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Showing posts from December, 2019

CODE OF THE SAMURAI ~ BUSHIDO : The Soul of japan – Inazo Niobe

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ISBN 978-0-7858-3052-8  Verdict :   👍👍 👍 Originally this book was written in 1900 (revised in 1905 ) by the amazing Japanese Scholar / Public officer who had a deep appreciation of Western Civilisation through the times and had appreciation for the Classics allowing him to analyse and compare the teachings of the Japanese Bushido (Samurai) in a Feudal System with that of the European counterparts through history A nice short read ! I found this amazing book on my travels earlier this year – Originally I was attracted to this Hardback book  by its use of the Traditional Chinese Book Binding techniques – Just holding / reading this book gives one great pleasure ~ especially If like me you are interested in Physical Books that present  Lessons of Value – Then maybe you would want to buy a copy. When Nitobe talks of the Influence of Bushido he states “ What Japan was she owed to the samurai. They were not only the flower of the nation but its root as well ” p81 This

WHAT IT TAKES - Stephen A. Schwarzman

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ISBN:  978-1-4711-8955-5 Verdict :   👍👍 You have to respect Scharwazman for what he has achieved in his long life, reinforcing to some extent the old saying that ‘ money makes money ’.This book is worth reading if you are working in finance and is quite a nice read. The book takes you down Stephen's memory lane and his life time of investing. It’s a short book and does lack clarity on the analysis, rules and logic applied on the business decisions. The book is about Stephen and the people he knows and boy does he ‘name drop’, throughout the book, to the extent it was getting boring reading another name popping up towards the end.  There are snippets on Blackstone’s Business Drivers/Methodology e.g.  Blackstone’s three tests  “It must have potential to be hugely rewarding for investors . It must add to Blackstone intellectual capital. And it must have a 10 in charge of it.”          p281  Below are some of my best bits from the book; There

Surrounded by Idiots – The Four Types of Human Behaviour (or, How to Understand those Who Cannot Be Understood) – Thomas Erikson

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ISBN:  978-1-78504-218-8 Verdict :👍👍 I enjoyed reading this book with its elaboration of the concepts that centre around the D ominance, I nducement, S ubmission and A nalytics ability (DISA) system for  human  communication which the Author breaks into 4 Color Types ( Red , Yellow , Blue & Green ) and says that " behaviour.Its like a  recipe  - we need to understand all the ingredients before we bake the cake " p13 The book discusses the various  behavioural  traits of individuals which the author centers around a 4 square color model, with each color representing a specific trait and some behavioral patterns associated with the colors - here are some snippets; The Quote "Only Dead Fish Go with the Flow" to describe Reds is classical where Reds are quick thinkers and one on long before everyone else. Yellows can be amusing, creative and elevate the mood regardless of who they are with         p64 " Greens are easy to hangout with..