From my bookshelf- The Four by Scott Galloway
I am not a corporate person. I am an MBA and swam the corporate before jumping out of it gasping for breath and a meaningful life. I use to be 6 years ago, but the business minds( Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Tim Cook) still intrigue me, as I look awestruck at their whale of ambition and scale of success, the vision they have and the confusion they have spread. It is no child's play to say the least. I cannot write anything that does justice to their persona, mind and their business. I can at most write what they have come to mean for an ordinary person with an ordinary life like mine.
I am not exactly tech savvy in the
truest meaning of the word. I use technology for enabling me and not in
defining my life.
I am not casual about money.
I quite like the social media platform
but have been uncomfortable with our not so responsible social media etiquettes.
But, I am no one to judge.
I am a Major in Psychology, and
now a certified Positive Psychology Coach and a teacher who teaches creative
writing to school students (many of whom bring their home assignments straight
copied from Google!)
And this is not a book review.
I read for the love of reading and
picked up this book for the love-hate relationship I have with these four corporate behemoths. They came, saw, and conquered. If it was
just about my next-door neighbor, I would have been wondering. When they came
knocking at my door, raiding my house, plundering my family life, I am
concerned.
A year back and I had written an
article about how my life has been Amazoned, Facebooked and Applefied. I had
forgotten Googlefied.I picked up the latest edition of this
book- 17th November 2017 to delve deeper into my already confused relationship status with the BIG FOUR. From where? Hahhaha! AMAZON.
So, what does this book talk about? It
is about the four intruders (solely my word choice) , their inception, their
strengths, challenges, opportunities and how they continue to grow bigger by
reducing us( the common man) smaller, to a slave like creature at the hand of
the big autocratic king.There is no looking back for them and a
strong likelihood of them being there for a long time to come.
The book delves not only into the
dynamics of the big four but also the larger question about how are lives are
now shaped because of their fiefdom.
There is a bit of history for each
Giant which Scott touches upon. Unless you are interested in historical
analysis, the bit that Scott gives out is good enough.
These giants are relentless and
unstoppable but the bigger question is how an ordinary middle-class life faces
the brunt, side effects or the beauty of this relentless pursuit. my first reaction while I read was to revise my Amazon wish list. Phew!
Meanwhile at a social brunch the other day, I eavesdropped on a conversation where a mid aged woman was vociferating how Alexa- The Amazon product
is snatching the tiny bit of exercise which she, her husband and her
children did by walking up to pick up the remote control and come back to their
seat. Was this needed? Was a need created and we lapped up because we chose not
to think? Most importantly, how can one buy a product and then complain about it too? What kind of mindless 'wish listing' we are in? I am no
one to judge.
Some surprising facts/details about the
founders and CEO's of these giants and it left me astounded. Really? Some
operational realities of these giants are scary and left me biting my nails in
anxiety. Why? I know I am sleeping with the enemy. This enemy dangled a carrot
and then made me his slave. Now, I have no exit.
Some would say that the book takes a
pessimistic view of the role played by the Big Four. To me, it looks like
a realistic appraisal.
I had few questions fluttering at the
back of my mind once I was done reading the book.
If all the jobs (routine, mundane,
assembly lines, repetitive) are going to be replaced by robots, where do the
people go? Is everyone expected to play 'strategic' in work? How much of
creative and strategic one can have? Robots are great; people, their lives and
livelihood is greater. Not everyone wants to have a robot living their life
while they sit, munch on junk and watch Netflix.
There is a worried bee buzzing in the parenting
circle of iGen(i Generation), courtesy Apple and their iPhones. iGen children (the children, teens, and young adults born in the
mid-1990s and later) are different, cosmically different from their millennial predecessors. Their connectivity- boon or bane- is a scary reality every
parent is reeling under and voicing it in hushed conversations, raised brows
and biting lips. I am sure there are parental control in every product you
offer but was ignorance really bliss back then?
Google is now a noun and a verb and an adjective too. With every
search, I make Google smarter and myself exposed. Facebook has added more
friends in my life than I could do in real life. It also brought the brutal
narcissism inherent in all and tapped it beautifully while securing its place
in our life for years to come.
They added convenience to life in all aspects, however excess of
everything is bad- I had heard from my grandfather two decades back when my
life as a 10 year old hung on to the Maggie noodle straps.
I have come to realize after reading this book that if you want
to just hang to the beauty part and stay away from the beast aspect of
these FOUR, you need to exercise some robust, titanium will power, ingenious
parenting skill, Abraham Maslow's self-actualization scheme to bear the onslaught
of these not one but 4 Goliaths.
Few sentences which I loved Scott for----
“Don’t follow your passion, follow
your talent.”
"Luxury is irrational, which makes it the best business in the
world. "
“The world needs more engaging parents
and not a better smartphone.” This is my most pleasant, wished-for, esteemed
sentence from this book.
Scott has been dexterous in carving out the 5th players
who can pitch in while preserving our life and our soul. Who are they? Click on
Amazon , buy it and read it for yourself.
Oh...not Amazon? Check out Barnes and Noble store in your neighborhood.
Hi, Really great effort. Everyone must read this article. Thanks for sharing.
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