Mercedes or “Mehr CDs” | Federer's Diverse Experiences

When I was reading the book “RANGE: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World" by David Epstein, a story I learnt about elite tennis player Federer made me notice that starting broad and embracing diverse experiences and perspectives lead to great progress. The benefits of breadth, diverse experience and interdisciplinary thinking are key to success.

I will share more about my thoughts on this topic when I finish the book via a separate content but this time I want to highlight an interesting story of Federer.

Mercedes or “Mehr CDs”

Roger Federer’s mom was a coach, but she never coached him. He would kick a ball around with her when he learned to walk. As a boy, he played squash with his father on Sundays. He dabbled in skiing, wrestling, swimming and skateboarding. He played basketball, handball, tennis, table tennis, and soccer at school. "I was always very much more interested if a ball was involved," he would say.

Many experts argue that in order to be successful in any field, one must start early, focus intensely, and rack up as many hours of deliberate practice as possible. But what if the opposite is true? Some of the world’s best athletes, musicians, scientists, artists and inventors are actually generalists, not specialists, and they present a powerful argument for how to succeed in any field.

Digital Minimalism | Cal Newport

After watching Netflix documentary “the Social Dilemma”, we (maybe once again) understand that there is a manipulation of human behavior for profit by technology and social media companies. Infinite scrolling and push notifications keep users constantly engaged; personalized recommendations use data not just to predict but also to influence our actions, turning users into easy prey for advertisers and propagandists. By coincidence, following the Social Dilemma, I started to read the book Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport.

The book highlights the fact that people don’t succumb to screens because they are lazy, but instead because billions of dollars have been invested to make this outcome inevitable.

Check this quote from the book to realize the updated danger:

Let’s face it, checking your “likes” is the new smoking. They want you to use it in particular ways and for long periods of time. Because that’s how they make their money. “Philip Morris just wanted your lungs,” Maher concludes. “The App Store wants your soul.”

Many of us tend to use our digital tools/toys more than needed. Compulsive use, in this context, is not the result of a character flaw, but instead the realization of a massively profitable business plan. In order to reestablish control, we need to move beyond tweaks and instead rebuild our relationship with technology from scratch, using our deeply held values as a foundation.

Think Like a Rocket Scientist | Ozan Varol

Think Like a Rocket Scientist inspires you to take your own moonshot and enables you to achieve lift-off.

Today, thinking like a rocket scientist is a necessity. We all encounter complex and unfamiliar problems in our lives. Those who can tackle these problems -- without clear guidelines and with the clock ticking -- enjoy an extraordinary advantage.

To think like a rocket scientist is to look at the world through a different lens. Rocket scientists imagine the unimaginable and solve the unsolvable. They transform failures into triumphs and constraints into advantages. They view mishaps as solvable puzzles rather than insurmountable roadblocks. They’re moved not by blind conviction but by self-doubt; their goal is not short-term results but long-term breakthroughs.

We all encounter complex and unfamiliar problems in our daily lives. Those who can tackle these problems—without clear guidelines and with the clock ticking—enjoy an extraordinary advantage.

Although we glamorize rocket scientists, there’s an enormous mismatch between what they have figured out and what the rest of the world does. Critical thinking and creativity don’t come naturally to us. We’re hesitant to think big, reluctant to dance with uncertainty, and afraid of failure.

In our daily lives, we fail to exercise our critical-thinking muscles and instead leave it to others to draw conclusions. As a result, these muscles atrophy over time. Without an informed public willing to question confident claims, democracy decays and misinformation spreads. Once alternative facts are reported and retweeted, they become the truth.

The Catalyst | Jonah Berger

 Jonah Berger, the author of New York Times bestsellers Contagious and Invisible Influence brings a revolutionary approach to changing anyone's mind in his book “The Catalyst: How to Change Anyone's Mind”.

Everyone has something they want to change. But change is hard. Often, we persuade and pressure and push, but nothing moves. He tries to find the answer to that question “Could there be a better way?” in his book.

This book takes a different approach. Successful change agents know it's not about pushing harder, or providing more information, it's about being a catalyst. Catalysts remove roadblocks and reduce the barriers to change. Instead of asking, "How could I change someone's mind?" they ask a different question: "Why haven't they changed already? What's stopping them?"

The Art of Being Indispensable at Work | Bruce Tulgan

What's the secret to being indispensable a true go-to person in today's workplace? Bruce Tulgan, the author of the book “The Art of Being Indispensable at Work” analyzes, provides vignettes, and summarizes for us the essence of how to be that indispensable go-to person. Do you want to be a better leader, a better performer, perhaps number one in your peer group? Read this book.

This book could be the most practical and immediately usable book I have ever read. With this guide, anyone can start building an upward spiral of real influence.

The First 90 Days | Michael Watkins

"The First 90 Days" was a book that I was planning to read for a long while but I especially postponed it till I become a "manager". Just after learning that I got that title, I directly downloaded the e-book and read it. It includes many tactics for the first 90 days during your onboarding. Here are my highlights from the book:

The president of the United States gets 100 days to prove himself; you get 90. The actions you take during your first few months in a new role will largely determine whether you succeed or fail.

Transitions into new roles are the most challenging times in the professional lives of leaders.

The 100 Best Business Books of All Time | Jack Covert, Todd Sattersten

Sometimes you prefer to gain the knowledge/know-how in a zipped format. This is a book that you look for: "The 100 Best Business Books of All Time". What I liked most in this book is it provides summaries for a hundred business books and also provides comments on the main messages of these books. Here are my highlights from this book:

Productivity comes from a quiet state of mental being.

Despite most people’s declaration that there is just not enough time in the day, time is not the issue; clarifying the actions needed is where people fall down.

Three common time sponges that need to be considered include: doing things that don’t need to be done, doing things that could be better done by others, and doing things that require others to do unnecessary things.

Effective executives do first things first and they do one thing at a time

Effectiveness is, after all, not a ‘subject,’ but a self-discipline.

“I used to think life presented a five-page menu of choices. Now I think the choice is in whether to be honest, to ourselves and others, and the rest is more of an uncovering, a peeling away of layers, discovering talents we assumed we didn’t have.”

“The President Gets 100 Days to Prove Himself—You Get 90.”