Innovators

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Walter Isaacson, a biography writer, reveals the story of the people who created the computer and internet. It is a standard history of digital revolution and an indispensable guide to how innovation was birthed. He describes the talents that allowed confident entrepreneurs to turn their visionary ideas into a disruptive leap, why some succeeded and why some fail.

The book started with a genius named Ada Bryon, the daughter of Lord Bryon. She was tutored in math which she further nurtured herself in adulthood and also studied art. She had a burning passion for one and felt the other helped discipline herself. She soon met Charles Babbage, a science and math whiz who invented the difference engine, the giant calculating machine. Soon, Ada started using her sense of art and mathematical ability to expand upon an improved version of the difference engine, the analytical engine. This machine would be able to process different problems and even switch between what to solve on its own. When translating a transcript of Babbage’s description, Ada added her own notes which envisioned the modern computer. Mostly, she described computer as we know them, Versatile general-purpose machine. Sadly, Babbage’s machine was never invented, and he died in poverty. Ada got married to William King who later became the Earl of Lovelace which led to her being known as Ada Lovelace.

Another group of genius’ was Eckert and Mauchly who served as counterbalances for each other making them typical of many digital-arts leadership duos. Eckert drove people with a passion for precision while Mauchly tended to calm them and make them feel loved. Eckert conceded that neither could have done it alone. In 1946, they both formed their commercial business that created the next big computer maned UNIVAC, which became a celebrity on election night in 1952 by predicting the winner early. With Grace Hopper, the first workable compiler came into existence. She allowed ordinary folks to write programs in something that looks like English. She started the open-source approach by sending her workout for others to improve and lead the creation of COBOL, the first cross-platform language for computers.

The next prominent actor on our stage wasn’t a single player but a team assembled at AT&T Bell Labs. By bringing theorists and engineers who had vision and passion, they set the stage for the development of the solid state device known as the transistor. The three players who earned the Nobel prize for this discovery were William Shockley, Walter Brattain and John Bardeen Brattain. Bardeen produced the first crude transistor in 1947 and Shockley produced an improvised version soon after. It wasn’t long before transistors were replacing the vacuum tubes in radios and finding their way into computers.

Other recognized players in this book include John Von Neumann, a Hungarian-born mathematician. He contributed expressly to figuring out how to store a program in computer memory. He also figured out how to make a computer modify its program based on the results it was getting. Robert Noyce led a team that made a better and more efficient microchip. The idea of a microchip was to place multiple devices like transistors on the same piece of silicon and was brought into existence by two major companies. Jack Kilby led the first team. Kilby’s product featured gold wires connecting the device while Noyce’s chip laid down a grid of copper on the chip to connect the chips. The race was to make microchips smaller, faster, cheaper and more powerful. Ultimately, both companies worked it out so they could benefit. Kilby finally received the Nobel prize in 2000 while Noyce died in 1990. Tim Berners Lee created the necessary tools needed to bring his vision to life. His vision was to create a single global web of information which led him to use hypertext to connect one document on one computer to another elsewhere on the internet.

The final story in this book involves two graduate students from Stanford who were both rejected by MIT. While Larry Page and Sergey Brin’s Google search engine wasn’t the first of its kind, it did become most famous.

This book is full of people who stood at the time of intersection of the arts and science and made their contributions.

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS

Key point #1: Innovation is rarely one single individual’s effort as it’s based on collaboration integration and incremental improvement

Key point #2:  These innovators were willing to share their ideas, thoughts and work with people that make them significant

Key point #3: Progress doesn’t happen overnight or behind closed doors. It’s only when people come together to share, collaborate, create and negate that ideas will amount to something that can change the world.

The Power of Habit. Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

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Charles Duhigg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter, takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discovery that opens up our minds to how habits come to be, why habits exist, how patterns are formed and how we can change and rebuild them. With his ability to distill the vast amount of information and penetrate intelligence, Duhigg shares his perception about one of the most challenging human natures and how it can be transformed. In this book, he divides the science of habit into three levels: individuals, business, and society. This book is based on interviews, organizational research and a load of studies.

 

HOW HABITS WORK

In the first chapter, the author tells a story of Eugene Pauly, whose brain was damaged by a virus. After the damage, he finds it difficult to remember the slightest event for more than a minute. Despite that, he was able to navigate his way around his house and even the outside world to some extent, which was only possible because the part of the brain responsible for habit was intact. What supports this theory is that whenever something changes, his behavior falls apart; he would get lost and unable to complete the simplest of activities.

Even though habits are automatic and sometimes are an unconscious series of actions, they can be changed. The author gave his insight base on a further experiment with Eugene Pauly, “Habits are powerful but delicate. They can emerge outside our consciousness or can be deliberately designed.”

The habit loop starts with a cue which is like a trigger followed by an automatic response which can be mental, physical or emotional and then reinforced by a reward and then the cycle of a new habit begins. What keeps the habit loop rolling is the craving and anticipation of reward which locks in the routine and habit. Once a habit is formed, it runs automatically even without conscious thought and continues that way even when reward changes.

THE GOLDEN RULE OF HABIT CHANGE

Chapter three of this book describes how transformation occurs. Once you are aware of how your habit works, once you recognize the cues and reward, you are halfway to changing such habit. This was supported by a story of a girl who has the habit of nail-biting. The cure involved was to make her aware of the cues, making her note when the cues emerge. Eventually, she was able to replace the habit with rubbing her hands together. The signals stayed, the behavior changed.

At the end of the chapter, the author makes two essential remarks which are: it is difficult to draw the line between habit and addiction and the second is the process of habit change is easily described, it does not necessarily follow that it is easily accomplished.”

Other chapters of the book explore why some habits are stonger than others, willpower and dow it can be turned into a habit, organizational habits or routines. The final chapter discusses moral questions related to habits and to what extent we are responsible for them.

 

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS

 

Key point #1: Habits can be changed by removing cues that trigger the routine or by replacing a bad habit with good one.

Key point #2:  It is difficult to draw a line between habit and addiction.

Key point #3: Once you’re aware of how your habits work, once you recognize the cues and rewards, you’re halfway to changing them.

 

One Last Thing

“The Golden Rule of Habit Change: You can’t extinguish a bad habit, you can only change it.” ― Charles Duhigg, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

DEVELOPING THE LEADERS AROUND YOU

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Developing the leaders around you is about creating other leaders while leading. It boils down to having a growth environment that encourages others to emerge from their closed selves and become leaders.

The first chapter of this book capitalizes on a leader’s success. A leader’s success is determined by maximizing utilization of the abilities and resources/talents under him/her. The author draws our attention to a biblical story of Moses as an example of the importance of developing leaders who you can trust and delegated duties to. When Moses failed to delegate work, he began to burn out. Jethro advised him to seek for other people’s assistance which he yielded to. He was glad he did. A leader who carries others along tends to be more efficient and successful.

The second chapter further encourages the development of potential leaders. We must create a space around us where leaders can rise and feel safe. In the next chapter, John Maxwell unveils how to identify potential leaders. He made the process easy by giving some interesting principles that help to determine a potential leader. I will talk expressly on one of these principles.

John Maxwell says the next thing to look out for in any leader, after strength of character, is ability to influence. A leader must be heading somewhere and have the ability to persuade others to follow him. There is more needed to be a person of influence. Some potential leaders are like a rough diamond. Some may carry the ability to influence but not yet possess other needed attributes. They should not be discarded, instead, consult the Holy Spirit. He alone can rightly judge a man. When you influence the right set of people, you will not be left with regret when raising up the future leaders.

The fourth chapter discusses the nurturing of the identified leaders. Once potential leaders have been recognized, you must start building them into the leader they can become. To achieve this, John Maxwell describes a strategy using an acronym, BEST, which means; Believe in them, Encourage them, Share with them and Trust them. Those closest to a leader will determine the success of that leader. Energy, drive and vision is not enough to be a leader. A leader must possess the ability to develop the leaders around him. You can only estimate the strength of a leader by looking at the those around him. You attract who you are. In developing a leader, there is a need to work on yourself and be personally secure. According to John, organizations either rise or fall depending on the trend of the leaders. A team must develop the habit of building a generation of new leaders, a strategy that requires a great deal of careful selection, planning, preparing, nurturing and follow through.

THE BIG THREE: KEY POINTS

Keypoint #1: Leaders must build an environment that encourages growth.

Keypoint #2: Leaders should not just lead but invest in others by seeing the possibilities in them and developing their potential.

Keypoint #3: The success of a leader is not only measured by the number of followers but the number of potential leaders he has been able to build.

SCRUM The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time

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Jeff, the CEO of scrum develop a system of doing more work in less time. In his book, he shares the principle behind this system. The principle is based on the art of checking in on your team regularly to see if the work is being done and if it is headed in the right direction while ensuring the goal remains constant. Jeff explains that the process requires thought, introspection, honesty, and discipline.

​Jeff encourages the need to plan but disapprove the art of following plans blindly. When detailed plans meet reality, they fall apart. Therefore it is essential to give room for an assumption of change discovery and new ideas. When executing the plans, pause at every stage and review what has been done to know if you are on the right path or if there is something you can improve upon. Change is adept. It is constant; you have to be flexible with your predictions so that you will not be left behind by an organization that is willing to adopt change. The author moved on by describing the origin of Scrum.

Scrum was inspired by the Japanese through the HBR paper published in 1986: “The New Product Development Game” by Hirotaka Takeuchi & Ikujiro Nonaka which highlighted the importance of cross-functional teams and faster, flexible way of working. The next chapter opens up what scrum is base on. Scrum is based on Teams. More resources make the team go slower. It is preferable to have a team that has every skill needed to complete a project irrespective of the set mission. Remember small teams get work done faster than big teams.  The author did not stop at that, he went ahead discourage the habit of waste in a project. He explained the types of waste which are MURI (waste through unreasonableness), MURA (waste through inconsistency) and MUDA (waste through outcome) and then summarize it all by saying “do one thing exclusively before moving on to the next project.”

What in the beginning you thought you needed was never what you actually needed. Scrum breakdown its role into three. These are the product owner (what the work should be). The Scrum master (how the work should be done) and the team member( does the work). The product vision serves as the intersection of what can be implemented, what you are passionate about and what can be sold.  Jeff says ”figure out where the most value can be delivered for the least effort and do that right away. Then identify the next increment after and then the next” Scrum can be used un any endeavor to improve performance and result. It accelerates human effort irrespective of the project or the problem being analyzed.

Finally, T.E Lawrence said “all men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake up in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men for they may act their dreams with open eyes to make it possible”.

​The Big Three – KEY POINTS

​Key point #1: Don’t guess. Plan, Do, Check and Act. Plan what you are going to do. Do it. Check whether it did what you wanted to act on it and be flexible with how you do things. repeat the process in the regular cycle to achieve continuous improvement.

​Key point #2: Small teams get work done faster than big teams. 

Key point #3: Choose the smoothest, most struggle-free way to get things done. Scrum is about enabling the most flow possible.

One Last Thing

“Multitasking Makes You Stupid. Doing more than one thing at a time makes you slower and worse at both tasks. Don’t do it. If you think this doesn’t apply to you, you’re wrong—it does.”
― Jeff Sutherland

Insanely Simple. The Obsession That Drives Apple’s Success

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Insanely simple is a book that values simplicity. It tells how simplicity drives success and how it has molded apple into what it has grown to become. How it happened, the techniques skills, actions, and decisions are all described in this book.

The author, Ken Segall worked for Apple for years on Apple ad campaigns such as Think different and Mac vs. PC. He also is responsible for the “I” in front of Apple products. He references Steve as “simple stick.” Steve will stop at nothing to knock complexity out in everything and make things as simple as possible. Complexity has its way of walking into an organization, a system or its product. Ken Segall knowing the effect of complexity on an organization shared the decisions that were made at Apple with the advantage of knowing how things worked out. Apple keeps everything insanely simple.

Steve said “simple can be harder than complex, you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s always worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

Sometimes the easy path is not always the simple path. The easy path can cause more complexity and complications than the simple route. Simplicity is not just a goal for an organization or oneself; it is a skill that must be learned. Like leadership, we all have the ability to surge ahead through simplicity; we only need the right tools and frame of mind to do so. To be simple, you must think simple.

Thinking simple does not stop you from thinking brutally, and there is a difference between brutally honest and simply being brutal. Steve job was known for his brutal honesty. If he thought your work was terrible, he would not shy away from telling you. “Blunt is simplicity; Meandering is complexity” Job does not compromise his standard for Apple because of someone else’s feelings.

Another level of thinking Steve adopted was iconic thinking. To think simple, you have to think iconic. The first significant campaign Apple did after the return of Steve Jobs was the Think Different campaign. This campaign was designed around images of people who have made a tremendous difference in the world. Images speak more than the words. It gives Apple brand an edge to associate with iconic figures. By thinking iconic, it allows a ton of core value information to be communicated by an organization in just a few images.

Steve did not stop at that. To think simple, you have to think human. To think human, you allow your heart into the decision-making process and remember why you do what you do. Ultimately, it’s not about the gaining influence or making money; it’s about the people your organization helps.

Also, you have to think war. The concept behind “think war” is those worthy ideas are worth fighting for. You have to use everything you’ve got, take risks and overwhelm with force. Remember, simplicity is what can separate you from victory. Always keep it simple.

In a world of ever-growing complexity, if your organization can have the mind of thinking simple, people will flock your banner. Insanely Simple has all you need to know to think simple. A copy is more than worth it.

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS

Key point #1: Simplicity is a skill that can be learned and developed. To be simple, you have to think simple.

Key point #2: Compromising your vision in order to spare someone else’s feeling is not simplicity.

Key point #3: Focus on one thing so as not to miss out on the most important thing.

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ~Steve Jobs

Start With Why

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Start With Why is about an effective way of thinking, communicating, innovating and influencing people as a leader. Simon Sinek displays the notion that capable leaders inspire other people by emphasizing on the intention (‘the WHY’) before the procedure (the “HOW”) and the product or service (the “WHAT”). The more organizations and people who learn to start with WHY, the more those around will live a fulfilled life.

The first part of the book talks about a world that doesn’t start with WHY. Simon discusses two ways to influence behavior which is inspiration or manipulation.  Salespeople believe they attract customers with their features or price. In other words, we have no idea, so we manipulate sales, promotion the whole time. And yes, manipulation works. Prices, promotion, fears, aspirations, and novelty are all used to manipulate and motivate a purchase. All of these techniques work but Simon made it known that they are not sustainable and are short-lived. Regarding leadership, they can push you to the top, but they won’t make people follow you. Leadership is the ability to rally people, not for a single event but for years. However, there are few leaders who choose to inspire rather than motivate people. Whether individuals or organizations, every inspiring leader thinks, acts and communicates the same way. Consciously or not, how they do it is by following a naturally occurring pattern called the Golden Circle.

Part two of this book shows how leaders can inspire actions instead of manipulating people to act. The golden circle revolves around the WHAT (product or service), the HOW ( the procedure) and the WHY (the intention). Inspiring companies start with WHY. There is no trickery or manipulation. They just reverse the order of information. As humans, we crave a sense of belonging and we do this to survive. Starting with why helps to eliminate fear, share your beliefs and create a sense of belonging.

Part three of this book introduces us to the leaders’ needs. Leaders need a following. As members of the human race, we are attracted to those whose values, cultures and beliefs align with ours. When we recruit employees, we recruit people who believe what we believe so that we can trust one another instead of hiring purely based on skills and experience. In order words, leaders must build trust before building followers. The emergence of trust shows that trust is not a checklist. Instead, it is a feeling. We trust people and companies even when things go wrong, and we don’t believe others even when things might have gone the way it should. The idea is as a leader; you must earn trust by communicating and demonstrating that you share the same value and belief. That is why recruiters don’t hire for skills but attitude. Skills can be taught, but attitude must align with the organization’s culture. When you have a belief, i.e., a ‘WHY’ your what is just one of the ways of bringing that WHY to life.

Other parts of this great book discuss building trust, marketing and branding, the big Why and many other cogent topics that add value to organizations and individual.

The WHY does not come from looking ahead at what you want to achieve and figuring out an appropriate strategy to get there. Finding WHY is a process of discovery and not invention.

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS

Key point #1:   To influence people’s behavior, you either manipulate or inspire.

Key point #2:   A clearly stated WHY helps separate you from others and build trust.

Key point #3:   Clients identify with organizations that have their WHY clearly stated.

 

One Last Thing

“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe”
― Simon Sinek, Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

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We give too many fucks about trivial things while we tend not to give a fuck about the important thing. And because we give a fuck about things that do not matter, it makes us feel bad about ourselves. You need to give a fuck about something but what is the right thing to give a fuck about. ​

The subtle art of not giving a fuck by Mark Manson was written to help prioritize and focus on what is essential in life. It is about reorganizing your life and letting you discover what to give a fuck about. The key to life is not about giving a fuck about more but giving a fuck about less, giving a fuck about what is important, good and expedient.

What does not giving a fuck means? ​

SUBTLETY 1:  Mark Manson made it known that giving a fuck does not make you loved by everyone and not giving a fuck does not make you indifferent. Not giving a fuck means being comfortable with being different. He said “There’s absolutely nothing admirable or confident about indifference. People who are indifferent are lame and scared. They’re couch potatoes and Internet trolls. They hide in a gray, emotionless pit of their making, self-absorbed and self-pitying, perpetually distracting themselves from this unfortunate thing demanding their time and energy called life.”

People who are different are those who are real, who enjoy been themselves no matter what. They care less about what others think because they strongly believe in their capabilities and abilities. ​

SUBTLETY 2: Not giving a fuck means not to give a fuck about adversity. To avoid giving a fuck about adversity, you must find something important and productive that is worth investing both your time, effort and energy on. Unless you see that important thing, your fucks will be given to meaningless and frivolous things. Dedicate your fucks to something that is worth it. Fuck has to be used wisely; it doesn’t grow on trees. A man minds his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off it and starts minding other people’s business. 

SUBTLETY 3: You have the right to choose what you give your fuck about. As we grow older, you grow out of giving a fuck about everything but only things that matter. This makes us happy on a constant basis. At a point in our life, we become aware of who we are, our strength and the right place to focus our strength on. The more you grow older, the more mature you become, the lesser the things you give a fuck about. We are not going to give a fuck about everything because we have come to understand that some things cannot be changed and because they cannot be changed, we need to fucking accept it that way and move on with life. Your happiness cannot be traded with frivolities and meaningless fucking things.

​Finally, choose what to give a fuck about. Dedicate your fucks only to what’s truly fuck-worthy. Choose what’s important to you and give a fuck about that.  

The Big Three – Key Points

​Key Point #1: Priority, reorganizing your life and deciding what to give a fuck about.

Key Point #2: It advises not to give a fuck about trivial matters but focus on important things and give a fuck about them

Key Point #3: A man minds his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off it and starts minding other people’s business.

One Last Thing

“Who you are is defined by what you’re willing to struggle for.”
― Mark Manson

Respect

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Sara Lawrence reaches deep into the human experience from the drama of birth to the solemn vigil before death to find the essence of respect. This book reveals the most powerful ingredient in any relationship both personal, professional or public life and also tries to dismantle hierarchies and other forms of denomination and replaces them with a sense of humanity, compassion, and equality.

 

Sara Lawrence was motivated by her interest in exploring the underlying nature of respect and some personal memories. She is also drawn to the concept because she understands the undying importance respect holds in both public and private life cycle. The traditional view of respect, though rarely expressed in its pure form, tends to be relatively static and impersonal. The remnants of this view survive today and shape our expectations, apprehensions, and disappointment. She discovered that respect is not the passive deference offered to a superior but the active force that creates symmetry even in unequal relationships.

Lawrence rejects what she terms the “traditional” notion of respect that accords esteem with rank and social status, often of an inherited sort. She desires to create a new view of respect that is egalitarian, that generates equality between people, mutual empathy and connections of solidarity. The author believes that respect has six qualities: 1) empowerment 2) healing 3) dialogue 4) curiosity 5) self-respect and 6) attention. Each chapter of the book focuses on a quality, interpreting it through concrete narratives.

She illumines empowerment by talking about Jennifer Dohrn, a nurse midwife; healing through the actions of pediatrician Johnye Ballenger; Dialogue through the work of Kay Cottle, curiosity in light of Dawoud Bey, artist, and photographer. Self-respect as expressed in the dignity of law professor David Wilkins who believes there is a proof that self-respect must come not from external measures but from within; only then can individual relate respectfully. And attention as exhibited in the pastoral care of Episcopal priest Bill Wallace. Bill Wallace move insight into the value of attention and silent presence as they relate to respect and the dying.  

Through striving for a type of simplicity of theory, the author never shows philosophically what respect itself means nor how its various qualities are coherently related to one another. She means to say that respect gives rise to attention which of course is true but so do a lot of other motivations that runs a spectrum from the desire to manipulate to the simple permission to contemplative awe.

 

The author works with the premise that respect is the primary virtue of moral life in our society such that it finds everything good- from curiosity to healing from dialogue to attention. There are essential components needed for a respectful relationship.

Usually, respect is seen as involving some debt owed because of their attained or original position, their age, gender, class, race, professional status or because of an accomplishment. This book focus on the way respect creates symmetry, empathy, and connection in all kinds of relationship.

THE BIG THREE – KEY POINTS

 

Key point #1: Respect generates respect, a modest loaf becomes many.

 

Key point #2: Respectful relationships have a way of sustaining and replicating themselves

 

Key point #3: Respect creates symmetry, empathy, and connection in all kinds of relationship.

One Last Thing

“I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.”

― Albert Einstein

THE 21 IRREFUTABLE LAWS OF LEADERSHIP

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The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership was written out of many studies and observations John Maxwell has carried out on leaders in various sectors like business, politics, military, sport and most of all his personal leadership experience. He poured out his heart into this book by giving us 21 laws that can help you become the most powerful and effective leader. The principles of leadership do not change over time, only the application does. These principles or law brings consequences; people will either follow you or they will not. It will depend on your mode of application. These laws when applied in real life form the foundation of leadership.

  1. LAW OF THE LID:  The law of the lid states that leadership ability is a determinant of a person’s level of effectiveness. This means that your effectiveness is determined by your level of leadership. When your level of leadership increases, you become more effective. An increase in effectiveness directly affects the level of success.
  2. LAW OF INFLUENCE:  Leadership is different from every other subject matter such as management or entrepreneurship. The true definition of a leader is determined by the level of people he has influenced. Your followers are the proof that you are a leader, nothing more or less.
  3. LAW OF PROCESS: Maxwell explains five different phases of leadership growth. He also explains that what sets a leader apart from their followers is their ability to learn, develop and improve their skill.
  4. LAW OF NAVIGATION:  A true leader is a leader with foresight. Leaders chart the course for their team because they have full vision of where they are going, understand the challenges and risk and also understand the right set of people needed to achieve the vision.
  5. LAW OF ADDITION: This law defines the ability of a leader to add value by serving others and making things better for them.
  6. LAW OF SOLID GROUND: The foundation of leadership is trust. Trust is built when a leader is consistently competent and displays remarkable character. Character conveys potential and builds respect.
  7. LAW OF RESPECT: In this book, Maxwell explains six ways leaders gain respect and how to access and improve your level of leadership. Leaders tend to stand out while others follow because they are perceived to be stronger.
  8. LAW OF INTUITION: We relate and see people based on who we are so leaders also see things with leadership bias. Maxwell explains in detail various ways a leader can apply their leadership bias and how to improve their leadership intuition.
  9. LAW OF MAGNETISM: You attract who you are. It’s as simple as that. People are drawn to others with similar characteristics like attitude, ability, leadership ability, energy level, etc.
  10. LAW OF CONNECTION: The key to connecting with people is by relating to them as an individual even if they are in a group. There is a need to connect with people emotionally as a leader before you can move them to action. Maxwell shares a bigger picture of how you can connect with yourself and others.
  11. LAW OF THE INNER CIRCLE: Your inner circle is the group of people you turn to for advice, support and assistance. These people must be chosen intentionally. They must be people who display excellence, maturity and good character in everything they do.
  12. LAW OF EMPOWERMENT:  The important thing in empowerment is believing in people. Most leaders refuse to empower others due to three key reasons: resistance to change, desire for job security and lack of self-worth. In this book, John Maxwell sheds more light on how to improve your self-worth and empower others.
  13. THE LAW OF THE PICTURE: Exceptional leaders understand the irreplaceable role of vision. A vision shows the picture of what is to be achieved. Therefore, for a leader to communicate it effectively, he/she has to model the vision by setting the right example and showing the way. This act of modeling gives the followers credibility, passion and motivation to carry on with the vision.
  14. THE LAW OF BUY IN: The secret is people buy into the leader first before buying into the vision. They listen to people who they trust, believe in and feel they are credible and worth going along with.  When followers buy into the leader and the vision, then they are ready and willing to follow such leader through any challenge and success.
  15.  THE LAW OF VICTORY:  A Good leader must take responsibility for all actions, be creative and transfer his success and passion to his followers. Failure or quitting is not an option on a leader’s list.  Maxwell wrote ”one thing victorious leaders have in common is that they share an unwillingness to accept defeat.” As a result, they take responsibility for the success of the team and do what it takes to lead the team to victory.
  16. THE LAW OF BIG MO: Momentum is a leader’s best friend. An organization or team with momentum can successfully pass through any obstacle, and momentum is a determining factor between winning and losing. It makes you unstoppable. In this book, Maxwell shares several characteristics of the Big MO and how to access where we are.
  17. THE LAW OF PRIORITIES:  Don’t just get busy, get productive. The heart of the law of priority states that leaders understand that activity is not about accomplishment. This means prioritizing requires leaders always to think ahead, to know what is more important and how it all relates to the vision. Maxwell discusses the Pareto principle and other key factors that help in setting a priority list which are Requirement, Reward, and Returns.
  18. THE LAW OF SACRIFICE: This law gives a glimpse of what leadership life is.  A leader might be looking glamorous on the outside, but the secret behind his true leadership is that he has sacrificed and still sacrificing. The hidden secret behind success is the sacrifice. And a true leader does not only sacrifice but also put others ahead of him.
  19.   THE LAW OF TIMING: Leadership is not only about how to lead but discerning the right time to take action. Maxwell summarizes his statement by saying “taking the wrong action at the wrong time leads to disaster and the right action at the wrong time leads to resistance while the wrong action at the right time leads to a mistake”. This shows that leadership ability goes beyond leading.

 

  1.   THE LAW OF EXPLOSIVE GROWTH: You can attain explosive growth when you choose to lead leaders and not followers. To lead leaders, you have to focus on the strength and not weaknesses, treat everyone differently and invest quality time into others rather than spending time together. Maxwell summarizes this law by saying leaders who develop other leaders experience incredible multiplication effect in their organization that can be achieved in no other way.

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  1. LAW OF LEGACY:  This is the final law in this book. The law of legacy states that a leader’s lasting value is measured by succession. What do you want to be remembered for? Maxwell summarizes the life of a leader by saying that “achievement comes when they do big things by themselves. Success comes when they empower followers to do big things for them. Significance comes when they develop leaders to do great things with them. Legacy comes when they put leaders in the position to do great things without them.” He ends the chapter with the thought, “our abilities as leaders will not be measured by the buildings we built, the institutions we established, or what our team accomplished during our tenure. You and I will be judged by how well the people we invested in carried on after we are gone.” This is the greatest challenge of  a lifelong pursuit of leadership, but it is also the only thing that will matter in the end.

Undoubtedly, you are eager to know other laws of leadership. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership not only explains the laws but include several tips on how to apply the laws. Do not hesitate to feed on the richness of this innovation.

KEY POINTS

Key point #1: Leadership is built on trust and compounds over time

Key point #2: Leaders attract who they are.

Key point #3: Leaders must learn, grow and develop.

One Last Thing

“Leaders Who Attract Followers . . . Need to Be Needed

Leaders Who Develop Leaders . . . Want to Be Succeeded”

― John C. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You

The Innovation Code

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The hidden elements behind innovation are disharmony, disruption, disagreement and contrasting. That is what innovation is made of. Innovation is about constructive, creative, positive tension. A clash makes innovation possible in a team; agreement dissolves it. 

The Innovation code by Jeff DeGraff and Staney DeGraff introduces a framework that shows and explains how different kinds of leaders and thinkers can stir up constructive conflict in the organization. This positive, creative tension produces inventive solutions from both resources. DeGraff discovered the hidden inspiration in harnessing the creative energy that arises from opposing perspectives. The discovered force to sharpen creative innovations is through contrasting ideas.

DeGraff identified four contrasting styles of innovators:

  1. The Artist who loves radical innovation)
  2. The Sage who innovate through collaboration)
  3. The Engineer who continually improves on everything)
  4. The Athlete who competes to develop the best innovation). 

In addition, he included assessments and what to do to build, manage and embrace dynamic disagreement in a team that contains all four. You can discover which style best defines you and each of your team member as well.  Your dominant worldview makes you know how you sort and manage challenges. Your quality makes you outstand the crowd, and that is where the need to discover your biggest weakness comes in. 

Outside the interview room, take time to realize that secret about yourself without clouding your judgment with your world perspective. When the dominant worldview overpowers all other point of views, you tend to have a blind spot and become a prisoner of your ideology. Worldview is how we interpret and experience the world based on our belief and mindset. A worldview is more than a style; it is a collection of different opinions. We all have our dominant worldview, a particular conception of the world from a specific standpoint. This standpoint can be generated from personal experience, culture, and society at large.  DeGraff concluded that the most significant obstacle we face on the path of innovation is YOU, while the greatest solution is combining different perspectives and hybrids of ideas. So it is essential we learn to let go of our preconceptions and biases.

When you can identify your greatest weakness and strength, you get enough insight to select your team of superheroes, a band that can give you a significant push to create things you cannot work on your own. People who are unlike you are the kind of people you need to surround yourself with. But first, get to know the worst part of yourself and the right part of yourself. ​

Innovation code shows how to play to win the innovation game irrespective of your organization, team and associates. No one ever says innovation is easy; innovation code does not gloss over innovation like its simple and easy either, instead it tackles the hardest element which is how to create a constructive conflict and use it to innovate.  In this book, DeGraff shares his insight from his experience with many organizations to create a practical print for all innovators. 

The Big Three: Key Points

Key Point #1

You must know how to stir up constructive conflict in an organization and how to manage different innovation styles within an organization or team.

Key Point #2

There are four contrasting styles of innovators: The Artist, the Sage, the Engineer and the Athlete.

Key Point #3

People who are unlike you are the kind of people you need to surround yourself with. But first, get to know the worst part of yourself and the right part of yourself.

One Last Thing 

“The best teams are like a band of superheroes” – Jeff DeGraff