The soul of a new machine - Tracy Kidder

A book from the times of the first computers. A journalist goes along with a engineering team who develops a next generation of computer.

• About the new HQ: "Who was the architect?" - "We didn't have one". Company engineers designed the HQ building themselves. And they made it functional and cheap.
• They never tried to hoard a majority of the stock, but used it instead as a tool for growth. Many young entrepreneurs, confusing ownership with control, can't bring themselves to do this.
• When they chose their lawyer, who would deak with the financial community for them , they insisted that he invest some of his own money in their company. "We dnot want you running away if we get in trouble. We want you there protecting your own money."
• Their lawyer insisted that each of the founder "take down a million bucks". This so that they could negotiate without the dread of losing everything.
• IBM and other mainframe companies spent more money selling their products and serving their customers than they did in actually building their machines.
• "Can I get you signed up to do your part?" Toms message is: "Are you guys gonna do it or sit on your ass and complain?" Its a challenge he throws at them. "West brought us out of our depression into the honesty of pure work. He put new life into a lot of peoples jobs.
• By signing up for a project you agreed to do whatever was neccessary for success.
• the pratical virtues of the ritual were manifold. Labor was no longer coerced. Labor volunteered. When you signed up you in effect declared: "I want to do this job and I'll give it my heart and soul." 
• When they had time on their hands to look up from the machine, some saw that they were building it all by themselves, without any significant help from their leader. It was their project, theirs alone.
• but not many bosses would have done as much as he did for them, letting them grow in their work, giving them a chance to really do something.
• "a feeling of accomplishment", "self-fulfillment", "self-satisfaction" 
• Part of you is in that machine
• He sat up the opportunity and he didnt stand in anyones way
• He welcomed a journalist to observe his team
• Cray said that he liked to hire inexperienced engineers right out of school, because they do not usually know what's supposed to be impossible.
• They didnt know what they could not do.
• somepeople would rather work twelve hours a day of their on choosing than eight that are prescribed
• Grades mattered in this first winnowing of applications - not only as an indication of ability but also as a basis for guessing about a recruit's capacity for long, hard work
• When you deep dive into problems:
• can take a grip on an engineers thoughts and hold on. After playing this way for a while, you look at a tree and, aha, it is clear that a tree is much like a computer and a road with side streets is - what else? a kind of computer program.
• Once, someone brought a crying baby past his door, and afterward it took him an hour to retrace his steps through the circuit design he had been pondering.
• Time in a computer is an interesting concept
• I like to work around "Why", he told me. "I prefer not to know the established limits and what other people thing, when I start a project."
• "The wayto stay on schedule", he said, "Is to make anothe one."
• "If you cant get what you need from some manager at your level in another department, go to his boss - thats the way to get things done.
• "It doesnt matter how hard you work on something. What counts is finishing and having it work."
• "Lets see. I am a little confused here." he tends to say now, when what he means is "You guys are all wrong."
• These guys dont realize how dependent they are on that thing to create their identities.

Richard Branson - Loosing my Virginity

• She never stopped learning. Her attitude was, you've got one go in life, so make the msot of it.
• My parents always encouraged us to have our own opinions and rarely  gave us advice unless we asked for it.
• I found that it was only when I was using real numbers to solve real problems that maths made any sense to me.... and I enjoyed using them.
• My parents always encourages me to go ahead and do whatever I wanted to do, and if they did not always praise my projects they never expressed less than sympathy and support
• The more it was  banned (a CD by authorities), the more it was sold.
• The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about
• If there is a market that is just served by two giant corporations, it appears to me that there's room for some healthy competition.
• By nature I am curious about life, and this extends to my business
• I have always lived my life by making lists: lists of people to call, lists of ideas, lists of companies to set up, lists of people who can make things happen. Each day I work through these lists, and it is that sequence of calls that propels me forward.

Brand Eins über "Strategie"

• Wo Strategie draufsteht, ist meist nur Planung drin. Doch damit fehlt das Wichtigste: das Wissen, wer man ist und wer man sein könnte.
• Es ist das gründliche Nachdenken darüber, wo man hinwill. Die Voraussetzung dafür ist, zu wissen, wer man ist und wer man sein möchte. Das ist die Phase, in der eine Strategie entwickelt wird.
• Die Klügeren hinterfragen - nicht nur die anderen, auch sich selbst. Das ist die Grundlage für strategisches Denken.
• Der Begriff der strategischen Planung tut so, als ob er beide Welten zusammenbringen könnte, die Welt der Planwirtschaft und die der Perspektive und des Ziels.
• Strategische Planung ist nicht strategisches Denken
• Strategisches Denken ist ein schöpferischer Prozess, bei dem Fähigkeiten wie Intuition, Charisma und Überzeugungskraft entscheidend seien. Deshalb nenne man ja auch erfolgreiche Strategen Visionäre.
• Eine gute Strategie erkennt man daran, dass sie in selbstständiges Denken, Problemlösen und Anwenden mündet - bei allen, nicht nur ganz oben. Sie schafft eine gemeinsame  Logik des Handelns.

Smart parenting for smart kids

• One Needs "a compassionate ability to view the world through our children's eyes"
• Dont correct your childs work
• creating confusion about whose responsibility the homework really is
• cutting off essential Feedback
• unwittingly criticizing their childs abilities
• communicating to the children that mistakes are intolerable and must be hidden
• Whatever short-term pain might be involved in changing this pattern of schoolwork overinvolvement, is worthwile in the Long run. ist an investment in your childs future coping abilities
• When your child is about to start a big Project, you can offer vaious ideas
• avoid physically touching the work
• you can explain, but let your child come to you asking for help
• ask questions rather than give answers. Make General comments, but dont rewrite anything
• when you Refrain from Fixing the mistakes, you send your child a powerful message about acceptance and bravery and love
• dont protect your child from disappointment
• it lets them discover that setbacks are unpleasant but tolerable and often temporary
• acknowledge your childs Frustration or sadness, but also communicate that setbacks happen to everyone. Thats just the way the world works.
• insist on no excuses, only plans
• NO blaming
• if your child is just whining, put a stop to it
• say "then you Need to come up with some plans about how you can do better. What could you do that might help?"
• "You cant Change the Situation, you can only Change how you respond. Let me know when youre ready to talk about plans.
• Do something fun and completely unproductive with your child
• Showing your child that a variety of approaches are possible and that it makes sense to match the effort to the importance of the Task.
• When you acknowledge your own mistakes, you give your child permission to make mistakes
• Follow the Admission by sharing your plan for doing better next time. This Shows that mistakes are not an end Point
• Talk about how you enjoy the activitiy even though you're not good at it yet.
• When your child feels wronged by a friend, respond first by empathizing. Acknowledge the Feelings, without agreeing or implying that the other child is a horrible Monster.
• Some strategies
• Consider the other childs viewpoint
• It takes two to Tango: Every conflict involves at least two People even if one is less 'at fault'
• Encourage relationship repair: Acceptance and forgiveness: Sometimes being a friend means accepting other peoples foibles and forgiving their mistakes. Ist not realistic to expect others to be perfect
• Rule: "I feel ___ when you ____. Please ____"
• Phrase the "Please___" part of the formula in positive Terms.
• Offer your child this rule of thumn: the Person who is least wrong should apologize first. Ist easier for that Person to take the first step
• People are innocent until proven guilty (Always assume positive intent)
• If your child specifically asks you to look at a paper or Project clarify beforehand what your child wants from you. Ask "Are you showing this to me because you want to share it with me or because you want suggestions for improving it?"
• Often simply acknowledging the Feelings can help your child calm down
• Then it can consider Solutions
• When Kids feel heard and understood, they can often come up with their own Solutions
• Explain to your child that we all talk to ourselves in our heads, and the way we talk to  ourselves affects how we feel (explain the inner Team!!!)
• We can also talk to ourselves in ways that help us feel calmer.
• Things I can control vs things i cant control
• How i act vs. how others act
• How quick and well I do my homework vs. whether i get homework
• How I treat my sibling vs. whether I have a sibling
• We can make plans, try hard, ask for help, try new stratgies, and actively Change the Situation
• But we Need to work on tolerating and accepting what cant be changed
• Dont voice comparisons between siblings!
• If fighting: "I am sure you two can figure out something that fair to everyone"
• If one is teasing: Teach strategy "Congratulation"... "I had more" - "Congratulations", "I was first" - "Congratulation,...
• Instead of saying "I am very proud" say "You must be very proud!"
• SLANT
• Sit up straight
• Look and listen
• Ask and answer questions
• Nod your head
• Track the Speaker with your eyes
• Children are in the process of discovering who they are
• When Children believe that they possess a particular personal characteristic, they are more likely to behave in ways consistent with that characteristic
• Achievement often requires sustained Motivation over time
• high self-control
• self-discipline
• perseverance and Passion for Long-term Goals
• an inspired, personally embraced sense of purpose
• consistency and duration of effort
• Being able to do what Needs doing when it Needs doing, whether or not we feel like it, is a sign of maturity
• You can model curiousity and enthusiasm for learning by giving your child the opportunity to teach you
• Build a stockpile of your childs success stories, focusing on ones that involve struggle, followed by effort and resourcefulness, leading ultimately to a positive outcome. Tales of great effort of coping with adversity are more useful and inspiring than tales of instant, effortless success.
• "You're able to Keep trying, even when it's hard."... "I remember when you..."
• You may also want to strategically tell stories about your child to adult Family members within your childs Hearing.
• In a study Kids were praised for either ability or effort. Almost all Kids praised for effort wanted to do the hard Problems
• we need to emphasize how they are growing rather than what they can do because of innate abilities. We Need to help them embrace effort
• Learning to exert effort is a critical skill
• Discuss the benefits of seeing the Glass as half full
• Physical activity is one of the strongest predictors of positive mood
• We're convinced that sleep deprivation is the root of all evil
• Explain the concept of flow and help your child discover which activities are most likely to yield flow.
• Read or watch inspiring stories with your child
• Gandhi
• Mandela
• Musk
• Branson

Bennet - Mental efficiency and other

• On physical excercise: "please do not form an Elaborate Programme. ..." Go small steps "you will at any rate possess the satisfaction of having resolved to do something and having done it."
• rearrange your day. Idler and timewaster though you have been, still you had done
• Robbing yourself of sleep wont help, Nor trying to "squeeze in" time
• the most important preliminary to self-development is the faculty of concentrating at will.
• another excellent exercise is to read a page of no-matter-what, and then immediately to write down - in oness own words or in the authors - ones full recollection of it
• a diary treats exclusively of ones self and ones doings: a Journal roams wider and notes whatever one has observed of interest.
• Mental Efficiency can be gained by constant practice in Meditation - e.e., by concentrating the mind, say, for but ten minutes daily, but with absolute regularity, on some of the highest thoughts of which it is capable. Failures will be frequent, but they must be regarded with simple indifference.

• You are almost always shocked by the realization that you are you
• It is well, when one is judging a friend, to remember that he is judging you with the same godlike and superior impartiality

• However, the past is usually the enemy of cheerfulness
• Personally, I could even go so far as to exhibit hostility towards grief, and a marked hostility towards remorse - two states of mind which feed on the past instead of on the present.
• What one had sone, one has done, and theres an end of it.

• Hopes are never realized; for in the act of realization they become something else.
• You search for happiness? Happiness is chiefly a matter of Temperament. It is exceedingly improbably that you will by struggling gain more happiness than you already possess. In fine, settle down at once into life.

• Now, bookmen are capable of understanding things about books which cannot be put into words, they are not like mere subscribers to circulating libraries; for them a book is not just a book - it is a book.
• If these lines should happen to catch the eye of any persons not bookmen, such persons may imagine that I am writing nonsense; but I trust that the bookmen will comprehend me
• Its appearance in a series seems to me to rob a book of something very delicate and subtle in the Aroma of ist individuality - something which, it being inexplicable, I will not try to explain
• An in the third place, when one buys series, one only partially chooses oness books; they are mainly Chosen for one by the Publisher
• Not so does the genuine bookman form his library. The genuine bookman begins by having specific desires. His study of authorities gives him a deman, and the demand Forces him to find the supply. He does not let the supply create the demand.
• A library must be, primarily, the Expression of the owners personality.

• The philosophy of book-buying
• I am still walking up and down in front of my books and enjoying them without reading them.
• Are we only to buy the books that we read?
• All impassioned bookmen, except a few who devote their whole lives to reading, have rows of books on their shelves which they have never read, and which they never will read.
• I want to have lots of books on my shelves because I know they are good, because I know they would amuse me, because I like to look at them, and because one day I might have a Caprice to read them. In short, I want them because I want them.

• The average man flourishes and finds his ease in an atmosphere of peaceful Routine. Men destined for success flourish and find their ease in an atmosphere of collision and disturbance.
• No one is a worse guide to success than your typical successful man
• Successful men Forget so much of their lives! Moreover, nothing is easier than to explain an accomplished fact in a nice, agreeable, conventional way
• successful seldom succeed as the result of an ordered Arrangement of their lives; they are the least methodical of creatures. Naturally, when they have "arrived" they amuse themselves and impress the majority by being convinced that right from the start, with a steady eye on the Goal, they had carefully planned every foot of the route.
• The chief of these characteristics is the continual, insatiable wish to succeed.

• In the firm consciousness that just as my Body is the servant of my mind, so is my mind the servant of me. An unruly servant, but a servant - and possibly getting less unruly every day! Often have I said to that restive brain: "Now, O mind, sole means of communication between the divine me and all external phenomena, you are not a free Agent; you are a subordinate; you are nothing but a piece of machinery; and obey me you shall.
• The mind can only be conquered by regular meditation, by deciding beforehand what direction ist activity ought to take, and insisting that ist activity takes that direction; also by never leaving it idle, undirected, masterless, to play at random like a child in the streets after dark.
• I say to my mind: "Mind, concentrate your powers upon the full realization of the fact that I, your master, am immortal and beyond the reach of accidents." And my mind, knowing by this time that I am a hard master, obediently does so.
• Am I, a Portion of the Infinite Force that existed billions of years ago, and which will exists billions of years hence, going to allow myself to be worried by any terrestrial physical or mental Event? I am not.
• Of course, I freely grant that such Meditation, while it "casts out fear", slowly kills desire and makes for a certain high indifference.

It is often said that no thinking Person can be happy in this world. My view is that the more a man thinks the more happy he is likely to be.

Turn the ship around - L. David Marquet

• Remember: Leadership is a choice, not a position.
• Leader-Follower principle
• Leadership in most organizations is about controlling people
• People who are treated as followers have the expectation of followers and act like followers
• "Empowerment"... It takes me to empower you.. fundamentally disempowers employees
• The follower learns to rely on the leader to make all decisions rather than to fully engage with the work process to help make the organization run as efficiently as possible
• It seemed to me that humans are born in a state of action and natural empowerment.
• I felt my power came from within.
• It didnt matter how smart my plan was if the team couldnt execute it! It was a lesson that would serve me well
• We didnt associate an officers leadership effectiveness with how well his unit performed after he left. We didnt associate an officers leadership effectiveness with how often his people got promoted two, three, or four years hence. We didnt even track that kind of information. All that mattered was performance in the moment.
• When the performance of a unit goes down after an officer leaves, it is taken as a sign that he was a good leader, not that he was ineffective in training his people properly.
• He sensed that a keen curiosity would be vital for the success
• Dont move information to authority, move authority to the information
• ... we would be using a top-down approach to implement a bottom-up leadership philosophy
• Instead of trying to change mindsets and the change the way we acted we would start acting differently and the new thinking would follow.
• Many empowerment program fails because they are just that: "programs" or "initiatives" rather than the central principle
• [In group meetings] because the officers and chiefs interacted with me frequently, i sent them to the back so that the crew would gather around me.
• Early conversations make efficient work
• Use "I intend to..." to turn passive followers into active leaders
• passive follower use:
• Request permission to
• I would like to
• What should I do about
• Do you think we should
• Could we
• empowered phrases that active doers use
• I intend to
• I plan on 
• I will
• We will
• Dont preach and hope for ownership, implement mechanisms that actually give ownership
• Efforts to improve the process made the organization more efficient, while efforts to monitor the process made the organization less efficient.
• Why is "learning" a better word than "training"?
• Training implies passivitiy, it is done to us. We are trained; we attend training. Learning is active; it is something we do.
• Are people coming to "be briefed" or are they ready to present their portion of the event? Read-ahead or think ahead assignments.

Hermann Hesse - Siddhartha

• Schon verstand er, lautlos das Om zu sprechen, das Wort der Worte, es lautlos in sich hinein zu sprechen mit dem Einhauch, es lautlos aus sich heraus zu sprechen mit dem Aushauch, mit gesammelter Seele, die Stirn umgeben vom Glanz des klardenkenden Geistes. Schon verstand er, im Innern seines Wesens Atman zu wissen, unzerstörbar, eins mit dem Weltall.
• Und wie war das mit den Göttern? War es wirklich Prajapati, der die Welt erschaffen hat? War es nicht der Atman, Er, der Einzige, der All-Eine? [...] Wem anders war zu opfern? wem anders war Verehrung darzubringen als Ihm, dem Einzigen, dem Atman? Und wo war Atman zu finden, wo wohnte Er, wo schlug Sein ewiges Herz, wo anders als im eigenen Ich, im Innersten, im Unzerstörbaren, das ein jeder in sich trug?
• Vollkommenheit seiner Ruge, an der Stille seiner Gestalt, in welcher kein Suchen, kein Wollen kein Nachahmen, kein Bemühen zu erkennen war, nur Licht und Frieden.
• Er stellte fest, dass er kein Jüngling mehr, sondern ein Mann geworden sei. Er stellte fest, dass eines ihn verlassen hatte, wie die Schlange von ihrer alten Haut verlassen wird, dass eines nicht mehr in ihm vorhanden war, das durch seine ganze Jugend ihn begleitet und zu ihm gehört hatte: der Wunsch, Lehrer zu haben und Lehren zu hören. [...] Langsamer ging der Denkende dahin und fragte sich selbst: "Was nun ist es aber, das du aus Lehren und von Lehrern hattest lernen wollen, und was sie, die dich viel gelehrt haben, dich doch nicht lehren konnten?" Und er fand: "Das Ich war es, dessen Sinn und Wesen ich lernen wollte. Das Ich war es, von dem ich loskommen, das ich überwinden wollte. Ich konnte es aber nicht überwinden, konnte es nur täuschen, konnte nur vor ihm fliehen, mich nur vor ihm verstecken. Wahrlich, kein Ding in der Welt hat so viel meine Gedanken beschäftigt wie dieses mein Ich, dies Rätsel, daß ich lebe, daß ich einer und von allen andern getrennt und abgesondert bin, daß ich Siddhartha bin! Und über kein Ding in der Welt weiß ich weniger als über mich, über Siddhartha!" [...] Bei mir selbst will ich lernen!
• Dies alles [...] war in den früheren Zeiten für Siddhartha  [...], mit Mißtrauen betrachtet, dazu bestimmt, vom Gedanken durchdrungen und vernichtet zu werden, da es nicht Wesen war,  [...] Schön war die Welt, wenn man sie so betrachtete, so ohne Suchen, so einfach, so kinderhaft.  [...] Schön und lieblich war es, so durch die Welt zu gehen, so kindlich, so erwacht, so dem Nahen aufgetan, so ohne Mißtrauen.
• mäßiges Leben, Freude am Denken, Stunden der Versenkung, heimliches Wissen vom Selbst, vom ewigen Ich, das nicht Körper noch Bewußtsein ist.
• Lächelnd wiegte sich der Ruderer: "Es ist schön, Herr, es ist, wie du sagst. Aber ist nicht jedes Leben, ist nicht jede Arbeit schön?
• Du zwingst ihn nicht, schlägst ihn nicht, befiehlst ihm nicht, weil du weißt, das Weich stärker ist als Hart, Wasser stärker als Feld, Liebe stärker als Gewalt.
• Sprach Siddhartha: "Was sollte ich dir, Ehrwürdiger, wohl zu sagen haben? Vielleicht das, dap du allzuviel suchst? Daß du vor Suchen nicht zum Finden kommst?
• Ich scherze nicht. Ich sage, was ich gefunden habe. Wissen kann man mitteilen, Weisheit aber nicht. Man kann sie finden, man kann sie leben, man kann von ihr getragen werden, man kann mit ihr Wunder tun, aber sagen und lehren kann man sie nicht.