Here’s a list of the books I’ve summarised for my own and your pleasure, adding my thoughts from the corporate governance perspective where applicable. Subscribe to receive the new chapters as they become available.

Corporate Governance

• (c) Herminia Ibarra. Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career.

  Course Notes: Continuous Business Learning

  Working Identity 1/x

  I’m grateful to my INSEAD classmates for recommending this book. 1/ Reinventing Yourself Career transition is very rarely a planned process when thinking comes first; action usually comes first – and transforms the working identity of a person. It’s not instantaneous, it’s a gradual (and painful) process when reconsidering multiple possibilities. And it’s……

  Read more

  10 months ago · 4 likes · Max Kraynov

  Parts 1, 2, 3, 4.

• (c) Rakesh Khurana. Searching For a Corporate Saviour.

  Course Notes: Continuous Business Learning

  Searching For a Corporate Saviour 1/x

  Started reading a very cool book, sharing my notes here. Preface Boards think outside candidates are better than home-grown ones. CEO selection is a mystery similar to the Pope selection. Instead of looking for a person with the relevant experience, Boards are searching for someone with a “charisma” (that’s the whole topic of the book…

  Read more

  a year ago · 5 likes · Max Kraynov

  Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

• (c) Karen Phelan. I'm Sorry I Broke Your Company: When Management Consultants Are the Problem, Not the Solution.

  Course Notes: Continuous Business Learning

  I'm Sorry I Broke Your Company: When Management Consultants Are the Problem, Not the Solution 1/x

  Many of the points here are obvious, which doesn’t make the book less interesting. Opening Comments Every business problem is about people reacting to circumstances. The bullwhip effect is caused by emotions – fear (order less), optimism (order more) and…

  Read more

  a year ago · 1 like · Max Kraynov

  Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

• (c) F. Torre, R. Teigland, L. Engstam. AI Leadership for Boards: The Future of Corporate Governance.

  Course Notes: Continuous Business Learning

  AI Leadership for Boards – The Future of Corporate Governance 1/2

  book source 1/ Introduction McKinsey: in 2017 only 16% of Directors fully understood the impact of technological advances on their organisations and the industry. This means that there needs to be at least some basic level of technological understanding, and if needed – Directors need to be given a crash course and/or refresher course. …

  Read more

  a month ago · Max Kraynov

  Parts 1, 2, 3.

• (c) Pedro Matos. ESG and Responsible Institutional Investing.

  Course Notes: Continuous Business Learning

  ESG and Responsible Institutional Investing #1

  0/ Introduction ESG investing == incorporation on ESG considerations into investors’ portfolio decisions. It’s mainly non-financial. It’s important to understand the difference between the size of the funds publicly “buying” into the agenda (AUM) and the…

  Read more

  7 months ago · 3 likes · 2 comments · Max Kraynov

  Parts 1, 2, abandoned.

Share

How to Think (and not to think)

• (c) Duncan J Watts. Everything is Obvious * Once You Know the Answer.

  Course Notes: Continuous Business Learning

  Everything Is Obvious 1/x

  source 1/ The Myth of Common Sense The book quotes the debunked Milgram experiment (using high voltage to punish students). Not good. Our lives are guided and shaped by unwritten rules, which are too abundant to write them all down and for one to know them all. Many of them are intuitive to the point that the brain just makes a snap decision based on the n……

  Read more

  3 months ago · 2 likes · 2 comments · Max Kraynov

  Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

• (c) David Epstein. Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World.

  Course Notes: Continuous Business Learning

  Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World 1/5

  0/ Preface There is a popular assumption that going deep (i.e. specializing from early years) is a recipe for success; however, multiple examples demonstrate that late specialization is equally as successful as the person gets various experiences and is able to go wide, expanding the toolset…

  Read more

  9 months ago · 6 likes · 2 comments · Max Kraynov

  Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

• (c) Stephen K. Campbell. Flaws and Fallacies in Statistical Thinking.

  Course Notes: Continuous Business Learning

  Flaws and Fallacies in Statistical Thinking 1/x

  Source: Stephen K. Campbell (book) 1/ Dangers of Statistical Ignorance It’s fair to assume that the more data a person is exposed to, the more fallacies s/he gets exposed to as well; being well-informed doesn’t really imply knowing just the correct information (see the book on …

  Read more

  2 months ago · 2 likes · Max Kraynov

  Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

• (c) Cathy O’Neil. Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy.

  Course Notes: Continuous Business Learning

  Weapons of Math Destruction 1/x

  book source The WMD (Weapons of Math Destruction) are algorithms that judge people on many criteria. But they’re opaque, unquestioned, and unaccountable, and they operate at a scale to sort, target or “optimize” millions of people. (direct quote) 1/ Bomb Parts: What is a Model…

  Read more

  a month ago · Max Kraynov

  Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

• (c) Michael Heller, James Salzman. Mine! (How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives).

  Course Notes: Continuous Business Learning

  Mine! (How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives) 1/7

  Book source MK: This book arguably has the most catchy and intriguing introduction I’ve ever come across. Can’t wait to finish this book and produce its summary. It touches upon the US specifics of property law, but it’s inspiring to see how customs are different even between the states, let along between countries…

  Read more

  23 days ago · Max Kraynov

  Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

Economics and Business

It’s funny that I haven’t finished most of these books because they don’t resonate much with me or I just prefer a different writing style. Your mileage may vary.

• (c) Thomas Sowell. Economic Facts and Fallacies.

  Course Notes: Continuous Business Learning

  Economic Facts and Fallacies 1/x

  MK: This book is interesting, but some of the judgements published there are arguable. I’ll try to avoid my own echo chamber and go through the pain of reading this point of view but can’t promise to finish the book. 1/ The Power of Fallacies People are using common terms implying different meanings and thus becoming deaf to what the other party is saying……

  Read more

  8 months ago · 1 like · Max Kraynov

  Parts 1, 2, abandoned.

• (c) Hamilton Helmer. 7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy.

  Course Notes: Continuous Business Learning

  7 Powers: The Foundations of Business Strategy

  MK: it’s an interesting, but a very strangely written book. It’s a strategy book written with math in mind, with quite unusual terms. Nonetheless, the content is gold, just needs quite a bit of digging and processing. 0/ Some Needed Terms Used Throughout the Book…

  Read more

  a year ago · 1 like · Max Kraynov

  Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, abandoned.