Some key points that I liked from the book "Hot, Flat and Crowded" by Thomas Friedman
1. A certain connection between work, achievement and accountability has been broken. America thinks it can borrow its way to prosperity.
2. US has been mortgaging its future instead of investing in it.
3. If all Americans could compare Berlin's luxurious central train station today with the grimy overcrowded Penn. st - it looks like US lost World War II
4. De-forestation in Indonesia and Brazil is responsible for more CO2 than all the world's cars, trucks, planes , ships and trains combined. About 20% of the global emissions.
5. Average cow expels 600 litres of methane a day !!! Methane is a deadlier greenhouse gas.
6. Difference between the earth being an ice ball and it being comfortable for living is only 6 degrees. Today our earth has fever.
7. America has invented a system of living on cheap fossil fuel foundation.By 2030 instead of one America and half in Europe there will be 8-9 America's
8. Through oil purchases American is helping strengthen the most intolerant, anti-modern, anti-western, anti women's rights and anti-pluralistic strain of Islam , which is propagated by Saudi Arabia.
9. American oil strategy seems to be - Maximize demand, minimize supply and make up the difference by buying as much as we can from people who hate us the most !
10. 1st Law or Petropolitics - the pace of freedom and price of oil move in different directions.
11. Larry Diamond - Of the 23 nations that derives a clear majority of their export income from oil and gas - not a single one is a democracy.
12. Edward O Wilson - Destroying a tropical forest and other species-rich eco-systems for profit is like burning all the paintings in Louvre to cook dinner
13. We are the only species that no animal or plant in nature depends on for its survival , yet we depend on the whole web of life for our survival.
14. Energy at its most basic is the capacity to do work.
15. The most frequent and difficult question we get from China is "If it is so good, why aren't you doing it?"
16. The green issue particularly the climate change does not pit have-vs-have-nots -it pits present against the future - the unborn grandchildren. The future can't lobby , organize or protest.
17. Oysteins Dahle - Socialism collapsed because it did not allow the market to tell the economic truth. Capitalism may collapse because because it does not allow the market to tell the ecological truth.
Review of "Hot, Flat and Crowded" by Thomas L. Friedman
I have read both "World is Flat" and now "Hot, Flat and Crowded" and I think this book presents a bleaker future in store for our future generations unless we clean our act. By "we" he means the Americans ofcourse ! :) The book contents can be really summarized in his title "In Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America". He considers this a watershed moment for both the energy predicament as well as America's vision/moral/leadership crisis. a. Hot - Refers to the global warming - which apart from climate touches food , fuel as well as forests !
b. Flat - The numerous upheavals in the market that have created a more level playing field for the world to compete and hence join at the same table where US feeds. ( I would recommend reading "World is Flat" by the same author to understand more on this ). This means lot more people living like Americans
c. Crowded - the burgeoning population growth ; and hence more people competing for the same resources on Earth.
He believes today's America is in a defensive position post 9/11 and has lost focus. He uses the phrase "Where birds don't fly" to capture this and says that this is a place where people do not mingle , friendships are not established, ideas are not kindled , trust does not get built and freedom does not exist. Such an America cannot play an important role in the world nor can it use its own potential in ways that would benefit the world and itself.
One of the causes is America's playing of "dumb as we wanna be" game and "we will get to it when we get to it" instead of resolving problems. This has led to a "sub-prime" nation that is incapable of handling a multi-generation problem like the energy crisis.
Where the book takes off is that - it is not a mere rhetoric on global warming by simply expounding the problem , it tries to identify solutions that could work within the framework of business. This is the crux of the book. It is here that he espouses a need for political consensus , collaboration with local government bodies, communities as well as NGOs and help business to earn profit as well.
One thing that he makes clear is that there are no quick fixes to this energy crisis, and only long term solutions can help. A combination of taxes, incentives, regularisation are required to make the energy innovation lift off and reach escape velocity. He stresses the need for the young who need to be taught to use their skills and earn without needing to harm the environment.
Green technology is first an innovation challenge and not a regulation challenge since first and foremost a cheap, easily renewable and transferable energy technology is required. Companies instead of challenging regulations should see them as a way to knock out competitors.
A chilling chapter is on the Petro-dictatorship where the enormous amount of money being pumped into the oil producing countries is strengthening and giving power to rulers who are not democratic and who have not earned their leadership by actually working towards building economies and educating their people. The dependency on oil makes Washington bite its tongue on women's rights and makes China go into partnership with murderous African dictatorship in oil rich Sudan.
He takes head-on the question of countries like India and China feeling unfairly penalized on their carbon emissions ( Kyoto protocol ) especially after decades of carbon emissions by the West , just when these economies are growing. He says that while the sense of unfairness is understandable there is a choice for such countries
a. Continue feeling unfair and build economy on dirty fuels giving America the time it needs to come up with clean energy solution and thereby allow US to sell it to them at a later date [when they are choking in their polluted air !!! ]
b. Or try to beat America towards a greener future and hence be in a position to reap benefits from it in myriad ways - economic growth, cleaner air , continued rich bio-diversity , healthy population
He believes Energy Technology is going to be a big industry as big as or even bigger than the IT pie. He would like America to grab this opportunity but he does not think America is doing enough towards this. He thinks USA needs to set an example to the rest of world to follow towards a clean energy system. For US , it is not just an opportunity but a test. America has a moral responsibility since it consumes more.
Towards the myriad benefits he gives some good examples including one where the US Marines-Corps in Iraq gains in multiple ways when they tries to reduce the large and vulnerable fuel line logistics which were easy targets for bombing with usage of solar panels.
All in a very well researched book which hits the target.
My Review of "Winning" by Jack Welch
I have not read the other book(s) by Jack Welch so cannot comment on how this fares wrt to the others but as far as "Winning" by Jack Welch is concerned , the book is an easy read. It is very simple , conversational almost. It imparts business wisdom without usage of big terms and complex chapters.It covers a gamut of topics relevant to employees, employers , leaders , managers and businesses/organizations.
The ideas are not new mostly common sense ( which is uncommon ! ) inputs yet delivered/accompanied with anecdotes which drive home the key points he makes. It may seem like the book glosses over a lot of ground and I think it does. In depth coverage is definitely not the goal here. Instead it covers a broad range of topics which include personal values in business, company practices , handling competition and career related questions. Being a book by Jack Welch I did expect more on the Six Sigma success but he gives a 30,000 foot level view which was disappointing. The frank inputs on work-life balance are refreshing although not satisfying.
The book's front cover line "No other management book will ever be needed," by Warren Buffet is surprising and not deserved.
Some learning's from the book
1. About values and mission - Mission is how we intend to win in this mission and values are the 'how' of the mission , the means to the end.
2. Importance of candor - mentions that lack of candor blocks smart ideas , fast action and good people contributing all they can.
3. Differentiation - 20/70/10 Rule to pick out the best people : 20 % are the top performers who should be rewarded and recognized, The middle 70% is the heart of the company who should be encouraged and worked on to improve and the bottom 10% who should be trimmed
4. Leadership - this quote covers the main theme - "Before you became a leader , success is about growing yourself. After you became a leader success is about growing others."
5. Hiring - Mentions a framework for hiring that includes what he calls - 4E's and 1 P - +ve Energy , Ability to energize others, Edge ( Courage to make tough Y/N decisions ) ,Execution ability and Passion.He believes HR in a company should be elevated to a position of power.
6. Emphasises on importance of a clean , simple and powerful evaluation system that is relevant and not an exercise in paper pushing.
7. Crisis Management - Most managers waste a lot of time at the outset of a crisis denying something went wrong ! How true !
8. Strategy - the 5 slide questions
9. Budgeting should not be a negotiated settlement where both sides jostle and agree on a settlement nor a phony smile exercise that head quarters uses to push on people the budget and expected results.1. What the playing field looks like now2. What your competitor has been upto3. What you've been upto4. What's around the corner5. What's your winning move
10. On organic growth mentions that companies have a habit of sending expendable people to run new ventures instead of sending the best !
11. Beware of deal heat which in which a merger or acquisition can be seen as the last best deal. For employees - Resisting a deal , no matter how scared , confused or angry one is is suicidal to career as well as emotional well being.
12. Six Sigma is a quality program that improves customers' expectations lowers costs and builds better leaders.
13. Mentions that finding a right job is often an iterative process and there are no perfect jobs. There will always be some trade offs.
14. In any bad boss situation you cannot let yourself be a victim.
