I wasn’t the first to think about agency, uncertainty, and mortality, and I certainly won’t be the last. This is a collection of the books that most influence my thinking reflected on this site. Note that these takeaways are not the most significant themes in the book. Instead, they are what resonated with me the most at the time I read them.
1. The Uncertainty Mindset : Innovation Insights from the Frontiers of Food
By Vaughn Tan
3 key takeaways
Innovation and efficiency are at odds with one another. Innovation requires experimentation and making mistakes, while efficiency requires removing these in favor of efficiency.
People conflate uncertainty and risk, but they are two different things. Risk always has an unknown element, but just because something is uncertain does not mean it is risky.
If organizations want to encourage innovative behavior, they should give people open-ended job titles and roles
2. Developer Hegemony: The Future of Labor
By Erik Dietrich
3 key takeaways
You get ahead not by working for other companies but by working for yourself. Even if you are employed and happy, you should invest resources in building your body of work and your network and be looking for new opportunities.
Even though it’s lucrative labor, writing code for a living is still labor. There is no leverage in slinging code for someone else.
Eventually, you should strongly consider moving away from development work in your career, into something higher leverage.
3. Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
By Oliver Burkeman
3 key takeaways
Time just happens— You don't own it, you don't have it, and you aren't really spending it, wasting it, or losing it. Enjoy the ride. If you are always future-focused and trying to instrumentalize time, you are never truly living.
Work is infinite; you are finite — There will always be more to do than you have time and energy to do. There is no moment of completion to race towards. There is no point where you will feel you "have it all together and figured out."
Serialization — Tackle fewer things simultaneously, and instead, start ordering your projects. If you can't do everything, doing fewer things to completion is better than having several half-assed, half-finished projects.
4. Die With Zero : Getting All You Can from Your Money and Your Life
By Bill Perkins
3 key takeaways
Think about the whole game — It's possible to guesstimate when you will die. Insurance companies do it all the time. Doing this, along with looking at the seasons, helps you think about your life more holistically. It also enables you to make the most of your time when you realize how much you have left.
Decumulation — at some point, the net worth number has to go down instead of up. Typically between the ages of 45 and 60. Huge psychological shift
Seasons of life —Your life has different seasons, and some experiences are enjoyed more during certain seasons. Some experiences are locked out of specific seasons. Big life choices like marriage, parenthood, and retirement also define seasons.
5. Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career
By Herminia Ibarra
3 key takeaways
Your working identity is something that does not reside internally. Instead, you have multiple possible future selves. The only way to discover these selves is by performing experiments that involve interaction with others.
At first, you will have several small possibilities. As some of them grow, they will begin to push out other identities. This includes your current self.
Act your way into a new way of thinking and being. You cannot discover yourself by introspection.
6. Tempo: timing, tactics and strategy in narrative-driven decision-making
By Venkatesh Rao
Tempo — Has three elements: rhythm, emotion, and energy. It’s not about conveying speed. It’s about conveying emotion.
Rhythm — Decision-making, business development, and life all have different rhythms. Changing these tempos takes energy. Staying at one tempo for too long can lead to boredom.
Narrative rationality — every decision is telling part of your life story. Your life will have rising and falling action and liminal passages. Make the choices that tell the most interesting story.
If you have any other books on similar themes, I’d love to hear about them in the comments below. I have a big flight coming up, and I need to load up my Kindle.
Beautifully written! This resounded with me this morning. I'm considering starting a substack and I've been looking for inspiration from other writers who are currently producing content like the stuff I'm interested in writing. After a week of looking this is the closest thing I've found.
2 of the books that have shaped my mindset on business/career are:
Getting Things Done - the GTD method by David Allen
Today Matters by John Maxwell.
I read GTD in 2015 and Today Matters way back in 2004 and both had an impact and changed the way I do things. Perhaps I'll post something about them soon. In the meantime, I'll dig into your material a little more.
I love this quote, “You get ahead not by working for other companies but by working for yourself.” I didn’t actually start growing in my career until I took the time to invest in myself and do things outside of my job. Great list.