Review: The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook

The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook by Ben Mezrich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Facebook is something most of us use and many of us barely remember a world before. I had read the story behind the founding of Twitter and enjoyed it, so picked up Ben Mezrich's retelling of the start of Facebook, hoping for more entertaining reading. I was not disappointed.

Not only does this read like a soap opera (and it's been made into a movie too), but it's a super quick, well written founder story that you won't want to put down. Really interesting view of how Facebook started, its other founders no one knows about, and what it took for it to become the platform that revolutionized how we socially interact.

Definitely recommend it, whether you usually read business books or not.

What Is Efficiency?

Efficiency and effectiveness are something we all know to aspire to, but have you ever stopped to think what the word "efficiency" really means? Or better yet, what does an efficient process look like?

If you've read my earlier posts on recharging, you know that I read and walk to recharge. I somehow managed to pull something in my right upper hamstring so walking has been a bit painful the last few days. And even as it's improved and I've forced myself to take walks, albeit more slowly and painfully, it's still been less efficient. 

After using "inefficient" to explain why the walk took more out of me, it got me thinking. Walking efficiently means that everything is in alignment and walking is the effortless motion it should be. It generally does not take a lot of effort for me to maintain a fast pace and pass most people since I've been speed walking for years. And since my muscles and body are generally so efficient at this, I can let my mind wander. That is why walking usually recharges me like few other activities will.

So if you extrapolate the above to a process or system at work, what would make it efficient? Basically, it would have to make sense, have seamless handoffs, not require much thought or work to get it to work, and free up time or mental bandwidth to take care of other activities. At the end of the day, efficiency has to make something work more smoothly, faster, or better to be truly "efficient."

Is that how you define efficiency? Do you have efficient processes?

Review: Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products

Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In a world with so much noise and so many options, everyone needs to understand what makes certain products and services catch on and others not. Nir Eyal explains this in his book Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products.

After much study, Nir formed his "Hook Model" to help founders and designers create better products and the book takes us through each stage, illustrated with great examples from modern companies. And since this type of mind-altering power can be used for ill, he's shared a matrix to help decide whether building a certain product is morally correct or not.

Even if you are not working on a product nor intend to do so, this book is worth reading to better understand why you're addicted to certain sites and/or products.

I highly recommend this informative and very readable book.

Review: Good Authority: How to Become the Leader Your Team Is Waiting for

Good Authority: How to Become the Leader Your Team Is Waiting for by Jonathan Raymond
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Leadership is a topic near to my heart and one I spend a lot of time reading, writing, thinking about, and discussing. Due to this it's rare when I come across a leadership book that has something really new and memorable to say, but Good Authority does that and more.

Jonathan Raymond, who has plenty of hands-on leadership experience himself, explains that to be the type of leader your team needs, you need to give them the room to find their own answers. Leaders who practice good authority lead with questions. They understand that their job is not to know all the answers or do all the work themselves; instead, their job is to support their team and guide them with the right questions, then get out of their way so that they can learn and grow.

Not only will this type of leadership help your team become their best selves, which in itself is a win-win, but this is also the only way that you can get fully engaged employees. And from my experience—both as a leader and as an employee—I know this to be true.

The book shares so many other great anecdotes and tips and is a must-read for any current leader/manager, or anyone aspiring to these roles.