Traction by Gino Wickman

Get a Grip On Your Business
Do you have a grip on your business, or does your business have a grip on you?

All entrepreneurs and business leaders face similar frustrations—personnel conflict, profit woes, and inadequate growth. 
Decisions never seem to get made, or, once made, fail to be properly implemented. 
But there is a solution. It’s not complicated or theoretical.The Entrepreneurial Operating System® is a practical method for achieving the business success you have always envisioned. 
More than 2,000 companies have discovered what EOS can do.

In Traction, you’ll learn the secrets of strengthening the six key components of your business. 
You’ll discover simple yet powerful ways to run your company that will give you and your leadership team more focus, more growth, and more enjoyment. 
Successful companies are applying Traction every day to run profitable, frustration-free businesses—and you can too.

[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ] 


Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 4.15 out of 5 (713 Ratings; 78 Reviews - As on December 29 2016)
My Rating:  3.5 out of 5
My Comments: Sort of simplified version of Verne Harnish's book Scaling Up. Useful for startup companies.


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101 Design Ingredients to Solve Big Tech Problems by Eewei Chen

One page, one ingredient. 101 reasons to become more successful at solving those big technology problems. 
101 Design Ingredients will help your technology team identify problems, share responsibilities, and work better together.

In parts 1 through 4, you'll find 101 problem-solving ingredients grouped into project stages, to help you apply the right ingredient at the right time. 
Start at any point and page through the humorously illustrated ingredients until you find one that matches your needs best. 
The ingredients cover the spectrum your business needs to be successful, with tips on team-building, creating a business model, product launch, productivity, and much more. 
Each ingredient includes three practical suggestions to get you started right away.

In part 5, you'll see examples of how companies can blend some of the ingredients used in this book to solve specific business requirements for investment, innovation, leadership, and more. Each recipe shows how a company fine-tuned six of the ingredients to build their own unique solution. 
You'll learn how to mix and match ingredients to create your own recipes for success, tailored to your company's needs.

The ingredients and recipes in this book can be applied by beginners starting out on their first technology project, as well as seasoned professionals who have been tackling the same big problems for years and need a fresh new approach to problem solving.

[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ] 


Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 3.03 out of 5 (30 Ratings; 5 Reviews - As on December 25 2016)
My Rating:  3 out of 5
My Comments: Has got nice cartoons and lots of links which may be of interest. Content wise just OK.


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Finding Forgotten Cities - Nayanjot Lahiri

How the Indus Civilization was Discovered

Just a century ago, scholars believed that civilization in the Indus Valley began three thousand years ago during the Vedic Age. 

But in the autumn of 1924, John Marshall made an announcement that rocked the understanding of the ancient world and pushed back the boundaries of Indian history by two thousand years more: the discovery of the civilization at Harappa, located in present-day Sindh and Punjab, Pakistan. 

A sophisticated culture dating back to 2600 BCE, this ancient city was notable for its well-planned streets and for having the oldest known urban sanitation system.

Based on previously unknown archival materials, Finding Forgotten Cities not only details an archeological discovery on the same scale as Troy, but introduces us to the colorful cast of characters who made it possible and overcome the challenges and travails of this colossal excavation. 

Nayanjot Lahiri’s fascinating history includes tales of self-taught archaeologists like Charles Masson, the collector who first described an ancient Indus Valley culture, as well as Alexander Cunningham, the archaeological pioneer who first excavated Harappa with diggers Daya Ram Sahni, Rakhaldas Banerji, and Madho Sarup Vats in the 1850s.  

And, at the center of Lahiri’s story is John Marshall, a Cambridge classicist brought by Lord Curzon to India to lead the Archaeological Survey of India and the man who finally pieced together the truth about this long-forgotten civilization.

Spanning nearly a century, Finding Forgotten Cities presents a powerful narrative history of one of the key sites of the ancient world offers interesting insight into the origins of modern civilization.

[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ] 

Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 4.0 out of 5 (25 Ratings; 6 Reviews - As on December 23 2016)
My Rating:  4 out of 5
My Comments: A fascinating narrative of how Indus Valley civilization was discovered. 
Some digressions from the main story line though equally interesting breaks the flow. 
These details could have been provided as separate appendix chapters. 
Apart from this it is an excellent read!


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Sri Ramakrishna on Himself - Mohit Ranjan Das (compiler)

Understanding that the life of a prophet is best told by himself, this book is an attempt to form an autobiography from Sri Ramakrishna's utterances about his life. 
These words taken mainly, but not exclusively, from the 'Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna', allow the reader to hear, as it were, the Master's story from his own lips.

Included are a Chronology of the Life of Sri Ramakrishna and a Glossary.

[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ] 


Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 3 out of 5 (1 Rating; 0 Review - As on December 17 2016)
My Rating:  3 out of 5
My Comments: A commendable job in compiling autobiographical quotes from Sri Ramakrishna in one volume.


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Scrum Insights for Practitioners - Hiren Doshi

The Scrum Guide Companion 

Hiren Doshi, Scrum.org Professional Scrum Trainer & Coach in his book, Scrum Insights for Practitioners: The Scrum Guide Companion helps the practitioners master the Scrum framework by gaining in-depth practical insights and helps answer questions like: 

• What are some common myths, mysteries, and misconceptions of Scrum?
• The Scrum Guide recommends three to nine members in a Development Team, but we have fifteen members. Is this Scrum?
• Can you share some tactics to do effective Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective, and Product Backlog Refinement?
• My designation is development manager. Does this mean I have no role in Scrum?
• How is Scrum Empirical?
• Can Scrum Master and Product Owner be the same person?
• We don’t have a Scrum Master. Are we still practicing Scrum?
• What does Self-Organization really mean?
• How does Scrum embrace the four values and twelve principles of the Agile Manifesto?
• Please share a case study on Scrum based product development?

[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com ] 


Ratings
Goodreads Rating - 4 out of 5 (1 Rating; 0 Reviews - As on December 10 2016)
My Rating:  3.5 out of 5
My Comments: This book will help you understand the nuances of Scrum.
It takes a very practical approach towards implementing Scrum without compromising on its values and principles.
Perhaps the first book on Scrum that newbies should read after going through the official Scrum Guide.
A useful and handy reference for Scrum practitioners!


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