Book Title: Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything
Author: Carol Loomis
Insights and Take Aways: Following Farnam Street and previously having been one of the MBA students that went out to Omaha to listen to Buffet speak, I was interested in learning the background to Mr. Buffett. The author, Carol Loomis, has been editing his annual reports for several decades and is a friend of Mr. Buffett. There were not a lot of new insights given prior readings on Mr. Buffett. His keys to success are to not lose money, be greedy when others are fearful, think long term, and don’t do anything stupid. His lifestyle of sitting and reading was impressive. He is a collector of knowledge and mastered financial statements. The skill set of reviewing annual reports is one that both he and Mr. Munger have mastered and this has set them up for success over time. The most interesting thing from the book was how he dealt with government officials when companies that he had interests in were under scrutiny. He utilized social capital to reverse potentially damaging situations. He was able to get key things done in a couple of hours and I’m sure they were stressful for him at that time. I’ve read a fair amount of blog posts criticizing Mr. Munger and Mr. Buffett and it was great to read that they don’t concern themselves with these types of statements. Their goal is to stay the course. They are cyclically criticized based on short time periods and have come out on top over time. They just try to do the right thing and that’s worked out well for them. Business and management fundamentals work well for them. He has continued to mentor those who sell their businesses to Berkshire and this has allowed for consistent great performance for many of his brands. The key question is not what’s going to change over the next 10 years, but what is not going to change over the next 10 years. His decision making on when to exit an industry was interesting as well. He made this decision based on if the company has reached it’s actual value. It would be nice to get an update on why he elected to put money into Apple when he avoided technology for most of his career.
Worth the read: yes – especially if you’re not familiar with Mr. Buffett or Munger
Book Title: The Last Lecture
Author: Randy Pausch
Insights:
Randy was a computer scientist on faculty at Carnegie Mellon. He was diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer, a terminal diagnosis. He elected to give a “last lecture” to Carnegie Mellon students reviewing the greatest lessons of his life. This is one of the best books I’ve worked through over the past couple of years. I’ve been attracted to stories that focus on fundamental lessons and this was clearly one of them. Given it’s non-fictional nature it made the ante docs more compelling and you could feel his love of life come through the pages. The consistent thought about how our mortality impacts our loved ones was moving. The advice on having emotional insurance – establishing and expressing gratitude for relationships while we still have the capacity was excellent. The title of his lecture was to chase your childhood dreams. Be the person that other people want to help. Work hard. Don’t let barriers stop you from accomplishing what you want. I’ve continued to grapple with these one liners of wisdom. For some reason when they are put on an instagram post they carry less weight. When it comes from someone who’s been through the fire, it’s motivating. hearing it from a dying man is moving. This book served as a reminder to be grateful. To appreciate the short life that we have and to make the most of it. I’m always curious about why some individuals would give this book a negative review. It was an honest self reflection, where the author wanted to give his children insight into who their father was. He is not perfect, displays and admits that, yet has hope for the future. It’s a story on humanity and well worth the read.
Worth the read: yes
Seeking Progress 