The Design of business

Following on from the Opposable Mind, I checked out another book by Roger Martin called The Design of business.

I loved this book. It’s a great addition to the Opposable Mind and it felt to me like an extension of it too. The knowledge funnel particularly stuck with me and it was probably the most valuable thing I took away from the book. I apply it to everything I do now, so that I can try to get a better understanding of where I sit within the bigger picture.

The Knowledge Funnel

Roger Martin argues that when it comes to understanding something, it can be broken into three sections (with the exception of a few areas).

Mystery - Heuristic - Algorithm

Mystery - Why do leave and apples fall at different rates?

Heuristic - Gravity!

Algorithm - Newtons law of universal gravity.

The book mentions that the likes of McDonalds have everything down to an algorithm, from how to interview people through to how long you should cook a burger for. However, the likes of law firms dealing with complex cases cannot simply apply an algorithm to every case. They may use a heuristic to loosely deal with the given situation, but they will need to address each case as a highly unique and individual scenario.

The book does focus on a lot of business, but I don't think anyone should let that put them off. I feel that you can easily apply the concepts in this book to everyday life. Saying that however, there is an amazing section on reliability Vs Validity.

Reliability Vs Validity

“Reliability aims to produce consistent, predictable outcomes, Validity aims to produce outcomes that meet a desired objective.”

Roger Martin - The Design of Business.

The book discusses that in order for a company to remain successful and innovative they need to find a balance between the two, but it also says that the two are inherently incompatible.

Validity is uncertain, you can't give it a budget because no one knows how long it will take to develop something from a mystery into a heuristic, or from a heuristic into an algorithm. The negative side of this is that if a company sticks only to what is reliable, there is a good chance that they will stagnate and a competitor will release a more innovative product, making their own obsolete.

Final Words

This book is excellent and I advise everyone to read it. However, I strongly suggest reading The Opposable Mind first and then going on to The Design of Business.

Let me know what you think and if you know of any similar books, please comment below and tell me about them.

If you like what you've read so far, or would like more details on the book, you can head over to Amazon for a closer look.

Phil.

THE OPPOSABLE MIND: WINNING THROUGH INTEGRATIVE THINKING

This book is amazing! buy it now and thank me later.

This is easily one of the best and most important books I have ever read. It has actually changed how I think, and how I think about how I think.

The book focuses on something called integrative thinking, which is the ability to hold two opposing ideas and, rather than choosing one, you generate a new idea that contains positive elements from each of the opposing ideas into something superior.

“The ability to face constructively the tension of opposing ideas and, instead of choosing one at the expense of the other, generate a creative resolution of the tension in the form of a new idea that contains elements of the opposing ideas but superior to each”

Roger Martin - The Opposable Mind.

Reality Models

One of the key topics in this book that stuck with me was the discussion on reality models. This is the idea that each individual has a different view on reality, which is turn is differs in varying degrees to reality itself. This is how people develop opinions and why I think two people can watch the same discussion and come away with differing opinions

I’m fascinated by how people see reality around them and this section was very insightful. I really think this is something that everyone should read in order to try and get a better understanding of the idea. I truly think that this would be great in helping people to understand opposing points of view and even aiding people towards becoming a more understanding and knowledgable person.

Final Words

I could talk about this book all day, but I want to keep these posts relatively short and easy to digest. So, I strongly recommend that you get yourself a copy of this book and check it out. I would also be more than happy to hear about any similar books, so if you have any recommendations of your own, please leave a comment below.

If you like what I have had to say about this book you can head on over to Amazon and get a closer look.

Phil.

The Art of War

When I started reading Sun Tzu's The Art of War it was out of personal curiosity, but I soon realised that it was actually very relevant.

Although the book focuses on the topic war, its main areas focus on discipline, strategy and opportunity, which I think are relevant to any line of work or discipline. It has lots of meaningful analogies and advice that I'm sure anyone can take away valuable meaning.

Some of the chapters are a little dry, but that's inevitable in any book. I highly advise battling through them if you do give it a go and I'm sure you'll be thankful of it by the time you finish.

I got this book for free on the iBooksstore which was a great wee surprise when I went looking for it and I think that's more than enough incentive to want to go check it out. You've got nothing to lose.

Phil.

To the first of many...

Like many people, I myself love to read and I can never get enough of it. So, I thought it would be a good idea to create blog about all the books that I've read and in turn I hope to receive simliar recommendations.

Hopefully this will be the first of many blog posts!

Phil.