Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World

Adam Grant explores how people are "Original" and make key contributions to society. These Originals would be like the people in an Apple "Think Different" ad. They are willing to go against the grain and make change in society. The counterintuitive conclusions are among the most interesting. Those that are most successful breaking out of one area, are usually quite grounded in others. Successful entrepreneurs are likely to stick with another job as they are kicking the tires on their new enterprise. They keep the base to allow them to go out in other areas. 

The first mover does not often have the advantage. Intead, waiting on the sidelines until ready to pounce with the best solution is often the hallmark of greater success. (Even in places like social networks where there is a huge first mover advantage, companies like Facebook have succeeded where Friendster and Myspace have floundered.)

Encouraging descent and open conversation are also valuable for better decisions. People prefer to agree with those around them. This can lead to a chorus of yes men. Even requiring somebody to play a devil's advocate does not work as well as having somebody that really disagrees.

Praising people for their actions also has a different result than praising them for a behavior. Somebody that is a "Good person" will try to get that praise in other scenarios, where a good deed will not necessarily build that character. (This approach can also backfire in discouraging people from doing hard work.)

The meat of the book are up front with some meandering business approaches toward the end.

Ten Lesson to Transform Your Marriage

Ten Lessons to Transfrom Your Marriage provides detailed analysis of conversations by couples in different situations. Each utterance by one of the partners is graded with a "plus" or "minus" with reasons why. On eof the kye points is to let each other express their feelings with empathy before jumping into problem solving. There is a tendency to behave in ways with somebody that you have spent time with in ways that you would not behave in polite conversation. One common problem is attacking the person rather than the problem or situation. Trying to focus on building each other up can be much more productive than trying to "win". It also pays to understand that there are some "unresolvable differences" Those do not need to be dealbreakers. We just need to understand that they exist and find ways that both sides can be happy.

The Hero With A Thousand Faces

The Hero With a Thousand Faces combines Freudian psychoanalysis with mythology to present a "universal" of human beliefs. The comparison of different archetypal myths across different culture is appealing. However, the book gets really bogged down in the psychoanalysis. The discussion of myths is interrupted with analysis of dreams (which often seems to show some sexual or maternal feeling.) The analysis of different mythologies has an odd relationship with "non-western" mythologies. They are at the same time referred and treated as inferior. This may just be a symptom of the analysis which seems to bring out the most extreme views that match the thesis. This leaves me wanting more, and stories are often left half-told, ending once they have got their point across.
I was less than impressed with the book. The conclusion and epilogue were especially demoralizing. He was attempting a focus on mythologies and had great respect for the importance in societies. He acknowledged the many different explanations of myths, and laments the lack of myths in modern society. (Society discovered the "light" of science, but lost the "light" of myth.) There was so much potential in a work of comparative mythology. Alas, the actual work got bogged down with the then-modern theory of psychoanalysis that it was not able to provide adequate treatment of the different myths.