Tuesday, April 12, 2005

What did you read today?

Below is a Ctrl +C Ctrl +V of the books checked out by me from the university library.

1. Sequential tests of statistical hypotheses [by] B. K. Ghosh.

2. Sequential methods in statistics [by] G. Barrie Wetherill.

3. Sequential analysis : tests and confidence intervals / David Siegmund

4. Uncle Petros and Goldbach's conjecture / Apostolos Doxiadis.

5. The McKinsey mind : understanding and implementing the problem-solving tools and management techniques of the world's top strategic consulting firm / by Ethan M. Rasiel and Paul N. Friga

6. How to lie with statistics / Darrell Huff

7. Only the paranoid survive : how to exploit the crisis points that challenge every company and career / Andrew S. Grove.

8. McKinsey's Marvin Bower : vision, leadership, and the creation of management consulting / Elizabeth Haas Edersheim.

Items 1-3 are related to a module (sequential analysis) that I'm taking this semester. My exams start next week. Wish me luck!

About the rest, item 4 was upon favorable review by a fellow blogger but I didn't find it all that engaging.

The pick of the lot was former intel CEO Andy Grove's "Only the paranoid survive". A brilliant book on what are known as inflection points that are said to be able to make and break businesses.

A wonderful narrative, Grove takes us through various examples of these inflection points and then discusses how intel faced one that ultimately led them to quite memory business (in face of price war with Japanese manufacturers) and to enter the microprocessor world which they now comprehensively dominate. I strongly recommend for anyone with a least interest in general/technology management.

The books on McKinsey - was reading them to learn more about strategic consulting and have concluded that I'll never ever want to go there! They work on problems too abstract/generic/broad for my taste.

Such infrequent blogging? - I'm amidst hella lot of assignments, heavy work load and nearing exams. Things should get less hectic once this month ends.