Dmitry Kudinov: Favorite Books of 2016
Posted: Tue Dec 24, 2024 6:47 am
Dmitry Kudinov, founder and CEO of CoMagic
At the request of my colleagues, I would like to share several interesting books that I have read this year. My colleagues and friends asked me not to limit myself to business literature, “so that it doesn’t get boring” – and so I did.
There are many different “book lists” published on the Internet. I wondered what was special about my list:
A fresh look. It does not have "mainstream" and cameroon phone numbers captain's advice to read well-known books like "Lean Startup". I have nothing against classics of business literature, but usually in any "book top" such books are the majority.
Careful selection. I read quite a few books (I have little free time, so I have mostly switched to podcasts, which I can listen to anywhere - in the car, on a morning run, on the way to a meeting, etc.) and therefore I very carefully select each book before I start reading it. I read the annotation, reader reviews, skim read - basically, I test it.
Proven value. I will include in the list only those books whose serious practical value I have already proven for myself (this applies to both business literature and non-business literature, which has had a huge influence on me).
So, my personal TOP-6 books of 2016:
1. The Facilitator's Handbook by Sam Kaner.
Type: business literature.
What. Facilitator is an incomprehensible and even a little strange word. You don’t even realize it, but most likely, from time to time you are the facilitator or try to play this role. A facilitator is someone who helps a group make a joint decision during a discussion, setting general rules for the discussion and interfering minimally in the process.
Why read. We are all constantly participants in various meetings. Facilitation skills (bringing meeting participants to a joint decision) are very important! The book helps to structure and develop them. I would say that this book is the main key to effective meetings and strategic sessions.
2. Delegation and Management. Brian Tracy.
Type: business literature.
What it's about. I received this book as a gift over a year ago. At first glance, the book was very superficial and no different from books describing the standard "set a task and then control the result" approach to delegation. Then one day I decided to take it to look through on a plane, going on vacation, and the book captivated me. It turned out that this is not just "another book about delegation", but a kind of short reference book covering everything a manager needs to know about the basic principles of management and delegation, presented in a very simple form with vivid examples.
Why read. I recommend using this book as a test of management skills: read and reflect on each chapter, asking yourself “why do I use/not use this or that management technique”. As a result, having read about seemingly simple and well-known things, I have formed a serious list of improvements for my management practice, which I am gradually implementing. I also really like the management style of Brian Tracy, who claims that the main thing for effective management is motivation and mutual trust. I completely agree with him on this!
Increase sales with the UIS communications platform
A reliable cloud telephony operator: own number capacity and technical support No. 1 on the market.
Manage communications, control employees and automate the sales department.
Get a consultation
3. Chained to the Desk: A Guidebook for Workaholics, Their Partners and Children, and the Clinicians Who Treat Them. Bryan E. Robinson.
Type: business literature.
About what. My good friendDmitry Lazarev(by the way, he was also involved in publishing a book on facilitation in Russian) somehow unobtrusively recommended that I read this book. I asked: “Dima, why do I need this? I’m not a workaholic, I just work a lot. And anyway, what’s wrong with being a workaholic?” And I received the answer: “Well, read a couple of chapters and you’ll understand.” I read it (unfortunately, the publication is only in English, it hasn’t been translated into Russian) and understood:
Still, I was wrong: I don’t just work a lot, I’m a workaholic.
Being a workaholic is not honorable, but regrettable. Workaholism is harmful: for health, for family relationships, and even, as strange as it may seem at first glance, for professional development and career growth.
The most important thing is that it can be treated)
Why read. The book helped me understand several important things and rethink my attitude to, as they say now, work/life balance. I can’t say that my whole life changed in an instant, but I “got on the path to correction”) What to do with the book: Read several cases (real life stories of workaholics) and be surprised how far the desire to do their job as best as possible can take a person.
4. The Bomb: How the Most Destructive Weapon in History Was Created and Stolen by Steve Sheinkin.
Type: historical literature, non-fiction
About. I came across this book when I was looking for something interesting and not very difficult to read in English. Steve Sheinkin writes mainly about American history for, as we would say, high school and college students. Hence the simple language and the desire to make a history book entertaining and interesting. The topic of creating an atomic bomb is incredibly important and incredibly interesting! The key element of the narrative is the so-called Manhattan Project in the United States, in which more than 100 thousand people participated and during which the first atomic bomb was created. Well, as is clear from the title, the topic of the theft of an atomic bomb by Soviet intelligence is fully disclosed. Moreover, it is disclosed in such details and particulars that I never even guessed about (moreover, S. Sheinkin managed to maintain an absolutely neutral style of narration: there is absolutely no feeling that he sympathizes with any of the parties).
Why read it. The book is written in a simple and understandable language, fully complies with historical canons and reads like a gripping detective story. So I recommend it three times: as a book on an important historical topic that everyone should know about; and as simply gripping reading; and as a means of learning English (if you readin the original)".
5. Which Way to the Wild West?: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About Westward Expansion. Steve Sheinkin.
Type: historical literature, non-fiction
What about. After reading Steve Sheinkin's first book, I immediately wanted to read something else. When I saw this book, I was not embarrassed by the fact that it was positioned as an additional educational resource for American schoolchildren and in the end I did not regret it at all. This book is a fascinatingly written short history of the development of the Wild West in the USA. It covers all stages of the expansion of the US territory from the East to the West of the continent.
Why read it. If you are at least a little interested in the history of other countries or just like funny stories, then the book will undoubtedly interest you. It is a collection of fascinatingly written stories and tales from the Wild West, united in chronological order. The topics that stood out to me most were:
The purchase of Louisiana from France by the United States in 1803. At the time, France controlled most of the continent. The huge chunk of land was purchased for $15 million (Alaska, for comparison, was sold for $7 million) and today, 15 states are located in whole or in part on this territory! For example, New Orleans was also purchased.
Gold fever. It turns out that this is not just a figure of speech! The book describes examples when people, looking at their neighbors who had become fabulously rich overnight, literally stopped sleeping and eating and went off to dig for gold, often never returning.
Building a railroad across the continent from the east coast to the west coast. Before this undoubtedly great project was completed, traveling from one coast of the United States to the other across the continent took several months and the probability of successful completion was not much more than 50%.
6. Bonus for those who made it to the end of the list and know English: Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't. Verne Harnish.
Type: business literature.
What it's about. A book for those who manage companies - CEOs, startup founders, general directors. It lays out the main components of company management (the corresponding chapters are called People, Strategy, Execution, Cash) and shows ways to scale a company.
Why read it. I am reading this book right now, and I am impressed! It does not contain hackneyed “simple recipes” on “how to improve a company in 5 days.” Rather, it is like an X-ray, with which you can “enlighten” a company and find weak areas and growth points. This book will help you develop a company not by intuition or feelings, but systematically.
I hope that my list could interest you and help you choose your reading circle for the near future.
At the request of my colleagues, I would like to share several interesting books that I have read this year. My colleagues and friends asked me not to limit myself to business literature, “so that it doesn’t get boring” – and so I did.
There are many different “book lists” published on the Internet. I wondered what was special about my list:
A fresh look. It does not have "mainstream" and cameroon phone numbers captain's advice to read well-known books like "Lean Startup". I have nothing against classics of business literature, but usually in any "book top" such books are the majority.
Careful selection. I read quite a few books (I have little free time, so I have mostly switched to podcasts, which I can listen to anywhere - in the car, on a morning run, on the way to a meeting, etc.) and therefore I very carefully select each book before I start reading it. I read the annotation, reader reviews, skim read - basically, I test it.
Proven value. I will include in the list only those books whose serious practical value I have already proven for myself (this applies to both business literature and non-business literature, which has had a huge influence on me).
So, my personal TOP-6 books of 2016:
1. The Facilitator's Handbook by Sam Kaner.
Type: business literature.
What. Facilitator is an incomprehensible and even a little strange word. You don’t even realize it, but most likely, from time to time you are the facilitator or try to play this role. A facilitator is someone who helps a group make a joint decision during a discussion, setting general rules for the discussion and interfering minimally in the process.
Why read. We are all constantly participants in various meetings. Facilitation skills (bringing meeting participants to a joint decision) are very important! The book helps to structure and develop them. I would say that this book is the main key to effective meetings and strategic sessions.
2. Delegation and Management. Brian Tracy.
Type: business literature.
What it's about. I received this book as a gift over a year ago. At first glance, the book was very superficial and no different from books describing the standard "set a task and then control the result" approach to delegation. Then one day I decided to take it to look through on a plane, going on vacation, and the book captivated me. It turned out that this is not just "another book about delegation", but a kind of short reference book covering everything a manager needs to know about the basic principles of management and delegation, presented in a very simple form with vivid examples.
Why read. I recommend using this book as a test of management skills: read and reflect on each chapter, asking yourself “why do I use/not use this or that management technique”. As a result, having read about seemingly simple and well-known things, I have formed a serious list of improvements for my management practice, which I am gradually implementing. I also really like the management style of Brian Tracy, who claims that the main thing for effective management is motivation and mutual trust. I completely agree with him on this!
Increase sales with the UIS communications platform
A reliable cloud telephony operator: own number capacity and technical support No. 1 on the market.
Manage communications, control employees and automate the sales department.
Get a consultation
3. Chained to the Desk: A Guidebook for Workaholics, Their Partners and Children, and the Clinicians Who Treat Them. Bryan E. Robinson.
Type: business literature.
About what. My good friendDmitry Lazarev(by the way, he was also involved in publishing a book on facilitation in Russian) somehow unobtrusively recommended that I read this book. I asked: “Dima, why do I need this? I’m not a workaholic, I just work a lot. And anyway, what’s wrong with being a workaholic?” And I received the answer: “Well, read a couple of chapters and you’ll understand.” I read it (unfortunately, the publication is only in English, it hasn’t been translated into Russian) and understood:
Still, I was wrong: I don’t just work a lot, I’m a workaholic.
Being a workaholic is not honorable, but regrettable. Workaholism is harmful: for health, for family relationships, and even, as strange as it may seem at first glance, for professional development and career growth.
The most important thing is that it can be treated)
Why read. The book helped me understand several important things and rethink my attitude to, as they say now, work/life balance. I can’t say that my whole life changed in an instant, but I “got on the path to correction”) What to do with the book: Read several cases (real life stories of workaholics) and be surprised how far the desire to do their job as best as possible can take a person.
4. The Bomb: How the Most Destructive Weapon in History Was Created and Stolen by Steve Sheinkin.
Type: historical literature, non-fiction
About. I came across this book when I was looking for something interesting and not very difficult to read in English. Steve Sheinkin writes mainly about American history for, as we would say, high school and college students. Hence the simple language and the desire to make a history book entertaining and interesting. The topic of creating an atomic bomb is incredibly important and incredibly interesting! The key element of the narrative is the so-called Manhattan Project in the United States, in which more than 100 thousand people participated and during which the first atomic bomb was created. Well, as is clear from the title, the topic of the theft of an atomic bomb by Soviet intelligence is fully disclosed. Moreover, it is disclosed in such details and particulars that I never even guessed about (moreover, S. Sheinkin managed to maintain an absolutely neutral style of narration: there is absolutely no feeling that he sympathizes with any of the parties).
Why read it. The book is written in a simple and understandable language, fully complies with historical canons and reads like a gripping detective story. So I recommend it three times: as a book on an important historical topic that everyone should know about; and as simply gripping reading; and as a means of learning English (if you readin the original)".
5. Which Way to the Wild West?: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About Westward Expansion. Steve Sheinkin.
Type: historical literature, non-fiction
What about. After reading Steve Sheinkin's first book, I immediately wanted to read something else. When I saw this book, I was not embarrassed by the fact that it was positioned as an additional educational resource for American schoolchildren and in the end I did not regret it at all. This book is a fascinatingly written short history of the development of the Wild West in the USA. It covers all stages of the expansion of the US territory from the East to the West of the continent.
Why read it. If you are at least a little interested in the history of other countries or just like funny stories, then the book will undoubtedly interest you. It is a collection of fascinatingly written stories and tales from the Wild West, united in chronological order. The topics that stood out to me most were:
The purchase of Louisiana from France by the United States in 1803. At the time, France controlled most of the continent. The huge chunk of land was purchased for $15 million (Alaska, for comparison, was sold for $7 million) and today, 15 states are located in whole or in part on this territory! For example, New Orleans was also purchased.
Gold fever. It turns out that this is not just a figure of speech! The book describes examples when people, looking at their neighbors who had become fabulously rich overnight, literally stopped sleeping and eating and went off to dig for gold, often never returning.
Building a railroad across the continent from the east coast to the west coast. Before this undoubtedly great project was completed, traveling from one coast of the United States to the other across the continent took several months and the probability of successful completion was not much more than 50%.
6. Bonus for those who made it to the end of the list and know English: Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't. Verne Harnish.
Type: business literature.
What it's about. A book for those who manage companies - CEOs, startup founders, general directors. It lays out the main components of company management (the corresponding chapters are called People, Strategy, Execution, Cash) and shows ways to scale a company.
Why read it. I am reading this book right now, and I am impressed! It does not contain hackneyed “simple recipes” on “how to improve a company in 5 days.” Rather, it is like an X-ray, with which you can “enlighten” a company and find weak areas and growth points. This book will help you develop a company not by intuition or feelings, but systematically.
I hope that my list could interest you and help you choose your reading circle for the near future.