Oliver Wyman & FTChinese Business Books of the Year 2020

Hong Hao is the managing director of Bank of Communications International, and has been a columnist of FTChinese.com for many years. In this book, he systematically studies the reasons for the formation of economic and market cycles, and the laws of operation, and makes new expositions on macroeconomic theories, such as classicism, neoclassicism and Keynesianism. The book also summarizes the author’s twenty years of analysis of predicting market, economy, cycle theory, and practical quantitative models, as well as how to apply the principles of economics and finance to predict markets and guide transactions and asset allocation in periods of extreme volatility. Market forecasting is a broad and profound art, and this book points out the path and signposts for forecasting the market. The author also discusses the future economic trends of China, the United States and the world under the new COVID-19 pandemic, analyzes and introduces the respective market and country’s response measures during the many economic crashes in the past century, and how they have impacted the development of the world’s economy today.

After fifteen years of cultivation, Zhang Lei’s investment thoughts have been made public for the first time. In this book, Zhang Lei systematically expounds his comprehensive thinking with regard to investment and business, and he also comprehensively analyzes Hillhouse’s investment system and innovation framework. He also describes his personal understanding of work and life. The book introduces Zhang Lei’s personal experience, his investment philosophy and methods, and his thoughts on the self-cultivation of value investors. It also introduces his views on entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial organizations with a great view of the landscape, as well as his understandings with regard to talent, education, and science.

Drawing on advances in social science, evolutionary biology, genetics, neuroscience, and network science, Blueprint shows how and why evolution has placed us on a humane path – and how we are united by our common humanity. In Blueprint, Nicholas A. Christakis introduces the compelling idea that our genes affect not only our bodies and behaviors, but also the ways in which we make societies, ones that are surprisingly similar worldwide. With many vivid examples – including diverse historical and contemporary cultures, communities formed in the wake of shipwrecks, commune dwellers seeking utopia, online groups thrown together by design or involving artificially intelligent bots, and even the tender and complex social arrangements of elephants and dolphins that so resemble our own – Christakis shows that despite a human history replete with violence, we cannot escape our social blueprint for goodness.

This book addresses a series of questions that encourage transcending oneself, including thinking about the changes in Chinese society over the past half-century, as well as the community of knowledge, globalization and populism, and anthropological methodology. The book provides insightful dialogue, and also offers a new way to examine problems and practice thinking, such as how to position oneself in the tide of self-proliferation, and how to creatively build a small world for oneself in the age of globalization.

From Blackstone chairman, CEO, and co-founder Stephen A. Schwarzman, this long-awaited book uses impactful episodes from Schwarzman’s life to show readers how to build, transform, and lead thriving organizations. Whether you are a student, entrepreneur, philanthropist, executive, or simply someone looking for ways to maximize your potential, the same lessons apply.

This book describes for readers the process of China’s gradual development from a “super-manufacturer of the global manufacturing supply chain” to a “promoter of the global supply chain’s overflow.” Within the highly integrated setting of the global economy, with the turbulence generated by historical laws and social wheels, geopolitics, and the constant search for cooperation among different interests, the book provides readers with in-depth analysis of the future possibilities of Chinese manufacturing.

From a keen perspective of combining history and sociology, Xu Zhuoyun, a great Chinese historian who has lived in the United States for more than sixty years, presents his impressive and memorable experiences in the US as a guest. Moreover, he qualifies these experiences within the culture, system and social context to which they belong, traces the experiences’ roots and historical origins, and provides an insightful summary of the development of the United States from The Mayflower to President Trump, while also discussing the decline and conflict that has come to pass in recent years.

In Leading Matters, current Chairman of Alphabet (Google’s parent company), former President of Stanford University, and “Godfather of Silicon Valley,” John L. Hennessy shares the core elements of leadership that helped him become a successful tech entrepreneur, esteemed academic, and venerated administrator. Hennessy’s approach to leadership is laser-focused on the journey rather than the destination. Each chapter in Leading Matters looks at valuable elements that have shaped Hennessy’s career in practice and philosophy. He discusses the pivotal role that humility, authenticity and trust, service, empathy, courage, collaboration, innovation, intellectual curiosity, storytelling, and legacy have all played in his prolific, interdisciplinary career.

In a dazzling comparative study, Diamond shows us how seven countries have survived defining upheavals in the recent past – from US Commodore Perry’s arrival in Japan to the Soviet invasion of Finland to Pinochet’s regime in Chile – through a process of painful self-appraisal and adaptation, while also identifying patterns in the way that these distinct nations recovered from calamity. Looking ahead to the future, he investigates whether the US and the world are squandering their natural advantages on a path toward political conflict and decline, or whether we can still learn from the lessons of the past. Adding a psychological dimension to the awe-inspiring grasp of history, geography, economics, and anthropology that marks all of Diamond’s work, Upheaval reveals how both nations and individuals can become more resilient. The result is an audiobook that is epic, urgent, and groundbreaking.

In The Ride of a Lifetime, Robert Iger shares the lessons he learned while running Disney and leading its 220,000-plus employees. He also explores the principles that are necessary for true leadership, including: Optimism – Even in the face of difficulty, an optimistic leader will find the path toward the best possible outcome and focus on that, rather than give in to pessimism and assigning blame. Courage – Leaders have to be willing to take risks and place big bets. Fear of failure destroys creativity. Decisiveness – All decisions, no matter how difficult, can be made on a timely basis. Indecisiveness is both wasteful and destructive to morale. Fairness – Treat people decently, with empathy, and be accessible to them.