A lot of ink will be spilled, for decades to come, on the events of 2020. From the pandemic to a contested election, 2020 has been a helluva ride for those of us who are “extremely online”. But in the midst of this 2020 screen time avalanche of daily death counts, latest R0 estimates, and vote dumps from Maricopa County, AZ, etc., we may have shortchanged the content that made us, at least momentarily, pause, think, and reflect. Below is a lookback at some of this content that I read or was published in 2020.
This lookback will be broken into two parts. Unless it is a deep exposition of a topic by The New Yorker that justifies the #longform, I prefer to read articles that are <1000 words long, and so I will extend the courtesy to my readers as well. Five books and five articles, here we go:
Books:
Released in 2008 but originally drafted by the late Donella Meadows in the 90s, Thinking in Systems is a playbook for individuals and businesses alike to successfully operate in the modern business world. The focus on effecting change while being cognizant of operating within complex adaptive systems requires humility but also discipline and this book is a great primer to start thinking in those terms.
A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age
History the way it should be written. William Manchester delivers a spectacular exposition of European medieval history in this book. The characters are dwelled upon only with the intention of discussing the ideas and discourse of those times. It gave me an overview of European history right at the cusp of the industrial age, a time in history that changed humanity forever. Not academic by any means but enough to spark an interest and delve further for those looking to delve deeper.
A New Idea of India: Individual Rights in a Civilisational State
For me, the authors of this book, Rajeev Mantri and Harsh Gupta, have served as intellectual north stars for almost a decade now. I remember initially following them on twitter back in 2010-2011 and have been hooked to their way of thinking through and articulating about socio-economics and policy-making since then. I’m blessed to have come across and gotten to know these two new-age intellectual mavens during my formative years; and it is a delight to have seen their ideas evolve over time and now be memorialized in this all-encompassing, easy-to-consume book.
India is a unique combination of ancient civilizational state, finding its feet as a modern democracy. Therefore, we need unique tools to study and debate its evolution. This book is the perfect way to kickstart this intellectual journey.
Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism
A tour de force historical exploration of how business is done in America. Equally rewarding is how this book touches upon the critical investment concepts of capital allocation and corporate governance. Individuals interested in pursuing careers in investment management or operating a business will both benefit greatly from reading Jeff Gramm’s commentary. My biggest lesson was that the trade-offs which need to be made in running businesses as operators and investors are rarely clear, and sometimes need an activist outsider to be brought to light.
Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past
Another thematic book with a wide lens covering large swathes of human history from a more scientific angle. I have casually followed the research from Dr. Reich’s lab for a number of years given my interest in Indian ancient genomics and associated history, so this book and its appendices were familiar to me. However, even for the uninitiated, Dr. Reich does a great job providing a broad and lucid introduction to the field of ancient DNA in the first part of the book. Think of it as a easy-to-read textbook on a topic worth exploring for anyone looking to make sense of history with a scientific lens.
As you might have noticed, this year in books was all about non-fiction for me. While I’ve enjoyed novels in the past, the precarious nature of life brought to the fore by the pandemic, made satiating my intellectual urge on certain topics ever so urgent. I left fiction to be enjoyed in shows and movies instead (Tiger King was fiction right? Right??)
Articles
Jubilee Jim Fisk and the great Civil War score
In 1865, a failed stockbroker tries to pull off one of the boldest financial schemes in American history: the original big short. Incredible journey spanning the pond between America and the U.K,, interwoven by some exceptionally thrilling writing. Needed more of this this year!
Could Roger Federer be as successful playing badminton?
An old McKinsey Strategy piece that I read this year, on the industry power curve, i.e. why a company’s industry trend matters more than most companies realize. Hat tip to @lhamtil and his twitter thread for shedding light on this important concept. I mean just look at this beautiful chart…
Decision Making | Linear Thinking in a Nonlinear World
A 2017 HBR article I read this year on how to avoid the pitfalls of linear thinking in a non-linear world. I’m assuming this was brought to light during the early stages of the pandemic when we were all wrestling with the idea of exponential increase of cases happening around us. This was also an article that reminded me about the importance of operating leverage in business and investing. The “extra fat” excised by troubled businesses and companies through the covid recession will have a non-linear impact during the recovery. Watch this space…
Good Synthesis is the Start of Good Sensemaking
I discovered Cedric Chin’s phenomenal blog this year. And immediately went into overdrive reading his various blogposts on career moats and self improvement. I like that Cedric is extremely thoughtful in the content he publishes, he drafts, edits, redrafts and always seems to point the reader to the key message (despite the length of some of his long blogposts).
Markets Will Permanently Reset Higher (My Sacrifice to the Delta Gods)
In a year when #nothingmatters was the best way to describe the markets after its March lows, Kris Abdelmessih’s pre-pandemic write-up of the changing dynamics of the market is an incredible read (especially now after everything that has transpired this year with the S&P up 16% YTD as I type, and almost 46% since the March lows!) Doing the heavy lifting for his readers by both synthesizing ideas and curating them well makes Kris and his substack a must follow.
To be continued…