andreweverett360 Book Review, Writing

On Writing Well


On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction
by William Zinsser (1922-2015)

William Zinsser taught nonfiction writing at Yale and he was editor of Book-of-the-Month Club. In a nutshell, the message is that good writing is clear, simple, and unpretentious. My father gave me a copy of the third edition of this book when I graduated from high school in the 1980s. While recently rereading it I was amused by Zinsser’s description of a new invention called a word processor—almost like someone describing their car as a horseless carriage. But otherwise the book stands up to the test of time (and there’s a newer edition available).

Continue reading “On Writing Well” →
andreweverett360 Book Review, Management

The Fifth Discipline


The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization
by Peter M. Senge

Senge writes, “I believe that, the prevailing system of management is, at its core, dedicated to mediocrity. It forces people to work harder and harder to compensate for failing to tap the spirit and collective intelligence that characterizes working together at their best.”

The subtitle is about the learning organization, but the book is also very much about systems thinking. 

Continue reading “The Fifth Discipline” →
andreweverett360 Book Review, General

WBCN and the American Revolution


WBCN and the American Revolution: How a Radio Station Defined Politics, Counterculture, and Rock and Roll
by Bill Lichtenstein  

WBCN was a Boston rock and roll radio station from 1968 to 2009. It was instrumental (pun intended) in launching the careers of major bands. It was also part of the social fabric of the Boston college scene. This book and a companion video documentary tell the story of the early years of the station in the context of the era.

Continue reading “WBCN and the American Revolution” →
andreweverett360 Book Review, risk

Risk Savvy: How to Make Good Decisions


Risk Savvy: How to Make Good Decisions
by Gerd Gigerenzer

Gigerenzer makes a distinction between risk and uncertainty. He uses the term risk “for a world where all alternatives, consequences, and probabilities are known… Most of the time, however, we live in a changing world where some of these are unknown: where we face unknown risks, or uncertainty. The world of uncertainty is huge compared to that of risk… We have to deal with ‘unknown unknowns.’”

Continue reading “Risk Savvy: How to Make Good Decisions” →
andreweverett360 Book Review, Management

Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works


Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works
by A.G. Lafley and Roger L. Martin

Former P&G chairman A.G. Lafley and former dean of University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management Roger Martin explain, “in our terms, a strategy is a coordinated and integrated set of five choices: a winning aspiration, where to play, how to win, core capabilities, and management systems.” 

Continue reading “Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works” →
andreweverett360 Art, Book Review

How I Paint


How I Paint: Secrets of a Sunday Painter
by Thomas S. Buechner (1926-2010)

Paintings by Thomas Buechner hang in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. This book is primarily about technique, featuring dozens of the author’s still lifes, landscapes, portraits, and figures along with commentary about the process. “One purpose of this book is to make looking at pictures, at the surface of the original work, a source of insight and pleasure.”

Continue reading “How I Paint” →
andreweverett360 Book Review, Finance

How Finance Works


How Finance Works: The HBR Guide to Thinking Smart About the Numbers
by Mihir A. Desai

This is an outstanding book which presents some complicated topics in a clear, well-organized manner with real-world examples. The author, a professor of finance and taxation at Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School, includes some sidebar commentary from two CFOs, an investment banker, and a hedge fund manager.

Continue reading “How Finance Works” →
andreweverett360 Book Review, Humor

Does It Fart?


Does It Fart? The Definitive Field Guide to Animal Flatulence
by Nick Caruso and Dani Rabaiotti, Illustrated by Ethan Kocak 

This book is about “flatology, or the study of flatulence.” The authors are postdoctoral researchers with expertise in ecology and zoology, although they note that their life’s work is not dedicated to fart science. The book features 80 animals, each with one page of engrossing (or just gross) facts about their digestive process, including whether or not they fart.  For example…

Continue reading “Does It Fart?” →