James Thomas, Kronos

What are you reading at the moment? What did you recently finish reading? What have you learnt from it?
Outliers by Malcom Gladwell, Hot Flat & Crowded by Thomas Friedman and We Are Like That Only by Rama Bijapurkar are books that interested me recently. Having picked Outliers I also went back to pick up The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. It is amazing to witness how extra ordinary events impact career, life and society at large. Hot Flat & Crowded provides an insight into how GT(Green Technologies) is taking over the IT curve. Having spent some considerable years driving the growth of IT for enabling organizations with its benefits, one tends to clearly see the next wave of GT through Friedman's eyes. Known for her data centric view on market strategy and consumer spending, Rama' Bijapurkar's assessments were an engaging read to get some perspectives on the changing Indian landscape and why we are what we are!

The one book all leaders must read...
It is very tough to say, as one's reading habits are completely governed by field of interest and personal preferences. However, if I were to pick on strategy I would think Blue Ocean Strategy authored by two INSEAD management experts, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne would be a thought provoking read . Written after over 15 years of research, the writers talk about creating and sustaining unconquered market spaces rather than playing out in 'Red Oceans' all the time with 'dagger and sword' in hand.

One book everyone in your sector should pick up...
I would say two —The Other 90% by Robert Cooper to balance life and decisions better and The Last  Lecture by Randy Pausch to enjoy the 'one life' you have in a more balanced way rather than being workaholics alone.

What kind of books would you normally buy while traveling? 
I tend to find myself classify 3 segments to pick from. First, books on strategy, markets as well as game changers. Second, biographies and autobiographies and third, books which delve into self- discovery, systemic concepts and a bit of philosophy.

Have you written any books? If not, do you plan to write in future?
Not as yet although I wish I had. It is a thought which has been crossing my mind more so in the recent past  to write about my accumulated experiences in sales and business development or about something which I deeply believe in . I might do so some time in future.

The books you grew up with? What did you like most about it?
As a kid I used to love anything that came my way (or that I could go after) starting with the Amar Chitra Katha, or even the old Phantom, Tarzan, Mandrake stories and the Tintin variety . I kept reading them over and over again. Then from reading fiction, I evolved into reading biographies and autobiographies of the more serious kind of people — Lee Iacocca's biography is one book I remember distinctly as having made an impression. I have always found biographies and autobiographies of well known people an engaging read  as they make me  see through their lives— how they did things, what difference they made and how they contributed to their respective domains and influenced lives through their actions — be it in business or for the society at large. I did have my fascination with the Ken Folliet's, John Grisham's and Sydney Sheldon's books as well.

Your book shelf consists of....
It is a collection largely from the 3 areas I mentioned earlier, though there is an assortment from other fields too. Every time when I shop around for books, I feel how small a collection I have! If only I could add to it faster than what I am doing now. So far my collection includes,  iCON Steve Jobs, Straight From The Gut, Nuts, Software on Larry Ellison, Who Says Elephant's Can't Dance  and The Snowball . The list can go on and on with the Biography list.

When it comes to System/strategy concepts - my book shelf has a collection of  Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge, Fooled by Randomness, Freakonomics, Tipping Point, Blink, Synchro Destiny by Deepak Chopra to name a few - again all very interesting and different systemic perspectives to what happens around us.
Market strategy and Business related books include several on Leadership, Negotiation (Negotiate This by Herb Cohen is a very good one), The art of Partnerships etc

Where do you shop for books? 
Airports for sure as one tends to get the maximum reading time while on  flights these days, more so if you are on international flights and a constant traveler at that. But these days the 'mall culture' has led to you wandering into book stores there too when your kids get into video parlours and playing areas provided by these Hyper markets. You tend to get more time to move around as well and I must say that the collections available has improved significantly - so there is more choice on books as for anything else in India these days in these Hyper markets, and I guess it can only get better. I am not so much of a online buyer of books, not yet. I still prefer going around to shops and picking up the book, glancing through it before taking my pick, even if going to pick a referenced one from some source.

Has your reading habits changed in the past four or five years? If so how
Oh yes, I sense it keeps on evolving as one chugs along. I think the change has been around two dimensions for me, one has been to see the larger picture on picking trends, seeing the world differently as to where it's headed. The second has been to see through the lives of others, of some of the iconic figures on how they changed the game in their lives, and made a more lasting impact in their endeavors.

One book you cherish that you received as a gift...
The Pyramid Principle written by Barbara Minto. This was gifted by one of my well regarded mentors while I was an impatient young professional brimming with too many ideas to execute.