Leadership and Self-Deception is a book from Arbinger Institute. As the name suggests, it is targeted towards self-improvement. A personal review follows of the absolutely brilliant book.
Some books are so good that you just thank your fate(free will?) that they came your way.
I knew there was a problem. I commute to office on my bicycle. Bangalore traffic is hellish, and I freely used abuses(or showed finger) while dodging innumerable cars. Again at office, I felt my work was not meeting the mark at all. I wrote poor code and failed deadlines. Back at my apartment, I couldn't focus at all on my private studies(physics, literature, and the piano). At the gym, I continuously cursed the irresponsible people in my head. All these things made my life miserable and I blamed the entire world for my condition. I felt so stressed that it felt like my head will burst with anger and frustration.
Then, I came across this book from Arbinger Institute. The premise was simple - we self-deceive ourselves by viewing other people as objects. We see only ourselves as important. We inflate our own virtues and put the entire blame on other people. Rather than working towards improving the situation, we resort to blame game and showing everyone their own place. The condition has been termed as being "in-the-box".
The book clearly shows how we enter the box. It goes on to explain why we continue to live in the box, make life miserable for us and others. It explains why our colleagues, friends and family members seem so irritating to deal with. The negative effects are all together familiar - our relations along with our productivity goes down.
Finally, the book specifies a way to get out of the box. The way out is simple - instead of focusing on ourselves, we focus on others and treat them as people. Further, it is also explains how to stay out of the box.
This book is highly recommended for everyone. Simply written and concise in its explanations. It will help you being a better manager, partner, husband, friend - you name it. If you feel that this book really helped you, pass it to your close ones.
Next book to read - The Anatomy of Peace.
Some books are so good that you just thank your fate(free will?) that they came your way.
I knew there was a problem. I commute to office on my bicycle. Bangalore traffic is hellish, and I freely used abuses(or showed finger) while dodging innumerable cars. Again at office, I felt my work was not meeting the mark at all. I wrote poor code and failed deadlines. Back at my apartment, I couldn't focus at all on my private studies(physics, literature, and the piano). At the gym, I continuously cursed the irresponsible people in my head. All these things made my life miserable and I blamed the entire world for my condition. I felt so stressed that it felt like my head will burst with anger and frustration.
Then, I came across this book from Arbinger Institute. The premise was simple - we self-deceive ourselves by viewing other people as objects. We see only ourselves as important. We inflate our own virtues and put the entire blame on other people. Rather than working towards improving the situation, we resort to blame game and showing everyone their own place. The condition has been termed as being "in-the-box".
The book clearly shows how we enter the box. It goes on to explain why we continue to live in the box, make life miserable for us and others. It explains why our colleagues, friends and family members seem so irritating to deal with. The negative effects are all together familiar - our relations along with our productivity goes down.
Finally, the book specifies a way to get out of the box. The way out is simple - instead of focusing on ourselves, we focus on others and treat them as people. Further, it is also explains how to stay out of the box.
This book is highly recommended for everyone. Simply written and concise in its explanations. It will help you being a better manager, partner, husband, friend - you name it. If you feel that this book really helped you, pass it to your close ones.
Next book to read - The Anatomy of Peace.
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