2017 was an eventful year for more reason than one. It has helped me shed some long standing habits and embrace a few others that have proven to a breathe of fresh air. Among the new additions, i would cherish the reignited passion for reading as the main take away for this year. Reading has been meditative to a large extend- it gets me immersed in a narrative , keeps thoughts and emotions focussed and leaves me with something to ponder on. So here are some interesting books that I came across last year.
1. The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho -"To realize one's destiny is a person's only obligation"
Read: Dec 2017
This stoked the curiosity in me to get to it soon. I reserved a copy with the local library and promptly borrowed it a week later. The forward section in itself set a nice foundation to the core theme. The book was published 25 years back in Brazil and hardly anyone took a note of it at that point. The original publisher cut the contract off the author and let him him loose. Paulo Coelho did not loose hope. The book was based on a boy following his Personal legend to find his true calling and giving up on the book would have meant that author did not trust on his own personal legend- which was his capacity to write and inspire others. He knocked many other doors and finally another publisher gave him a second chance. Slowly by word of mouth, the sales started picking up. When an american visiting brazil picked up a copy of the book, he wanted to translate it in English and find a publisher in United States. Harpin Collins brought it to American audience and the rest is history. The book went on to become a best seller in New York Times list and stayed there for many years.It was widely translated and is considered one of the best books of 20th century.
Book talks about the simple tale of a shepherd boy-Santiago from Spain who has this dream of a treasure buried near pyramids. He listens to his mind and sets out in pursuit of it. Along the way, boy meets many interesting characters - a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself a king and an alchemist all of whom helps him get further along his pursuit. He also discovers new vocation on the way- by becoming a crystal merchant and makes a good fortune of it. Despite all his successes and some major setbacks, he never takes his eyes off the dream and relentlessly pursues the destiny. Story concludes with an interesting twist where in he eventually discovers his destiny ; but had evolved as a transformed man with deep understanding of his self.
The Alchemist leaves us with the message that if someone is committed with all of their heart on to something, the whole of the universe conspires to make it happen. There could be several moments where in it could all seem out of place, and one is far far away from the calling. This is illustrated by the set back in Santiago's journey where in he was left with nothing to fend for. However, this too is the play of the cosmos and as Steve Job's mentioned-the dots would all connect up.The key is to remain persistent and keep going after one's dream/destiny.
2. Inner Engineering- Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev -"The way out is in"
Read: Oct/Nov 2017
Book starts by developing a grounding on what spirituality is and how different it is from religion. Religion is based on a set of beliefs which are revered and held close to heart. Spirituality on the other hand holds no absolute truth. The path of spirituality is the path of exploration to get an appreciation of how body,mind and life energies work. Yoga is based on this fundamental premise that if one holds a complete mastery on these three elements, then life unlocks in fully glory. In that regard Spirituality and Science run on the same rails- the only difference being Science tries to explore existence on the basis of evidence where as Spirituality tries to explore existence on the basis of experience.
Any quest that is externally focussed is always unlimited. This is the reason why there is always a longing for more and bigger in life. There does not arrive a point in life where in one is fully contended with the material aspects of life no matter how much they have accumulated.There is absolutely nothing wrong with the desire at all. It's just that it always limited and leaves one in an unfulfilled state with a longing for me. It's only when one realizes that the true desire of the existence is a longing for the unlimited that spirituality begins. Spirituality is a path of exploration with an attempt to better appreciate the mechanics of how body,mind and life energies operate experientially. These are pretty much the only three physical instruments that one has at their disposal.
This path of inner exploration also stems from a larger concept that there is nothing called external or internal.Every human experience whether it be in the past,presence or future is 100% self created. For eg: one can go through very difficult or challenging situations at workplace,home or even as part of life changing events.None of these needs to be stressful.Stress is essentially self created. Similarly, what ever one perceives with their 5 senses namely eyes,ears,nose,taste and touch are also completely internal. The object that triggers these senses could be any but the way it is felt/perceived all happens within one self. Extending this logic, everything that one perceives is internal to them and hence the world is a macrocosm of this tiny microcosm called human being. In other words, the whole world is manifested internally.When the entire world is being experienced within one self, isn't it the mechanics of the "I" that one has to pay attention to ? Spirituality further goes on to to treat body,mind and life energies as things that one can use and not necessarily that defines what one is. Body is nothing but an accumulation of the food that one has derived this form from(Annamayakosha). Mind is an accumulation of all the impressions one has gathered through the course of their lives(Manonmayakosha). Life Energies or Pranamayakosha is a manifestation of the energy body. Hence all these are entities we have gather from the world and not necessarily us. Spirituality is a exploration into the fundamental question of "Who am I" if none of these are what truly defines us. There are two more levels of existence which is defined as "Vijnanamayakosha"(etheral body) and "Anandamayakosha"(ultimate blisfulness) which are non-physical and comes into one's perception if the physical aspects of what one can manage(namely the body,mind and life energies) are brought in perfect synergy(a.ka. in a state of yoga or union with the cosmos).
This book is a highly recommended read for anyone who wants get started on perceiving the existential reality rather than the psychological reality (that's created by the mind).
3. Losing My Virginity- Richard Branson -"How I Survived, Had Fun and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way "
Read: July 2017
Another aspect that was distinct about this book was that it mixes a nice dose of Branson's personal life along with the corporate side of the story. Book goes into depth on the different relationships Branson got involved with at different stage of his life. Towards the end, he comes across as a wise man who learned from his experiences.
However, the part that touched me in a very deep way was the vivid description of the adventurous side of Richard Branson. Branson is someone who believes in living life in the edge- because that truly brings him in touch with his existential reality and gets the best out of him.He attempted crossing of the atlantic in the fastest time in pursuit of the Blue Riband accolade back in 1985. He failed the first time and was rescued from the middle of the ocean. He went for it again and succeeded in 1986. In 1991, he crossed the pacific in a hot air balloon traveling all the way from Japan to Canada creating a new world record. He has since then attempted to several such adventures- in pursuit of breaking what is considered impossible.
Richard is also one of the most flamboyant businessman who owns several diverse properties such as the Necker Island in British Virgin Islands (near Puerto Rico) and a huge yatch named after the same island. I remember reading of the Obamas who are close to Branson, having vacationed at Necker after the 8 year presidency term. Book also talks of Branson's efforts such as setting up a global elders forum chaired by Kofi Annan, with an aim to provide direction on global problems that cannot be solved within the institutional framework such as UN.
It's a great read on a unique personality who built an empire staying true to his fun and adventurous spirit. Highly recommended.
4. Onwards-Howard Schultz- "How Starbucks Fought for it's life without Losing its Soul"
Read-Feb/Mar 2017
The very first Partner Open Forum(Employees are referred to as Partners at Starbucks) in Nov 2017 gave me a glimpse on how company operates. During this all hands forum, Howard Schultz( the then CEO of Starbucks; succeeded by Kevin Johnson) creates a warm and welcoming environment for all the partners. What stood out interesting to me was the fact that only a small segment towards the beginning is spent on the hard financial readout . Bulk of the session was centered on the difference that baristas(the frontline partners) are making to the customers, initiatives in line to bring diversity to the corporate culture (such as hiring veterans, refugees etc) and the investment Starbucks is making to create a difference in the lives of the people around. During the session, partners openly interact with the CEO, posing hard questions and voicing suggestions to make things better. This transparent culture where in there is a lot of emphasis on empowering the partners to do the right things for the customer is one of the reasons why there is a general sense of optimism about the brand and the culture.
I had read earlier that Starbucks had been the first in the industry in terms of a. Providing Stock grant to all it's employees including even those baristas who worked part time b. Provide the best in class health insurance to all its partners (incl part-time ) since 80's during which time it was unheard of
c. Provide access to education for all the partners through tie up with Arizona State University. After the partner forum, i wanted to learn more the company and "Onward" proved to be the perfect book for me to get a better appreciation of the company DNA.
"Onward" by Howard Schultz charts the story of Starbucks with a specific emphasis on the crisis of period of 2008 during which time, the company was in serious danger of being liquidated. This has been an inspiring corporate turnaround story , where in the company rallied its collective forces under a committed leader so as to make a spectacular turnaround.
Starbucks was established back in 1971 by three partners (Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl and Gordon Bowker) after they were mentored by Alfred Peet( the founder of Peet's Coffee), who is widely regarded as the man who introduced Americans to high quality roasted coffee. Howard Schultz had originally joined as a Director at Starbucks. Starbucks at that point was selling only whole bean coffees. When Howard took a trip to Milan, he observed that the place had a culture of it's own when it came to coffees. He was super inspired by the coffee bars that sold espressos and wanted to replicate the model back in US. The founders however did not take much of an interest in the idea. Howard was not ready to give up and started his own chain Gionale in Seattle. A couple of years from there on, the founders of Starbucks decided to sell the company to Howard and he was at the helm of his original company.(Fast forward to 2018, Howard has stepped down as CEO and still in charge of expanding the premium segment of Starbucks chain- The Roastry. It is not an irony that the first roastry opened in Seattle houses the Princi bakery - from Italy; a testimony of Howard's love with the place that shaped his destiny. The starbucks cup sizes Grande and Venti are also from Italian which could again have something to do with this legacy ).
Since 1987, Starbucks saw an exponential growth both in terms of the number of Stores being opened and consequently the top line. The brand grew in resonance with customers and was widely seen as the "third" place (after home and office) that provided a warm,comfortable and a safe setting for customers. However by 2000's the mad rush to expand the company foot print and an excessive focus on top line and bottom line began to impact the operational efficiencies. The focus on the customer gradually started diminishing and success of the brand began to get taken for granted. When the subprime crisis hit hard, the prospect of buying a $4 coffee seemed an excessive indulgence for the consumer and consequently the brand suffered heavily. Starbucks started loosing money and started closing in on a point where in, shutting down the stores seemed more viable compared to running them. The company was on a serious downward slope. Howard Schultz who had stepped down as CEO in early 2000's and was part of the board, came back to take the reigns of the company. The book talks at length about the several measures Howard took to get the company back to it's glorious helm.
As can be expected, there is no one silver bullet to turn around a mammoth engine like Starbucks. In all fairness, there were also positive macro economic factors post 2008 that certainly aided the company's resurgence. The biggest part of the turnaround in my read was the rediscovery of the core- where in Howard inspired each and every partner to rally around for a bigger cause and in the process got the very best of them. There were conventional cost cutting measures such as shut down of the stores and painful lay off's. There were three specific events in the book that resonated with me:
1. Starbucks felt that it was important to focus on it's speciality- namely brewing good coffee during these adverse times. Somewhere in the rush to expand the chain, the fine art of coffee brewing had been liquidated. The classic smell of coffee that was typical of early Starbucks was now replaced with warmed sandwiches. The place had slowly lost it's soul.
To get back to the basics, Starbucks shut down all of it's stores for 3 hours during Feb 2008. During this time, the baristas were reinforced with the art of brewing coffee the right way. It was a bold move by the company to do the right thing for it's partners and customers in the wake of several criticism on it's already battering fortunes.
2. Customers truly cared and loved the brand deeply over the years. Every store that was being shut down during the crisis not only impacted the partners but also the community. People genuinely wanted to provide inputs and suggestions but there was no organized way to achieve it. Howard during one of his vacations to Hawaii met the Michel Dell and discussed means to get the voice of the customer more directly to engineer innovations. This resulted in the portal mystarbucksidea.com which provided a great platform for customers to voice their inputs. Several pioneering steps undertaken such as creation of a loyalty program, opening up digital channels to enable ordering and introduction of several new drinks has been an outcome of suggestions from this platform. This forum saw a high level of engagement and participation from customers that ultimately helped company reinvent itself.
3. Howard Schultz called for a meeting of all the store managers and executives of Starbucks to unveil the resurgence plan. The venue of this corporate huddle of ~10,000 people was New Orleans, that had been badly ravaged by Hurricane Katrina a few years back. Howard and his team used the opportunity to undertake a massive volunteering effort to help the city and the residents to come back to heals. Keeping in context that this was done at one of the worst time of Starbucks history, the occasion proved to be a great galvanizing factor for employees to stand up for a greater cause. This relief effort reinforced among the participants the values that Starbucks stood up for and inspired them to go over and beyond to focus on customers and do the right things that mattered.
Onward was a great immersion for me at Starbucks. Would highly recommend the book for anyone hoping to get a closer look at what inspirational leadership is all about.
So that's it folks, 4 books in 2017. I will take it as a start for getting back to the reading track. Super inspired by my friend Anush Raman who has clocked much higher last year with some amazing collection of books. Hoping to get going with more books in 2018 and keep learning more. Until then...Good bye.
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