the subtle lessons

 Idea taken from the book “ The Design of Everyday Things ” by Don Norman. As it’s name suggests, this book focus strongly on the User Interaction (UI) of “everyday things”. And these are not limited to just physical objects. The principles mentioned in the book can still be used today in ‘intangible’ processes. One of the key takeaways from this book is the concept on ‘Mind Slips’. Your Mind Slipped Ever walked into a room and suddenly could NOT remember what you are doing there? What were you supposed to be doing there? Were you there to retrieve something? Were you there to deposit something? What was it you were doing?! There. You just experienced a ‘Mind Slip’. When/Where do Mind Slips Occur? In “skilled behavior”, according to Don Norman. This refers to behaviors that you have already mastered or are part of your regular routine. Things like putting the water to boil, or typing. And they result mostly from the lack of attention. And they can happen when we are multitasking. M...

Rich Dad's Guide to Becoming Rich Without Cutting Up Your Credit Cards: Turn "Bad Debt" into "Good Debt" Just completed this book. Its a very thin book of only about 90 pages. However there was much more information than I had expected! The book was written from the view point that every possible future we have comes with a 'price'. There is a price for becoming rich, which was simplified to be twice the price of what the average people paid. Kiyoasaki mentioned many concepts in this short book. Some of these include the importance of education, the importance of a personal financial report and the learning pyramid. He also touch upon some of the differences between the mindset of the rich and the mindset of the poor. One of it was that the rich used the assets to pay for their liabilities. A major takeaway for me was the concept of the learning pyramid. Kiyosaki pointed out that the learning pyramid had 4 major points; mental, spiritual, phy...

Man vs. Markets: Economics Explained (Plain and Simple) Just completed this book recently. It was a good summary of the financial markets and how it works, in USA. The basic way the markets work would be similar, and thus I think this book is a good overview to the financial market. The author was successful in explaining various terms and concepts by simplifying and giving excellent examples which most of us would be able to relate to. Some examples include the use of "toy lending" between kids to explain the components of a bond, and the use of the 3 little pigs' plight to explain the concept of stocks. He even simplified derivatives such as options, futures and swap through the use of stories and examples. In his words, these are simply tools which we use in our daily life, packaged in different terms. ————— Just went for a talk and book signing by Hirsch last night. He explained that futures is similar to the system we use to reserve airline tickets. Futur...

The Starbucks Experience : 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary Into Extraordinary The Starbucks Experience was an interesting book which introduces some of the key ideas principles that the Starbucks management use. It explains the success of Starbucks from the perspective of the 5 principles mentioned in the book. The 5 Principles are: 1. Make it your own -> taking ownership, and having employees take ownership 2. Everything matters -> importance of details 3. Surprise and Delight -> go the extra mile to provide customers with more that what they expect 4. Embrace Resistance -> listen, differentiate between constructive and non constructive complains, and take action to improve 5. Leave your mark -> contributing to communities Although this book was marketed as a publication written by and outsider, I felt that the author was positively bias toward Starbucks. Perhaps this was required in order to show the expected results from implementing the 5 princ...

Source:  http://mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_640x430/public/4909553055_a6359761bd_z_5.jpg " If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need " - Marcus Tullius Cicero Today, I would like to point out one of the greatest source of information. Libraries. In this digital age, the internet provides a vast array of information. However, libraries remain one of the key source of information and reading material for me. (Yes, I still prefer holding and reading physical books.) Libraries provide me with great access to information, especially if you have access to libraries of education institutes. (another upside of formal education is its resources) These libraries tend to have a wide array of specific resources for various industries, and many a time the books are idling on the shelves waiting to be discovered. Therefore, to all who have access to such libraries, I would urge you to make good use of it. There are knowledge i...