Arthur Morris

Assistant Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).

HKUST has a number of excellent mentorship programs, and my involvement in one of them got me thinking about a list of books I would recommend to undergrads. Here is that list:

It doesn’t have to be crazy at work

Key insights:

  1. Focus on the quality of the time you spend working. Fight for an environment where you can do your best work.
  2. Don’t confuse working hard for working well.
  3. When you have power, use it to help the people that report to you create an environment where they can do their best work.

Rockenomics

Key insights:

  1. There are two types of industries/careers
    • one where success is distributed normally: being good is about as valuable as being the best
    • one where success is distributed exponentially: being mediocre is about as valuable as being the worst
  2. Students need to understand which type of career they are pursuing and be ready to adapt when things change

Note: Taleb’s The Black Swan provides some related insights.

The Sense of Style

There is not a better resource for business and academic writers. This book not only recommends a style for modern writing, but also bases this recommendation on the function of language in the human mind. If the function of language in the mind is interesting, then I recommend The Language Instinct.

Turn off Grammarly and start writing like a human.