Category: Innovation

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Latest Read: The Culture Code

The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups
by Daniel Coyle. Daniel is the author of The Talent Code, a New York Times bestseller and a contributing editor for Outside Magazine. He has certainly written an insightful book that easily holds your attention around building successful groups.

The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups

This is unique because his lessons flow beyond the common idea that ‘groups’ are only within a workplace. On the other hand, it would be a mistake to narrow your view of this book to just the workplace. Daniel delivers impactful lessons for community, academic, and volunteer groups. Almost anyone gathering with others for a common cause can benefit.

The Culture Code is direct in establishing the key building block to group success. Hence, a dedicated, honest, and holistic leadership is key. Moreover, this type of leader allows individuals to feel safe and grow to become loyal to their group’s mission.

Daniel writes an intriguing story in Chapter 4: How to Build Belonging around a group of highly dedicated and successful jewelry thieves. As you can see, this is somewhat weird at first glance. Yet, so committed to this group, each member of this criminal gang selflessly went to prison rather than rat out any member of their group. In fact, this group actually developed plans to free anyone in their group arrested….by actually breaking to the prison. Wow.

Daniel provides many examples of successful groups. There are a number of lessons from military groups focusing on war. While all Americans can identify to the group that killed Bin Laden, military culture is very elite. In comparison, this may be a bit distant for everyday groups striving to succeed.

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Cloud Design Education Google Innovation Reading Technology

Latest Read: Coders

Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World by Clive Thompson. Clive writes for the New York Times Magazine, Wired, and The Smithsonian. This book is in fact, a very comprehensive review of computer programming.

Coders: The Making of a New Tribe and the Remaking of the World by Clive Thompson

In addition to tracing historical developments, Clive is addressing the origins of computer programming, artificial intelligence, and college computer science programs, and concludes with new coding companies that have entered the market including the Flatiron School.

However, Clive provides an honest and deep analysis about how programmers live, including the evolving demands required to succeed long term. Coding is not an easy career choice.

For this reason, it is challenging for women and minorities to land full time coder jobs. At the same time, everyone not attending a handful of elite universities to study computer engineering (Stanford, MIT, or Harvard) career opportunities at top flight companies remain challenging.

Yet for today’s gig economy worker, this book is an especially worthy read. Parents working will gain a better understanding of potential career paths for their children. Above all, if you have a daughter, Coders is mandatory reading. While his opening chapters reinforced the key role woman held in the launch of computing machines, it is now an uphill battle.

The Software Update That Changed Reality

Clive begins Chapter 1 The Software Update That Changed Reality with Facebook’s Ruchi Sanghvi authoring their initial newsfeed feature. There is a good view of how Ruchi faced challenges as a woman at Facebook. She then left to start Cove, later acquired by Dropbox.

Many will also appreciate the origin of ‘Hello World’ and to learn exactly what is a “bug” in software and the precision required that makes software execute flawlessly. This is a good chapter for any non-programmer parent.

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Artificial Intelligence Education Innovation Reading Technology TED

Latest Read: Hello World

Hello World: Being Human in the Age of Algorithms by Hannah Fry, Today Hannah is a senior lecturer at University College London’s Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis.

Hello World Being Human in the Age of Algorithms by Hannah Fry

Generally speaking, Hannah has written a wonderful book addressing algorithms and artificial intelligence. Society has certainly fallen behind the moral implications of algorithms and Hannah speaks truth to power.

Above all, do not let the idea of learning about algorithms, artificial intelligence, or machine learning intimate you. Hannah explains all of these terms with easy to understand examples. This is why her book is popular and well regarded.

I really appreciate how Hannah is addressing algorithm technology across the following chapters: Power, Data, Justice, Medicine, Cars, and Crime. However, I will save her best lesson for last.

Machines that see

So, Hannah reveals artificial intelligence allows a computer to identify dogs. Once a computer has identify over one million dog photos, artificial intelligence can identify dogs like an expert.

Yet, when applying this to breast cancer diagnosis the magic of machine learning can truly shine. Feed a computer millions images of breast cancer tissue images and a local doctor at a small community hospital in remote Iowa can tap into machine learning to help diagnose with a better degree of accuracy once only for a doctor with 20 years of breast cancer diagnosis at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

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Education Innovation Reading

Latest Read: Think Again

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know by Adam Grant. A wonderfully interesting book that promotes all the benefits of doubt. Yes, call it re-thinking. Actually, call it why we refuse to change and the negative results that arise.

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Knowby Adam Grant

Adam accurately states: The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club. At the same time, in today’s charged political landscape I had a number of good laughs.

Accordingly, Adams message is that easy access to web-based articles or videos written by anyone on any topic, we believe that we can become subject matter experts in two minutes.

This has disastrous consequences. Yet, Adam reveals how we can overcome this flaw by developing habits that force us all to embrace the challenge to our beliefs and change them when necessary.

Chapter 4’s Fight Club addressing Brad Bird’s role at Pixar is a worthy example of how teams can alter accepted skillsets to create award winning animation. You will learn how The Incredibles forced Brad to work with his “Pirate team” and still succeeded wildly. You can learn about changing long held beliefs.

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Education Innovation Reading

Latest Read: The Leading Brain

The Leading Brain: Neuroscience Hacks to Work Smarter, Better, Happier by Neuropsychologist Friederike Fabritius and leadership expert Dr. Hans Hagemann.

The Leading Brain

They collaborate combining expertise in both neuropsychology and management consulting to present a series of powerful brain strategies for organizations and individuals to gain peak performance.

I was very impressed with this book. There is much to learn about recent neuroscience technology revolutionizing our understanding of the human brain. There are certainly a lot of business books addressing peak performance. Most seemingly appear to be based upon well intentioned goal setting and had limited access to scientific data to support their theories how organizations can thrive.

However this book reveals how science and recent technology advances can now enhance the following brain abilities: Sharpening focus, Achieving the highest performance, Learning and retaining information more efficiently, Improving complex decision-making, Cultivating trust and building strong teams.

Light touch of science

Everyone will certainly discover a unique introduction to dopamine, acetylcholine, and noradrenaline. But worry not there is no test, only learning about how technology advancements in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machines can now identify specific brain conditions due to understanding of quantum physics that impact performance. Seemingly legacy approaches were simply well intentioned wild guessing.

With this new understanding of how the brain behaves during various workplace scenarios and stress levels we see examples. The first chapter story of how US Astronaut Gordon Cooper handled stress (gentle reminder he fell asleep in the capsule) of the Mercury Atlas 9 during several delays prior to launch.

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