Bits and bobs that made me pause and think:
Jack Farchy and Javier Blas – The World for Sale: Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources
May 2022 read
I’m writing this review on a Saturday afternoon in June. I’m a few pages away from finishing what will be my June review (i think) and I was trying to remember what was meant to be my May review. I struggled to recall and had to go to my bookshelf to see if that jogged my memory. It did! Please note the fact that I couldn’t remember the book is not a reflection of what I thought of the book. I enjoyed The World For Sale. It was an easy and interesting read. Also it led to an interesting conversation on the underground. A stranger stopped me and told me she read it and enjoyed it. We swapped quotables and went on our way. Now London is not a city where strangers just stop each other to talk. About anything. So this is significant. Or maybe the do; I just don’t create the opportunities to do so.
Right back to the book, I would say read it if you want to know about how the most [in]famous commodity houses started out. The book felt like a look behind the curtain on some notable historical moments e.g. the end of the Soviet Union, the rise of OPEC and muted (but very significant) corruption stories. If you are not familiar with the rogue world of commodities trading, they’ll be things that surprise you (see corruption point above). If you are familiar with the industry, it offers interest facts and figures and helps you ponder what the future might hold for brokers and the wider industry.
I also really enjoyed the book because while its niche in its topic area, it makes you curious about other trading markets. Are the sins of the commodities market being repeated in the ESG industry? There’s been enough articles to suggest so. With everything that’s happening with Russia, it also does make you wonder what role commodity brokers are playing in the current events. Is it more of the old? As long as money can be made, brokers have no opinion? So in sum, it’s worth reading, but if you just want the story in audio form, the writers have also done some good podcast interviews. Below is one of my favourite quotes:
“A motley assortment of characters flourished in those dying days of the Soviet Union. The country’s economy was in freefall. All kinds of wild deals were struck. PepsiCo briefly became one of the world’s largest naval powers when it agreed that, in exchange for the Pepsi it was selling to the Soviet Union, it would be paid with 17 Soviet submarines, a cruiser, a frigate and a destroyer. The naval fleet was sold for scrap, leading to PepsiCo’s chairman to joke to the White House: “We’re disarming the Soviet Union faster than you are”.“
Indra Nooyi – My Life In Full
April 2022 read
So, I finally read it and I was not disappointed, but to also be completely honest, I did struggle to get to the end of the book. To go back a little, my mum read this book and said I should read it. My middle sister read it and said I should read it. I have now read it and I am recommending it left, right and centre. Indra has a really interesting story and her work ethic is one of dreams. Forget Ciara’s prayer, God just give me a smidgen of Indra’s work ethic. Everyone I know took something different from the book. My mum and sister were moved by the level of management and familial gymnastics needed to balance work and home life. I was floored by the role of sponsorship throughout Indra’s career which I think is a testament to her work ethic and reputation as a committed worker. Like I said, I’d like a smidgen of that energy. But the book itself, I struggled to get into it, LOVED it in the middle then struggled to finish it.
I think that leaders need to understand the details behind what they are approving before they affix their signature to anything. This is not about trusting the people that work for you. It’s about basic responsibility. Don’t be a “pass-through”.
Anne Boden – Banking On It
March 2022 Read
This year (being 2022), I committed to reading more non-fiction books on female figures. I had my eye on Indra Nooyi’s autobiography, but haven’t felt quite ready to pick it up yet. When I was trying to create a female focused reading list, I also came across this book. I dismissed it. Believe it or not, I told myself that Indra’s book was enough insight into women working in a corporate environment – cue the gasp of my inner feminist. I also do wonder what my inner feminist thinks of my current reading list which is looking more and more like the FTSE 100 board members and not only for its content but for how male, stale and pale its becoming…
I digress, one morning in the office when I needed some brain power and background noise, I decided to listen to Anne’s interview on Diary of a CEO. I was immediately interested and felt an affinity to this woman. Lunch time came and I took myself to the nearest bookshop and purchased her book (amongst others because kid in candy store). I couldn’t wait for the end of the day to start reading it. One problem (or three), I already had a rotation of books I was reading – my commute book, my before I sleep book and my if I have a spare moment book. Where exactly was Anne going to fit? Long story short i’ve finished the book and the others are still on rotation.
I absolutely loved her story. It was an easy and interesting read. I also would call it a mixture of an autobiography and advice book (which based on the chapter headings, I definitely think you’re meant to take some lessons from it). I’m in the throws of thinking about trying something new and also evaluating my career progression so, the book just came at the right time. Guess what? You can read more than one book about a woman V. and take a lot from it. To finish this post, here’s my favourite quote which I think is also adoptable by those [un]lucky enough not to work in startups.
“I had to constantly remind myself that the default state of a tech start-up, indeed any start-up is dead. In other words, if you don’t get up and do something to make it happen, it never will.”
Adam Grant – Think Again
February 2022 Read
I’m writing this review many weeks after finishing the book and I more frustrated now than I was after initially reading it. Initially when I finished the book, I was just disappointed – what was the hype about is all I kept asking myself. I gave this book all the conditions needed for me to love it. It was my chosen read for a long flight and I did finish it on that flight with plenty of hours left on the clock. To be honest, I made a lot of questionable reading decisions on that trip, but that’s a story for another time.
Personal moral of the story is, (i) don’t always go with hype – herd mentality disappoints and (ii) sometimes one of your favourite podcasters may not always turn into your favourite author. You can hear the frustration can’t you? I love Adam’s podcast – good brain food. He also did one of my most re-listened conversations with Malcolm Gladwell and unfortunately, I was still disappointed. I understand what the book was trying to do, but for me it felt surface level. It was easy for me to race to the end of the book without many aha moments as Oprah puts it.
Ok, let’s try and save this. I will concede the book was a good prompt for brainstorming – i had time to kill so why not. The first page is filled with my pencil rumblings. The ideas related to self reflective questions and work related thoughts. So I guess the book worked? It made me think again about certain stuff. Who knows – anyway my favourite quote from the book:
“We laugh at people who still use Windows 95, yet we still cling to opinions that we formed in 1995. We listen to views that make us feel good, instead of ideas that make us think hard.“
after the wilderness 