The Strategy Paradox: Why committing to success leads to failure (and what to do about it)

The Strategy Paradox: Why committing to success leads to failure by Michael E. Raynor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Someone needs to write an adaptation of this book for Entrepreneurs, or at least for people in business who don't work for Fortune 500 companies. The ideas are excellent and, as far as I know, not discussed in any other business book, but it would be great if they could be made more actionable for your average person (who doesn't respond to shareholders, have multiple departments under them, or can afford to allocate Microsoft-style resources to different strategies).

Some quotes I liked:

"If diversification efforts lower the performance of the firm overall, but the performance of each new business venture is still above the firm's average cost of capital, then diversification will 'create' value." (p. 161)

"...nothing big starts big, and tomorrow's whale is today's minnow. The problem is that most of today's minnows are tomorrow's meals, and knowing which is which remains a challenge." (p. 184)

"And when it comes to strategy and the long term, uncertainty is the only constant, and choosing options over commitment is the most reasonable response to that uncertainty." (p. 271)



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Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar: A Student's Guide to Correct Structures and Common Errors by Qin Xue Herzberg, Larry Herzberg

Basic Patterns of Chinese Grammar: A Student's Guide to Correct Structures and Common Errors by Qin Xue Herzberg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is excellent for someone who has already studied some Chinese, but likes having the main grammar rules clearly spelled out as a reference, which, incidentally, was exactly what I needed.

I was afraid I wouldn't be able to follow the simplified characters, since they usually confuse me, but the sentences were simple enough. I was also afraid that the "Bad Chinese" examples might stick with me more than the proper examples, but for the most part everything was very clear.


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A.D. 500: A Journey Through The Dark Isles Of Britain And Ireland by Simon Young

A.D. 500: A Journey Through The Dark Isles Of Britain And Ireland by Simon Young
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Still not sure if I liked the format or not. Written as a travelogue by Byzantine explorers in the 6th century. It made a lot of the information fresh and relatable, although I was often wishing to delve into more detail in terms of the the prevalence, veracity, etc. etc. of certain facts and occurrences. Anyway, still very interesting and entertaining.


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