3-line books — What not to read this summer?
Some authors are great at publishing 300 pages books that can be synthesized in 3 lines. It makes sense: would you pay $18 for 3 lines? I would not. And I would probably not consider a 3-line author an academic. At best, I may remember the guy as a great punchliner.
Thus, why not write 300 pages around the 3 lines? It builds academic credibility. It opens the door to the speaker business. You may even hit rich if the book is a success. It does make a lot of sense! Except maybe for the reader. Who wants to spend 6 hours reading through 300 pages they will not remember?
I read many of these books. Sometimes a few dozen of the pages are useful to really grasp the idea. But after a few days, nothing much sticks out of the 3 lines. I often forget the content because its depth is lost on me. It seems academics published their thesis in extenso. This Time Is Different is a good example. It is an amazing piece of work. But I actually do not want to read it in full. Sometimes, I forget the content because it is a tat shallow. Read through Start With Why and you may feel the author is a better speaker than writer. And half the book is actually off the topic. By the way, why does everyone always quote Apple, GE, GM, Kennedy and Dr King? Are there really only 50 companies and 20 leaders worth speaking about in the world? Or might everybody have the same ghostwriter?
Anyway, I must admit the 3-line version is often brillant. I do remember the 3 lines. Thus, here is a list of my favorite 3-liners. All these books are great masterpieces worth knowing and understanding. You may even want to read them to dig deeper. Please do if you can. There is much more in them than what follows. The 3-line synthesis is only what my limited mind chose to remember.
Thinking, fast and slow, by Kahneman. We have two brain roads: one fast and one slow. Most of the time we think fast. When we drive for instance. Our mind makes decisions without us really noticing. And it is great. Sometimes, we think slow. When we ponder a tough choice for a long time, make analyses, and ask for advice. We could not think slow all the time. It would not work. Our biggest mistakes come from thinking fast when we should think slow. Thus, think twice at when you should think how.
The long tail, by Anderson. Internet provides instant or nearly instant access to almost anything. Before, you could have a business being the best available option in a given place at a given time. Now, you have to be perceived as best than anything else one can think of. This new paradigm will benefit a long tail of very niche offers, that are suddenly available to people who could not access it before. It will benefit the best products, that can now reach everyone anytime. It will benefit the most mainstream products, as they are top of mind and human beings need a common culture. But it will bring down everything that was not great. Anything that used to be only better than available competition is in trouble. How does your busines rank on the tail?
The black swan, by Taleb. People and businesses seem surprised when disasters hit them. They go around claiming it was so unlikely and so unpredictable. Who could have thought of it? But if you take a long term view, unlikely events actually happen very regularly. It is extremely predictable that an unlikely event will happen. They always happen! The author call them black swans. They are rare but they do happen regularly. So, are you ready for the next black swan? Or will you or your business be part of the next extinction wave?
Antifragile, by Taleb. Rigidity is fragility. And messy is good. Sytems that are too perfect lack adaptability. When the black swan comes, they will collapse. Systems that are suboptimal take into into account the possibility of the unexpected. Come a suprise, they will adapt. The surprise is just one additional event in their messy balance. How perfect is your environment? Should you build some robustness through a touch of imprefection?
This time is different, by Reinhardt and Rogodd. Historically, governments never repay their debts. Why should they when they have an army? Most of them do not blatantly default. It would lack elegance. They may pay with newly printed money. They may devalue progressively or abruptly. Or they may grasp a polically acceptable occasion to write it off. On average, all governments in the world default once every fourty years. Remember: why on earth should you pay your debts when you have an army?
Start with why, by Sinek. Great leaders communicate a mission to people around them. We follow these leaders because they touch a deeper sense of belonging and are able to link their acts with a cause that resonate. It is not the what. It is not the how. It is the why. Next time you want to motivate people, focus on why they should listen to you and follow you. Start your speech with why, the move to how, and finally what. All the rest will follow.
Why nations fail, by Acemoglu and Robinson. Human organizations can be extractive or inclusive. Extractive organizations are typically dictatorships. A mall elite organizes society so that it is at their service. Extractive groups can do overall well and achieve great things. Nevertheless they will never be at full potential and are bound to collapse sooner or later. They leave way too many talents on the side of the road. Only inclusive organizations can blossom at full potential and hope to last. They aim at educating everyone and make the most of each individual in a free, open and fluid environment. If you can, strive to create inclusive groups of individuals, they are stronger.
Blue ocean strategy, by Kim and Mauborgne. Some markets are red oceans. There are fishes everywhere competing for the available food. Should you go there and join the party? Sure, there is a lot of food. There are also a lot of people: it will be a tough world. Or should you strive at creating your own market and differentiate enough so that you are not in a competition anymore? These are the blue oceans. Spaces where food is abundant and competition is non-existent. Think twice before jumping in a red ocean, and try to find a blue one.
Future babble, by Gardner. When we wonder how the future will unfold, we love to hear experts who talk with a strong assertive voice. They sound reassuring and save us from the hassle of thinking. But a hundred of years of academic research about predicting the future, shows that experts who are sure about their stuff are nearly always wrong. They are stubborn hedgehogs resisting other points of view. And there are more than one possible future. We dislike experts who ponder probabilities, admit uncertainties, and talk humbly. They sound unsure. But they are smart foxes that push our thinking forward, allow us to make our mind, and eventually help us make better decisions. Next time you have a choice to make about the future, turn away from hedgehogs and listen to foxes.
Where is number 10? by yourself. You may observe there are only have 9 titles in the list. I hope you will fill the gap. What is your favorite 3-liner? How would you synthesize it?
Please share the title and synthesis in of #10 in comments. I would love to read the punchlines. And maybe even the book. I have time to spare this summer.
