Review of Instaread Summary, Analysis & Review of Lawrence Levy's "To Pixar and Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History"

Review of

Instaread Summary, Analysis & Review of Lawrence Levy's To Pixar and Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History

Five out of five stars

 This summary will pique the interest of all people that have an interest in the history of entertainment, animation or the personality cult of Steve Jobs. In the last years of his life, Jobs became a household name for product innovation and business success.

 That of course was not always the case, his forced ouster from Apple was harsh and Jobs spent years trying to recreate his place among the giants of technology. One of the major steps in that journey was Jobs’ tenure at Pixar. When Jobs arrived, animation was still largely created by physically drawing the action in a frame-by-frame manner. During his time at Pixar, animating movies via computer technology became a reality with the incredible success of “Toy Story.”

 Levy was recruited by Jobs to join Pixar in 1995 when the company was struggling, Jobs was personally funding the company in order to keep in going. Therefore, Levy was in a position to give a unique account of the  success of Pixar and the rise of Jobs to the highest levels of success in the technology field.

 There is enough in this summary to inform the reader that this book is a history of the rebirth of Steve Jobs as a business success as well as a description of the rise of the fully animated movie as a major force in the entertainment business. I found the summary so interesting I read it twice and plan on reading the book. It is a must read for the Jobs-o-phile. 

https://www.amazon.com/Summary-Analysis-Review-Lawrence-Instaread-ebook/dp/B01N58I0O4/

Review of "Intelligent Quote-to-Cash: The Outcome-Based Approach to Transforming Your Business," by Kirk Krappe

Review of

Intelligent Quote-to-Cash: The Outcome-Based Approach to Transforming Your Business, by Kirk Krappe ISBN 9781614310624

Three out of five stars

 This is a book that describes a very important and valuable theme for business success, but for too long and with far too many repetitions. Quote-to-cash is the phrase used to describe the implementation of an enterprise computer system that incorporates every person and operation, from the sales people through all others to maintenance and support. A quote-to-cash system replaces all stand-alone operations such as individual department spreadsheets and paper files.

 The first impression the reader with experience in this area will likely have is to wonder if there are still any major operations that don’t understand the importance of such a system. For the value of a quote-to-cash system is obvious, even to the technically challenged.

 Following that impression, the reader is unimpressed by the content, which is the same point made over and over again. This is a book that could have been significantly shorter with no loss of valuable content. It reads a lot like a continuous commercial for quote-to-cash, it is no coincidence that the author blurb on the back cover opens with the sentence:

“Kirk Krappe is co-founder and CEO of Apttus, the leading Intelligent Quote-to-Cash solution provider.”

 This is a good book with valuable content that grows repetitive far too quickly.

Review of Instaread Summary, Analysis & Review of Gene Kim’s, Jez Humble’s, Patrick Debois’s, and John Willis’s "The DevOps Handbook: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, & Security in Technology Organizations"

Review of

Instaread Summary, Analysis & Review of Gene Kim’s, Jez Humble’s, Patrick Debois’s, and John Willis’s The DevOps Handbook: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, & Security in Technology Organizations

Three out of five stars

 In many organizations, the Development and Operations teams are distinct and often siloed off from each other. This creates problems with the flow and feedback of creating and supporting products. DevOps is a term used to describe the breaking of the silo walls so that the two groups work together rather than engage in inefficient conflicts, duplication and poor communication. DevOps is a set of principles and tactics used to eliminate and reduce the problems between the two groups.

 Everyone that has worked in either of the two groups can no doubt relate problems that had to be dealt with due to development and operations being at odds. There are three broad principles to the implementation of DevOps listed in the “Overview” section of the summary.

*) “The First Way emphasizes the flow of work through the value stream to ensure that it arrives speedily and efficiently at its endpoint in the hands of the consumer.”

*) “The Second Way emphasizes the construction of multiple feedback loops throughout the product’s journey across the value stream. These feedback loops can help Operations inform Development of problems as they arise, so they can be addressed with alacrity.”

*) “The Third Way emphasizes the creation of a corporate culture that values experimentation and learning. By sharing lessons learned in a blameless environment, a company is able to promote innovation and fearlessness.”

There is nothing in these three principles that can be disputed.

 The most significant sentence in the summary is that of key takeaway 6:

*) Implementing DevOps requires a major change in company culture.

This is so easy to say, yet so hard to execute. Making major changes in the culture of a large company generally takes years and sometimes just does not work.

 While the summary does point out the potential value of implementing DevOps, there is little in the way of depth to the description of what it is. Much of this is the natural limitations of a summary over a complete book. Yet, there could have been more depth to the explanations of what DevOps is, how one implements it and common problems that are encountered. There is too much emphasis on the “rah-rah” aspects. This is summed up in the last key takeaway:

“DevOps can be a tremendous force for good.”

It reminded me of when we studied propaganda in high school, specifically the phrase “Glittering generalities.” There is no additional substance to that sentence, why write a book about something if it adds no significant value? 

https://www.amazon.com/Summary-Analysis-Humbles-Handbook-Instaread-ebook/dp/B01MXPNSBV