Outliers: The story of success (Non-Fiction 304pg)

Outliers - The story of success

 -- By Malcolm Gladwell
(Score - 8.5/10)

In his indomitable style, the author argues that success is rarely about the way it is portrayed in biographies or on TV - which is that a driven individual self-made his destiny and riches. Success is more about how opportunities came by, the social setting, cultural heritage and of course, the ability of the individual to be motivated to take opportunities that come his or her way.

The story starts at a small town of Roseto (Pennsylvania, USA), inhabited exclusively by immigrants who originally came from a single small town in Italy. Almost no one in this town below the age of 65 had heart disease. This was surprising in the USA of the day, and a physician called Wolf started to dig in further to investigate. After ruling out diet, genetics, location and other such factors, Wolf realized that reason Roseto was an Outlier was because of Roseto itself. This was a town where the Rosetans visited each other, stopping to chat in the streets, cooking for one another, going to the same church and following an egalitarian approach where neither the wealthy flaunted their wealth, nor the poor were allowed to fail. Thus, not having heart diseases was nothing to do with the individual - it was about the culture of the place.

The author then moves to Canadian hockey league and proves that most players in the highest elite league were born between Jan-Mar. He goes on to show how the cut-off date of 1-Jan automatically biased the system to select kids who were born between Jan-Mar, since they were physically stronger than the others who were born later. Once selected for the league, these players then got extra training and extra practice, which ensured that they got to be the best. (It takes around 10000 hours of training to master any activity). The result was that even if the system was supposed to be meritocratic, in reality it was biased simply because of the cut-off date. This is the flaw of using an arbitrary cut-off date to determine merit selection. For example, if a school promotes kids to advanced classes based on the ability displayed as of a cut-off date, then invariable kids whose birth-date is closest to the cut-off date stand to gain an unfair advantage.

The author takes up various example, including how nationality of pilots is a good predictor of the probability of plane crashes. He explains this with a concept of PDR - Power Distance Ratio. In individualistic societies such as those of the West, PDR is low - i.e. subordinates are not afraid to present their points of views directly. In high PDR societies of the east, deference to authority is in-built in the culture. The implication is what in emergency situations, where the co-pilot of flight engineer should be clearly telling the Captain of any errors committed, the eastern culture people choose to give indirect hints rather than taking control - resulting in a higher probability of crashes.

The book also talks about the difference in parent styles between poor kids and rich kids. Whereas for poor kids, parents leave the kid to indulge in free play and make up games as they wish, the richer parents show a more direct involvement in the activities of the kid and make the kid aware of his or her entitlements. The result is that the kid is not afraid to ask questions of an authority, and take responsibility for his or her actions.

Finally, the author debunks the myth that Summer vacations are good or even essential. He does this by quoting a study where the California Aptitude Test CAT was administered to students at the start of the school term, at the end and then immediately after they came from Summer vacations. While there was not much difference in the scores at the start and end of the term between poor and rich kids, the rich kids clearly outscored the poor kids in tests when they returned from Summer vacations.This clearly shows that the rich kids kept learning even during summer vacations, possibly because their parents involved themselves much more in the learning process. The author points out that US Schooling has 180 days of school in a year, while Japanese schooling has 230+ days, allowing them to cover more and cover it at a leisurely pace, so that no kid is left behind - thus sustaining the kids interest in the studies. 

Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy (Fiction 1485pg)

Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy
 – Fifty Shades of Grey (514 pg)
 – Fifty Shades Darker (393 pg)
 – Fifty Shades Freed (578 pg)
      - E L James
(Score: 7/10, 6/10, 8/10 for the three books in that order. I especially loved the last section of the last book, which went back to the beginning, and presented the story from another character's perspective. That finish was a flourish!)

Drive (Non-Fiction 272pg)

Drive - The surprising truth about what motivates us

 -- By Daniel H Pink
(Score 9/10)

When it comes to motivation, there is a gap between what science knows and what business does. out current business operating system - which is built around external, carrot-and-stick motivators - doesn't work and often does harm. 

Here are examples - or rather social experiments - which prove this. 

1) Rewards kill intrinsic motivation: Three researchers (in 1978) watched a classroom for several days and identified children who chose to spend their free-play time in drawing. They they fashioned an experiment to test the effect of rewarding an activity these children clearly enjoyed. They divided the children in 3 groups - the first was "expected rewards" group which was shown a "Good Player" certificate and asked if the child wanted to draw in order to receive the award. The second group was the unexpected-award group. Researchers asked these children simply if they wanted to draw. If they decided to, when the session ended, the researchers handed each child one of the "Good Player" certificates. The third group was a no-award group. Researchers asked these children if they wanted to draw, but neither promised them a certificate at the beginning, nor gave them one at the end. 

Two weeks later, back in the classroom, teachers set out paper and markers during the preschool's free play period while the researchers secretly observed the students. Children previously in the "unexpected-award" and "no-award" groups drew just as much, and with the same relish, as they had before the experiment. But children in the first group - the ones who'd expected and then received an award - showed much less interest and spent much less time drawing. Clearly, just in two weeks, those alluring prizes, so common in classrooms and cubicles, had turned play into work. 

2) Punishments kill intrinsic motivation: In 2000, researchers studied a group of childcare facilities in Haifa, Israel for 20 weeks. The centres opened at 7:30 AM and closed at 4:00 PM. Parents had to retrieve their children by closing time, or a teacher would have to stay late.

During the first four weeks of the experiment  the economists noted how many parents arrived late each week. Then, before the fifth week, with the permission of the day care centres, they posted a sign which effectively laid down a fine of around 3 USD per child every time a child is collected after 4:10 PM. 

The theory underlying the fine was straight forward - when negative consequences are imposed on a behaviour  they will produce a reduction of that particular response. 

But that's not what happened. After the introduction of fines, there was a steady INCREASE in the number of parents coming late. The rate finally settled, at a level that was higher and almost TWICE as large as the initial one. 

One reason most parents showed up on time is that they had a relationship with teachers - who, after all, were caring for their precious little ones - and wanted to treat them fairly. Parents had an intrinsic desire to be scrupulous about punctuality. But the threat of fine edged out this intrinsic drive. 

We need an upgrade from Motivation 2.0. And the science shows the way. This new approach has three essential elements - 

1) Autonomy - the desire to direct our own lives. 

2) Mastery - the urge to get better and better at something that matters; and

3) Purpose - the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves.

1) Autonomy: Our "default setting" is to be autonomous and self-directed. Unfortunately, circumstances - including outdated notions of "management" - often conspire to change that default setting and turn us from Type I to Type X. To encourage Type I behaviour, and high performance it enables, the first requirement is autonomy. People need autonomy over task (what they do), time (when they do it, team (who they do it with), and technique (how they do it). Companies that offer autonomy, sometimes in radical doses, are outperforming their competitors. 

2) Mastery: While Motivation 2.0 required compliance, Motivation 3.0 demands engagement. Only engagement can produce mastery - becoming better at something that matters. And the pursuit of mastery, an important but often dormant part of our third drive, has become essential to making one's way in the economy. Mastery begins with "flow" - optimal experiences when the challenges we face are exquisitely matched to our abilities. Smart workplaces therefore supplement day-to-day activities with "Goldilocks tasks" - not too hard and not too easy. But mastery also abides by three peculiar rules. Mastery is a mindset: It requires capacity to see your abilities as not as finite, but as infinitely improvable. Master is a pain: It demands effort, grit, and deliberate practice. And mastery is an asymptote: It's impossible to fully realize, which makes it simultaneously frustrating and alluring. 

3) Purpose: Humans, by their nature, seek purpose - a cause greater and more enduring than themselves. But traditional businesses have long considered purpose ornamental - a perfectly nice accessory, so long as it didn't get in the way of the important things. But that's changing - thanks in part to the rising tide of ageing baby boomers reckoning with their own mortality. In Motivation 3.0, purpose maximization is taking its place alongside profit maximization as an aspiration and a guiding principle. Within organizations, this new "purpose motive" is expressing itself in three ways: in goals that use profit to reach purpose; in words that emphasize more than self-interest; and in policies that allow people to pursue purpose on their own terms. This move to accompany profit maximization with purpose maximization has the potential to rejuvenate our businesses and remake our world.

So "if-then" rewards do not really work, except in rare cases where the task does not require right brain thinking is a specific short task towards reaching a specific (mostly physical) goal. Rather, replace the "if-then" awards with "now-that" awards at times. Now-that you have achieved going to the gym for one week, here is a little massage for you. Now-that you have finished your grade 2, here is a bike for you.

Type I for Parents and Educators: Nine Ideas for helping our kids:
Schools are re-doubling their efforts on routines, right answers, and standardization. And they're hauling out a wagon full of "if then" rewards - pizza for reading books, iPods for showing up to the class, cash for good test scores. We're bribing students into compliance instead of challenging them into engagement. Here are some ways to get away from this and move towards Motivation 3.0:

1) Is the homework today stealing time from kids in the service of a false sense of rigour? Apply a 3 part test before doling out any homework:
  > Do students have autonomy over how and when to do this work?
  > Does the assignment promote mastery by offering a novel, engaging task, as opposed to rote reformulation of something already covered in class?
 > Do students understand the purpose of the assignment? Can they see how doing this additional activity at home contributes to the larger enterprise in which the class is engaged?
Let's not waste time on meaningless activities. Let's turn homework into homelearning.

2) Have a FEDEX day: Like Atlassian does, set aside an entire day and ask kids to come up with a problem to solve or a project to tackle. In advance, help them collect the tools, information and supplies they need. Then let them have a go at it. The next morning, ask them to deliver - by reporting back to their class or family on their discoveries and experiences.

3) Try DIY report cards: Too many students walk through the school door with one thing on mind - to get better grades. And all too often, the best way to reach this goal is to get on with the program, avoid risks and serve the answers that the teacher wants. Good grades become a reward for compliance, but have little to do with actual learning. Meanwhile, students whose grades do not measure up often see themselves as failures and give up trying to learn. Type I learning is different. Report cards are not a potential prize, but a way to offer students useful feedback. So try experimenting with a DIY reportcard. At the beginning of the term, ask students to set their own goals and at the end, they can record in their own report cards what they have achieved, the areas in which they have succeeded and where did they fall short. Once students have completed their card, they can compare their's with the teacher's card - and any differences can serve as the starting point of conversation on how they can proceed on their path to mastery.

4) Give your kids an allowance and some chores, but do not combine them. By linking money to completion of chores, parents turn the allowance into an "if-then" reward. This sends the message that the chore in itself is not worth it, unless accompanied by the reward. Going down this route would mean that the quantum of rewards expected would keep increasing in order to get the same level of motivation to do the chore. The intrinsic message of doing a chore - which is that 'we are a family, and we need to help one another out' - is completely lost when adopting the rewards approach.

5) Offer praise, the right way:
> Praise Effort and Strategy, not Intelligence: Children who are praised for "being smart" often believe that every encounter is a test of whether they really are. So to avoid looking dumb, they resist new challenges and choose the easiest path. By contrast, kids who understand that effort and hard work lead to mastery and growth are more willing to take on new, difficult tasks.
> Make praise specific: Parents and teachers should give kids useful information about their performance. Instead of bathing them in generalities, tell them specifically what they have done which is noteworthy.
> Praise in private: Praise is a feedback, not an award ceremony. That is why it is best to do it one-on-one and in private.
> Offer praise only when there is good reason to do it: Don't kid a kid. He can see through fake praise in a nanosecond. Be sincere - or keep quiet. Overpraising becomes an "if-then" award, that makes earning praise, rather than moving to mastery, the objective.

6) Help kids see the big picture: In education systems that are tilted towards standardized tests and grades and if-then rewards, children often have no idea of why they're doing what they're doing. Turn that around by helping them glimpse the big-picture. Whatever they are studying, be sure they can answer this - Why am I learning this? How relevant is this to the world I live in now? Then get out of the classroom and apply what they are learning. If they are studying Spanish, take them to a Spanish Community Centre or Spanish film ... or even Spain. If they are learning Geometry, ask them to draw an extension to the house.

7) Check out these 5 Type I schools:
> Big Picture Learning - www.bigpicture.org
> Sudbury Valley School - www.sudval.org
> The Tinkering School - See "Five Dangerous Things you should let your Children do" which is Tulley's TED talk from 2007. www.tinkeringschool.com
> Puget Sound Community School - www.pscs.org
> Montessori Schools - www.montessori-ami.org, www.montessori.org, www.amshq.org, www.whywaldorfworks.org.

8) Take a class from unschoolers: The home school movement promotes autonomy by allowing youngsters to decide what they learn and how they learn it. They encourage mastery by allowing children to spend as as long as they'd like and to go as deep as they desire on the topics that interest them. Even if homeschooling is not for you, you can learn a thing or two from John Taylor Gatto's extraordinary book, Dumbing us Down. Take a look at Home Education Magazine and its website. www.homeedmag.com, www.unschooling.com and www.sandratodd.com/unschooling.

The Hunger Games triology (Fiction 1165pg)

The Hunger Games triology

 – The Hunger Games (384 pg)

 – Catching Fire (391 pg)

 – Mockingjay (390 pg)

      - Suzanne Collins

(Score: 8.5/10, 8/10, 7/10 for the three books in that order. A post apocalyptic world, written as a feature film script from the word go. While the first of the series of the trilogy could be read independently, the later two books definitely need the previous book as mandated reading. Easy print, quick read thriller).

The Capitalism Delusion (Non-Fiction 312pg)

The Capitalism Delusion – How Global Economics Wrecked Everything and What To Do About It

      - Bob Ellis
(Score: 9/10. A must read for every person who believes in socialism or is trying to understand socialism. This book could as well have been the manifesto for "Occupy Wall Street" movement. The book is presented in 350 odd arguments and with powerful arguments and examples, it is difficult not to hate the manipulative ways of big corporations and question how the Governments are supporting the corporations at the expense of a vast majority).

A Fine Balance & Tales from Firozsha Baag (Fiction 874pg)

A Fine Balance (624 pg)
Tales from Firozsha Baag (250 pg)
      - Rohinton Mistry (A Fine Balance was in the running for Bookers Prize)
(Score: 9/10 for first and 8.5/10 for later books. Finely captured threads of life and amazing description. Lovely reads. Personally, I liked A Fine Balance better).

Here, I have listed words that are at the edge of my conscious vocabulary. My attempt below is to cement the place of these words in mainstream speech.

Obdurate - adjective - adamant, heartless, stubborn
      And if he doesn't regret it, and remains obdurate, we shall just have to kill him.
      The chairman said ' you're a very obdurate young man ' .

Sumptuary -adjective - Relating to expense; regulating expense or expenditure; sumptuary laws or regulations, are those intended to restrain or limit the expenditure of citizens in apparel, food, furniture, etc.; laws which regulate the prices of commodities and the wages of labor; laws which forbid or restrict the use of certain articles, as of luxurious apparel.
      Sumptuary law
      Sumptuary regulation issued by the government.

Desultariness -
Resplendence
Mein
Vituperation
Stolidity
Melancholy
Awning
Curmudgeon
Regurgitate
Tenacious
Sobriquet
Fecund
Squalid
Inured
Melancholy
Incipient
Prim
Dour (faced)
Eschew
Stoically
Repudiate
Cherubic (features)
Stolidly
Coign of vantage
Prance
Bounden (responsibility)
Vituperation
Stridulent paean
(Divine) Afflatus
Insouciantly
Cloistered (life)
Partirution
Precocious
Bulbous
Facetiously
Incommodious
Tremelous
Hackneyed
Genuflect
Pariah
Taciturnity
Bristled
Flopped
Craw
Sere
Pocked
Hoeful
Indignantly
Transmuted
Forage
Supplication
Scrawny
Peplum
Simian
Scourge
Salve
Lacerations
Suppurating
Glabrous
Figurines
Loquacious
Avuncular
Burlesque
Levity
Pullate
Rancid
Timorous
Masticating
Peregrination
Burlap
Swagger
Languidly
Deign
Snicker
Lesions
Wistful
Coped
Bier
Surreptitious
Veneration
Cadevars
Reverie
Morose
Morbid
Temerity
Fetor
Cudgel
Coiffures
Abnegation
Mirthlessly
Daub
Rind
Regurgitate
Gaunt
Languidly
Flotsam
Putrid
Scrimmage
Rancour
Manacled
Trite
Saurian
Obsequious
Panegyric

What should I do with my life?

What should I do with my life?

- Po Bronson (490 pages, read in Nov 2005)

(Score: 8/10)

·         A calling is not something you know. It’s something you grow into, through trials and mistakes. Work shouldn’t just be fun. Work should be like life – sometimes fun, sometimes moving and defined by meaningful events. Attack your fears rather than shy away from them. Bring what you do in alignment with who you are. Freedom is the confidence that you can live within the means of something you are passionate about. Failure’s hard, but success at the wrong thing can lock you forever. Don’t be seduced by artificial love. Be open to defining experiences. Don’t mistake intensity for passion. You don’t find your purpose above the neck, you find it below the neck, when you are transformed by what you have witnessed. You can get good at what you need to serve, what you believe in. get your mind 80% of the way there, then go looking for the catalyst. Look backward as much as forward, inward as much as outward. Nothing helps like knowing you are not alone. There’s a powerful transformative effect when you surround yourself with like minded people. Create an environment where the truth is invited into your life. If you develop the character, the odds are pretty good you can succeed. Success is defined as when you are no longer held back by your heart, your character blossoms and the gifts you have to offer to the world are apparent. Don’t cling to a single scenario, allow yourself many paths to the same destination. Give it a lifetime to pay off. Things you work hardest for are the things you treasure the most.