What's On My Reading List; Measure What Matters.

Variety improves the things that we do too often, but it rules the things that we don't do often enough. -Daniel Gilbert

My reading list is much like my running play list.  I like to mix it up.  A little American history,  running stories, motivation,business, self help, and some good science fiction.  As the quote above indicates, by reading a variety it improves the experience by keeping it fresh.

Here's a review on a more recent read.


Measure What Matters: OKRs: The Simple Idea that Drives 10x Growth by John Doerr
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The case studies in this book are a fun read, especially in the audio book version which has each person related to the specific case study read their portion. The variety in voices kept the book entertaining.

Where the book lacked
was in providing detail. It is very vague and although the case studies were from companies that achieved great growth it doesn't necessarily explain how the OKR's caused the growth. Would My Fitness Pal really not been so successful without an OKR ? Impossible to say from reading this book.

If you are a "techie" and would be interested in hearing case studies from Silicon Valley then you would enjoy this book. If you want details on goal setting and measuring what matters then I recommend finding a different book.

Every book has a lesson or two.  This one had quite a lot of great quotes because of all of the influencers used to illustrate the purpose.  Here's a few of my favorites:

“Leaders must get across the why as well as the what. Their people need more than milestones for motivation. They are thirsting for meaning, to understand how their goals relate to the mission.” 

“There are so many people working so hard and achieving so little. —Andy Grove” 

“When people help choose a course of action, they are more likely to see it through.” 

What shall I read during Week 4 of Chicago Marathon training?