The Particle at the End of the Universe (Sean Carroll, 2012)

Sean Carroll is theoretical physicist at the Cal Tech.  He has written several books both for popular audiences and scientists.  The Particle at the End of the Universe refers to the Higgs Boson that researchers believe they discovered at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva, Switzerland on July 4, 2012.  In his latest book Carroll describes not only how the discovery was made but why it is important.

Carroll shares that he played no role in the experiments at the LHC, but that he based the book on his knowledge of the project and interviews with the project leaders.  The Particle at the End of the Universe was written for a general audience of people with an interest, but not necessarily a level of expertise in physics or science in general.

In addition to explaining the significance of the Higgs Boson, Carroll provides an understandable explanation of elementary particles and how they interact.  He explains complex concepts such as fields, symmetry and spontaneous symmetry-breaking in terms that are understandable to the lay person.

After reading numerous books on particle physics, I found The Particle at the End of the Universe to be particularly easy to read and understand.  The analogies that Carroll used to explain symmetry and symmetry breaking were particularly helpful.  His explanations of the various particle types were also among the most understandable that I have read.

Leading Change - John Kotter (2012)

Leading Change was first published in 1996 and quickly became a best seller.  The 2012 edition included a new preface where the author highlighted how the need for agile and change-oriented organizations is even more essential today.  Kotter noted that the ability to lead change was needed at every level within an organization, not just at top management.

Kotter began by identifying eight mistakes that change leaders often make.  These mistakes can lead to disappointing results, if not absolute failure.  The mistakes include:

1.  Allowing too much complacency.

2.  Failure to establish a sufficiently powerful guiding coalition.

3.  Underestimating the power of vision.

4.  Under communicating the vision.

5.  Permitting obstacles to block the new vision.

6.  Failing to create short-term wins.

7.  Declaring victory too soon.

8.  Neglecting to anchor change firmly in the corporate culture.

Some of the consequences of these mistakes can lead to:

1.  New strategies not being implemented well.

2.  Acquisitions not achieving expected synergies.

3.  Re-engineering taking too long and costing too much.

4.  Downsizing not getting costs under control.

5.  Quality programs not delivering hoped for results.

Kotter distinguished Management and Leadership.  

Management: "a set of processes that can keep a complicated system of people and technology running smoothly."

Leadership: "a set of processes that creates organization in the first place or adapts them to significantly changing circumstances."

Quote: "Inwardly focused employees can have difficulty seeing the very forces that present threats and opportunities."

The Eight Step Process

1.  Establishing a sense of urgency.  Fight complacency while avoiding panic.

2.  Creating the guiding coalition.  Must have members with real power.

3.  Developing a vision and strategy. Needs to be simple and jargon-free.

4.  Communicating the change vision.  Repetitive.

5.  Empowering employees for broad-based action.  Simply stating that they are empowered is not sufficient.  They must be prepared.

6.  Generating short-term wins.  Visible, unambiguous and clearly related to the change effort.  Note: People do not plan adequately for these wins because they are overwhelmed.

7.  Consolidating gains and producing more change.

8.  Anchoring new approaches in the culture. This comes at the end of a transformation, not at the beginning.