business – Page 2 – Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

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

Today’s world is an increasingly complex place. Many of us feel like we live disintegrated lives and are pulled in many directions. Yet people who have the highest societal impact tend to have the ability to focus, and throughout the centuries, writers like Henry David Thoreau have reminded us to simplify instead of complicate. In this book, McKeown seeks to convey these timeless philosophical lessons in a more contemporary format, geared around modern business lives…

HBR Guide to Getting the Mentoring You Need

By Scott J. Pearson | December 7, 2022December 7, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Education invests over a decade into teaching youth about life and their speciality, but the need to learn does not stop with graduation. In some ways, it’s just starting. The wise learn how to learn in their organization and community. This allows them to adapt and advance over time. This collection of essays, written by business leaders and compiled by the Harvard Business Review, initiates and inspires learners in their quest to benefit from those…

Management-Business Writing-Communication

The Business of Being a Writer

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

Many people instinctively relate writing with a life of poverty. The impression is that majoring in English literature instead of, say, engineering will forecast a worse economic existence down the road. The “starving artist” stereotype thus comes into play. In this book, Friedman disagrees with this simplistic approach. She shows the many career paths that writing can take, including some more lucrative ones. She thus empowers readers (who are writers!) to make informed decisions about…

Leadership Management-Business Society

All Are Welcome: How to Build a Real Workplace Culture of Inclusion that Delivers Results

By Scott J. Pearson | January 29, 2022September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Historically, diverse workplaces – for various reasons – have out-competed workplaces with less complex cultures. Especially after the social movements surrounding the untimely death of George Floyd in 2020, American employees have increasingly demanded their employers to take diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) into its management practices. As the American workforce becomes more diverse, it’s hard not to believe that these trends represent the future. However, many business attempts to address these issues only…

Economics Management-Business

The Innovator’s Hypothesis: How Cheap Experiments are Worth More than Good Ideas

By Scott J. Pearson | January 26, 2022January 26, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Empiricism and the scientific method have had some positive impact on the practice of business. Most people recognize the market as a great external object of study, yet scientific impact on innovation is usually limited and relegated to the domain of hunches by analytic experts. For their part, business schools tend to crank out expert planners and analysts, but do not expressly delve into experimentation. Schrage thinks that is a mistake and writes this book…

Management-Business

Decision Making Essentials: You Always Wanted to Know

By Scott J. Pearson | July 13, 2021July 13, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

The Self-Learning Management Series aims to educate those new to the responsibilities of management, likely coming from other fields. This book does a yeoman’s job at providing exposure to foundational concepts about decision making in business. It’s like a textbook, except a bit briefer and a bit more accessible (in other words, less academic). Koscinski, a professor of business, summarizes current thought about decision-making. Helpfully, Koscinski keeps current with the state of thought by mixing…

Management-Business Software-Technology

Artificial Intelligence for Managers

By Scott J. Pearson | April 17, 2021April 17, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

For decades, followers of technology have touted the value of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in computing. Some present a utopian future; others present a dystopian future. In this work, Upadhyay presents a realistic assessment of what’s inevitably coming. He overviews the essential parts of the technology – like convoluted neural networks or K-nearest-neighbor mapping – and then speculates on their business value. At 178 pages, this work does not waste unnecessary words. It instead provides a…

Management-Business

The Incredible Value of Employee Power Unleashed

By Scott J. Pearson | February 14, 2021February 14, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

The author of this book is someone who has spent most of his life in the hotel industry. He is passionate about the value of employee satisfaction and seemingly has made it to be the cornerstone of his professional philosophy. He shares that passion with readers in the context of this book. By supplying copious personal examples, he attempts to get the reader interested in his perspective on business and specifically management. However, his writing…

Management-Business

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

By Scott J. Pearson | December 28, 2020December 28, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

My boss is so much a fan of this book that she gave it to me free this month. She reads it every year in pursuit of further mastery of her work and life. Although the obvious application is to the realm of employment, Allen’s approach is applicable to one’s personal/private life and even to stay-at-home parents. It’s about keeping the “projects” in one’s life moving forward without causing stress. Allen’s system runs off on…

Management-Business Software-Technology

Cybersecurity: Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review

By Scott J. Pearson | July 16, 2020July 15, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

As an IT professional, I do not reside in the intended audience of this book. It is geared towards business leaders, not software developers. It provides a high-level and non-technical overview of the field of cybersecurity. Through several authors, it makes the case that cybersecurity cannot be overlooked by all C-suite executives, even in non-technology-based companies. That case is underscored by the direct impact cybersecurity has on a business’ bottom line. Having in-depth technical experience…