Books reviewed by Raphael Badagliacca
Applied Minds: How Engineers Think
by Guru Madhavan (W.W. Norton & Company, 2015)
I was present at a compelling presentation by the author of this book before I read it. The presentation opened a conference put on by the Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives (CESSE) in a large room full of Ph. D.’s who were also Executive Directors of associations. Appropriately, the presenter (and author) had the first name Guru. This was a brainy affair.
Yet it was also concrete, down to earth, especially in how it moved across different branches of knowledge to express meaningful, self-evident points about what makes for success in any endeavor, including the management of an organization. The same is true of this book. The book’s central theme is that engineering is ubiquitous. The mark of its success is its virtual invisibility. It is defined by structure, constraints, and trade-offs – what the author calls “the one-two-three punch” of the engineering mindset. Time and money are two of its ever-present constraints.
Unlike more theoretical pursuits, engineering always has a goal, and its primary goal is optimization – the answer to the question “how can we continually make something better?”
Engineers apply modular systems thinking and achieve systems building. They look at things in different ways and take innovative approaches. They need to understand the totality and the interdependencies, which is precisely why this kind of thinking and building has so much to say to leaders of organizations.
Before I read this book I did not know that the zip in Zip Code stands for Zone Improvement Plan or how the creation of Zip Codes and Time Zones were engineering solutions to very real human problems, as much as the design of roads and management of traffic.
The author reminds us that being data driven is a requirement for optimization. This rings true for any association. But also, that being data driven is only one part of optimization. The other is understanding human needs which are often more complicated and not so discretely defined. Who would not agree?
When towards the end of the book the author tells us that we are all engineers in the way we design our destinies, we can’t help but be convinced. The same is true of the organizations where we spend our waking hours. It becomes our mandate to shape their futures, and it’s clear that to do it right we need an engineering mindset.
I can’t end this purposeful review without noting that there are many arresting insights and beautiful passages throughout this book, like the author’s choice to quote John Seabrook on the awe inspired by skyscrapers whose apparent freedom from gravity makes them not just tall, but effortlessly tall. Certainly an uplifting manifestation of how engineers think.
Everybody Writes: Your Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good
by Ann Handley (Wiley, 2014)
This book is a pep-talk and a manual, an encyclopedia, and a caring friend whispering in your ear.
The author wants you to remember that you are already a writer, because we all write. She wants you to concentrate on being the best writer you can be.
There is nothing special or inherent about being a writer, but being a good writer is certainly special, and in these pages she wants to show you how.
There are books that you read and put on the shelf, and then there are others that you keep close by on the desk, or on your hard drive, so that you can go back to them as the need arises. First the author persuades you that writing is a habit not an art, then she gives you in some 300 pages the spirit and guidelines for making it a good habit.
She quotes a business leader like Jeff Bezos about how writing your thoughts in complete sentences and paragraphs clarifies intentions and tests outcomes. This in itself explains why becoming a good writer goes a long way towards becoming a good leader of your organization.
The internet has made writing more important and more pervasive than ever. She doesn’t mind telling you how most of the content you come across falls short. Even before considering word and sentence choice, too often it violates the basic rule of empathy. To write well you must cultivate the habit of putting yourself in the mindset and shoes of the reader. She gives you this formula: every piece of good writing exhibits three qualities – utility, inspiration, and empathy. If even one of the three is missing, the result is inadequate. When I say this guide is encyclopedic that’s because you will find in it a range that extends from why we write and what good writing is right down to the level of usage do’s and don’ts and the ideal length of blog posts. Throughout, her position remains that writing well can be learned.
The result is and can be useful, beautiful, and strongly felt. “Don’t tell me the moon is shining,” she quotes Russian playwright and short-story writer Anton Chekhov. “Show me the glint of moon on broken glass.” .