SHARING MY HOLIDAY READING:

As a very impressionable young man, I was hooked on NBA Basketball. These were not just games. They were expressions of art, with a touch of science.

Go down memory lane with me (if you are old enough, and can remember): Dennis Rodman would drive down the court and pass the ball without looking toward what seemed to be empty hardwood. But just as the ball started to head out of bounds, Scottie Pippen would “suddenly” appear exactly where he was supposed to be. And then he’d throw the ball to the side – again, seemingly without looking, and Michael Jordan would “just happen” to be perfectly positioned for the winning shot.

On court, it seemed like a state of grace had descended on this magical trio and they could do no wrong. It was all a flawless symphony. But what you didn’t see on court was the countless hours of sweat, team bonding and habit-forming practice.

This is what these two books are all about: HABIT. TEAMWORK.

Drawing lessons from Japanese manufacturing, Jeff Sutherland, a West Point Graduate and one of the co-inventors of the Scrum software development process (used by Google, Amazon and Facebook) proves how teams (vs individual actors) can achieve hyper productivity in an era where business cycles are getting shorter and customers are demanding more and more.

On the other hand, former New York Times business reporter, Charles Duhigg, shows how habit trumps motivation and hard work, any day. Science backs his assertions.