Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics

This is the best book I have read in recent years; I completely enjoyed it because it was written in simple language and was understandable for people with little knowledge of the economy. One thing that really stood out to me was how the book introduced concepts like Mental Accounting, Endowment Effect, Sunk Costs, Fairness Effects, and Prospect Theory.
Mental Accounting, for example, taught me how we tend to mentally categorize our money based on different criteria, which can influence our spending habits.
The Endowment Effect was fascinating to learn about; it made me realize why I sometimes place a higher value on things I own compared to identical items I don't own.
Sunk Costs was another eye-opener; I learned why we often continue investing time or money into something even when it's not logical to do so, just because we've already invested in it.
Fairness Effects shed light on how perceptions of fairness can affect our decisions and interactions with others.
And, Prospect Theory gave me insight into how we make decisions under uncertainty, showing why we tend to be more averse to losses than we are attracted to gains.

Despite the complexity of these concepts, the book did a great job of explaining them with stories and experiments, making them easier to grasp. However, when it came to discussing the practical applications of behavioral economics, the focus was mainly on "nudging." Nonetheless, the examples provided in the book were engaging and thought-provoking, sparking a newfound interest in behavioral science and its implications for business. I particularly enjoyed the exploration of anomalies, especially those in finance, which highlighted how behavioral economics challenges traditional economic theories. Overall, Misbehaving served as a gateway to understanding the fascinating world of behavioral economics, leaving me eager to delve deeper into this field.

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Design Thinking

This is the first book I read about design thinking, and I find the whole concept to be extremely interesting.
I found mentioning people's names and companies' names that are working in the design thinking area to be particularly interesting in this book as it let me do some research in the area and learn more about them.
In particular, I learned about openIDEO, which is truly impressive for me.
Third, I would like to mention that I did not find a solid definition of design and design thinking in the book; however, I believe I know it as the iterative process to come up with an innovative way of how a particular product or service can create value for users.
Lastly, here are some of my insights/learnings about the book or just some things I was thinking about while reading the book:
1-Try early and often; you do not necessarily need a real product in prototyping; you can do it with a simple video or anything showcasing your product.
2-Measure progress in metrics such as average time to the first prototype or number of people exposed to the prototype.
3-Encourage the team to create a prototype in the first week of a project; delaying this process can lead to excess anxiety about the idea not working later on.
4-Conduct in-person surveys, record videos, gather ideas and identify pain points, and keep direct contact with customers during the lifetime of the company. Also, search for info in online forums!
5-Walk through the experience as if you were a customer, seek out unexpected experts' opinions, and act like a spy when you can!
6-Design thinking may involve defensiveness in employees; solution: empathy and encouraging divergence meaning that the team has enough time and space for diverse new ideas to emerge and be tested.
7-Design thinking might overwhelm individuals who are goal-oriented, as they perceive it to introduce unnecessary ambiguity regarding the project's direction. Leaders should assist these individuals in overcoming their insecurities, reframing the process as stretching for a solution rather than a lack of direction.
8-Having a design team goes a long way, and only training in your org to be more of a design thinker might not work as they lack proper experience and skills.
9-Trystorming is like brainstorming but it goes beyond ideation to actually implementing to some extent.
10-Identifying the job to be done for your customer (or circumstances) is more important than the customer's profile characteristics or tech trends.
11-Jobs are not simply about functions; they have a social and emotional dimension, and you can make a catalyst difference by reading stress. This means things might seem to be a minor stress but have a big impact on the customer's experience of using the product (Example: the condos and the table for the living room).
12-Not copiable products are the ones that are selling experience (Might not be the sole source of competitive advantages).
13-Focusing on the constraints will make you be less creative with the ideas; instead, focus on possibilities!
14-When running an experiment, you should watch for real-world representative data and be careful not to interview ideal people, etc. (ask yourself if the people you are talking to or testing with are true representatives of our customers?) Ideally, make the condition the worst when experimenting.
15-Experiencing failure is the by-product of experimenting!
16-Not all failures are the same; there is a spectrum of failure, and you should treat each differently.
17-Sustainable competitive advantage is dead! You need to reinvent competitive advantages constantly.
18-Two valuable questions to ask: what is the lowest cost experiment and what's the quickest, cheapest way to make progress toward the larger goal?

The Cold Start Problem: How to Start and Scale Network Effects

This is a good book to learn about the network effect, and it gave me a structure to think within. Especially the example of meerkats in the beginning of the book got me thinking about the factors that make a network thrive or collapse and how the population within a network can affect its health and security. (And probably why people tend to download an app if they see a higher number of downloads beside its name, because that might mean there is a certain level of trust and security within the app.) Another important lesson I learned was that a network often has sides, and one side of the network is usually the easy side. In order to build a healthy and thriving network, especially in the beginning, the focus should be on attracting and retaining the hard side of the network. I learned that the solution to "the cold start problem" is understanding how to add a small group of the right people, at the same time, using the product in the right way. To do so, you need a simple value proposition and a focus on the smallest network that can possibly make sense, then do whatever it takes, ignoring the objections of market size, scalability, or profitability. Overall, I enjoyed reading The Cold Start Problem, and I'd recommend it to any new founder, especially those who are more closely affected by the network effect.

Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty

Reading "Poor Economics" was an eye-opening experience that challenged many of my preconceived notions. For example, regarding public health and the allocation of resources, I reevaluated my beliefs about what services should be provided for free. Previously, I believed that essential services like dental care should always be freely accessible to everyone. However, after reading this book, I've come to realize the importance of prioritizing preventive healthcare over reactive measures as they are more effective and less costly. For example, the emphasis on regular check-ups, etc. (These are, of course, not mentioned in the book but just MY UNDERSTANDING of the subject).
Moreover, the book's discussion on human behavior, particularly our tendency to prioritize immediate gratification over long-term gains, left a lasting impression. It made me think of implementing systems that offer instant feedback and consequences, such as in driving regulations, even in my own life! Additionally, it was interesting to think about how being born and raised in a country that makes good decisions as the default options (such as drinking clean water or vaccination) can change our lives without even realizing it.
What sets "Poor Economics" apart is its blend of rigorous research and compelling storytelling, reminiscent of other thought-provoking works I've encountered, like "Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics." The authors' adeptness at weaving together real-world examples and academic insights fosters a deeper understanding of the multifaceted issues surrounding poverty alleviation.

The Young Entrepreneur: How to Start A Business While You’re Still a Student

This is a good book for someone who has no idea how to start a start-up. It is comprehensive and I recommend it to anyone about to start their start-up. The only thing I think was missing was more details on fundraising. Who should founders talk to? Where do they start? How do they find an investor to talk to in the first place? etc.
Here are some of my learnings :
1- Start something! any Thing! A club at school! Any position that involves leadership. These experiences will provide you with experiences, connections, and places you will need later on to grow your business quickly.
2-Be part of the founder's community.
3-Meet with the academics in the industry.
4-More novel ideas come from two otherwise disparate concepts.
5-When working on a start-up idea ask yourself these questions:
-Does that problem actually exist?
-Is the problem important enough?
-Can "we" solve the problem?
6-To assess if people like what you built ask them if they recommend your product to someone else.
7-To foster team collaboration you can hold a weekly paranoia session in which people talk about what worries them the most to check in with every employee. More communication provides the employees with more chances to become closer to each other and eventually, work better with each other.

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk

I randomly picked this book from the library shelf while looking for something in marketing, and it turned out to be a good choice. The book is old, so I think the once immutable laws are now very mutable! Examples include all the big companies like Meta, Amazon, Google, etc., and their expansions into various lines, not focusing on one product or service. Some laws seemed repetitive to me, and I wondered why they didn't limit their list to seven items (as mentioned in the book that the human brain can keep seven items), as they easily could have (To me, the law of leadership, category, and the law of focus were basically the same thing!).
Another criticism I have is that the examples are not well-studied. They briefly mention a few companies that didn't follow the rules and failed. I would have expected more reasoning and statistics on why they claim the failure of company X in sales is because they did not follow rule Y and not for 1001 other possible reasons.
Also, one example of Gillette was perplexing because, despite the book's consistent stance against line expansion, it praised Gillette's decision to expand its product line in response to a new disposable razor.
However, the book provides valuable insights into marketing, and I particularly appreciated the lesson on marketing being a battle of perception rather than the product itself.
Here are my takeaways from the book:
1-Bench marketing does not work, be the leader (even if you need to set up a new category you can be first in). People should use your name for your product or service. 2-Better to be 1st in mind than in the marketplace.
3-More money is wasted in marketing than any other human activities!!
4-People do not like to change their mind. Once they perceive you one way, that is it!
5-People make their buying decision based on second-hand perceptions!
6-Own one word.
7-Be mindful of which rung you occupy on the ladder.
8-In the long run, every market becomes a two-hour race.
9-When shooting for 2nd, do not be better, be different (even opposite).
10-Category will divide over time.
11-Put a new brand for your new product!
12-Long-term effects can be the exact opposite of short-term effects!
13-Sale decreases business in the long term, by educating customers not to buy at a regular price.
14-Do not be a generalist!
15-The apparent target of your marketing is not the same as the people who will actually buy your product.
16-The best way to maintain a consistent position is not to change in the first place.
17-When you admit a negative (must be widely perceived as negative), the prospect will give you a positive!
18-Put yourself in the shower of the customer, do not impose your view on the situation, and do not lose touch with the frontline.
19-Try to dampen fads into trends. Never totally satisfy the demand.
20-You need money to get or stay in the mind of a prospect.
21-You can share your money by franchising it.
22-Spend "Enough".
Since my takeaways numbered 22, I now acknowledge that perhaps there was a genuine need to categorize the rules into 22!!

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Emotional Intelligence

The book mostly talked about emotional intelligence in leaders.
Here are some highlights of what I learned from the book:
1-Practice of fairness is a performance booster and asking for employees' opinions and active listening help with that. Also, it is important to explain the reason behind important decisions to employees.
2-Emotional intelligence in the teams is important and it is not necessarily the outcome of the emotional intelligence of the member, but rather the outcome of the factors such as trust, sense of identity, the habit of hearing everyone's perspective, and whether they feel more productive if working together.
3-Incivility in company costs so the leader should represent civility by modeling good behavior, asking for feedback, hiring for civility, creating proper norms, rewarding/penalizing good/bad behavior, and conducting post departure interviews.
4-There will be black days so resilience is important. Hire for resilience and create resilience by facing harsh reality instead of being optimistic or pessimistic (people slip into denial as a coping mechanism), find meaning (just because you found meaning once doesn't mean you will find it again--businesses that survive have a purpose beyond just making money--having value is more important for a company than having resilient people), and improvise by making do with whatever is in hand.
5-Manage negative feelings by recognizing repetitive old thoughts/stories, labeling them as it is (I have this thought that../I have this feeling that...), accepting them by letting yourself experience them, and finally acting on your values instead of the negative thoughts and checking your action with your long term goals. 6-Create the habit of seeking feedback and seeing it as an opportunity to grow instead of fearing it and then take a step-by-step action toward change.
7-Value interpersonal skills and think before promoting. If the person is not ready for a promotion, let them go through 360-degree feedback, interrupt the ascent, and involve them in cross-functional assignments that build needed skills.