Suhail Algosaibi’s Random Rants on Business and Life (Feb 2020)
This is something new I will be doing, writing about various things that I’m reading, doing or just thinking about. These thoughts don’t lend themselves to proper articles, so I’ll just add them to a longish rant like this. Ready? Here goes…
Books I’m reading:
I’m an obsessive learner and have been so for most of my adult life. I’m constantly reading books, newsletters, listening to podcasts while working out or listening to YouTube videos in the car. I’m currently reading two books; one is called Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein, and the other is Designed for Digital, How to Architect Your Business for Sustained Success by Jeanne W. Ross, Cynthia M. Beath and Martin Mocker.
The latter book is somewhat of a heavy read and is more relevant to people interested in digital transformation or undergoing one currently. It has some interesting insights and examples. A couple of key take-aways from the book: First, you cannot separate digital strategy from business strategy. Never, ever delegate digital transformation to the IT department.
Second, you will need to undergo an organisational re-designanda cultural change. You cannot become digital while having outdated operational processes or a culture not conducive to agile methods that embraces constant experimentation and celebrate failure. Need help with this? Get in touch.
As for Range, it’s a fascinating book that debunks the“10,000 hour rule”popularised by Malcom Gladwell in his book Outliers. It also talks about how ultra-specialisation is actually a detriment to society and science. The book gives plenty of examples of how some of the most successful people in the world have specialised late in life after trying out many different jobs/professions first. Two prime examples from the book are none other than Van Gogh and Charles Darwin. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in self-development, business or entrepreneurship.
The podcasts I like to listen to:
I listen to a very wide range of podcast ranging from fitness to history to investing to general self-improvement. Below a selection of some of the podcast I subscribe to:
3D Muscle Journey– a natural bodybuilding podcast.
Intelligence Matters- a podcast about US national security and policy hosted by former CIA acting director Michael Morell.
Silicon Valley by The Investor’s Podcast Network - an in-depth look into the workings of companies based in Silicon Valley.
Startalk Radio- Astrophysicist and Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson and his co-hosts discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe.
The Next Big Idea– this podcast brings you the most ground-breaking ideas that have the power to change the way you live, work, and think.
Unboxed– Straight out of the Middle East, this bilingual (English/Arabic) podcast explores unspoken topics with unique people.
Business Wars– a highly entertaining podcast on historical business rivalries.
Editor’s Picks from The Economist– a summary of important news items from around the world.
BBC Witness History- History as told by the people who were there.
We Study Billionaires- an investing podcast that interviews and studies famous financial billionaires.
London Real– a self-improvement podcast that interviews successful people from all around the world.
Spartan Up podcast– the official podcast of the Spartan Race obstacle course organisation.
The Joe Rogan Experience–one of the world’s Top Five podcasts.
Trained by Nike - this podcast explores the cutting-edge of holistic fitness to help make you a better trainer and athlete.
The Tim Ferris Show- One of the top podcasts in the world. Each episode, Tim deconstructs world-class performers from eclectic areas (investing, sports, business, art, etc.) to extract the tactics, tools, and routines you can use.
Forschung Aktuell– A German science podcast.
The Rich Roll podcast- Each week Rich delves deep into all things wellness with some of the brightest and most forward thinking, paradigm busting minds in health, fitness, nutrition, art, entertainment, entrepreneurship & spirituality.
I completed a Spartan Trifecta Weekend!
I’ve been participating in Spartan obstacle course races (OCR) since 2018. And this weekend, after weeks of training, I participated in a Trifecta Weekend, which consists of three different races in one weekend. The races are:
· Beast (21k – half marathon) with 30+ obstacles.
· Super (12k) with 25+ obstacles, and
· Sprint (6k) with 20+ obstacles.
Let me tell you, it was the toughest physical thing I’ve ever done in my life! I’m still recovering. But I love the fact that I could challenge myself like that. Two years ago, I would have thought running 39k with 75 obstacles in one weekend was impossible. Now it’s not.
My question to you is, what do you think is impossible now, that actually is only a year or two away, if you put some effort into it?
Totally Unreasonable:
Registration is now open for the Falak Unreasonable thinking Summit, supported by Tamkeen and others. This is Bahrain’s unique forum on innovation, disruption and out-of-the-box thinking. Places are running our fast. If you like innovation and being around remarkable thinkers from around the world, then head on over to UTS.bh and register today.
Well my friend, that’s all I have for you right now.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and talk soon.