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“Blockchain: The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review” – a HBR Book Review

a doitinvest.com book review

Blockchain – everybody heard about it, half of my acquaintances traded it. Most of them actually traded Bitcoin – and most likely without grasping 100% its features. Unfortunately, this is our new modern reality – we do not really have the time to study hundreds  of pages tomes before we do an informed trade.

This is where the new book series from Harvard Business Review comes ✋ly in. Launched in 2019, the “Insights” series aims to deliver the essential knowledge around topical subjects – all in a condensed manner. As this is my first review of the “Insights” series, I am trying to see if the “Insights” are delivering the above mentioned promise.
The editors of Harvard Business Review press state (somehow boldly) that these Insights series themes will transform both the worlds of business and society. One can argue about the scope here, but not about the statement. It is clear that the blockchain is here to stay – and to change irreversibly the way we do transactions.

The introduction starts with an interesting yet less acknowledged reality – whilst data sharing and digital communications have literally jumped decades, the data security and the storage integrity did not keep pace. This gap was not going unnoticed. And whilst the large actors were (and remain) somehow content to assume the guardian role, the society at large realized that there must be an alternative. The goal of this alternative would be to validate the data without giving over-proportionate control to any party. And so the modern, still puzzling idea of the blockchain was born.Read More »“Blockchain: The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review” – a HBR Book Review

“Fit to Compete – Why Honest Conversations about Your Company’s Capabilities Are the Key to a Winning Strategy” – by Michael Beer – a Harvard Business Review Press Book

a HBR Press book review by doitinvest.com

Another strategy receipt book? Not quite – the author is addressing a rather lateral topic on the hot strategy area. Organisational change towards agility and responsiveness is by far more read about than implemented. However, Michael Beer plans to change the order – by writing a book that is set to change the rules. “Fit to Compete” will transform the way the leaders should steer their businesses if they want to go for improved results.


Interestingly enough, “Fit to Compete” became extremely topical 9 months after its publication. With the dramatic economic impact of the coronavirus, the organisations are navigating uncharted waters. Almost no company operates now under normal conditions. That’s why I strongly believe that Beer’s honest conversations approach (and his other dozen recommendations) are now needed more than ever. Companies struggle to survive and mange their cash flows. This is the moment when unleashing the wild ideas and energy of your employees and collaborators looks more appropriate than ever. No leader or smart board of directors can manage such an economic reality in an conventional way. Employees need to be mobilized at their best if they are to contribute to the companies survival. And of course, the crisis offers s natural opportunity for fast and agile organisational changes…Read More »“Fit to Compete – Why Honest Conversations about Your Company’s Capabilities Are the Key to a Winning Strategy” – by Michael Beer – a Harvard Business Review Press Book

“Master Your Next Move” by Michael Watkins – a HBR Book Review

Michael Watkins and his book “The First 90 Days” should sound familliar to any business management reader. The IMD professor has authored one of the most influential books of transitioning into a new role – “The First 90 Days” is considered by many one of the top 50 ever published management book (certainly one of the best sold *1). Should we also be excited that the sequel is about to hit the book shelves?Read More »“Master Your Next Move” by Michael Watkins – a HBR Book Review

“The First Mile: A Launch Manual for Getting Great Ideas into the Market” by Scott Anthony – a Book Review

A book about how to transform your innovation ideas into a working machine? Anytime! Especially when it comes from Harvard Business Review Press and it is packed with actionable advice and study cases.

“First Mile”s author (Scott Anthony) is not quite new to the innovation field. As a managing partner at Innosight (a small venture capital and consulting company from Singapore which generates 76,400 hits, quite  a lot for a discrete company), he has seen hundreds of such small companies starting and failing – or succeeding. And objective books by venture capitalists, written out of passion, are quite rare. So I braced myself for a potentially good read.

“The First Mile” is an entrepreneurship book mostly about creating, testing and starting the implementation of your business plan. It is a book oriented towards the first-time or maybe serial antrepreneurs, who want to do other mistakes than their predecessors. As a Harvard Business Review Press book, it has two main advantages:Read More »“The First Mile: A Launch Manual for Getting Great Ideas into the Market” by Scott Anthony – a Book Review