Scott J. Pearson

Advancing Healthcare Through Personalized Medicine

By Scott J. Pearson | August 13, 2022August 13, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

The sequencing of the human genome and the subsequent reduction in price for individuals to sequence their own DNA have opened up a new opportunity for medicine. DNA sequencing has the potential for clinical use in the near future. This means that drugs can be developed with applicability only to a subset of the population with specific genetics. Indeed, genomic therapy with CRISPR (not covered in this edition of this book) further opens up treatment…

Fostering Innovation: How to Build an Amazing IT Team

By Scott J. Pearson | August 12, 2022September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

A Chief Information Officer (CIO) is a relatively new addition to a modern business’s C-suite. However, despite being recent, in an era of digital innovation, it’s become an essential one. Instead of offloading work onto employees, most companies try to offload some of the work onto the IT department. IT specialists, the builders of technology, usually cannot meld their products into business-ready deliverables. That’s where the CIO comes in, to lead tech efforts towards a…

Biography-Memoir

No One Crosses the Wolf: A Memoir

By Scott J. Pearson | August 8, 2022August 13, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Fathers can sometimes present themselves to their children as a tyrannical lot, especially in abusive situations. Young ones can feel trapped in circumstances because they cannot escape their family, yet their circumstances are oppressive to their own personal growth. Coming to peace with their situation and themselves can consume years of early adulthood. Nikolidakis’ story embodies this storyline, yet as a thirty-something, a trip to Greece, her ancestral home, brought her a sense of peace…

Management-Business Software-Technology

Managing Humans: Biting & Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager

By Scott J. Pearson | August 2, 2022August 2, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Software engineers stereotypically have the personality type to stay behind their desks and not socialize too much. Their coding skills, so the story goes, facilitate their contribution to the company, not their finessing of humans. However, if they are ever promoted to a manager, they quickly have to pivot to understanding how to get their needs from subordinates who don’t always seek after managerial social approval. Not everyone is successful with this transition, but once…

Writing-Communication

The Writing Life

By Scott J. Pearson | July 28, 2022September 6, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Perhaps it was because I listened to this work via audiobook rather than read it from the page, but this book did not meet my expectations. I have the utmost respect for Annie Dillard as a writer: She has won a Pulitzer Prize and can entertain through the written word far better than I ever will be able to. However, this work was not really direct in its approach. Instead of giving actionable tips or…

Fiction-Stories Society

The Man Who Lived Underground: A Novel

By Scott J. Pearson | July 27, 2022July 27, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

In the 1940s, Richard Wright published two seminal works (Black Boy and Native Son). Both dealt with the topic of race in America. Wright also wrote another full-length work (this one), but it was rejected by publishers for being too controversial about race. However, during the recent Black Lives Matter movement, many saw the censorship of this book as being a historical injustice that needed correction. So in 2021, this story was published for the…

Management-Business Mentoring

High-Impact Mentoring: A Practical Guide to Creating Value in Other People’s Lives

By Scott J. Pearson | July 24, 2022August 13, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Business research repeatedly proves that the vital skill of mentoring enhances the odds of career success among mentees. Further, it provides a sense of fulfillment and purpose among mentors. It helps with imposter syndrome and makes both parties feel a sense of belonging. Further, it can help both sides of the relationship keep in touch with the latest trends and overcome new challenges. So why don’t more organizations take advantage of this type of relationship?…

History Society

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States

By Scott J. Pearson | July 23, 2022July 23, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

American history, as traditionally taught, teaches of the US’s “manifest destiny” and of many ensuing conflicts with natives on the Western frontier. A few ugly scenarios are often mentioned, but systematic genocide, on the order of Hitler or Stalin, is not described. However, from the perspective of these indigenous peoples, that’s exactly what happened as the United States attempted to destroy their entire culture. It’s this story from this perspective that Dunbar-Ortiz attempts to tell…

Fiction-Stories Society

Passing by Nella Larsen

By Scott J. Pearson | July 21, 2022July 21, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

This short classic, set in New York City, was originally published in 1929 during the Harlem Renaissance. It examined the phenomenon of “passing” – a black person acting as a white person. Of course, the American context has changed significantly since 1929. The concept of race is now, thankfully, widely considered a social construct, without any biological merit. The concept of passing, though still present on occasion, is less of an issue. Nonetheless, Larsen gives…

Fiction-Stories

Assassin’s Lullaby

By Scott J. Pearson | July 16, 2022July 16, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Eli Dagan has a history. He used to work for the Israeli Defense Force (the Mossad), but could not continue psychologically after he witnessed the brutal murders of his wife and only child. He now conducts life as a paid assassin in New York City with very transactional and survival-oriented relationships. Though no longer needing the money, he takes a job offered to him by the Russian mafia that leads to death, love, and perhaps…