Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies

 

This book was highly recommended by a few friends. In fact, the topic itself was very attractive to me in the first place. The only question is, this book was written a long time ago. So, are the theories still applicable in today's world? Well, if Jeff Bezos also reading this book, there is no excuse for us to avoid this book... 

Let's start the whole journey with something interesting: the myth of building a successful company:

Myth 1: It takes a great idea to start a great company

Myth 2: Visionary companies require great and charismatic visionary leaders.

Myth 3: The most successful companies exist first and foremost to maximize profits.

Myth 4: Visionary companies share a common subset of "correct" core values. (Reality: There is no "right" set of core values for being a visionary company. Indeed, two companies can have radically different ideologies, yet both visionary.

Myth 5: The only constant is change. 

Myth 6: Blue-chip companies play it safe. (Visionary companies may appear conservative to outsides, but they are not afraid to make bold commitments to "Big Hairy Audacious Goals".

Myth 7: Visionary companies are great places to work, for everyone.

Myth 8: Highly successful companies make their best moves by brilliant and complex strategic planning. (What looks in retrospect and preplanning was of the result of "Let's just try a lot of stuff and keep what works.")

Myth 9: Companies should hire outside CEOs to stimulate fundamental changes.

Myth 10: The most successful companies focus on beating the competitors (Visionary companies focus primary on beating themselves)

Myth 11: You can't have your cake and eat it too (Visionary companies do not brutalize themselves with the "Tyranny of the OR")

Myth 12: Companies becomes visionary primarily through "vision statements". 

With the listed myths, I have no hesitation to continue this book. In fact, these myths are the issues that bother entrepreneurs now and then. So, this book unlocked and dug into details on the myth with proven data and analysis. Thumbs up!!!

Next, the best part... how the author choose and filter companies to study:

1. What companies should we study?

2. Avoiding the "Discover Buildings" Trap.

3. History and Evolution

4. Crates of Data, Months of Coding, and "Tortoise Hunting"

5. Harvesting the Fruits of our Labor

6. Field Testing & Application in the Real World

With the series of myth and filtering in choosing the company, this book itself already showed its value. The main thing about visionary companies is all about core ideology. This ideology itself is the combination of core values (not to be confused with specific cultural or operating practices and not to be compromised for financial gain or short term expediency) + purpose (not to be confused with specific goals or business strategy). After finishing the whole book, you and I will know how fragile our company is: Core value was not set and not initiated despite running business for several years! So audacious! LOL...

With this new edition, the author adds on a new chapter on conceptual framework that defines vision, adds clarity and gives practical guidance for articulating a coherent vision within an organization. For those who have read this book or better still, for those who are new to this book, kindly get this latest version. This chapter is so valuable and gives plenty of insights to readers. Although a bit repetitive, a final reminder with all sorts of examples will further clarify the core ideas of this whole book.

For a full rating of 10, I have no hesitation to rate this book at 10/10. There is nothing to complain about this book. The author and the team of researchers really put in enormous efforts to provide an insightful and detailed perspective on how to build a visionary company. Well, as mentioned above, is this book still applicable in today's high technology world? The answer is yes! The theory of "stimulating progress while preserving core" will be there regardless of how the world changes. Full thumbs up to this book!!! 

Last but not least, I tried to excerpt some nice quotes from this book. In the end, I found too much info that I needed for future references. As such, unlike the usual quotes, I will categorize below as some valuable notes:

The core value need no rational or external justification. Nor do they sway with the trends and fads of the day. Nor even they shift in response to changing market conditions.

In the early stages, most visionary companies just tried to get off the ground and make a go of it and their ideology became clear only as the company evolved.

Specific methods of preserving the core and stimulating progress:

1. Big Hairy Audacious Goals

2. Cult-like Culture

3. Try a Lot of Stuff and Keep What Works!

4. Home-grown Management

5. Good Enough Never Is

Framework for diagnosing your own organization:

1. Has it made the shift in perspective from time telling to clock building?

2. Does it reject the "Tyranny of the OR" and embrace the "Genius of the AND"?

3. Does it have a core ideology - core values and purpose beyond just making money?

4. Does it have a drive for progress - not part of the core ideology?

5. Does it preserve the core and stimulate progress?

6. Is the organization in alignment, so that people receive a consistent set of signals to reinforce behavior that supports the core ideology and achieves desired progress?

Few points as you consider BHAGs:

1. Clear and requires little or no explanation. A BHAG is a goal- like climbing a mountain or going to moon - not a "statement." If it doesn't get people's juices going, then it's just not a BHAGs.

2. A BHAG should fall well outside the comfort zone: it should require heroic effort and perhaps even a little luck.

3. A BHAG should be bold and exciting in its own right that it would continue to stimulate progress even if the organization's leaders disappeared.

4. A BHAG has the inherent danger that, once achieved, an organization can stall and drift in the "we've arrived!" syndrome. A company should be prepared to prevent this by having follow-on BHAGs.

5. A BHAG should be consistent with a company's core value.

"Visionary" does not mean soft and undisciplined. They tend not to have much room for people unwilling or unsuited to their demanding standards.

An analysis of the visionary versus comparison companies:

1. 11/18 pairs, the evidence shows stronger indoctrination into a core ideology through the history of the visionary companies.

2. 13/18 pairs, people tend to either fit well with the company and its ideology or tend to not fit  at all.

3. 13/18 pairs, the evidence shows a sense of belonging to something special and superior.

We found that the visionary companies were significantly more decentralized and granted greater operational autonomy than the comparison companies.

Evolutionary progress differs from BHAG progress in two key ways. First, BHAG progress involves clear and unambiguous goals, evolutionary progress involves ambiguity (by trying lots of different approaches to stumble onto something that works). Second, BHAG involves bold discontinues leaps, evolution progress usually begins with small incremental steps or mutations, often in the form of quickly seizing unexpected opportunities that eventually grow into major and often unanticipated strategic shifts.

It might be far more satisfactory to look at well-adapted visionary companies not primarily as the result of brilliant foresight and strategic planning, but largely as consequences of a basic process - namely, try a lot of experiments, seize opportunities, keep those that work well (consistent with the core ideology) and discard those that don't.

We're not saying that evolutionary progress equals to wanton diversification, or even that a focused business strategy is necessarily bad. Wal-Mart for example remain resolutely focused on one industry- discount retailing - while simultaneously stimulating evolution within that narrow focus. Nor are we saying that the concept of "stick to the knitting" makes no sense. The real question is: What is the "knitting" in a visionary company? Our answer: Core ideology.

Across seventeen hundred years of combined history in the visionary companies, we found only four individual cases of and outsider coming directly into the role of chief executive.

It is not the quality of leadership that most separates the visionary companies from the comparison companies. It is the continuity of quality leadership that matters - continuity that preserves the core.

If you're involved with an organization that feels it must go outside for a top manager, then look for candidates who are highly compatible with the core ideology. They can be different in managerial style, but they should share the core values at a gut level.

P&G already had the best people, the best products, the best marketing muscle. So, why not pit the best of P&G against the best of P&G? If the marketplace doesn't provide enough competition, why not create a system of internal competition that makes it virtually impossible for any brand to rest on its laurels?

Managers at visionary companies simply do not accept the proposition that they must choose between short-term performance or long-term success. They build first and foremost for the long term while simultaneously holding themselves to highly demanding short-term standards. 

If you are involved in building and managing the company, we urge you to consider the following questions:

- What "mechanisms of discontent" can you create that would obliterate complacency and bring about change and improvement from within, yet are consistent with your core ideology? How can you give these mechanism sharp teeth?

- What are you doing to invest for the future while doing well today? Does your company adopt innovative new methods and technologies before the rest of the industry?

- How do you respond to downturns? Does your company continue to build for the long term even during difficult times?

- Do people in your company understand that comfort is not the objective - that life in a visionary company is not supposed to be easy?

Bill Hewlett, "marketing people must play a secondary role in the question of product definition."

A particular revealing example of HP following its own vision and not falling into prey to management fads and fashions of the day came in the 1970s, when the "learning-curve/market-share" theory of corporate strategy swept American business.

Keep in mind that the only sacred cow in a visionary company is its core ideology. Anything else can be changed or eliminated.

After you drafted a preliminary list of the core values, ask this questions: "If the circumstances changed and penalized us for holding this core value, would we still keep it?" If you can't honestly answer yes, then it's not core and should be dropped. 

Suppose in 10 years quality doesn't make a difference and the only thing that matters is sheer speed and horsepower, but not quality. Quality stay off the list as core value. Quality stayed in the current strategy and remained in place as mechanism for stimulating progress, but it did not make the list of core values. Remember, strategies change as market conditions change, but core values remain intact. 

A company should not change its core values in response to market changes, it should change markets- if necessary in order to remain true to its core values. 

Can you envision these core values being equally valid for you 100 years from now as they are today? Would you want to hold these core values, even if at some point one or more of them became a competitive disadvantage? If you were to start a new organization tomorrow in a different line of work, what cores values would you build into the new organization regardless of its industry? The last three questions are particularly important, as they make the crucial distinction between enduring core values that should not change and practices and strategies that should be changing all the time.

Whereas you might achieve a goal or complete a strategy, you cannot fulfill a purpose; it is like a guiding star on the horizon - forever pursued, but never reached. Yet while purpose itself does not change, it does inspire change. The very fact that purpose can never be fully realized means that an organization can never stop stimulating change and progress in order to live more fully to its purpose.

One powerful method for getting at purpose is the "Five Whys." Start with the descriptive statement, "We make X products" or "we deliver X services," and then ask "why is that important?" five times.

None of the core purposes discussed in this chapter fall into the category "maximize shareholder wealth." A key role of core purpose is to guide and inspire.

One way to get at the purpose that lies beyond just maximizing shareholder wealth is to play the "Random Corporate Serial Killer" game.

If you woke up tomorrow morning with enough money in the bank that you would never need to work again, how could we frame the purpose of this organization such that you would want to continue working anyway? What deeper sense of purpose would motivate you to continue to dedicate your precious creative energies to this company's efforts?

As Peter Drucker has pointed out, the best and most dedicated people are ultimately volunteers, for they have the opportunity to do something else with their lives.

You do not "create" or "set" core ideology. You discover core technology. It is not derived by looking to the external environment; you get at it by looking inside. It has to be authentic. You can't fake an ideology. Nor can you just "intellectualize" it. Do not ask, "What core value should we hold?"

Core ideology need only be meaningful and inspirational to people inside the organization, it need not be exciting to all outsiders. 

The task is to find people who already have a predisposition to share your core values and purpose, attract and retain these peoples, and let those who aren't disposed to share your core values go elsewhere.

Core competence is a strategic concept that captures your organization's capabilities - what you are particularly good at - whereas core ideology captures what you stand for and why you exist.

A BHAG should not be a sure bet - perhaps only 50-70% probabilities of success - but the organization must believe "we can do it anyway." It should require extraordinary effort, and perhaps a little luck. Four targets in creating BHAG: target, common enemy, role model, internal transformation.

Purpose is the organization's fundamental reason for existence, which like a star on the horizon can never be reached; it guides and inspires forever. A BHAG, on the other hand, is a specific goal which, like a specific mountain to climb, has a specific time frame and can be achieved. Whereas identifying core ideology is a discovery process, setting the envisioned future is a creative process.

In thinking about envisioned future, beware the "we've arrived syndrome" - complacent lethargy that arises once an organization has achieved a BHAG and fails to replace it with another.

Creating alignment, which is a key part of our ongoing work to help companies transform themselves into visionary companies, requires two key processes: 1. developing new alignments to preserve the core and stimulate progress, and 2. eliminating misalignments - those that drive the company away from the core ideology and those that impede progress toward the envisioned future.

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

 

Since "7 habits", I think I never found a book as good as the theory mentioned in 7 Habits. The said 7 habits served me well for the past 20 years to becomes the highly effective people as claimed by the late Stephen Covey. Now, I am into this atomic habits. The topic itself sounds appealing in the first place. Secondly, I was in a forum on books and this book keep on bombarding my fb wall in the said forum. So, here I am with a book that usually would not appear in my book shelf. 

At the end... I did not finish this book. This is a boring and dull book. Basically, the four concepts are too simple to practice and I humbly think that this is how I practice my life for the past 20 years. As such, this book does not deliver what I want and I ended up gave up half way. 

My expectation on this book was high in the first place. After all, it was highly recommended by all friends in my forum. The so called "atomic" habits are nothing new under the sun. We had this sort of ideas everywhere and perhaps the author only did his best to use the right words to "upgrade" the whole concept. For example, I hate the repeating words of "Laws" being highlighted throughout the book. To me, it is a "principle" at most! Law??? No way... 

Finally, this book could have been written in less than 100 pages. There are a lot of repetition and the author mumbling the same stuff over and over again. In fact, this book can easily be sum up by reading the chapter summaries. So, for a full rating of 10, I am going to rate this book at 1. The idea is good (nothing special though), but it is just too wordy to finish it up... 

塞北三朝：金

 

这是袁老师塞北三朝系列的最后一本。塞北三朝理论上，金应该是最精彩的一本。至少，金人的确在之后成立了影响中华时代的满清帝国。好吧，让我们再次踏上塞北三朝之旅吧。。。

金的历史的确时比西夏和辽有趣多了。至少，金的澎湃英雄史甚至是荒唐事迹也比辽和西夏有过之而无不及。但是，很耐人寻味的是。。。袁老师的这一系列塞北三朝始终不是我喜欢的历史书籍。一直以来，袁老师的书籍我是爱不释手的。还没开始塞北三朝时，我是非常期待的。但是，一连啃掉了三本书籍后，除了书的结尾（袁老师的总结永远不让读者失望），我还真的不是很有印象里头的精彩内容。

或许，塞北三朝的历史真的不是我的那杯茶。中国少数民族肯定有他们的贡献。一般上，历史的价值在于它能让后人反省，让后人通过历史的演变作为未来的借镜。但是金的历史和辽与西夏就是起不到这个作用。金的演变只能说是时势造英雄（造的更多的是枭雄）。一切的起起落落只不过是自然定律。金虽然有后金（满清）的伟大事迹，但是金朝自身只不过是昙花一现罢了。真正有价值的文化历史应该是给后人留下讨论空间的余地。金朝历史在这方面就缺乏了一些激情。一切的一切都是历史演变的理所当然罢了。。。

看完了这一系列的塞北三朝，我开始明白这一段历史当年在百家讲坛爆红的原因。充其量，观众就是爱听故事。当然，袁老师的讲古能力肯定是一绝。但是，民众就是喜欢听故事。再来，这一段历史很少人会接触。因此，故事的可听性质就攀升了。对于我，这一系列书籍增加了我不少知识。但是，基于我对历史的热爱和历史能够带给我省思的那一份执着，这本书我只能打个6分。再次澄清，这本书不是不好。只不过，它不是我喜欢的历史性质罢了。。。

塞北三朝：西夏

 

上了一堂辽史，是时候继续前进了。这回，我们来到了西夏。如果说辽史我一窍不通，那么西夏历史我简直就是一无所知！😀

一开始，因为对于西夏的无知，所以我好期待这本西夏史。但是，除了母系权威和一再的战火连篇，我还真的找不到什么历史价值。如果说上一本辽史本来就不那么精彩，那这一本西夏史就真的平淡无味了。。。

作者秉着一贯幽默有趣的神笔，的确为这本书添上了平淡却不失精彩的层次。但是，西夏的故事的确不是我的那杯茶。我喜欢阅读历史。更喜欢的是历史所带来的反思和警惕作用。西夏历史虽然筑成了中华民族的一小部分，但是缺乏的始终是可歌可泣的历史典故。或许，党项基于没有文笔上的遗产，因此流通的正史也是非常有限的。

满分10分，没法子，这回只能给个两分。再次声明，这本书的作者是很用心拟写的。但是，我个人就是没办法体会西夏史所遗留下来的历史价值！

塞北三朝：辽

 

一口气看了易中天四本著作，忽然怀念起袁腾飞这位百家讲坛的红人。而且，上一轮的【铁血蒙元】还记忆犹新，因此始终念念不忘蒙古大军狂扫塞北的情景。好吧，再来一系列塞北历史呗！

辽国的历史基本上我是一窍不通。自小，辽这个称呼从电视剧和书本上都是贬义居多。杨家将事迹就把辽人骂得狗血临头。因此，从来不曾想过要探讨辽得历史价值。如果不是袁腾飞老师，老实说，我还真得懒得阅读这一段历史。

结果，出乎我意料之外，这本书还是挺行的。第一，作者的神笔肯定是功不可没。第二，这本书再次纠正我阅读时常犯的错误。很多时候，野史和正史一而再的误导我。比方说，杨家将的事迹原来更多的是野史！（我的妈呀，我崇拜了好多年的穆桂英原来都是虚假的！）俗语说得好：少壮不努力，老大徒伤悲。这回，还真的再辽史上摆了个大乌龙。第三，这本书也开拓了我许多关于塞北的历史。一直以来，我都比较倾向于中华史。基于辽族本来就不在中华五十六个民族内，因此一直觉得辽族好像是外来者。这本书算是打开了我的视野。第四，这本书也让我看到历史演变的真正价值。文化融合和书写上的每一个字如果没有好好记载，后人往往无法体会它的文化价值。袁老师这回算是帮辽族扳回一城，也还了辽族一个公道。下一轮有机会到云南一游，我还真的想探听一下辽族的后裔。

一般上，我很少不在一本书里找到一些经典语录。这回，我还真的读到废寝忘食了。袁腾飞的讲古能力真的不是盖的。阅读袁老师的书籍，很容易让读者进入一个忘神的状态。因此，这一轮，我还真的忘记记录任何的经典语录。10分满分，我给于这本书8分。扣除的两份其实是个人问题。辽史怎么说始终没有其它历史来的生动。这本书让我对于中华少数民族改观了许多。但是，如果不是袁老师的神笔，我相信辽史其实也算沉闷的。基于这个原因，我还是决定私下扣除两份。别误会，袁老师始终是我最爱的作者之一。但是，辽史肯定不是我的最爱，😄！

易中天中华史：铁血蒙元

 

这本是宋元系列的最后一本，也是市面上易老师中华史的最后一本。好期待【明清】的系列。但是，看起来，还得等上一段时间。。。

一般上，最后一本通常都得珍惜。这一本也不例外。昨晚，通宵达旦一口气看完它。。。不是因为太得空，而是是这一本书籍太棒了（简直就是这一系列最引人入胜的一本！）。成吉思汗，忽必烈的事迹本来就可歌可泣。在易老师的神笔之下，除了轰轰烈烈的世纪大战，更多的是理性和逻辑的分析。易中天中华史的吸引之处在于历史除了不沉闷，还能让读者慎思和探讨过去的是与非。更甚的是，读者能够体会历史真的没有如果。每一段历史的演变就是今天的写照。

再来，这本书有个特点。易老师一直把程朱理学和蒙元种下的埋伏隐藏于书中。这一亮点足以让读者很期待明清的中华史系列。有别于其它的历史书籍，易老师不强调，但却很理性的分析这两个祸端的利与弊。时代的驱使往往造就了一些必然因果。但是，对与错彷佛没有一个界限。始终，历史不允许如果。历史读者要的是省思以防重蹈覆辙的可能性。这就是阅读历史最大的益处。

这最后一本真的启发了我许多深思。感觉上，真的随着蒙古大将穿越时空经历一场又一场的伟大事迹。最终，还体会到了许多制度和文化的利与弊。因此，10分满分，不得不给予这本书10分！我忘了之前易老师中华史的哪一本让我废寝忘食，但是，这一本肯定是让我手不释卷的一本书籍。

以下是书里的经典语录：

蒙古人对于推翻大金毫无兴趣。相反，留下那帮蠢货看管牧场，把羊养肥了再来屠杀要合算得多。但是指望蒙古人不再南下，就像相信狼不在吃羊。何况，狼已经掌握了进出羊圈的技术。留在中都是被吃，躲到南京也是，不过或许能把被吃的时间从初一推迟到十五。

造成暴行的原因以其说是残忍，不如说是无知。因为游牧民族完全不懂城市的用处。因此，当时他们是不知所措的。这就好比北极熊的到了数码相机，除了拆的七零八落，不会有别的结果。

在世界史上，这是个奇迹。第一，尽管这个民族的崛起速度惊人，事先却没有任何预兆，也无规律可循。第二，新帝国在失去了极具个人魅力的领导核心之后，并没有失去前进的方向，反倒生机勃勃地成长，突飞猛进地发展，以至于直接挑战中华，基督教和伊斯兰三大文明，让世界陷入混乱。

忽必烈留下的遗产是大元帝国。请问，大元是蒙古帝国，还是中华帝国？是蒙古帝国变成了中华帝国，还是中华帝国变成了蒙古帝国？好像都是，又好像都不是。

蒙古人既是文明的破坏者也是创造者，尽管这并非他们的使命和初心。忽必烈没能保住大蒙古，却开创了大中华。

士大夫在两宋的地位很高。但是，蒙古人把这一切都毁灭了。按照所谓的“七匠八娼，九儒十丐”的说法，其地位甚至还在娼妓之下。

元的文明程度本来就远远不如宋，明清两代更是闭关锁国，海上丝绸之路被自己切断，陆地上的商道则因为成本太高和动荡不安而被废弃。明承元制，清承明制，都选择了继承不该继承的东西。汉唐之辉煌，两宋之绚丽，再难一见。

易中天中华史：风流南宋

 

北宋结束，终于来到这一系列的第三本:南宋。。。

风流南宋这个主题取得太好了。南宋基于动乱，逃亡与灭亡之际，再加上宋朝大量提升印刷技术，诗词本来就是宋朝一大批文人产量的高峰点。单凭苏东波一人就足以让诗词爱好者陶醉一番。我对诗词本来就兴味索然。但是，“念奴娇”却是一首让我回味无穷的经典佳作。

这本书我时一气呵成读完的。但是，一气呵成的成分不在于这本书多精彩，而是里头的诗词对我产生不大的共鸣。前半部关于流放政府以及海上贸易我倒是挺有兴趣的。后半部诗词的精华。。。抱歉，本人修养有限，实在找不到任何可以激发我的诗人气质（本来就没有，😄）。10分满分，这本书在我心目中只能打个6分。这本书可能时这一系列我评价最低的一本。和上一本【王安石变法】一样，这本【风流南宋】的主题的确不太吸引我。“风流南宋”这个名称的确堪称一绝。只可惜，落到粗人如我的手中，还真的让我这位莽夫给糟蹋了。

和往常一样，这本书少不了多少经典语录。但是，所有被挑选的语录都是前半部的南宋。书里后半部的“风流”就不予置评了：

辽的中京是金的北京，辽的南京是金的中都，金的南京是宋的东京。

南宋错误的误解了远交近攻。他们忘记了，这可是强者才能使用的策略。当年的秦王国就是这样兼并天下的。联蒙灭金的宋则把自己变成了只能挨打的齐。

日本和中国很早就有了来往。这个民族学习能力之强，堪称举世无双。他们的学习是选择性和创造性。而且一旦学会，就能把别人的变成自己的。比方说，吴服。日本许多和服店门口都挂着“吴服屋”的招牌。和服其实是三国东吴服装的改良升级版，却成了日本人的民族象征。

刺身在中国也叫脍，烧烤则叫炙，因此有脍炙人口的成语。可见被日本人叫做刺身的鱼脍，其实原本是中华美食。变成日本料理的关键在于芥末和酱油。酱油也是中国人的发明，时间应该不晚于宋。

明清两代选择闭关锁国，最后变成死水一潭。因此，当我们向那些死难的烈士致敬之时，难道不该再多一点反思吗？

更恶劣的是，程颐还信口雌黄，说什么贫苦无依和饥饿不过是寡妇门希望再嫁的借口。且不说这种毫无证据和言论涉嫌诬陷，就算他们为了性爱又如何？朱熹不是声称“做出这事，便是这里有那理”吗？那么请问，男女之间那点事，怎么就没那理？如果没有，老天爷为什么要让人们有性快感？难道男人可以有，女人不能？女人丧夫不能再嫁，男人丧妻却可再娶？

很显然，正是这种冷漠造就了生祭文天祥这样的道德怪胎，贞节牌坊那样的道德祭坛。这当然并不完全由程朱理学来负责。但，如果一个民族的伦理道德必须靠这样惨无人道的东西才能得以维持，可就真是生病了。

易中天中华史：王安石变法

 

上一回读了【大宋革新】后，易中天书籍又让我对这一系列中华史从新踏上阅读的轨道上了。。。

王安石变法是北宋挺重要的一环。但，坦白说，这一段历史我兴趣不大。理由是，王安石变法牵涉了太多人物。其中，复杂性的宋朝官僚机制已经够烦了，人物之众多更是历史最乏味的一环。重点是，王安石得罪了太多人。因此，犯众的情形下，读者难免会读的很吃力。幸好，我们有易老师。在他的神笔之下，这一段乏味的情节至少生动了不少。很佩服！

世界上，革新还是维护原有状态永远都有解不开的迷。一失足成千古恨往往是历史的写照。王安石事迹当然也不例外。但是，易老师在这本原本我不是很有兴趣的宋朝史却揭破了一个谜底。改革的本质是好的。但是，为何改革，为谁改革，怎样改革，如果不谨慎考量，只能算是盲动。易老师在这本书的结尾堪称一绝：有理想的人无疑值得尊敬，尤其是同时还有道德。但，如果他掌握了公权力，还要用这种公权力来实现理想，就有可能变得恐怖和必须警惕。要知道，道德是用来警惕的，道德高尚不等于认识科学决策正确。社会理想的实现更是只能靠全民的共识和践行。一旦公权力强制推出，就一定是悲剧。

满分10分，基于本人并不是很热衷于这一段失败的历史变法，因此只能给予7分。这本书作者一贯的发挥了他的神笔。可惜，宋朝变法真的不是我那杯茶。商鞅变法至少惊天动地（在那个年代），王安石变法读了二十年，始终没办法体会和欣赏它的逻辑性。诚如易老师所言，王安石变法顶多也只是公权力眼下的一个借口。今时今日，各界政治人物不也是套着同一条套路生存吗？历史有趣的地方便是这样。。。

最后，附上本书的一些经典语录：

这就是熙宁变法时的北宋政局：一位奋发有为的新君，一个锐意改革的大臣，一套看起来不错的新法，一群德高望重的反对派。这些因素搅在一起，想不发生悲剧都不可能。

司马光和王安石称得上一枚硬币的正反两面。尽管他们的政治主张截然相反，但要论固执和刚愎自用，却不相上下，如出一辙。

宋神宗和王安石都主张变法，也主张集权。但，王安石是为了变法而集权，宋神宗却是为了集权而变法。因此，当他实现了集权之后，就不能容忍有人分权。王安石也必须走人。

改革有稳健和鲁莽，聪明和失策。因此，有成功和失败，却没有道德不道德。为改革措施贴上道德标签，只会断了听取意见进行调整的后路。

人是要有敬畏之心的，掌握了公权力的就更是如此。你可以不信上帝，也可以不信天命，但总得有所敬畏有所不为。什么都不怕，那才可怕。

易中天中华史: 大宋革新

 

好怀念易中天老师的书籍. 这一套书在我的书架上横躺着两年。 一直很想去翻一翻，但是,这两年来真的太忙了。。。

果然，期待完全没有落空。易老师始终时易老师。一贯的幽默，一贯的神笔，历史在易老师的描写之下就是那么牛！这本书，我一拿起，简直就是爱不释手。大宋这一段三百年的历史本来就有趣。易老师的分析直接把读者带到当年的状况。很多野史也经易老师处理之后，变得相当有理。大宋是一个革新时代。有别于汉唐两代，大宋的创新（无论是被逼还是历史使然）经过易老师的分析显得更加耐人寻味。一直以来，我就是不明白宋朝怎么那么多野史。经过这本【大宋个性】的解读，终于茅塞顿开。原来创新的背后隐藏着就是一系列的突发奇想。以前从来都不欣赏赵光胤的自导自演。看来，这一场戏还真的把中华史带上了另一个沉湎。

如果易老师时我当年的历史老师，我绝对不逃课，🙂。因此，阔别两年，这一读又让我从新爱上易老师的作品了。10分满分，没得弹，本人就给足满分！太喜欢易老师的书籍了。

以下是本书的一些经典语录：

一个东西成为本位，又两个条件。首先，必须又价值。其次，辨识度要高，而且可能拥有。帝国时代，君至贵而民至贱。贱民无价值，皇帝又高不可攀，所以既不会有君本位，也不会有民本位。最适合成为本位的，正是皇家与小民之间可望的官。

时代特征：汉代重军功，魏晋重门第，隋唐重勋爵，两宋重学历。

赵宋官家意识到，最靠谱的，是由儒家思想武装起来。文官，作为个人，他们没有雄厚的社会基础，也没有强大的军事力量，根本就造不了反。而儒家忠君爱国的主张，又让他们不生此念。

士农工商的界限荡然无存。过去，士人的子孙世代都是士人。此后，商人的子孙才能为士 -- 简直就是颠覆性的变化。结果是什么呢？科技进步，文化繁荣。

的确，将政府特许的经营权，甚至出家人的身份凭证都当作油价证券来炒，是只有商业社会才会发生的事。两宋恰恰事这样的社会。

在赵宋官家的心目中，最重要的不是国家而是皇权。国家的危险在边境之上，皇权的萧蔷之内。他们宁可牺牲军事效率甚至国家安全，也要保证皇位皇权不受旁落。

岳飞之死是明杀，狄青之死却连暗杀都不算。只能叫阴杀。

狄青是被制度和文化所杀。而制度和文化是无法被送上法庭追究责任的。所有人都是凶手，也就等于没有凶手。

赵光胤就是一条江湖好汉。不但武艺高强，而且嗜赌如命。传说三十六路棍法，就是他留下的。双截棍，也是他发明的。他敢在陈桥进行一场豪赌，靠的正是闯荡江湖的阅历。赵宋官家，原本就是黑社会老大。

太祖皇帝当年从石守信夺兵权时，交换条件便是默许甚至怂恿他们以权谋私。石守信也没辜负赵光胤，在节度使任上大发横财。这其实是五代以来传统的变通。那时兵变，都会许诺部下事成之后在城中抢劫百姓。赵光胤只不过把豪夺变成了细水长流的巧取。

这其实时文明的表现。打官司总比打群架好。民众告官也比官逼民反好。如果他们连皇帝都敢告，则当时社会环境和政治之宽松，简直叹为观止。这时，即便统治时专制主义的，那也是开明专制。那么，宋代为什么开明？逼出来的。

Unknown Market Wizards: The best traders you've never heard of

 

There is no way for any traders to miss out on Jack D. Schwager's book. This latest edition from my favorite author attracted me a lot since it is about "unknown" market wizards like me, LOL... so, the topic itself sounds really appealing to me!

As usual, Jack D. Schwager never disappointed us. This book is full of insights and numerous live trading experiences from the so called "unknown". As expected, the author with his usual excellent interviewing style did his best to dig out informative side from traders. We as readers and traders surely benefited by reading this book.

There are few that featured in this book really caught my attention. First, Jason Shapiro. I love his contrarian way... a way that I had been practicing for so long without realized that it is a contradict way of life! His contrarian ways are best explained in the book on the topic of bubble. When everyone is talking about a bubble and nobody actually owes it, the bubble is there to stay. When somehow everybody started to owe the bubble, the bubble will burst without a hint. (Splendid idea on contrarian!) So, it is not the price that makes the market bottom on bearish or vice versa. It is all about participation. Make sense!!!

Reading Jack D. Schwager's books is always a nice thing to do. However, we as traders tend to have problem reading it. The main thing is we are sort of bias in our own way. Everything that moves along with our existing strategy tends to stay favor while we reading this book. In opposite, we will find hard to those ideas that never sounds appealing since day one. As such, a reader for Market Wizard series must stay focus and read this book with neutral state of mind. Having said that, the author as usual did well in his interviews. At times, the question asked can be some good point to be taken by readers. A good example is this: I actually find trendline breakout to be one of the most unreliable signals. But that perception is a consequence of knowing where to draw the trendline with the benefit of hindsight. Another good point from this book (which the previous series of market wizards also pointed out same perspective) is there are some opposite techniques being used by two different traders. Yet, it proved to work since the trades presented in this book are all successful traders. A good example is the contradict approach on  trendline by Peter Brandt (use only horizontal breakout and never use trendline breakout) versus Jeffery Neumann (use only trendline breakout). End of the day, both methods work. That is the best part of trading. There is simply no single correct trading method!

Having read all market wizards by this author, I actually prefer all previous version compared to this. As usual, I will list out some good points below which are extracted from the book. However, this time around, I omitted few traders for the first time. This never happened when I read other market wizards. Well, there are two reasons. First, I simply do not agree with some of the idea presented. Secondly, I am in my 18 years into trading. So, perhaps I evolved along the way (I hope I am, haha) and there is nothing new under the sun. In view of that, I am going to rate this book at 6/10. Well, this book still served as one of the book that traders must read. However, one round of reading is adequate and there are not much surprises. Last but not least, listed below are some nice quotes from the book: 

Peter Brandt:

He took much smaller positions than he could. If your could protect your capital, you would always have another shot.

A popcorn trade is what I call a trade that you have profit on and then ride it all the way back down to where you got in. I try to avoid popcorn trades now. 

I used to trade patterns like symmetrical triangles and trendlines, which I no longer do. I only trade patterns where the breakout is through a horizontal boundary.

I don't want to know my open trade equity. So, I graph my equity based on closed trades only.

Optimizing your trading approach for the last series of trades is not a solution. I try to keep trading the same way. That's the only way I'll come out of a drawdown and get back on track. 

Strong opinions, weakly hold. Have a strong reason for taking a trade, but once you are in a trade, be quick to cut if it doesn't behave as expected.

Jason Shapiro:

To make a contrarian trading approach work, a method for timing entry into the markets:

1. Taking positions counter to the extremes of speculator market positioning.

2. Timing the entry into such positions based on market action.

Watching financial TV programs can be useful in your trading - as a contrarian indicator!

Have stop loss on every positions.

Managing increased risk of higher correlation markets by reducing overall positions size and by seeking inversely correlated trades to add to the portfolio.

You know you can identify traders or commentators who are reliably wrong - a task far easier than finding those who are reliably right - then their opinions could well be useful in a contrarian sense. 

Richard Bargh:

I used to have a habit that whenever I lost money in the market, I would spend less money. That type of attitude only causes your mindset and body to get tight, which stop you from trading well because you don't want to take any risk. A counterintuitive concept is to spend more when losing.

You don't have to exit a profitable trade all at once. Even if a trade reaches your target, it may make sense to keep a small portion of the positions, so you get some additional profit if the market keeps moving in the direction of original trade. 

Missed trades can be more painful and more expensive than trading losses.

The damage from a bad trade often extends well beyond the loss on the trade itself. By shaking up a trader's confidence, such trades can lead to missing winning trades the trader would otherwise taken. The resulting missed profits can often exceeded the loss on the original trade.

Amrit Sall:

I now know that 90% of the time, the market is not going to provide any opportunities, and 10% of the time, I will make 90% of my profits.

In the past, I have tended to implement trading ideas in a single market. I now try to execute trade ideas in multiple correlated markets.

Traders have to ask themselves whether they can handle being right only 30% of the time, or do they feel they have to be right day after day? 

Daljit Dhaliwal:

The reward/ risk ratio of a trade is dynamic and can change dramatically as the trade is held. Consider that you implement a trade, looking for a 300 point gain and risking in 100 point loss. If the market then moves 200 points in favor of the trade, the reward/ risk is now drastically different than when the positions was implemented. Dhaliwal manages the dynamic nature by taking partial profits. He argues that holding the entire position until it is exited is an attempt to be 100% right, at the risk of being 100% wrong. Taking partial profits as a trade moves in your favor not only responds to the fact that the reward/ risk of the trade is changing, but it is also another risk management tool. Another way of adjusting to the changing reward/ risk of a trade is to tighten the protective stop.

John Netto:

I want to be focus and still feel some anxiety when adding positions. In contrast, if I exhale in relief after a positions has gone my way and feel too relaxed, that is a warning sign of a possible impending market reversal. 

When you lose money in the market, let it go. Be on guard against the urge to make money back by taking previously unplanned trades. 

Jeffrey Neumann

Neumann enters his trade at the very point of breakouts from long downtrend lines - the earliest possible technical signal of a trend transition. Of course, this type of entry point often results in buying multiple false breakouts before a valid breakout occurs. But, Neumann gets out immediately if the breakout doesn't follow through.