MysteriousFaith

January 2006 Bookshelf

January 2006 Bookshelf

The Origin of Competitive Strength: Fifty Years of the Auto Industry in Japan and the U.S. by Akira Kawahara

I initially picked this book up as part of a research project and found it interesting enough to finish instead of browsing it for research purposes. The book is written by a former executive of Toyota and provides an insider’s view of the auto industry, specifically the competitive advantage Toyota developed based on lean manufacturing and kanban systems. The types of work Japanese automotive companies did was primarily paying attention to details and efficiencies that American companies did not consider important. That, coupled with the advent of the oil crisis in the ‘70s, led to the Japanese advantages in the American automotive market they currently enjoy. An interesting read, albeit not for everyone.

Transforming Leadership: A New Pursuit of Happiness by James MacGregor Burns (unabridged book on CD)

This book contains a particularly profound treatment of leadership – the philosophies that drive various leaders within different historical contexts and the skill sets they utilize in order to shape the cultures they lead from within. Burns’ treatment of what allows leadership to be successful is grounded in the best of philosophy and sociology. As just one example, he show the application of Hegel’s idea of a culture’s shifting center of gravity and shows how leaders are consciously aware of this, and how they manage to address both the sensibilities of those they lead with their own individual vision of what needs to be accomplished.

Gaudi: a Biography by Gijs van Hensbergen

The past summer my wife and I spent some time in Barcelona. Among the many things we loved about the city was the architecture of Gaudi – the Sagrada Familia in particular. The new carvings at the entrance of the Sagrada were done by Subirachs and are stunning. Gaudi’s architecture is something that will either strike you as absolutely unique and stunningly creative or a distasteful display of post-modernity at its worst. His work is certainly one of a kind, as was he the man. A somewhat stern ideologue whose lover was the Catholic Church, Gaudi literally gave his life over to his work, choosing celibacy and his architectural projects over love and family.

China, Inc.: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World by Ted C. Fishman

Without question the best of the recent books on China’s impact on the global economy and geo-political landscape. Fishman is incredibly balanced in his approach, something too many writers overlook. Caught up in the potential of the Chinese market and the broad belief that “if it is good for China it will be good for us” or the equally simplistic “if it strengthens China it is bad for America”, most analysts covering China can not find the middle ground Fishman is able to. The book portrays all sides of the impact China is going to have, from its potential to benefit itself and the world to the travails it will have to go through in order to become a truly modern country. This book is highly recommended.

The Politics by Aristotle (unabridged book on CD)

This book is worth wrestling through many times in your life. As broad as its general title would suggest, it is a powerful insight into the ideas that form and manage states, as well as those which cause a state to stumble and fall. Aristotle lived in a world where it was acceptable to argue that certain people are best governed by a tyrant, but warned of what separated a bad tyrant from an ineffectual king (while pointing out that a good tyrant may in fact be a better governor than a bad king). While the latter may seem an improvement in kind, it serves the people of the state nothing. So much is contained in this book; I will no doubt return to it again in the future.

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• January 28, 2006

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