"When Cultures Collide" by Richard D. Lewis - take #1

Just for myself, quotes from this great book.

Truth

"For a German and a Finn, the truth is the truth. In Japan and Britain it is all right if it doesn’t rock the boat. In China there is no absolute truth. In Italy it is negotiable."

 Contract

"To a Swiss, Scandinavian, American or Brit, a contract is a formal document that has been signed and should be adhered to. Signatures give it a sense of finality. But a Japanese businessperson regards a contract as a starting document to be rewritten and modified as circumstances require. A South American sees it as an ideal that is unlikely to be achieved but that is signed to avoid argument."

 Silence

“Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know,” says an old Chinese proverb.

 Jokes

"In the United States, particularly, sarcasm, kidding and feigned indignation are regarded as factors that move the meeting along and help get more done in less time."

Negotiations: One-Text Procedure

(From "Getting to Yes" book by Roger Fisher and William L. Ury)

Third party required.

1. collect true interests of the negotiation parties on one sheet of paper
2. prepare draft proposal and present to parties for criticism
3. update proposal due to received feedback
4. repeat from step 2 till no more critical ideas received

This gets to the point where all negotiation parties can say Yes or No.

Elements of Programming by A. Stepanov and P. McJones

You should not read this book.

I mean, not like other regular books, - from 1st page to last one. This book is good to read from table of contents. Look at it, pick up an interesting topic, and read it. And when you will encounter ununderstandable things - refer to first pages. These pages at the very beginning of book contains definitions and terms. This is a way I have enjoyed "Elements of Programming" and found it very useful.

"Getting to Yes" book by Roger Fisher - marginalia

Negotiations and making agreements. Reading "Getting to Yes" in English and a little list of quotes to highlight ideas:

"How to get to yes without going to war"

"Negotiation as a field for academic and professional concern"

"Like it or not, you are a negotiator"

"Focus on interests, not positions"

"Separate the people from the problem"

"Participants are problem-solvers"

Use planning stage to generate ideas before negotiation will take place. This is about preparing a list of acceptable options.
During discussion stage it is good to come and understand the interests of other part.

"To find your way through the jungle of people problems, it is useful to think in terms of three basic categories: perception, emotion, and communication."

Cool book: Python for kids, in Ukrainian

This book is really cool for kids. Say no to Basic & Pascal at school labs! There is a Python and it is kind of fun. This book in Ukrainian language and it is amazing. It is easy to read and have a great big font.

Link to it: https://starylev.com.ua/python-dlya-ditey

First 300 of "The Black Swan" by N. Taleb

Some summary (or recall) for pages #201-300.

Interesting fact #1 - Map is not a reality, even if someone will sit long time and look at it.

Interesting fact #2 - Small unknown pieces of data can impact a lot. Say we sure at 99,9% percents at first approximation. But after all iterations (it may be a lot of it to take in account all possible "actors/influencers" in system) - it may result 99,9% measurement error.

Interesting fact #3 - Fat Tony is cool, he lives by his wits.

First 200 pages of "The Black Swan" by N. Taleb

Actually this is summary for pages #101-200.

Interesting fact #1 - Hidden witnesses - we know how things are going only from "survived" witnesses/victors/heroes. And so why don't take in account % of losers.

Interesting fact #2 - Relying on fortune to much is bad strategy. Someone decide he is unique/lucky all the time.

Interesting fact #3 - To feel better - constant (even "micro") positive influences/purchases/news are better than One Big. And vice versa in case of negative - better to get One Big Bad issue. And not -$1 every day.

Interesting fact #4 - Better to always be prepared to minimize influence of Black Swan.