Mastery - Robert Greene

"Mastery is not a function of genius or talent. It is a function of time and intense focus applied to a particular field of knowledge."

For those who are familiar to Robert Greene's books, this will be an extention. I have liked reading the previous three books and that prompted me to take this up for read. What I like in his style of writing is the way they are organised. Unlike the typical management, business or self help kind of books which are too verbose to my comfort, Greene writes in a style which is more subtle and with examples from personalities which are well known in the fields of their own expertise. After a brief narration on the chosen one, he links the points of discussion effortlessly , giving possible 'reversal' angle as well.

This book, supposed to be the resulted from the previous three books. He noticed the similarities in the way the 'heroes' he studied and described went about in their life to be what they are known for. The path, method and progress can be constructed in to a structured model.  Continuing his work on this aspect of their life, Greene came about the theory on "Mastery".  From the life of some of the masters of yester years and by interviewing some of the celebrities of current ( living) generation, the books comes out with the steps that can be generalised in the path to mastery. 

the evolution of mastery begun with the primates. The human brain started developing, differentiating themselves from the animals in the early stone age. The improvement in techniques of hunting, the use of stones and woods , shaped to assist the hunt might be the earlier significant steps towards the 'evolution of Mastery". The social intelligence came in much later, thus making human a much more evolved species. We continued to develop and horn our skills to achieve greater levels of mastery over the generations.

There are three steps in the life of any work / task or learning. The first is the acquaintance phase, where one need to get acclimatized to the surroundings , the task and the people. The second phase is that of apprenticeship where you start learning the skill. It is during this phase of 'life' you strive towards mastery. It's often painstaking and laborious. It demand commitment and dedication and most importantly guidance. The post mastery phase is the phase of 'creative output' , which is the reflection of all that you are learned and practiced over many many hours or years.

Greene summarizes the path to mastery into 6 steps, detailed into different chapters.

Discover Your Calling: The Life’s Task

Submit To Reality: The Ideal Apprenticeship

Absorb The Master’s Power: The Mentor Dynamic

See People As They Are: Social Intelligence

Awaken The Dimensional Mind: The Creative-Active

Fuse The Intuitive With The Rational: Mastery

Citing examples from the lives of Mozart, Charles Darwin, Einstein, Goethe  and new age masters like V S Ramachandran ( neuro sciences), Daniel Everett ( Linguist) , Paul Graham, Yoki Matsuoka ( Artificial intelligence and robotics) ,Freddie Roach( Boxing) and many others, each chapter elaborate into the nuances of the respective aspect of mastery.

While there are questions raised on some of the practicality of the aspects, the overall suggestions are pretty interesting. Fairly easy read, and engaging through out. No jargons or 'registered' phrases. Dense, but not as rich as the the other books : there are no side notes nor any microprinted quotes. But, a good read nonetheless.

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Mastery ( 2012 )

Robert Greene

Profile Books

336 Pages
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Wiki, LA Times

Drive - Daniel H Pink

It is an often discussed topic. There were many theories and practices on the subject of motivation. To me, this was yet another book on the cliche'd subject, when I picked this up. However, this turned out to be pretty good book.  What drives people to perform.

In the early days of civilization, it was often the quest for survival. The single aim to be ahead or rather dont be the last one wsa the key driving force. Pink calls this Motivation 1.0. Similar to the new world computers, he says the society too has an operating system that drives the people to do things. From the early days of survival influenced motivation,  the civilization progressed leaps and bounds with the industrialization. The second phase of motivation ( which he calls Motivation 2.0) is based on the reward and punish ( carrot & stick in common language). Higher performances were rewarded and the defaulters and laziness were punished.  This method, deployed successfully over 300 years, are they capable on addressing the needs of the new economy which is beyond the industrialized world. The exponential growth of the information technology related or aided revolution makes leaders to think differently and look at the whole subject of motivation in a different light.

Carrot & Stick method is not as effective as it used to be in the early days. It has its own drawbacks. As it looks at very short term objectives and fails to retain the same level of motivation over long period of time. Money ( any monitory benefits) as many now seems to agree as a Hygiene factor and not a real driving force in a long term. Short term "if-then" type of reward program also makes people to do thinks through short cut, often violating ethical or statutory policies of the organisation.  However, he explains, certain routine based tasks , continue to use the reward program effectively. He advise the use of  'now-that' method instead of 'if-then' in such case. Instead of announcing a milestone, a target based reward, he recommend a use of reward for a good task done. Now that you have achieved this, we are pleased to recognize your contribution.

So, what will drive the new generation. He categorizes this as Intrinsic Motivation and Extrinsic Motivation.  As the name suggests, intrinsic is more personal and are usually associated with virtues. Extrinsic is  mostly to do with physical, tangible and often monitory needs. Since the discussion is towards the next phase ( version 3.0) of motivation, the book concentrate on the Intrinsic ( Type I) motivations in detail.

Type I motivation has 3 key elements : Autonomy , Mastery and Purpose.  Explaining each of these elements in detail, Pink says, autonomy should not be mistaken for freedom or independence to do anything. If managed appropriately, it can unleash the creativity in the team producing results that are beyond your dream. Autonomy is attributed to four areas. Time , task, team and technique. Citing examples from many successful companies, the book provide some interesting case studies to prove his point. Mastery takes to from Compliance ( in 2.0) to engagement. One of the key driving force among the top ranked sports persons ( a la Tiger Woods, Roger Federer) is the quest to master their skill, despite being on top of the world. Mastery he sys, is a mindset, it's pain and it is asymptote ( you never reach the perfection or 100%, but you will be closure to it). 

The book also gives some task based tips to improve the Type I motivation for individual, team ( group or organization) and family. He also provides a chapter-wise summary or recap which I thought a great think to do.  What is the success of this book is in getting a often chewed subject in a different perspective and very effectively. Very good read.

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Drive ( 2009 )

Daniel H Pink

Canon Gate

242Pages
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Wall Street Journal,  Wiki

How will you measure your life ? - Clayton M Christensen

In the year 2010, Clayton Christensen, a Harward Professor, gave a lecture to the students on this theme. In his introduction, he mention his own days of successful completion of MBA and his first few College re-union.  What he found out in those meetings - the 5 yr, 10yr and 15yr re-unions- is that the number of alumni attended the meeting came down as the years progressed, and despite their high earning, high profile jobs, there was certain undercurrent of unhappiness in most of them. Many of his classmates were either divorced, or living separately. Many with multiple similar relationship broken over short span of time. Many were alone. And one of his classmate was now in jail, serving term for fraudulent activities ( you all know the company). 

After he was diagnosed ( and successfully coming out of it) with a cancer, which took the life of his father few years earlier, he deliberated on this question, coming up with the lecture and the book. The book, is the result of those lectures, in which Clayton expands his theory of successful career and successful life. Citing examples from corporate experiences, his own firm and the others, he connect his theories between a successful company and a happy individual. Smartly dividing the books into 3 parts focusing on "Finding Happiness in your Career", Finding happiness in your relationships"and most importantly "Staying out of Jail".

Under a catchy and often confusing title of the book (for a self help), Clayton brings out certain important aspect of managing ones career and ones life. At the outset , these aren't ground breaking ideas and not something new to us. But in the 200 odd pages, he manages to get us into his theories with some good connection between the career and life.

A topic many books have already covered, he explains the motivational factors and the hygiene factors in an employee. While it is important to maintain the hygiene factory ( like salary, promotion) , he emphasize on identifying the right motivational factors.

"the most powerful motivator isn’t money; it’s the opportunity to learn, grow in responsibilities, contribute, and be recognized"

Also on strategy, I liked his take on deliberate versus emerging strategies. From many example, we see, most of the successful companies, the strategy was not discussed on drawing boards, but evolved from various experiments.

 On the relationship , it is important to understand your priorities, and provide assistance to your kids in experiencing the tasks by themselves even if they fail in accomplishing the task.  With the current level of high action, one has to be imbibed with integrity to self and to the society, which has to begin at home. It is important to invest in future happiness. An investment need to be continual and through out your life.

In developing capabilities, either for an organization or for an individual, three factors are important : Resources, Processes and Priorities. Most often repeated mistakes are by providing resources without adequate processes.

He conclude:  "Don’t worry about the level of individual prominence you have achieved; worry about the individuals you have helped become better people. This is my final recommendation: Think about the metric by which your life will be judged, and make a resolution to live every day so that in the end, your life will be judged a success"

A mishmash of Management and self help , Clayton Christensen uses the corporate learning to a successful personal life. Good read and a couple of interesting theories , especially the "emerging strategies" and on the "resource-process-priorities".

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How will you measure your life ? ( 2012)

Clayton M Christensen

Harper Collins

221 Pags
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HBR , TED Lecture, Forbes ,

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team - Patrick Lencioni

Success of any Team has many ingredients. What differentiate a great team and a bad team is the lack of many of these fundamentals. Every successful team has its own uniqueness that stand them apart from the rest. There are innumerable books on the leaders of successful team or organisations. Despite of these uniqueness, there are few common factors that is essential to the success of a team. Lack of these fundamentals can be attributed to the failure of team, however great the individuals of the team are. Patrick Lencioni, in his celebrated book, discusses these dysfunctions of every unsuccessful team.

According to him , the five dysfunctions are :

Absence of Trust — unwilling to be vulnerable within the group

Fear of Conflict — seeking artificial harmony over constructive passionate debate

Lack of Commitment — feigning buy-in for group decisions creates ambiguity throughout the organization

Avoidance of Accountability — ducking the responsibility to call peers on counterproductive behavior sets low standards

Inattention to Results — focusing on personal success, status and ego before team success

Book consists of two parts. Part one, written in a parable style, looks at the proceedings at a Silicon Valley startup, currently struggling, despite some great individuals at the helm. Generally young, tech savvy leadership team is put under a newly appointed 55 year old, lady CEO, from the typical old school back ground. In her attempt to re-build the team , she exposes the short comings of the team in her initial off-site meeting of her leadership team. The next few chapters examines these dysfunctions among the team and set to address them by her own ways and style. They go through anger, frustration, despise, fear, rejection and various other emotions. The team goes through the inner turmoil , doing their own introspection, getting their act together during the next couple of leadership meetings. They also go through removal of certain leaders, and the often heard restructuring before, as it always end, in bringing back to the path to success.

The initial part is written like a fiction, with all those twists and turns, the anxiety, the deception and suspense. Most of the chapters are in the form of meeting room discussions, and conversations. it is in this part, he introduces the concept of five dysfunctions. But, the part 2 of the book gets into the serious discussion. There are no stories here. In a typical text book manner, he examines each of these dysfunctions at length, their pros and cons, the symptoms and the recommendations to overcome them in a more practical and actionable terms. Very crisp and concise, this part is the creame of the book.

Typical to any management , self development books, this too does not provide you with any new insights. You go through the familiar "I know this already" feeling. However, the second part makes the difference. Personally, I found this book pretty good and presented neat, despite the 'novel' approach in the part one. This is a good read for any first or second line managers, who lead complex teams.

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The Five Dysfunctions of a Team ( 2002)

Patrick Lencioni

Times Group

229 Pages
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Other links: Wiki, Table Group

Grown up digital - Don Tapscott

The way of our living have changed in last couple of decades. It has always been changing, but what is special about last couple of decades would be the question. In a single world, it has turned digital. Look at every business we conduct, every action we perform day to day, every thing is now controlled or effected by Digital Technology. Way back in 1997 ( I think), when Lou Gerstner, then the CEO of IBM announced e-Business, he was forecasting a future where the business is conducted electronically. Even he wouldn't have believed that the changes would be so dramatic.

I am not getting into statistics in detail. But a recent mail received which talked about 'social media revolution' had some interesting statistics.  (See them here : http://socialnomics.net/2010/05/05/social-media-revolution-2-refresh/ ). The popularity of Facebook, twitter and similar social networking sites are not only taking active role in our daily life, but also causing dramatic shift in our social behaviour.

While there may be arguments on the merits and de-merits of this phenomenon substantiated with statistics and reasons, there is no two-way about its ever increasing influence in the present day life. Don Tapscott , in his follow on book to his "growing up digital", revisits these facts in this new book, with some interesting insights.

Calling them the 'Net Generation" , after the baby boomers born between 1946 to 1964 ( post worldwar era), the Gen X born between 1965 to 1976 ( Vietnam war), he looks at the characteristical differences and social changes of these people within the Digital World. Net Generation in this book are considered those who are born post 1977 till 1997. With the exponent growth in the world trade and the ever increasing connectivity, and mobile telephony has made this generation leap frog in the social interactions albeit in the virtual world. Abundance of information and the easy availability has made them more informative ( not necessarily improved knowledge, and less on wisdom), making them better equipped to respond and adjust to the changing world order. Tapscott, looks at various aspect of the social life of the Net-Gens and critically looks at the need for the change.

Education : The earlier model of training ( which he calls 100 years behind), is not what is effective to the new generation. Their ability to multiplex, comprehend different aspect, their ability to search and get what is needed makes the whole education system to be revamped. The 'pre-Gutenburg' model of teaching ( the notes written in the book of the teacher passes on to the notes written by the student without going through either brain - or so is the joke) , in the form of lecture has no place in today's education. 'Instead of focusing on the teacher, the education system should focus on the student'. The one-size-fit-all model of learning is no more relevant.

Workplace: As we see daily in Office, many old timers find it difficult to adjust to the newer generation of work force. They are blamed for not being serious and not career oriented and less loyal to the organisation with respect to the earlier generation. With the improved awareness and confidence, the netgen-ers are more critical to their work place. Hence the management strategy on talent development and employee retention need a re-thinking. As many organisations have tried and failed, locking the mail boxes, preventing the social networking sites etc may not yield results, but could be counter productive. According to Tapscott, the organisation need to appreciate the need for a 'digital break' by its employees.

Consumer: With the lesser and lesser viewing of the young, spending more time online, the world of marketting and consumerism need to adopt to the changing behaviour of the youngsters. It was proven that TV viewing is becoming more and more passive, and the advertisements are not registered as it used to be earlier. The common method used by most of the new advertisements, by having banners at various internet sites, too are not yielding results. Peer reviews have shown significant influence in the buying decision of the Netgen youth and feedback from friends and colleagues seems to have positive impact on their buying behaviour. These days, people do online research on the product they would like to buy and the shop experience has only been reduced to the look and feel and convenience.

Family : The changing social order has the effect in the family order as well. It was observed that more and more youngsters in the US are coming back home after graduation and live with their parents, which was opposite to the earlier generation, who would leave home and build their own family elsewhere. Similarly, the improved 'digital knowledge' of the son or the daughter in the family make them superior to their parents in many ways. The need of going out to freedom is now reduced with the available freedom within the family and in their own private space. This has also resulted in lesser drug addition, alcoholism, sexual assaults and other crimes of similar nature.

The net Generation can also have a huge influence on the social, political and civic order. Citing the Barac Obama election campaign, where the net generation have taken active participation, Tapscott explains the positive influence it can be to the democracy all over the world. Revelution in Social media has also made more and more people to be vocal about the mis-practices around the world. They are able to influence and canvas millions of people for a cause, within a short time. Young people for various social causes are garnering global support for their campaign and often managing to get what they wanted. With blogging being popular every one is now a 'publisher' and through you tube, anyone can be a broadcaster.

We have been discussing the possible advantageous and its possible influence for all along. There are innumerable examples of this being mis-utilised. They are also making people internalised and virtual with less and less personal, face to face interactions ( or the so called social skills). They are also more open and have no concern in sharing their personal and some times intimate data in the public domain. The dark sides can also take a book to describe ( As some of them have already published). the fact however remain that there is no going back. There is no point in being one rowing against the wind. Its for the world in total to make use of this phenomenon to the better use.

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Grown Up Digital ( 2008 )

Don Tapscott

Tata - McGrawHill Pu blications ( Only for India & South Asia )

368 Pages

Rs 650

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The Ape in the Corner Office - Richard Coniff

Its a jungle out there..

Workplace behavior is a topic for many a books. It is interesting to observe on how we behave in various situations in Office and what drives those behaviour. Richard Coniff , in this interesting book, tell us that most of those traits are carried to us as the part of the evolution. These traits are common in the animal kingdom. Taking us through various examples and relating these characteristics to the animal, mostly to the closest to humans, the Apes tends to exhibit similar characteristics.

The social hierarchy, the power politics, the fear of failure, the need for nurturing and cajoling all are very common in the primates. They also behave to the set patterns of responses, to the order of the society as we do. The intimidation, the need for reconciliation after a spar, the tendency to follow the herd etc., are as prevalent in the other world as it is in the office environment.

Richard Coniff, does his research in an outstanding manner. There are ample references to the business world, to the research world of animals. The references and co-relation are very good. The outcome of reading the book is that, from now on, I start looking at my colleagues and their reactions in a new light. It might also alter few of my won responses. Very easy and entertaining read, with many real life examples ( few on the organisation where I work) and comparisons make this book worth reading.
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The Ape in the corner Office
Richard Coniff
Crown Business
341 Pages
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Further read : HR Magazine, HBS Review

The Professional - Subroto Bagchi

Most of the management and career oriented books are originated from the US. While I agree with the ideas in general, they at times differ from the established social and moral point of view in these part of the world. The social environment, the education and upbringing , the moral standards and ethical view points are different from other places and that makes these books irrelevant in these environment.

Subrato Bagchi , co-founder of Mindtree, has brought out a good book, explaining the nuances of being a professional to the young Indian working population. Citing examples from the daily walk of life, and from the field familiar to us, he examines various aspects of a professional behaviour and conduct. Without getting into management or personality development jargons , usually found in such books, this book have a feel of one to one communication. The language is simple and straight forward, easy to understand and the examples are easy to relate to from an Indian context.
However, the book tends to be a bit preachy ( as he himself admit in the foreword ) at times. Besides, the second half of the book reads like a 'business conduct guidelines' of a company.

Very good book for every new professionals, for shaping up their career, and for the experienced peopl ein their respective field to look back and make amends wherever necessary.
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The Professional
Subroto Bagchi
Penguin Books India
217 Pages
Rs 399/-
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Further read : The Hindu Review

First, Break All the Rules - Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman

"The greatest managers in the world seem to have little in common. They differ in sex, age, and race. They employ vastly different styles and focus on different goals. Yet despite their differences, great managers share one common trait: They do not hesitate to break virtually every rule held sacred by conventional wisdom."

It had been a while since I read a business/management book. So, when my manager gave this book with an inscription saying "read this for a change" , I have decided to oblige and have a go at it.

I am weary of management and self help kind of books. This book too have started with similar settings. However great the company is, it is the managers who retain talents and who bleed talents from an organisation, managers are the key to the survival and success of the company , etc etc. However, as you started reading and passed few initial pages, this gets better. Instead of the usual, impractical, it-had-been-done-and-was-successful kind of writing, this was much clearer in approach and was pertaining to my daily life. Not that it had anything extra ordinary or a revelation to me, the subject was treated with appropriate details and few examples.

Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman , two consultants with Gallup Organization, get together to analyse the result of the 25 years 80000 managers survey on the elements of a great manager. Though we have been through many studies and analyses of what a great manager is, in this book the discussion is on what the great managers across the globe, over the years managed to do, making them different from the ordinary. According to the authors, they have debunked the myths and the old style of management by breaking the existing rules.

To summarise, there are four major elements to a great manager. ( Well, this book is on people management and not the general business management)
1. Select for talent
2. Define the right outcomes
3. Focus on strengths
4. Plan their progression or Find the Right Fit

There are detailed discussion on each of these key area of performance. There are discussion on Talent ( natural recurring patterns of thought within a person) , Skill and knowledge and their differences. There are practical suggestions on setting the parameters to get the right outcome. Each person has a unique set of talents making them unique. Great managers identify these unique talents and assign them works based on these talents. What is important is not to attemtp to fix the weaknesses of the individual, but to focus on his talent and strength.

The examples aren't strong or convincing. These are at random and appears fabricated to suit the situation. That makes it little awkward in the flow of reading. There aren't any case studies , very few references to the organisations ( few quotes on GE - favourite company for management book authors) , thus reducing the impact of the topic in discussion. Otherwise, it had been a relevant read with out the overdose of cliches and jargons we are used to seeing in such books.

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First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently
Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman
Simon & Schuster271 Pages
Rs 395
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More Reads : Gallup Management Journal, themanager.org , CEO Refresher

Training for Leadership - Brig.Parmodh Sarin(retd)

I was asked to read this book and give opinion before my dept go ahead and buy this for the employees. I had a weekend to complete the task.

My first impression was very poor. The books overall appeal was very ordinary. It's design, the printing , page layout , front cover etc very not something which makes the casual surfer to take and leaf through, if kept in a book shelf.

When you get started, you are hit with a series of pages such as , Preface , foreword , acknowledgement, definitions,prologue and introduction before you get going.

The book is written by a person who was with the Indian Army and not from our walk of life ( so called current generation of sales / IT people).
These days it is a fashion to find management and leadership wisdom from all walks of life. From FISH! market to car sales agency, Ice cream maker to classical music ( here and here) , we are offered with variety of choices from all parts of life.

However, what impressed me about this book was the way it was organised. I found this very structured and crisp. Though he covers the often talked about topic ( for a regular reader of management and leadership books) and quotes the same Jack Welch , Peter Drucker and other management gurus, it still has a style and vision in accordance with his experience.

I am still not very happy about some of the languages used such as subordinate development et all. I found them in appropriate to use for your colleague in the current business scenario ( at least the industry I work in). He also discusses the Quality Circle concept, which I though is already over the hill. There is a important discussion on the difference between Manager and Leader which is worth mentioning here. According to him "Manager works with things and numbers. Leaders work with people and their feelings".

There are no clear and final answer to leadership and team management. Here is another book in this already over crowded space.

Training for Leadership
Brig.Parmodh Sarin(retd)
Manas Publications
236 Pages
Rs495

Leading at a higher level - Ken Blanchard

I received this book from my Boss along with the letter of elevating my role and responsibilities. It has been a practice here to give management books for every occasion.

I'm not a great fan of management books. However, I have decided to read this book after keeping it pending for 3 months. Wanted to do so, before boss remembers this and ask if I had read it.

I'm no one to comment about the content as it is a result of huge experience and research and that is evident in the writing. There are lot of valuable inputs and tips for leadership, few of which we go through the skill sessions at Office. There are a few interesting observations and comments about the teams.

What I found lack in this is real life examples ( there are very few) and case studies, which would have made it an interesting read.

Customers for Life - Carl Sewell

I'm into management books these days.. may be a bit of overdose. I've decided to switch back to fictions with immediate effect..

Another management book with a simple and straight forward way of telling the readers that there is nothing more important to business that a satisfied and happy customer.

With his simple way of narrating his own experience in transforming his Cadillac dealership to the second largest in US, he explains the steps he has taken to ensure customers are returning to him over and over again. Though the story is about a car dealership and operations, the story behind an excellent customer satisfaction is no different in any industry.

His steps and ideas explained in each chapter and the check point at the end , is a must read for every individual facing a customer directly or indirectly. By taking inputs from his customers, employees and the supplier , he develop an operation which is rated as the best in the US by agencies. As he says, you have to borrow the best practices observed in every industry , from hotel to insurance and try to implement the same in your own operations, so that you do not have to re-invent the same.

I liked his idea of removing customer service dept and inspectors, under promise and over deliver , measure everything you do etc etc.. He does everything in its minute detail thus ensuring it is improved at every level.

This book will help you in looking into your own operations and makes you to realise the importance of re-aligning your operations towards customer (though every company claim to do so)..

Customers for Life
by Carl Sewell
Publisher : Currency Books
210 pages

The Ice Cream maker - Subir Chowdhuri

Another mini sized management book in the genre of Fish! , Who moved my cheese.. This book is written as a story of a local Ice cream maker realizing the important of quality in all phases of life. Mr.Chowdhury illustrate how quality should be the integral part of a corporate / individual's culture. Pete, the manager of the regional ice cream company, determined to sell his ice creams to the large retail chain, Natural food. After repeated unsuccessful attempts by its sales team, and typical survival pressure from the boss, he has taken up the task to find out the reason of their failure to impress Natural Foods. From the conversation with Mike, Natural Foods Manager, Pete understands how they excelled in their business by embarking quality as a mission and by listening to their customers and employees. He learns the LEO principle ( Learn , Enrich and Optimize) from Mike and how it is part of every employee's life.

This book offers the essential business lessons on listening to your own people and customers in sustaining a quality product and services. This is a must read for every businessman every manager and every individual.

You can read more of this at http://www.theicecreammaker.com/


Title : The Ice Cream Maker
Author : Subir Chowdhuri
Publisher : Random Books
No of Pages : 115
Price : Rs 125

On Bullshit - Harry Frankfurt

"One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit, Everyone knows this. Each of us contributes his share. But we tend to take the situation for granted."
After reading these lines, I do not think anyone can keep this book down until you complete reading it.
As I was walking through the stalls in the Bangalore Books Exhibition, I saw this small book and the name attracted me to it. The above lines lines caught my attention as I slanced through the pages and I was willing to spend Rs125 for this Bullshit.
This book written by Prof Harry Frankfurt , profession and philisopher from Princeton Unitversity.
I was expecting a rather funny book and I was surpriced it was a serious work of writing , no bullshitting. This is more to do with philosophy and can be called intellectual humour.
Bullshitting is not lying or bluffing. Bullshitter is faking things . Bullshitting is creativity . To tell a lie, requires a degree of craftmanship. In order to invent a lie, he must know what is the truth. On the other hand, the bullshitter has much more freedom. As he says bullshit is unavoidable whenever circumstances require someone to talk without knowing what he is talking about. How true in our profession. !!
Oxford English Dictionray define bullshit as " trivial, insincere, or untruthful talk or writing; nonsense."
He also takes examples from other literally works. "Never tell a lie when you can bullshit your way through" Eric Ambler ( Dirty Story ) is an interesting one.

I recommend this book to all ( and I'm not bullshitting )
Book : On Bullshit
Authot : Harry Frankfurt
Pages : 67
Publication : Princeton University Press
Price : Rs 125

for more read visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit