier, doing his best in the given conditions. A pure tactician, he stayed away from the political intrigues, unlike Rommel, which maybe saved his safe.

The careful written book has a fast pace, the story of the war flows smoothly and the overall logic of the motivations seems to hold, making it a quick and enjoyable read, particularly for the war and history fans.

The 5th Wave – Rick Yancey

Published on February 28, 2016May 16, 2016 by mikebostanLeave a comment

Lately I am sliding towards sci-fi, so I quickly finished the first book of the Fifth Wave trilogy by Rick Yancey. Whilst I am not totally convinced to buy the rest, I liked the story, the plot twists, the protagonists. A bit focused towards adolescents, which I found an unnecessary addition to the overall believable and well-thought scenario.

Dreams from my father – Barack Obama

Published on February 27, 2016May 16, 2016 by mikebostanLeave a comment

As expected, the book reveals an illuminated mind, with an impressive vocabulary. Not much of an action-orientated story, it talks about his inner debates, quite brilliantly penned. I started the book in late 2009, from my old roommate, but it was worthy to pursue it for 6 long years. Not an easy read, but a read that makes you think.

The adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Arthur Conan Doyle

Published on August 25, 2014May 19, 2016 by mikebostanLeave a comment

I didn’t read the book in my childhood, so I read it recently. Interesting, but I read better ones, such as Monsieur Lecoq by Emile Gaboriau. Gaboriau had more depth.

The short stories didn’t allow characters to develop, although Holmes and Watson are in each of them. Also, the stories are more about mystery rather than dangerous crime.

Still, very fluid stories, smart plots, good dialogue. An interesting book.

No easy day – Mark Owen

Published on August 16, 2014May 16, 2016 by mikebostanLeave a comment

While there are many accounts and stories about the operation that killed Osama bin Laden, Mark Owen is the real deal. As one of the team leaders that assaulted the compound that night, he tells the story of how the SEAL Team Six killed their number one enemy.

The SEAL operative also describes how the men from one of the most elite units in the US military are constantly challenging themselves to the highest levels of mental and physical endurance.

The main skill they get after the gruesome training is knowing that they can break their own barriers, which makes them confident and balanced individuals. With those skills they can perform at maximum efficiency during combat, when split-second decisions must be made.

Those skills can be noticed when Owen describes the Captain Phillips Operation in the Indian Ocean (a movie starring Tom Hanks reconstructs that operation) and other missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The idea that transcends the book and gets to the reader is their mental toughness and ability to act under tremendous stress. It can motivate anyone who wants to push for their own personal desires, particularly in terms of fitness objectives.

I felt really pumped while reading the book and I realized that if you tear down the barriers that you have in your own mind, everything becomes possible.

It reminded me of another book of a SEAL operative “The Lone Survivor”. A SEAL in enemy territory and hunted by dozens of talibans, unable to move his legs due to a spine injury, drew a line in front of him with his knife and cross it time and time again until he got to a village. He drew that line just to push himself to cross it. And he made it, he survived.

Very important for me is that “No easy day” is the real account of the story, written by an eye-witness of the event. It involves no speculations or fantasies, nor is a product of imagination. Imagination is great, but life beats it.