Dave Gray (1)

A collection of games that whitstand the test of time

The book is about “Games people play” and…wait thats another book!

A collection of collaboration tools and techniques, encoded in games. As such, the author presents some of the techniques that are known and exist already for a long time under various names, using the form of a list grouped by the stage of the game they belong to.

The games themselves are very good and have a wide applicability, the fact that they’re rooted in human behavior and psichology, keeps them fresh.
The way the author chose to present them…well, thats a different story.

In an effort to cover as much ground as possible, the book went from games people use for collaboration to a reference of games. It felt tiresome going through the whole book, but nonetheless useful.

Good for the notes found in the games, an overall insightful look into human behavior.


… (meer)

A step by step diversion into why change is hard and how to overcome those obstacles. Not sure of the negative reviews, as this is one of very few books that I would reread/listen to again.

I will say that the language and style of the first quarter can leave you feeling like you're reading a guru type book, one with vague assumptions and flowery language that only hints at, but never reveals, an underlying secret. But the rest of the book ties those loose knots up in a very actionable and real framework. Things are defined. Nothing is left unraveled.… (meer)

I felt like there are two different books glued together here - one is great, and the other is OK-ish. Both are well written but the further I got, the less I enjoyed it.

The first half is a primer on mental models, biases, and information bubbles. It's concise, sharp, and practical. The language is simple and to the point, while examples are very down-to-earth. I believe that it can be digested easily even if someone is very new to those subjects. I'd love to see it presented at schools to teach kids how to challenge own assumption and be more open to a different perspective of others. There is nothing really groundbreaking here, but the clarity and brevity of summarizing the main points are truly amazing.

The second half loses its focus and seems to be all over the place. It touches areas of system thinking, change management, habit loops, organizational design, storytelling, psychological safety, and more! Most of it set in a very stereotypical corporate environment, which frames it in a context that might be not so widely appealing. I felt like the connection to the main theme of the book becomes loose and sometimes even forced. The presented concepts are fine, but IMO they do not get enough depth or context to provide value to the reader, often relying on singular anecdata to prove a very general thesis.

I'll come back to the first part to draw inspiration on how to discuss mental models and biases with my kids. I'm impressed by how easily and logically the author goes through explaining those abstract concepts. I'll most probably skip the rest.

BTW The audiobook is free with Audible membership and takes about 1,5h to go through in x2 speed. A pretty safe investment in terms of time and money to check this book out ;)… (meer)