Book Summary: Abundance - The Future Is Better Than You Think - By Peter Dimandis and Steven Kotler

Abraham Maslow defined the basic human hierarchy of needs as food, water and air and from there you move up to the top of the pyramid which is self-actualization. Image a world of clean abundant energy, clean abundant water, wellness instead of sick care, abundant food supply and medical treatment for all. Now imagine these things as self-sustaining systems and not charity.

Why is this important to me?

The major problems today are clean energy, clean water, health care, the environment and population growth which is why this book is important. Every year 11 million children around the world die from infectious diseases and other causes. Most of these could have been avoided with clean water. This statistic is horrible. The U.S. has spent over $1 Trillion dollars on wars to fight terrorism. The world water problem could have been solved for much less. People need to have a realistic perspective. Humans tend to think logically and linearly. Technological change happens exponentially. This is good news for us because all of these problems are solvable.

Abundance is an excellent book that not only defines the problems but highlights technology innovation that is happening right now that will solve these problems. This book is broken down into six major parts but for the sake of time, I will profile a few key points as well as focus on the What, Why and How.

1. The Facts - Fact One: Currently humanity uses 30% more of our planet's natural resources than we can replace. Fact Two: If everyone on this planet wanted to live with the lifestyle of the average European, we would need three planets' worth of resources to pull it off. Fact Three: If everyone on this planet wished to live like an average North American, then we'd need five planets to pull it off. Abundance shows that we can solve these problems. When seen through the lens of technology, few resources are truly scarce; they're mainly inaccessible. Yet the threat of scarcity still dominates the world view. The reason for this is because humans think logically and linearly while technological progression is exponential.

2. The Goal - Imagine a world of 9 billion people with clean water, nutritious food, affordable housing, personalized education, top-tier medical care, and nonpolluting, ubiquitous energy. Building this better world is humanity's grandest challenge.

Let's look at the how portion with examples from Abundance.

1. Energy Possibilities - Energy has many components that need work. One is the production of clean energy, two is the transmission of that energy and three is the storage of the energy. What this means is that solar energy produced in San Diego (95% sunny days) could be stored and transmitted to rainy areas like Seattle. Smart grid technologies are needed as well. We are making progress. Corn produces 18 gallons per acre per year and palm oil about 625 gallons per acre per year. Modified algae (pond scum) will produce 10,000 gallons per acre per year. The technical progress with modified algae is moving fast. If this goal is hit and Miles per gallon improve with the cars then we could eliminate our dependence on foreign oil with 17% of the land mass of Nevada producing modified algae. Clean abundant energy is the source of fixing the rest of the problems outlined in this summary. These tasks create jobs which fuels economic growth. This is not a charitable problem. Charities may invest money but that is the way it needs to be looked at - as an investment not a gift.

2. Water Possibilities - Dean Kamen created Slingshot. This is a water purification system that runs with a sterling engine. This setup is so effective that it costs.002 cents per liter. The system running in India can run on cow dung to power the purifier. Today the cost per liter is.30 cents. Building the Slingshot commercially could reduce the price down to $2,500 each. The water problem is a big problem because 97% of the world's water is salt water. Basically fresh water consists of less than 1% of the total water supply. Another huge issue is 70% of the world's water is used in agriculture while 50% of the food is thrown away. There are enormous opportunities in clean water generation locally eliminating the need to transport it. Smart Grid technologies are in huge demand because it makes sense to simply use what is needed without the delivery waste.

Abundance is a great book that will get you thinking about solving these major problems we face as a species. Right now the world economy is sputtering and on the brink of a major shift. The ultimate goal of most humans is to have a job to sustain and better their lives. Jim Clifton wrote about this in his book the Coming Jobs War. These technologies and problems offer opportunities and business growth for people who have the foresight to take advantage of it.

I hope you have found this short summary useful. The key to any new idea is to work it into your daily routine until it becomes habit. Habits form in as little as 21 days. One thing you can take away from this book is problems equal opportunity through the right lens. Viewing the world through the right lens is critical to our success. To hone this skill, focus on root cause problems and looking for solutions.

Joe Mosed invites you to subscribe to http://www.successprogress.com/ to receive free video book summaries. Our vision at Success Progress is to provide relevant & meaningful content to our user community. To view the video summary of this article please visit http://www.youtube.com/successprogress

(c) Copyright - Joe Mosed / Success Progress All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

B Is For Books: 5 Books That Made Me A Better Coach

Please join me for a fun series. My mission, and I've chosen to accept it, is to write a post based on each letter of the alphabet. The English major inside of me is very excited about this project...and my inner nerd is even more fired up! Keep checking back as I tackle the intangibles of sport...from A to Z.

I'm a book nerd...I love 'em! So much so that I put a summer reading list together every year to make sure that I get my reading fix in. These are books that have helped me over the years and I'm sure you'll find them helpful as well. I hope this article makes it easier for you to get your learn on!

Here are five books that I return to time and time again...and they never let me down.

Gender and Competition: How Men and Women Approach Work and Play Differently by Kathy DeBoer

I, like many female former athletes of my age, only played for male coaches. So when I decided that I wanted to be a coach, I did it the only way I knew how...like a man. The result? Utter disaster. Sound familiar? Or are you a male coach who wonders why your female team isn't "aggressive" enough? I bet you'll love this book because there are lots of good stories and tips in there.

DeBoer says that culturally, young girls view winning and losing as opposite of the "closeness that females value" and avoid it in play activities. As you read this, your eyes will be opened to the type of environment that you can create to help your female team embrace competition.

The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle

He had me at the tagline for the book: "Greatness isn't born. It's grown. Here's how." I'm sure we've all had those athletes who are pretty good, but we look at them and see who they could be if they just pushed themselves. We challenge them to try new things, but they are perfectionists and hate making mistakes, so they don't reach their potential. They play it safe, they stay comfortable...they're good, not great.

The whole concept of the book is that we are in control of our talent and our greatness...that we can work at it if we work in the correct manner: "struggling in certain targeted ways-operating at the edges of your ability, where you make mistakes-makes you smarter." Reading through the book, we learn how to make this happen for our players.

Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy

Unlike the first two books, this one is more biography than "how to". I think that the title of this book could have been "Quiet Confidence" as well. Think about the inner strength and confidence Dungy must have had in himself and his way of doing things that he was able to buck the tradition and be a football coach on his own terms. What an awesome lesson for us all to learn!

To have confidence in your calling as a coach when the results aren't turning out how you'd like. To have confidence in your coaching style and philosophy when others tell you that you can't be successful using your methods. The book details Dungy's career from player to Super Bowl champion...and all of the ups and downs in between. But the one thing that is a consistent theme throughout the book is his commitment to his coaching style.

7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Franklin Covey

When I first got into the workforce, the company I worked for had a 7 Habits seminar right there in the office. Over the course of three days, I learned how to be a professional and how to work well with others...I'd say that was a pretty impactful three day period!

The first three habits are all about us as individuals, the next three are about interacting with others, the final habit is for all of us to pursue a lifetime of learning...always looking to get better. As you work through the book, the habits work to transform us from dependency to independence to interdependence. Interdependence means mutual reliance upon one another...or a "team"! I've used this book as a captain's training manual and also as a team book with pretty good success.

Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations From On and Off the Court by John Wooden

So often when people talk about team chemistry or leadership or team dynamics, they seem to think, "Well, that's great...if I have time to get to it." I think it's partly because coaches understand the tangibles: setting up a practice plan, putting together drills, making corrections to specific behaviors. I also think it's partly because coaches don't understand the ins and outs of those intangibles (and how to measure if we've been successful), so we tend to stay away from them.

But if we are to believe the Pyramid, then a successful team is built upon intangibles. What Coach Wooden has brilliantly given us with his Pyramid is a way to measure the success of those intangibles. Build these blocks of the Pyramid of Success into your practice plans and you'll be well on your way to achieving your goals! There's more in this book than the Pyramid...but those are the pages of my book that are well worn.

There are so many books out there that will make us better coaches...these are my top five, but certainly not the only ones that have impacted my coaching life.

Dawn Redd is the Head Volleyball Coach at Beloit College. Come visit Coach Dawn's community of coaching nerds and team leaders over at her blog, http://www.coachdawnwrites.com/, where she teaches how to become an excellent coach, motivate individuals, and build successful teams.

Her book, Coach Dawn's Guide To Motivating Female Athletes, is available for purchase on her website.

Book Summary: Better - A Surgeon's Notes on Performance - Written by Atul Gawande

Dr. Gawande is an excellent author. Anytime I can learn from a Harvard graduate then I will spend the time on it. "Better" talks about certain simplistic conclusions from complex problems. Being a positive deviant is how Dr. Gawande characterizes being successful and making progress in medicine or any endeavor.

Why is this important to me? Inevitably you will come across complex issues in your life. Taking a diligent approach to solving these issues will usually result in simple solutions. Better talks about how to do that. What does it take to be good at something in which failure is so easy, so effortless? Dr. Gawande tells a story of one of his patients that was admitted under his care when he was in medical school. The patient was stable and needed to be put under observation. She complained of insomnia and sweats the night before. The senior resident told him to keep a close eye on her and he agreed to see her mid-day. That one simple assumption almost cost the patient her life. The senior resident checked on her first and she had a fever and needed to be put into the ICU. She lived and was sent home fine a few days later. The point of this story is that a simple assumption to check on the patient in a couple hours could have cost her - her life. One simple thing to do separates life and death.

Better is broken down in three main parts which I will touch on briefly and then we will talk about Dr. Gawande's recommendations for becoming a positive deviant.

1. Diligence - Each year 2 million Americans acquire an infection in the hospital and 90,000 die from that infection. Infections are complex as you can get. Where did they come from? How did it happen? When did it start? What type is it? All of these questions are valid and are part of the complex puzzle. After much study, the proper solution is WASHING YOUR hands. Now there is a strict procedure that doctors should follow, key word here is "should" and most don't.

There are little improvements that make HUGE differences that are profiled in the book. Here is a simple example. The nurses in the operating room would routinely run out of supplies and have to go get more. Thus they leave the room and come back in. Simple solution, make sure the supplies are fully stocked so you do not have to leave. This simple solution of just-in-time supply system eliminated infections by 90% in hospital surgical rooms that employed it.

2. Measure - Another part of diligence is measurement. In the Vietnam War, when a soldier was wounded, their average time from field to the U.S was 45 days. Today it is 4 days. Gunshot mortality dropped from 16% in Vietnam to less than 5% today. The reason is not technology. It is in the process. Today there is FSU's (Forward Surgical Units). They follow the troop battalions. Now when a soldier is hurt they perform mini-incomplete surgeries to make sure they live and then the rest of the surgery is completed after. This seems counter intuitive but it works.

The key to understanding why Forward Surgical Units work is to measure things. It became known that the time from wound to care is in direct correlation to life and death. Minimize the time - Maximize Life. Knowing this allows them to minimize the time in several areas.

3. Simplistic Relentlessness - Ingenuity is bread from measurement and diligence. Once your eyes are opened then the solution appears. This is slight edge daily behavior that creates huge results. Using simplistic relentlessness on identified problems creates explosive returns. This is the 80/20 rule on steroids. Most people would not look at the little things but a simple check list can save lives.

A great quote from the book is: "What the best may have, above all, is a capacity to learn and change-and to do so faster than everyone else." To that end I want to talk about the five recommendations to becoming a positive deviant. This is the term for using your ingenuity to solve complex problems.

1. Ask unscripted questions 2. Don't complain 3. Count Something 4. Write something 5. Change - These 5 things are designed to leverage the "collective know how!"

I hope you have found this short summary useful. The key to any new idea is to work it into your daily routine until it becomes habit. Habits form in as little as 21 days.

One thing you can take away from this book is count something. If you don't measure it then you can't manage it. This is a big deal. Spend time and measure things that are important especially if you need to solve a complex problem.

Joe Mosed invites you to subscribe to http://www.successprogress.com/ to receive free video book summaries. Our vision at Success Progress is to provide relevant & meaningful content to our user community. To view the video summary of this article please visit http://www.youtube.com/successprogress

(c) Copyright - Joe Mosed / Success Progress All Rights Reserved Worldwide.