Tag: Bookstrapping

Bookstrapping: Of glass cliffs, menstruation and missing trees

As per Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta, in the Menstrual Coupe, the trauma of compulsory female servitude may often be passed down from grandmother to mother to daughter. And the women who want leadership roles ( despite all odds being stacked against them) take a fatal risk- they go all in! They prepare to perish, while taking the minutest off-chance that they may actually rise.(Image source: Amazon)

In this week’s bookstrapping column, Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta shares her thoughts on Shahina H Rafiq’s ‘The Menstrual Coupe’, Sophie Williams’ ‘The Glass Cliff’ and Elif Shafaq’s ‘The Island of Missing Trees’.

Bookstrapping: Inner Drive by Arsen Tomsky

As per the review by Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta, as an entrepreneur, one often blows up money on projects that don't take off and is compelled to return right back to survival mode. (Image source: Amazon)

As per the review by Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta, one of the insights she highlighted was that ‘friends and acquaintances sometimes worry that you will become more successful than they are, which would damage their self esteem. So they try consciously or subconsciously to stop you from a new venture by describing the many threats and risks you will face!’

Bookstrapping: How the world ran out of everything by Peter S Goodman

In one of the chapters, analysis is done on how Henry Ford’s business legacy put common sense first and shareholder interest second. He is quoted as follows, “business is a service, not a bonanza!”, arguing in favour of employment generation and the greater good of the people. The chapter is authoritative and evidently deeply researched and is a reminder of the days before ‘Just in Time’ became a mis-marketed holy grail for ‘lean’ business, states Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta. (Image source: Amazon)

As per the review by Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta, in the last chapter, the author talks about the importance of technology and how it is helping people feel more in control of the supply chain itself.

Bookstrapping: ‘More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop’ by Satoshi Yagisawa

As per Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta, the book celebrates the curious, real Jimbocho neighbourhood of second-hand book shops in Japan and the people who run these bookstores. (Image source: Amazon)

As per the review by Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta, The Morisaki Bookshop is known for ‘modern Japanese literature.’ Though it was not a successful business by any means, it supported an entire community of people in a uniquely symbiotic manner.

Bookstrapping: How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner

As per Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta's review, the authors explain concepts such as commitment fallacy, bad-casting and critical errors such as 'what you see is all there is', with genuine empathy. They also openly confront disagreements. (Image source: Amazon)

The authors emphasize that before launching a project, it would be useful to check how long, other similar projects have taken and build an estimate from there. Even if the available estimate is a remote one, reviews Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta.

Bookstrapping: Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg

Every conversation is a negotiation. The book makes an insightful reference to the Harvard Negotiation Project and its outcome, ‘Getting To Yes,’ a book which turned our understanding of negotiation upside down, states Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta in her review.

Miscommunication occurs when people are having different kinds of conversations. On the contrary, good communication comes from symmetry. So pause a moment to understand what kind of conversation is happening, highlights Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta in her review.

Bookstrapping – The Jannayak Karpoori Thakur: Voice of the Voiceless by Santosh Singh and Aditya Anmol

As per Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta's review, tahe book explores Karpoori Thakur’s affinity to Mahabharata’s Eklavya- a wronged warrior-in detail. In the Jannayak’s own words, “Eklavya is a symbol of injustice, atrocity, disparity, neglect and deprivation of one’s rights in our social system; what was meted out to Eklavya is a living example of injustice and atrocity happening for 5000 years in Indian society."

As per the review by Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta, the book ‘The Jannayak Karpoori Thakur: Voice of the Voiceless’, helps the reader navigate the concept of democratic socialism- and engage in a lively debate on the same.

Bookstrapping – Age of Revolutions by Fareed Zakaria

As per Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta's review, author Fareed Zakaria goes on to emphasise that the state of the world today, is dispersed. There is a loss of faith in God, religion, politics, institutions, norms, and experts. Referencing Lee Kuan Yew’s work in Singapore, he asks, “How do we build a common civic culture?”

As per the review by Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta, among many other insights, the author Fareed Zakaria proposes that the first move to defy monarchy and form a republican government was in the late 16th century; viz. the revolution in the Netherlands. This was an important movement that also spread to Britain, which soon after also pioneered the industrial revolution.

Bookstrapping: From Ideas to Impact by Michael Sheldrick

Peppered with real life anecdotes, such as Coldplay powering an entire show with energy from repurposed BMW car batteries, the book humanises advocacy. Sheldrick asks you to humanise your story in the same way, when you set out to convert your ideas for a better world, into action, reviews Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta. (Image source: Amazon)

As per the review by Reeta Ramamurthy Gupta, the book ‘From Ideas To Impact’ offers an eight step guide to policy entrepreneurship. Policy entrepreneurship itself, is about people combining the visionary, diplomatic, and implementation approaches, to transform an idea into tangible impact.