Book Review : Born to Run

 

The Rarámuri or Tarahumara are a group of indigenous people of the Americas living in the state of Chihuahua in Mexico , the author explains how the tribe hold the record for longest ever consecutive run in 48 hours non stop for 435 miles!  Tarahumara means one who swallowed age and even 80 year old tribe members can easily do marathons atop treacherous canyons. Even women and children could easily run dusk to dusk and average distances clocked non stop are in the range of 250-300miles! The Tarahumara folks have special drinks and nutrition to upkeep their running needs which they don’t reveal at all.  Also Tarahumara tribe men are known to party with alcohol including corn beer and rattlesnake tequila so they are not always disciplined either. The Raramuri (or runner tribe) moved into interior canyons to stay away from intruders like Spanish, Mexican war lords and drug cartels and are almost anonymous.  The author tries to follow the legend of the 'White horse' one anglican gentleman who became one among the tribe called 'cabello blanco'.  

The Author Christopher Mcdougall himself a runner battles with chronic leg injuries like most runners do in late thirties and consulted top ortho surgeon for cuboid problem.  He reveals the most common sports diagnoses involve cortisol to the feet and orthodontics which Chris is loathe to take and is intrigued by how nature and earth shapes our leg and running. Chris came to realize most of his running posture was incorrect after a tryst with Delaware sports surgeon Dr. Davies. Most of the sports physicians have advised chris against running hard and take alternative less painful options like biking.  Chris mentions the feet has direct connection with our brain holding several sensitive nerve cells and hence the reason humans are addicted to running much like Sex which is pleasurable.  Some spanish and latter year dictators also figured the foot can be a form of inflicting sado masochist punishments like Bastinado or foot whipping concentrating on victim's soles.  The chapters get more insightful once Chris goes into mexico in search of the 'White Horse' and how he meets him , what he gets out of their conversations forms crux of this story . This is every runner's holy grail as it teaches things about posture , leg , hand movement , impact and recovery.  Chris wonders why despite best shoes and attire modern athletes suffer whereas Tarahumara just keep running even without proper foot wear and warm up / down regiment.  

Raramuri mean people running away from troubles and they ensure they are invisible at all times. There is a saying in mexico that Raramuri consider them 'Running away from most other people' and feel other kind 'causes trouble' not entirely untrue, given that spanish flu from invaders ripped apart most of raramuri and even now they don’t have immunity to most modern flu and other viruses.  Raramuri will be seen only if they want to be seen - they have perfected invisibility for ages.  In fact some world class explorers during the height of european imperialism voyages merely walked past huge settlements of raramuri without knowing they were there all along.  Chris found Salvador a singer by trade who declared he knew how to get to the Raramuri tents.  Along their trecherous journey chris and salvador encounter 'Narco traffickers' . In mexico narco traffickers are brutal known to murder people by droves there are some incredible stats like 6 killings in a week atleast .  Narcos are known to target musicians especially stars who are good looking , fame and wealthy as they see it as an outrage to their own superiority .  Salvador was narrating chris stories of how cartels feed captives to bengal tiger (which they have captured for this) and how they impaled policemen heads in front of police stations as warning . They also have murdered nosy journalists and reporters often leaving their heads in front of the Publishing houses as a warning.  Given Chris is a journalist and Salvador is a musician they had heart in their mouths when a Narco truck just drove past them.  Having cleared the danger they went straight into the depths of the Copper canyons or Barrancas - Chris narrates how the canyons with a tiny river going underneath seem like a vein in an old man's arm.  Canyons have even kept the mighty drug cartel in abeyance. 

After 48 hours of mind numbing trek into the depth of the canyons - Salvador & chris walked straight into a Raramuri tent uninvited violating the Raramuri custom . Typically the Raramuri elders would want guests to pay respect by sitting still for hours a dozen feet away from a raramuri tent , both Salvador and chris violated this . However to their luck a Raramuri elder was forgiving and fed them sweet lime and asked to rest in a boulder / tent several feet away.  That is all they could manage for their first visit. The Raramuri elder said much of his family was suffering from flu and he had to take care of them.  Chapter then cuts to Angel a half mexican Raramuri elder who has adopted both external ways into Raramuri tradition.  Couple of Raramuri kids ran back panting saying they found a pale tall naked runner who could be a demon . The elders corrected them stating most raramuri ancestors roam around after dying collecting finger nails , hairs etc to help them go into after life this process takes 3-4 days.  Ghost or demons are not so kind once spotted according to their myth. Angel half believed this but thought the kids may have encountered one actual stranger for example every month one or two travellers, explorers get lost into the Barrancas from say Colorado area or across border in Texas. 

The  Tarahumara have very dangerous sports based out of bare foot canyon running .  Two teams of 3 young men each fighting literally in crevices for a ball to cross lines across miles. Salvador made Chris take his first Iskiate a cocktail of Chia seeds, lime and sugar . Chris finds Chia seeds which can be grown easily anywhere in Desert conditions is a rich source of anti oxidants full of omega 3 & 6 sources.  A small gulp of chia seeds help people climb heights like nothing else , its like a home brew of Red bull only with natural ingredients.  Salvador and chris in their pursuit of Cabello Blanco come across villagers who claim they seen him a while back to few days back . As always the white horse proves a myth and mystery.  Chris somehow found a trail that led him to a hotel where cabello blanco was staying , he caught him unawares and by merely quickly revealing how many mutual acquaintances they shared , Chris prevented himself from getting bashed or worse killed. Cabello blanco also had a notorious reputation of a Loco in the area.  Once Chris gave Blanco company for his voracious appetite and beers then slowly the white horse opened up - He told him a story a very compelling story of the last decade that also included how blanco a Gringo from colorado ended up as one of the Tarahumara tribesman . 

Ken was a businessman in colorado and saw the potential the gritty mountainous town in Colorado called Leadville had to offer - usually US sees peak in long distance and adventurous running during periods of calamities the Great depressions , WW and during the cold war scandal era , so fresh after the asian debacle in vietnam running became vogue again.  1985 Leadville people were desperate to put their town in the US map again after suffering worse economic times for past several decades - Using this and the steep 15K feet cold dangerous Rocky terrain as a bait , Ken crafted the iconic Leadville ultramarathon 100 miles for the very best of runners to test how much they can go… As expected adventurous runners and professionals queued up to test themselves against frost bites, blank nights , crevices, dangerous turns and serpants and unforgiving terrain.  Rick Fischer was a wannabe journalist who wanted to become famous and he was chasing after the Raramuri for a story deep into the copper canyons when something clicked if only he could bring these indigenous runners into the Leadville 100 pitting against tried and tested professional - there was a wonderful story to be had here.  Fischer in 1992 unsuccessfully got few peripheral Raramuri runners into Leadville who spectacularly failed as most were unused to Running gear , flashlights and more importantly they were not the best the Tarahumara had to offer. Fischer aimed at correcting his mistakes and spent countless days going deep in search of the very best Tarahumara runners and found Victoriano 52 and his hordes. Now the Raramuri believe in running as a group with the elders bringing through youngsters and that is precisely what happened at Leadville , despite Espn and media coverage the Tarahumara came well prepared.  They tailed off the professional runners till the last 20 miles and suddenly picked up speed and tumbled on through the reminder of Rockies setting incredible records. Victoriano became oldest winner at 52 with a record of 17 hours that stood for next 8 years , next came the youngest raramuri at 18 years .  By 1994 Tarahumara and Leadville became cult phenomenon and sponsors were lining up big time. Rockport used Tarahumara to promote their 1994 athletic gear , however they had to overcome a running cyclone named Ann. 

Ann was a biochemist and doctorate student in California who took up long distance running to leave off steam . Eventually she discovered her body had gift of recovery and going unhindered for several miles and she took up Ultramarathon as a sport.  Her husband Carl became her moral support and Ann won all the top ultra marathons consecutively in the Female category from 1985 for next 20 years truly becoming best all time female long distance runner. However in 1994 the media and Fischer/ Ken pitted her against Tarahumara at leadville in what became renowned as 'Battle of sexes' . There were media propoganda mentioning how the Tarahumara cannot fathom a female beating them, when in reality the Tarahumara are one of the most egalitarian tribes there is .  Men take care of raising infants and allow women space to lead and run equally.  However the media went along with this , while Tarahumara did not understand what was going on , Ann took the bait and she desperately wanted to win for womankind.  Fischer only recruited two of the very best corn farmer cum runners in Juan Herrera and his master .  They were promised a ton of corn and ton of beans for their villages . Fischer tried to pit them against other village Tarahumara not understanding that Tarahumara believe in coming together to run and not compete viciously.   The race began in dark and while Tarahumara sped to a lead , Ann's expertise and familiarity of the Leadville turns ensured she became leader for first 40 miles straight and as per rules after a medical check up in the middle when Ann famously verbally taunted the Tarahumara runners , everyone were allowed to take up pacers on Mule. Fischer had arranged some good locals to lead the Tarahumara for last 50 miles on mule and Ann had carl join her as Pacer. 

After his extraordinary meet up with Cabello Blanco, Chris started corresponding with him and also published all about his eccentric lifestyle and proximity to Raramuri in the Men's health magazine.  The article turned a lot of heads and got even more attention to the Tarahumara and copper canyons.  The book now veers to other people who were inspired by Tarahumara namely a reputed running coach called Jonah V Hill who lived in California harbouring ambition to meet up with Raramuri but could not do that in his lifetime . He coached elite runners in the Raramuri ways especially that running is all about healing, community and giving rather than boosting self ego. Hill was very successful in his methods as his protégé Deena Kastor won bronze in Athens marathon 2004 also a time when Hill recovered from a heart attack through triple bypass.  Deena has since documented in numerous forums the power of positivity and good nature helping people achieve unthinkable.  Meanwhile Chris recounts how giving a nike streaker to Blanco nearly turned fatal for him. Blanco's soles swelled like elephanticitis once he took up the shoes instead of his usual sandals and even wrote to chris saying his running days were over.  Blanco usually had to run 30 miles in trecherous mountains, cross a river into a small village school where he used a dial up to connect to emails .  Chris wondered numerous times when he did not hear back from Blanco if he was even alive , such was his life.  

Scott Jurek from Minnesota in the late 90s and early 2000s became one of the greatest ultra runners in the world , he set several records and wanted to challenge himself in unknown territories and best runners. This quest took Scott to run the famed Bad water ultra in the hottest place on earth namely death valley.  Defying everything Scott won in a record 24 hr timings and that made him finally relent to Blanco's unusual requests . Blanco had been planning a copper canyon ultra pitting scott against Raramuri and the apache people . Scott wanted his name to be etched forever as the very greatest and so he took up the offer.  There were two texas wannabe adventure runners Jenn and Bill who joined scott in this incredible expedition.  Chris despite faciliting things when he told them he hardly knew Blanco they all were taken aback.  There was some suspicion Blanco could be a psychopath and them coming to middle of nowhere was not a good idea at all.  This was in 2006 when Scott had conquered spartathlon and badwater ultras. Scott always waits after race to congratulate all participants. Scott famously vomitted, wheezed for full 10 mins in the middle of badwater and then went on to win it actually ace it. 

Jenn and Bill met in what most would say weird circumstances - Bill was a surfer in Virginia, Jenn wanted to explore Life guard courses and Bill smitten by her boldness offered to groom her , if she went full frontal to the beach and back! So the journey started and both ended up taking up courses in a university together had penchant for Surfing, Books (Mysteries, thrillers) and adventure.  They were beach animals but wanted to explore the mountain trails via Running and aimed big to attempt 50 mile runs . Both had enormous endurance but Jenn was cut from a different cloth , she did everything at 200mph and famously set records in the Female category for National conference rugby.  Jenn started crushing the Rockies mountain circuit 100miles and her record of 14 and half hours still stands in US for female. Jenn became one of the best ultra runners in the country at a young age and with a surfers body image she had plenty of admirers.  Jenn and Billy in their wild ways consumed large swathes of margaritas in mexico right before Blanco's arduous trip to the copper canyons - Chris had to chaperone bill and clean up after Jenn who wounded up in a bra and shorts partying in some marriage hall in the middle of the night! 

Barefoot Ted was another character who joined the above runners in the Copper canyon race . He could talk like no other often stopping after sermons ranging 5-10 hrs straight. Ted stayed with celebrities in burbank namely joyce chen her brother chase a famous artist and ended up marrying a bouncer named Lisa.  Ted felt liberated in his pauper ways and took up barefoot running inspired by barefoot runner club and Bob ken. Ted conquered numerous ultra trails and setting records through barefoot running and maybe some rubber soles to go over asphalt and broken glass. According to Da vinci human foot is a master piece of engineering and can withstand n no. of terrains and alter its shock absorbers naturally.  Barefoot ted became an icon for barefoot running world over and now was in the canyons going on a sermon about his life to Blanco. Blanco stopped everyone in the middle of the canyon crossing asking everyone to swear they take full responsibility should they get hurt , killed or go missing - This in the wake of extraordinary crimes being commited in the canyons off late (2006) thanks to the drug cartel. Even some Tarahumara runners were not spared. 

Blanco took the crew along with Lewis and his dad into the canyons . They stopped at Mama's and munched over whatever they could including Beef & chicken stew . Scott explained how the Vegan diet has helped him with his ultras and healing process in fact there are japanese monks in mountains who are vegetarian relying on tofu, rice, vegetables and do ultras every week.  Blanco and Don (Who is another outsider gringo who lives in the canyons) who are the only one to have been allowed into the Tarahumara closed confidence group mocked at Ted's barefoot and rockport fingers (which actually is like a glove for the feet made by Tony Post of Rockport) . The Fingers actually help yachting and other athletes.  Ted's sermons and chris research shows that since 1970s thanks to Nike's policy of releasing new and updated running boots every year sports and running injuries skyrocketed. In fact podontics , orthodontics came to be ill reputed as at one point in 70s they were doing surgeries to remove cartillages for Runner's knee.  It took early 2000s when so much clamour and support for barefoot running that Nike backtracked and came out with Nike Free almost like a sandal with less cushion . Research in the last few decades confirms that pro nation , super nation are all a myth generated by extra cushions and unnecessary bio mechanics of the shoe industry.  In fact millions of years of evolution have helped human foot to be able to feel and flex its way over hard rocks, sharp surfaces and even prepare for thorns, bushes , asphalt etc.  Running shoes from Ascas, Adidas , Brooks, Nike with their enlarging cushions, gels and comfort are spoiling the foot's natural radar ability and it is programmed to hit the landing hard when it is squishy as with the cushion and therefore leading to several problems .  Research from Bill bowman , Irene davies and others have categorically proved that running barefoot or with less expensive footwear is beneficial . In fact a rule of thumb any shoe costing 45$ or less is worth it !  Costlier the shoes the more the issues.  Most african marathoners run barefoot till they are into teens and that has helped their foot immensely. 

Blanco or the white horse hated Ted's rambling about barefoot running and wished he had not come.  Blanco took scott, ted, Billy , jen , Chris , lewis  and Eric on a practice run to acclimatize with the canyons . This was not far only about 7 miles in scorching heat but it was nothing like what the crew had experienced. Jenn and Billy got lost in the first fork thanks to their hangover, lack of proper eating and sleep and wandered around for 6 hrs barely with anything to eat and dehydrated. They had to fill up on mud pool despite knowing they could get seriously ill - thanks to luck they got saved by Eric who spotted them after some well meaning howling and shouting and saved them with water , meds.  Chris marvelled at how scott, Ted , Blanco despite wearing different footwear ran in exact same stance and movement which showed correct science for running.  Chris also marveled at the wannabe 22 year olds Billy and Jenns' amazing ability to bounce back and run as if nothing happened after such adversity. 

When Biologist David Bramble collaborated with top Anthromorphologists he could figure out that human body as Homo sapiens started to evolve with sole purpose of being better endurance athletes.  The rubber band like tendons in our legs set us apart . The bigger butts and ability to stand erect to inhale more air when running the vast savannah grasslands and importantly muscles and tendons in our neck that set us apart from other ape cousins show us that somewhere in our evolution , mother nature conspired to create Homo sapiens as super runners.  The neck tendons are there to keep the head still when running something dogs, horses have and not apes.  Neanderthals perished about 100,000 years ago despite being stronger, taller , muscular and big brained than homo sapiens why ? Because climate changed and vegetation totally transformed to grasslands favoring movement in foot . Neandarthals could not run because they were heavier and relied on tools entirely for ambush. Homo sapiens formed endurance groups that could hunt with deception and wear out one or two stray deers, antelopes out from herd in the long run . Most of the herbivores are built to run sprints and are no match for humans in trotts and long runs.  Several african tribes , tarahumura and the Australian Aborigines show us that 'Persistence hunting was a thing' .  David and team proved this with a recent practical study of Lewis the physicist in southern africa . Lewis along with few bushmen (rare exception) hunted down several antelopes following methodical 'Persistence hunting' .  Lewis recounts how this is better than using a bow and arrow .  Humans are 'Born to run' , evolution has given us 'Endurance running' as our Super-power. Most of us don’t realize it or use it. Even males, females are reasonably egalitarian in running and also physique wise in human race than in neanderthals or apes.  Females use meat protein in infancy , feeding and pregnancy.   Going back to endurance running is proven to reduce risk of heart ailments, cancer, depression , obesity etc. 

Meanwhile Cabello blanco was pleasantly surprised his copper canyon race had so many takers particulary on the Tarahumara side.  Even the recluse Manuel Luna (who lost his star child) turned up and Ted befriended him. Cabello gave everyone nicknames 'Raramuri' style .  Ted became monkey, scott the deer , Jenn the 'Witch' , Eric the Hawk and so on . Blanco was very cautious initially on how the gringos would mingle with Tarahumara but everything was laid to rest once they got together so well at the village the week off the race. Billy bonehead was a major crush for the village girls for his swimmer's body and he became the dolphin. 

In the race the urique tarahumara got disqualified after taking short cuts not stipulated by race rules - Blanco as director of race found this behavior disappointing but realized how westernized the corn villagers of urique had become. They revered their western clothes and footwear and forgot their great running traditions altogether. However Chris sights several altruistic themes in the race which largely stuck to Korima (the circle of sharing, and act of giving without expectation of return, what I have is yours)

Raramuri kids waiting for Chris whenever they saw him panting in the treacherous 50mile race, Chris passing his last bottle of water to a near pale barefoot Ted in his last 5 miles, Exhausted Jenn offered a refreshing coke to kickstart last miles alongside Billy and importantly Scott waiting and urging his close race partner sylvinho in the last competitive miles of the race ... Scott may have almost given up podium to the legendary Raramuri runner al roofo .. Bob helped Chris up for his last 10 miles giving him much needed mango juice ..Bob and Blanco exemplified how gringos can transform into Raramuri ways. Chris finishes the book calling that humans were born to run but distance running takes sharing love and cooperation and that is everything Raramuri and our ancestors in Africa espoused off.

Joi de Vivre

Run like the wind coz you are born to run.

Forgive and wounds don't fester.

Give without second thoughts and you will feel better.

Love thy neighbor your family and yourself.

Don't waste time arguing or worrying about things somebody said . It's all irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

Be productive honest and humble.

Live and let live ,ignore the prods and pokes..

Live mindfully and fully - Joi de Vivre!

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future - Notes & summary

From south Africa the author believes he is the second coming of Edison in fact married to ford and Rockefeller the superman America wanted in this century. Musk comes off as an eccentric munching into anything meat - bacon etc in the same speed as his high speed electric S accelerates .. Post the Jobs innovative void silicon valley has taken to musk genius like duck to water after Jobs who innovated very successfully in two different fields on same time (Pixar and apple ) Musk relentlessness led to 3 fields - solar city , SpaceX and Tesla of course and all hq in costliest of places SFo and LA .. author says how cool musk land a rocket factory I middle of LA is and shows what his ex girlfriend says ' musk gets what he wants and we all live in his world' ring true.. according to musk he is so successful because far too many geniuses and visionaries got tunneled into dotcom software Fintech sector.. he on other hand took the profits from first two success namely zipq (maps sold to Compaq in 95) and PayPal ( peter their was jus another collaborator musk was real brains ) 1.5B profit from ebay ... Put all this money on unluckiest places in the valley - hardware big giant machinery automobile namely SpaceX , solar city and Tesla and all of them boomed over time .. in that period late 2000s other innovations where not even close in changing mankind - Twitter and FB. 

The giant super chargers in SFo middle are free for anyone to charge and that model may well save US .. musk in his techutopian way believes he is the .messiah to save humanity - putting civilization in Mars , running fast electric cars entirely charged and operated on solar cities and highway... Part of this is already true all 3 ventures are successful ND well in their way to realize dreams ... Musk due to energy leadership feels he is always a target of Russia and china as US is leading the innovation wave ...

His 3rd wife arling ensures musk eccentric self is occupied well .. she arranged fancy parties like hide and seek in UK castle , midnight cycling in Paris oriental express with entertainment private ride to Venice ... Japanese themed sci Fi party where musk dressed as samurai subjected to knife throwing .. he also wrestled actual sumo wrestler injuring himself.. his 5 sons and nannies constantly flew with him to weekend getaways like hiking in crater lake .. incredibly musk did not own place in SFo ND slept in friends places or hotels ... He worked too hard shuttling locations ND flying madly that he sent an email once accusing Tesla employees to ' getting fucking soft' as few ppl only turned up on Saturdays... he believed to change world ppl need to buck up!

Musk's ancestry : Musk's great grandfather was actually from Swiss-German origin Alderman and he went to US illinois / Minnesota area . The family were chiropractors and his son Joshua was the brilliant man with multiple talents dabbled in Aeroplanes , Chiro, mechanical engineering things and they moved and spent large part of life in Canada . Joshua even ran a dance studio and had a lassez faire approach to raising kids - they can become whatever they wanted , sky is the limit to quote from aviation. The family did incredible feat like flying several miles in canadian airspace and suddenly shifted base to South Africa for a change. Joshua took his aircraft and started a chiro clinic in Pretoria. Joshua's daughter May who was Elon's mother was a serious beauty who started modeling locally in her teens for South african magazines, shows and events and she married arial who had 200 yrs of SA heritage (British). Arial's mother cora was a very strict woman who had too much influence on the family- May and she did not get along that well . May & Arial had 4 kids and ELon was born in 1971 as one of the younger sons.  Arial was a brilliant engineer who taught the kids everything in terms of how stuff worked however he was not a happy man and according to Musk and his siblings he made everything miserable . Only silver lining being he took the boys for travel and after their bitter divorce when Elon was 6 he moved in with Arial and Cora , since Cora (Grand ma) especially dotted on Elon playing scrabbles and making him tasty treats .  Elon bought his first computer and devoted days running programs and playing games he was always a geek and could not get along with kids playing sports or games . Elon even in grade 3 could finish all the books in his neighbourhood librrary and asked the library to buy more books. When his reading list got over he took to mastering sections of 'Brittanica encyclopedia' and had a photographic memory. Most kids avoided Elon cause he turned out to be a 'Know it all' like Sheldon cooper rambling on about everything from Dinner conversation to playground conv. He famously asked a kid not to be afraid of darkness at 6 years stating 'Dark is nothing but absence of light'. May was worried Elon is turning out to be nerdy but she understood the boy's talents. Elon would often not show any signs of listening to what is happening around him and wander into his own world - Ppl took this for rudeness or weirdness when often he was thinking deeply. He studied not with a view to becoming best but barely grades so it gets him where he wants to go . Lot of his friends recounted strange conversation with Elon like 'Paperless banking' debating over Solar vs Fossil fuels etc.  Elon got bullied a lot in SA esp grades 8,9,10 as the more athletic loving kids detested his quiet introverted self . He once got beaten so badly he had to spend 1 week in hospital and his nose only recovered fully in 2013 from that hit !  Elon excelled in physics, maths, sciences but did not entirely chase academic pursuits of excellence .  He got his cousins win a 'Dungeouns and dragons' game through feats of imagination . Wrote computer games in Cobol , pascal that got popular and always had a inventive brain and business spirit. He and his brothers profited from Easter egg sales, tried in vain to establish Video Arcade and also tried hard at selling hardware and games .  They even boarded the highly dangerous train from Johansberg to Pretoria in the heights of aparthied in 80s. According to Elon he viewed SA as a prison for his talents and wanted the cliche of 'Opportunities' that US offered. He simply enrolled in University of pretoria silently using his Canadian descendent for Canadaian passport which he got at age 17 and flew to Montreal with some help from family monetarily.  In canada he chased after long lost relatives and got into several menial labor including boiler plate and lumbering and waited for his mom May and his brother to arrive.  Kimbel Musk was elon's soul mate and he shared his visionary spirit they soon enrolled in Queens (coz the women were pretty there) and Musk found his calling again in Physics . He fell in love with 'Justin wilson' persisting her for dates and event finding out her favorite ice cream from her friend to impress her. Justin recalls Musk was like terminator once he sets sight on something he will get his way. Musk and Justin studied several classes together and emigrated for Post doc to NY. Musk went to Penn state and for once found academic happiness with like minded friends acoording to his mom.  Musk impressed professors and peers with his papers on 'Solar energy', Ultra capacitor and space exploration and showed glimpses where his future lies.  He and kimbel always had a practice of calling on big shots with ideas and that practice continued in US too. 

Penn State led to good friendship with Adil Rashid who was creative happening part to Musk introverted geek .. Rashid and musk made money by hiring their apartment for parties . In US musk joined banking and pitched some solid ideas during dot com boom to bankers esp. PayPal like internet banking but he was shot down ...musk concluded bankers jus followed what everyone did in the field ..Musk first venture Zip2 combined Yelp like listings with map and finally cashed out for 250 Mill with Compaq. Musk at zip 2 was kicked out by vc from CEO to CTO . Musk immediately after cashing out came back internet banking idea and started X.com..paypal under confitti which Thiel and McDonaldf founded competed tooth and nail with X.com .. Mid 2000s both companies ended war of attrition and crazy spending by calling truce and merger - musk became combined CEO of X com but his no nonsense style coupled with favoring windows server opposed to engineers who wanted Linux ensured musk was replaced through an internal coup by 2000s with Theil chosen ... Musk however became advisor and largest shareholder helping PayPal make 1.5billion when eBay bought it .  Musk suffered some horrific things in early 2000 - he got misdiagnosed when he was grappling with severe malaria almost died  , lost their first child to SIDS and never spoke about it publicly. Miraculously Musk found purpose again after all this by going into space exploration - he picked good talents through 'life of mars ' foundation which soon morphed to spacex. Cottrell was his Russian emissary but musk failed to convince Russians to sell ICBM for 8million .. he handpicked good solid ppl in the valley like Miller and went to work to put a plant 'first life on Mars ' idea .. however in the course of the idea he took up commercial interests like putting payloads in space for low money like 7 million dollars ..Musk set up very ambitious deadline for his new company asking a rocket to ISS be readied in 15months or end 2003 launch . 

SpaceX : Most of his employers were highly talented ex Boeing, NASA or TRW folks who got sick of the bureacracy, red tape and highly procedural work in these places. In musk words these places were dishing out Ferraris every time when an Accord would do. Miller from TRW was prime poach .. Holman was no.2 his Engineering division did most of dog work for Falcon 1 (first launch and 1 engine ) and Falcon 5 (5 engine).. musk's team did several unorthodox things to cut down cost and get engine working fast .. they also moved launch pads from LA to army islands near Hawaii .. Falcon 1 as with any other firsts crashed 25secs in blame was put on Holman who promptly resigned ..Most fiercest loyalists for Musk emerged in this period Mary Brown stayed with him like pepper Potts to iron man ... Musk also alienated several of his engineers through his ego and marketing stunts .. which though won outside public and government favors lost good internal folks ..

Electric car revolution : Stromble with his Stanford connection and Acrevolution start up believed electric car was the future and focused on improving lithium ion batteries .. His company was funded by musk post PayPal and even better musk stumbled on original Tesla team led by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. He got impressed with their innovation and can do spirit to challenge Detroit behemoth and he poured millions to realize his own visions through em. Engineering team if course toiled 90+ hrs a week and 2008 Roadster arrived after several advances on battery packs including multiple explosion tests ... Roadster got prebooked by multi millionaires and there was disagreement over musk vision of door sensors leather seats etc and manufacturing process of Eberhard who was let go .. Musk with his marketing muscle devised an ingineous way of reducing costs and improving margin by using Thailand China for parts and tapping into computing advances particularly cloud and testing simulator software ..Tesla used silicon valleys innovative thinking fail fast model to challenge Detroit and it started paying dividends ..noone in Detroit came even closer to anything like roadster in Electric.

Divorce and Aftermath: In this period musk and justin started getting closer to Hollywood celeb life moving with whos who in LA and attending late night parties. Naturally with Elon's prediliction to good looking younger models there was meant to be frictions and as Musk started an affair with 22 year old newbie rising star Toullala Riley .. Divorce became the obvious outcome , even before this musk's 7 day rigorous work life coupled with multiple nannies for his 5 kids and Justin's expectation to be treated equally all started to flare up .  Riley surprisingly showed good taste and interest in electric cars and space exploration and for someone in showbiz she was in 'Musk's words' surprisingly virgin.  Riley's english parents initially opposed but soon paved way for the inevitable . Musk profited a lot by putting a valuable Pre nup agreement with Justin and kept hold of most of his shares and assets , but lost his home to her.  Riley moved in with Musk and they got married just as Obama was being sworn in 2008 amidst an economic recession.  Tesla could not live up to the hype and they got more orders than what they could manufacture, money was deserting tesla. Multiple bets were on in blogging circles as to when Tesla was going down. Musk pleaded with his investors & Vcs for more patience and another fresh round to bail the company out , his close friends & ambel put everything they could on to the firm. Meanwhile Spacex was doing well amidst the financial doom they after 3 failures launched Falcon 1 for a fraction of the existing space cost and announced themselves as america's first real private rival to russian soyuz and chinese .  Order started coming from countries like malaysia for launching satellites but they needed funds for getting the ambitious Falcon 9 off (9 engine rocket) and depended on Nasa's contract for Space station .  Falcon 1 took 6 years 500 people and countless hours of sacrifices . In December 2008 Musk became lucky landing Nasa's 1.6B dollar contract and hence could pay off salaries to employees of spacex and Tesla. Tesla also got a fresh lease of life thanks to some Vcs and importantly 15million from a sale of one of musk's invested start ups.  Musk recounts how 2008 was very tough year as Justin started blogging and spreading negativity about him and press latched on to Tesla & spacex troubles. Musk kept his persevarance to ride out this storm of negativity.  Spacex hired more engineers most of them directly by Musk and famously they had solve a 500 line code problem and write essay on why they want to join SpaceX.  Things were looking up and Musk promised more space probes particulary to mars and his pipe dream was to cut space travel even further by developing 'Reusable' rockets which astrophysisicts and engineers deemed impossible given the Thrust and pressure going into the equipment. 

Musk disliked corporate practices like putting acronyms that don’t make sense, he notoriously not known to wait for process checks that led to astro safety manager from NASA being fired . Musk also exactly dint win friends by often berating very intelligent people publicly as Idiots. Musk hired Shotwell who wanted to be a women enterpreneur in tech as she was growing up and did exceedingly well at sales. In fact Shotwell later became president at Spacex and she was instrumental in selling things before Spacex actually built the equipment namely some ISS contracts to NASA. Shotwell was the perfect D&I counter balance to Musk in that she was more empathetic and brought in employee welfare like day care, better compensation etc.  Musk though not a fan of space tourism understands that’s an interim ground to make money in this fledling market.  In a nod for his capricious attitude NASA on one of the earlier payload malfunctions from SpaceX discovered that rather than wait for weeks to fix it (NASA way) … The spaceX engineering team got it all readied in less than an hour!  Musk specifically looks for people who can sacrfice family needs for company and famously brought in chief architect John Davies straight from his masters, IVY league Univ after enquiring about bright very hard working person who had no family. This is the culture at SpaceX and Tesla i.e common to see people working 16 hrs for months even years together. Musk had this peculiar appeal in that despite all his monstrous work ethic and culture even those that got fired by him revered him ! The Dragon capsules successfully docked in Nasa ISS section , leading to more contracts for Shotwell and SpaceX. Musk's hiring pitch for hungry intelligent astrophysicits and engineers is this - We are colonizing mars bit by bit with people , provisions and equipment , are you going to be a part of it ? 

Tesla took off from Roadster in 2009 and embraced radical changes when the Roadster morphed to Model S it had noticeably two 'trunks' one of which is due to lack of no regular engine space offset to be used for extra storage.  Model S hardly made any sound could go from from 0 to 60mph in an impressive 4 sec period and could go on without charging for 300 miles . More impressive was that it introduced huge touch screen portals and could ignite engine just on sitting.  The doors were also futuristic and straight out of a sci fi movie. The Technophiles in Silicon valley paid a big part in its success lapping up everything for 100K $ .  Also Tesla had a policy of selling straight to consumers eliminating dealerships and building their own stores . Model S famously got concierged to customers and some folks could come into the HQ do a tour and pick up the car with friends and family .  Importantly Tesla brought computing and software upgrade front and center with several updates put In every day eg: Traction control, Viper speed , Better touch sensitivity etc all coming through software builds and it was radical.  Detroit companies missed the bus big time because noone saw this coming , they were all busy making fun of Tesla's financial and technical troubles all up till Roadster became a mini rage in 2008 and then Model S took Detroit like a storm. 

SpaceX, Tesla and Solarcity being newcomers to well settled incumbents namely Boeing/Lockheed , Detroit biggies and Chinese & European heavy weights attracted heavy politics in the first two decades and had to contend with policy moves from washington , however with the brand of musk building up things started to ease up on the washington lane. In 2012 Musk got back with Riley one year into divorce finalization . Riley cited Musk had started listening to her suggestions and she was not sure if both of them can do better than each other.  Riley contrary to employee perception of Musk recounts musk is very very funny and deeply emotional and empathetic to his close circle needs.  That is not how his employees recall him , lot of veterans at spacex and Tesla got fired after their 'Use and throw period' … They believe Musk uses them as Ammunition firing at will and he expects 7 days a week no big vacation and complete machine like devotion on the job . Validation of employees claim became true when Musk fired his Pepper potts namely MBB (Mary beth brown) when she legitimately asked for better hikes and raises - Musk after letting her go on a 2 week vacation , tried her job and told her reportedly it is not so tough and I can live without you . Insiders cite 'Riley' behind the scenes pulling the lever for MBB departure , whatever the reason employees believe this is a part of Musk keeping things fresh and employees on leash and toes.  Elon believes humans should be interplanetary species and reported his dreams of putting civilization on Mars happening in this century. Only thing Musk is sceptical is how to heat up Mars into a Terraform earth like planet -  Musk said he wont be going into space anytime soon and will facilitate humanity's expansion into mars   By 2025 he expects a booster and capsule ready to put first astronaut in space and mentions SpaceX has to be ready for up to 10000 trips in a decade or two to populate about 1 million people in Mars costing less than a million bucks.  Peter Thiel is impressed musk has evolved from a shy introvert during Paypal days to a very confident , showbiz genius that has a capacity to attract best talents to all his companies.  Solarcity is building Gigafactories to supply not just tesla but other car companies and energy conglomorate with Lithium ion and storage capacities and Musk says no one else will take this important plunge but himself.  Strobble and Shotwell attest to how musk cannot be wronged in public and they don’t want to land in trouble by telling tidbits about the corporation or musk which he does not buy.   Many Silicon valley magnets and writers liken Musk to be a combination of Gates nerdiness and Jobs innovative no nonsense approach. 

Musk aims to make spacex launch 1 rocket a month and envisions the share value to cross 100 once it gets public (IPO).  Nasa's missions drive the 800-900mill revenue roughly and post NASA's contracts Musk wants more private , businesses involved.  Larry Page is a big advocate of Elon and once reportedly joked he views Musk in such great light that he is ready to give away all his wealth to Elon.  In fact Musk Page and Brin regularly meet in a secret apartment near Paolo Alto and debate some exceptionally fantastical ideas including vertical private jets,  Earth orbiting solar powered passenger taxis etc.  Page is a major investor in Elon's firms including Tesla, SpaceX and SolarCity and once came very close to purchasing off Tesla from Elon.  Musk believes he may die in Mars after the age of 70 though he wants his wife and kids to be in Earth for the forseeable future.  Many people who know Musk are worried about his self abusive lifestyle and want him to slow down to see even 70!  

Book Review : Ride of a Lifetime , Lessons learnt as 15 years as CEO

 

We know that we are in for a ride of a lifetime as soon Mr.Iger recounts the most dramatic phase in the company , which fortunately or unfortunately he had to helm as the 6th CEO of Walt disney. Situation : Opening of the largest Disneyland ever at Shangai, China costing about 6Billion USD , 11 times bigger than the next big disneyland and that took 18 years to build . Iger during that eventful week had to handle the first ever mass shoot out at an orlando night club where few of his employees had visited and also the infamous alligator attack in the orlando disney property the first of its kind - a little boy being the victim.  When he describes how he made decisions to ensure a security breach never happened at Disney and how he followed suit on the promise made to the young boy's family : I.e This agony will never befall another family , it genuinely makes you sit up. Disney put several warning signs , billboards and tracked 1000s of the alligators in the Fl property in a matter of days!

Fascinating how he describes the 10 important leadership principles for running a successful business all learned 45 years in Media life and 15 years as Disney CEO :

Fairness

Courage

Optimism

Focus

Decisiveness

Creativity

Thoughtfulness

Authenticity

Relentless Pursuit of Perfection

Integrity

Childhood - Dad military veteran with manic depression always wanted kids to be more successful and powerful something he was not .. constantly urged bob to strive for excellence but not robbing fun at home .Rob barely was lower middle class ND lived barely enough in terms of expenditure. 

Rob learnt worldly manners , sales , work ethic by sheer variety of work from scrubbing benches for gums to MCDONALD'S ..he was just an average kid at school. However bouts of hard work in high school instilled ambition and work ethic in him and he lapped up college education . His uncle's recommendation led him to ABC network were he started with menial jobs and rose up to organize stage production an important gig at Madison when Frank Sinatra came led him to network well .. Rob moved up the chain to ABC sports .. He learnt , imbibed several mantras of success from the Sports guru Ruin .. Ruin transformed sports at ABC through his motto ' innovate or die' and he single handedly brought such innovations like satellite broadcast , reverse angle shots , slow motion. 

Robert learnt a lot from Ruin among things was always finding a way for excellence and that led him to telecast world ping pong championship fro north Korea.  ABC now moved under Tom and Dan of capital city two executives that modelled decentralization , authenticity and no glitz something ruin did not appreciate. Ruin did his magic at ABC news while Rob climbed up to head programming at ABC sports under Dennis another authentic warm generous boss. 

Next break was teaming up with Ruin at caligari winter games were despite several events getting cancelled or postponed due to weather, some smart programming and packaging led to roaring success . Rob now noticed by Tom and Dan was made ABC's entertainment mogul at 37.. Rob learnt risk taking and mistakes taught so much more than playing safe ' ode to Ruin'.. he chaired such flops like cop rock but maverick success of twin peaks , America's funny videos led to legendary nypd blues !!Twin Peaks crashed towards second season and Rob sites he brought in operational elements unnecessarily curtailing David Lynch's creative process . He has learnt to put trust on extremely creative people and their process going forward.  

Rob now became trusted confidante and when Dan retired took over as ABC president and COO. Divorce with Susan and a critical acquisition of abc from Disney followed . Disney was a global conglomorate under Micheal Esner who was instrumental in several landmark achievements : Making theme parks global, consumer product and franchise , collaboration with Pixar and super hits like Lion king Alaudin but most important of all was the ABC acquisition for a paltry sum of 19.5 billion that had its 'Crown jewel' ESPN a gift that kept on giving amidst Disney's dud era that is 1995- 2000.  

Michael Esner made it clear to Rob that he will not be his no.2 (president) and got a CAA super agent Michael Ovitz for that job . Ovitz within a year exposed himself unfit as he was more interested in socializing with celebrities and focused heavily on shows and entertainment on a contact led model which went against extreme vetting and structured policy at Disney . Ovitz did not believe in doing things via process which Disney's culture demanded and he was more ad hoc and fast paced with little regard to 'other people's consensus' or their time.  Ovitz and michael expectedly had a fallout with ovitz fired end of 1995 with a hefty 100 million severance package.  Rob stepped up from COO to President in the interim and no.2 for Esner till 2000 . 

Towards 2000 some members of the Disney board did not appreciate the fall out Michael Esner with Steve Jobs and Pixar entertainment also Esner's increased pessimism towards media business and lack of innovation in technologies and inability to have succession plan paved way for his downfall. Esner first was demoted from Chairman post then in 2004 was made to quit altogether . Robert Iger though not a first choice to the board as they were looking to hire externally appealed enormously to them by coming up with big picture thinking esp. on the immediate and long term future plans for Disney. His emphasis on technology innovation , mobile & streaming , more international exposure particularly building brand in China , India etc was his plan to convince the board.  The board did well in thwarting a compelling offer from Comcast to take over Disney which rightfully did not materialize as Disney was a bigger beast than comcast. 

Rob Iger had a bad reputation for sticking up for Micheal Esner outside disney and the prevailing sentiment even among board members was that he did not have any new ideas from what Michael offered earlier. However Iger was persistent to try hard and he went through the full grill and interview loops , he got frustrated that the board took forever to decide and even called him for Sunday evening meetings unorthodoxly , Willow his second wife was carrying and Bob went through enormous anxiety in this phase . One day he had an anxiety attack in this phase and thought he was getting a heart attack much like his parents suffered in their own 50s.  This episode ensured he will not compromise on quality of life - exercise, sleep or family time , good lesson for anyone sucked into busy life.  Bob finally succumbed to his frustrations of waiting on for the Board's confirmation and even walked out of a loop - Ironically he was chosen the new CEO to Disney . This made Bob realize never to take his Ego seriously . Not to indulge in quick fights, anger and bowing down to frustrations.  After he became Disney CEO the expectations outside were pretty low and that worked in his favor most ppl thought he was a stop gap choice. Since Rob had nothing to lose he reached out to Steve Jobs in a bid to salvage the Pixar - Disney partnership. Roy Disney' s protracted lawsuit and fight with Micheal esner now in the board left a bad taste in the mouth that needed fixing very quickly. Rob found out that Roy who was now frail yearned actually for respect, recognition from board and the company something he never received from his uncle (Walt) nor anyone else in the board . Rob quickly appealed to this sensitivity and struck a deal with Roy asking him to be Emeritus chairman of Disney without any regular board responsibility and he gets automatic invites to every theme park, hotel opening of Disney amidst some sound financial package .  Roy accepted the deal and Michael stopped the bitter war . Peace was restored . 

Steve & Pixar : Steve was very tough nut to crack and negotiate . Increasingly everyone in Disney felt their animation was poor and rather distant second to Pixar . Many in the board still harbored delusions of a bygone era and needed a wake up call.  Rob showed all of the bad movies disney made including atlantis ,hercules, dinosaur in the same era Pixar churned out Finding nemo , toy story 1 and 2, Bugs life and Monsters' inc the quality disparity was tremendous.  Now the convinced board raised two concerns Pixar will be extremely expensive and Steve is too stubborn to sell. Rob through some common intermediaries at Goldman sachs reached out to steve and realized best way to appeal to him was to be brutally honest and take it slow. Initially he struck a monumental deal and partnership to bring several disney original titles to the Itunes portfolio which pleased Steve . Slowly he put a thought that Disney needed long term future and saving and Pixar acquisition was the way forward. Steve entertained this notion though not fully convinced and in his trademark Whiteboarding listed pros and cons (which were numerous including disney's bad culture , lack of ideas and technological innovation amidst many) but the 1 pro which appealed to Steve was Pixar's technological revolution can save Disney and he also realized disney's reach and brand can benefit Pixar.  Next step was to convince the two creative leads behind Pixar John Lacerne and Ed (Phd and chief technological officer) .  The proposition that the duo could run Disney animation and change it for better appealed to them.  Rob counts his first visit to Pixar to see the brilliant creations , creators and wonderful culture first hand was one of the top 10 experiences in his lifetime.  Rob was shown initial cut of several works in production - Cars, Wall e , Up, Ratatouille (That rat movie as Michael called it) and was genuinely blown away by the Tech platform and innovations.  He decided a brilliant mind like Steve should join the Board of disney and finally after enormous bargains back and forth a hefty sum of 7.4 B deal was agreed. However 30 mins before the deal was struck Steve took Rob for a walk in his garden put his arm around his shoulder and confided he did not have much time as a result of worsening Pancreatic cancer . He wanted to confide in him as this may change his long term thinking and the deal itself. However Rob and disney went through with this and Steve & Rob became great friends personally and professionally. Steve however in his own enigmatic ways ensured Disney did not change the culture or the operations of Pixar .  Steve also tried bullying Rob as was his nature in getting 4 board members ousted but Rob's persistence kept him at bay . Also Steve's decaying health helped Rob in keeping him in check . In 2011 Oct when Steve passed away Rob did recount steve's confiding in him and declared that he and steve believed that disney - pixar deal saved both the companies.  

Marvel acquisition : Ike the marvel boss was a recluse and Rob felt getting Marvel's Ip despite spiderman being loaned to Sony was enormous value there were over 7000 characters in MCU and Frank the marvel media president had a plan carved out to bring MCU with characters intertwining for almost a decade long vision.  Ike relented in selling and Steve's personal overtures bringing Willow to dine with them as a family and his shrewd move to get 'Steve Jobs' approval and help in reaching out to Ike who was a lifelong Jobs admirer worked. Marvel got bought for 4 Billion dollars . Iron Man 2 was released which Jobs called a crap but Rob assured him he was not the audience and it raked in 75 Million at the Box office.  In order to empower Frank's vision he ensured Frank reported directly to Disney studios and cut Ike off to run comic publications and other marvel merchandise that turned out to be a brilliant move.  He got Alan Horn from Warner Bros and put him in charge of entire Disney studios including marvel and pixar. Alan had a point to prove at 68 and he came with renewed energy . Rob ensured D&I was the norm by bringing in Black panther and captain marvel that became 4th and 10th best marvel grossers of all time.  Also Franks' avengers theme esp Endgame became the most popular highest grossing movie ever in history. 

Lucas Films : After Pixar and Marvels unequivocal success.  Rob went after lucas films fully understanding how emotional star wars was to George Lucas.  Lucas appreciated Rob's overtures as he was convinced disney was the only place his legacy can live on esp with great past experiences with Indiana jones series at ABC (Rob was in charge) and glowing review from his close friend Jobs on Pixar acquisition . Pixar was an old Lucas product that he sold to Jobs in the 80s. 

Lucas wanted more money than marvel and creative rights over plots for Star wars . Rob gave first but held firmly against second . Cathy was nominated chief producer by lucas and she worked with JJ abrams in the first star wars film which had a quick turnaround time of end 2015 . JJ used most of the same Geos and elements from 2005 Revenge of sith - Lucas did not like it as he expected new terrains and stories however the Box office proved this decision was right as It connected old with new era esp . Fans could relate and lap it up. Rob never brought disney logo to star wars franchise knowing full well how much the fans wanted it to not to be disneyfied.  Lucas though bitter at times referred the disney deal like ' Giving away children to white slavers' but came around eventually and acted responsibly as a Disney board member. Rob's ability to navigate ego had another feather in the cap as during the felicitation for the first star wars movie by disney he ensured the first ovation went to George and massaged his ego.  Lucas films including industrial lights magic , Engineering, artists etc was bought for 4.05B slightly above Marvel. Disney planned 3-4 more films immediately. 

Technical Disruption : In 2016 Rob believed big techs were a threat and disney needed a strong tech platform presence he went after Twitter but developed cold feet rightly realizing how much hate speech, scrutiny, privacy regulations were affecting the platform.  He stayed true to Tom's words " Don’t go after Trombone oil , sure a quarter of ppl will use it once a while but do you really want to be a no. 1 Trombone oil seller" powerful words reminding impact as a source for devoting focus and energy.  Rob got BAMTech in and declared externally that disney is starting its own streaming service soon to take on Netflix and prime. Rob realized its just a start much needed to be done to take on the behemoths.  Just quality content alone was not enough you need robust tech stack that promised innovation, privacy and user interface. 

Murdoch & Fox :  Rupert Murdoch reached out to Rob thinking Rob was planning to run for 2020 presidency  . Rob did in that phase spend time reading a lot about immigration, healthcare etc but willow kept him away from this idea. However in their interaction Murdoch confided fox needed scale and bigger canvas and hinted that disney should try to buy.  Though the board of disney were interested in several of fox portfolios notably the non political ones : Hot star in India, Sky , Hulu stakes, 21st century fox and Fox searchlight divisions the cost of such acquisition was daunting . Disney promised 28$ a share and started working with SEC for regulatory clearance . In that time Comcast dropped a bomb once it knew AT&T was buying Time warner by declaring interest in Fox deal with a steep 35$ all cash offer that amounted to 65 Billion plus . Disney and Rob took matters personally went to London and proposed a 38$ / share deal that murdoch and the board agreed and signed , the catch being Disney was far ahead in SEC regulatory clearances and Comcast had a cloud over it.  Lachlan Murdoch who harbored taking over the murdoch empire came to terms with reality and accepted increased wealth instead.  Disney got several priced possesions including 600 episodes of Simpsons but their crown jewel was 'Hot star' and the Direct to consumer technology which Uday Shankar and team helmed with great pride.  Disney used Hot star's technology heavily as it debuted Disney plus in 2019 for a paltry 6.99$ which got 100 million subscribers in record time in a year.  Thanks to innovative titles like Mandalorian , falcoln and winter soldier plus all the existing and new disney movies in entirety. 

MeToo and unpleasantness : John the creative head of Pixar had to be let go as his name emerged in Me 2 .. Lucky  for Rob in 2005 they discontinued partnership with Weinstein and Miramax . However this was the phase Rob did a cultural reset by bringing diverse talent into the company and taking a no nonsense approach for intolerance in social media or day to day conduct . Several executives had to be let go and the company got a clean chit outside. Its diverse star cast in MCU and Star wars got disney several kudos. 

Life after disney : Rob tells the readers no matter how good or productive the CEO , they need to leave at the right time to infuse freshness and keep relevance . He plans to leave by 2021 and aims to spend more time with Family and reflecting on legacies and doing things he could not do earlier.  Rob summarizes several life lessons in Leadership throughout namely : Innovate or die , Relentless pursuit of perfection : Culture of not accepting good enough ,  Being decent to everyone , hiring genuinely good people not just ppl good at their jobs,  Ensuring dysfunction or fights don’t come at leadership level , Being patient and harness creativity and investing in creators,  Understanding and an uncanny ability to let go ppl at the right time by being empathetic but honest . Succession planning is must every single time his ability to split the conglomorate into Parks, consumer merchandise ,  Technology & distribution and High quality content was an example of a masterstroke.  Modelling behavior as a leader - being attentive and working hard leading by example. D&I - no nonsense approach to intolerant behavior, social media and conduct . Looking for diverse talents across the spectrum. Ensuring global reach , innovation are part of the culture .

Personally this book is a 10/10 or 5/5 as it teaches so much leadership through experiences and vignettes rather than being preachy. Disney is a company i admire greatly esp their monumental rise in the last couple of decades through acquisitions , content and Disney+ and their story is naturally a very engrossing read!

Being Zen

 Being Zen is not natural for me but few things i have come to realize that can set you up on that path -

a) Dont take yourself seriously - Ur ego takes vishwaroopam and goes after every cheeky comment, provocation only if you take yourself too seriously . Unless the stakes are mind blowingly high do not even try - laugh & smile slights, provocations off or brush things lightly.  Cho is a great exponent of this and he epitomized this .  Buddha said once ' Staying calm in the face of rage or anger is the best way to hit back '. 

b) Karma yoga -  Keep doing things with honesty expecting absolutely nothing in return . Do not stretch on things which are going to waste too much time and believe if you are taken for a ride.  Learning to say No works best.  Dont expect acknowledgement and adulations for every good thing you do. 

c) Do not hurt anyone -  Words can inflict enormous damage all around , more than what you can begin to conceive. Try to stay diplomatic and you dont need to 'call spade a spade' all the time . Everybody around have too much ego to entertain your opinions and importantly people can only change from within . 

d) Healthy balance of Sleep , Exercise and Eating on time helps you in staying 'present' .  Try to Listen more it is said you can process 900 words by listening in a minute and speaking is only a fraction so the more you improve observations and listening gives you well rounded perspective - stops you from quick judgements. 

No to Negativity

We live in a world that cherishes and sadly revels in negativity .

People's psychology especially those suffering themselves is to pull others down 3 hints to beware. Excerpts from 'Pscychology of persuasion ' book which were major takeaways for me :

A) Put you down on things you are definitely good at and you know you are actually good at.They can also hardly notice the effort or acknowledge these. Slowly you start believing you are merely average and stop trying to better yourself , atleast that is their motive.

 B) spew negativity about things or ppl you like and want very much to be in your life . Soon you can get manipulated to only see the 'bad ' parts . Stop getting into the bad aspects and psycho analyzing things .

C) Feed off a) and b) and build a narrative with long term gains for them as protagonists.Eg- They can tap into things  you are losing slowly but surely. The loop intensifies and goes on.

How to deal with these? A lot of things they are negatively putting you down is a direct consequence of their own insecurities! Understand this by thinking through thoroughly rather than get swept by the negative emotions.

Try to give benefit of doubt and see positives in ppl. Try not to hurt anyone esp. with words as they can be very damaging. Whenever you are going into a spiral take a step back play things down and see if these mean much from long perspective.

Right until next time..