Written by Mihai Dragan on Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 ( One response )
Tags: black swan, book, book review, improbable, prediction, theory
Without hesitation I would categorize this book as one of those mind-boggling, enlightining concepts. At least for me. The impact of the highly improbable.
We humans are used to see the world through patterns and information filters that enable us to comprehend a little bit of the reality arround us. Enough to survive. Self sufficient beings as we are, we like to minimize the importance of the unknown and the impact it has on us.
We, the self-sufficient simians
We are taught to think the circle is one of those perfect geometrical figure and disconsider nature for its inability to reproduce it. We overstate our intelligence and forget we might be unable to understand the perfect compostition of nature’s complicated geometrical figures.
We are taught we can predict and, my God, do we fail. The 1973 Oil Crisis was not only unpredicted but experts stated, in 1972, that 1973 was going to be a steady year in the cost of oil. They even thought it may decrease. It grew ten times. The world was in shock.
This was improbable. It had a huge impact. In hindsight, it was rationalized as expected and even predicted. Just like any other Black Swan event.
So…what’s with the birds?
The term comes from the fact that in the 17th century people assumed that all swans are white. The opposite was impossible or, at most, improbable. The 18th century brought the discovery of the Black Swan species in Australia. The impossible became possible and retrospectively, probable.
Who wrote this?
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, as improbable as it might seem, deals with prediction. He held a job applying financial mathematics that were used to predict stock market evolution in a couple of Wall Street companies.
The book itself describes some of his experiences in the field, some of the interesting people he used to know and autobiographical stories about his path to the Black Swan theory.
Written by Mihai Dragan on Sunday, February 1st, 2009 ( One response )
Tags: advertising agency business, book review, interactive agency management, managing agency
I was looking for quite some time for a good book on Agency Management when I happened to stumble on this jewel, written by Eugene Hameroff.
The complete name is The Advertising Agency Business: The Complete Manual for Management & Operation and I can recommend it to anyone in charge with managing an Conventional or Interactive Agency (there are some differences but you will find out that they work pretty much the same).
You will find professional advice on:
- Starting an agency (I have already done this and I was happy to find out that I did it well)
- Running an profitable business
- Keeping both clients and colleagues happy
- Evaluating the agency
- Managing the structure and ownership (I did find a lot of interesting concepts here)
- Developing strong relationships with clients and suppliers
- Generating new business
Strongly recommended!
Written by Mihai Dragan on Friday, January 9th, 2009 ( Start discussion )
Tags: book review, branding, differentiate, Marketing, marty neumeier, the brand gap, zag
“Zag” is probably the book with the best title of the decade. Why? Because it says it all. You don’t need to read the book. Just the title.
I would like to say that Marty Neumeier is a great author (I loved The Brand Gap) but Zag is a book that should not have been written and sold. It’s a pity they had to cut down all these trees so people can read 192 pages of … nothing.
Instead of reading it, here’s the summary: “Differentiate from your competitors”. Doh!
Written by Mihai Dragan on Thursday, October 23rd, 2008 ( Start discussion )
Tags: book review, Books, brittish, entrepreneurship, richard branson
You know … billionaires are people too. Some of them quite interesting but you probably knew that already about Richard Branson. The man raised a global brand from virtually nothing. The Virgin Brand stretches from media to space programs (wow!) offering the same experience (I wouldn’t know as the only “Virgin” product I have experienced up untill now was the book I’ve read) and brand proposition: “Virgin is a way of life”.
“Business Stripped Bare” is split in the following chapters:
1. People.
2. The Brand.
3. Delivery.
4. Learning from Mistakes (Shift happens. Get up and start again).
5. Innovation – probably the best a company can do when times get hard.
6. Leadership.
7. Social Responsibility – with great influence comes great responsibility.
8. The last chapter, ending with Rudyard Kipling’s IF – Success.
Richard is a great salesman and can deliver his vision but management doesn’t seem his strong point. The first part, which is mostly management stuff, is pretty boring but it gets more fun when you discover his true interests. The man is curious, a born leader and an innovative spirit. I got caught up reading about his adventures, the people he met and the things he changed and is most proud of.
All in all “Business Stripped Bare” is a great book. It’s not management material but if you want to see how the man that built the Virgin Brand against all odds thinks – this is the book. You will not get facts and figures but rather ideas, views and advices. After all – do you actually need more?
Written by Mihai Dragan on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 ( Start discussion )
Tags: book, book review, economy, freakonomics, fun
What is Freakonomics ?
Freakonomics started as a column by Stephen Dubner in the New York Times. Once he met the smart mr. Levitt, they decided they can do more together
Freakonomics, the book is fun economy. It is written by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. To get a picture on the subject, Levitt has been characterized by Wall Street Journal as the “Indiana Jones of economy”. And for good reason: the young economist answers interesting, and clearly unusual, questions in the book, such as “What do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have in Common” or “Why do Drug Dealers Still Live with their Moms”?
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