Recommended Books I Read in 2025

 

Here are some of my favorite books that I read in the past year.  The reading list certainly is eclectic, but I learned a great deal from each of them.  My suggestion: put your phone down, find a comfortable quiet spot, pick up a book, and enjoy! 

Netflix, Warner, and Vertical Integration

News broke this morning that Paramount, led by David Ellison, has made a hostile takeover bid for Warner.  Paramount has made this move after Netflix announced it had agreed to purchase Warner (including HBO) for $72 billion.  Investors did not react well initially to the Netflix deal.   The stock price dropped upon the acquisition announcement (as often occurs for the acquiring firm when mergers are announced).  

In this post, I'm not providing an overall evaluation of the deal.  However, I would like to focus on one facet of the potential acquisition that will be challenging for Netflix.   For years now, Netflix has been a vertically integrated entertainment company.  In other words, they have created content in their studios and distributed that content on their own streaming platform.  However, they have not distributed content on other platforms.  It has been a closed system.  Now, they are acquiring Warner.  That studio produces content for many different distribution outlets, not just HBO Max.  The question becomes:  What will other content buyers think when Netflix becomes the owner of Warner?  Might they wonder why Netflix would be willing to put some content up for sale/distribution on other platforms?  Might they think: If the content is so good, why not stream it on Netflix?  Will they ponder: Are we getting access to lesser quality shows that Netflix does not want to stream on its own platforms?   

Herein lies a key challenge with vertical integration.  You may find yourself competing with your customers (Netflix competes with other media distribution outlets such as other streaming platforms, cable networks, broadcast networks, etc.).  When you compete with your customers, it creates potential conflicts of interest.  Making the Warner acquisition a success will require navigating these challenging relationships.  Others in the entertainment business do it, but some have found it very difficult at times.  Netflix does not have much experience with this type of arrangement to this point.  

Of course, you might argue that they could avoid this problem if they simply distribute all Warner content on their own platforms (Netflix and HBO Max).  However, you then have to ask: Did they have to spend $72 billion on an acquisition to gain access to that valuable content?  Perhaps, but you do have to apply the ownership test.  In other words, would some other organizational arrangement have accomplished similar goals without the hefty price tag?

Are Others Pretending to Listen to You?

We have been taught that active listening is key to effective communication and collaboration.  What, though, constitutes the most effective form of active listening?  Suppose that someone is making eye contact, affirming your statements with a few simple nods, and/or uttering "mm-hmm" after a key point or two.  Are they listening closely?  Or are they pretending to listen?   

It turns out that we are not always very good at discerning whether another party is listening closely or feigning attentiveness.   UCLA's Anderson Review recently spotlighted the research of Professor Hanne Collins and her colleagues, writing:  

A burgeoning area of study, with papers co-authored by UCLA Anderson’s Hanne K. Collins, is establishing that speakers who feel heard often are not; that when the spoken-to feign attentiveness, it’s highly effective at misleading a speaker; and that a more active listening mode — volleying back a bit of what you’ve heard, explicitly stating a desire to engage, especially on topics of a sensitive nature – is the path to a more effective sort of conversing.

Collins suggests that there are two forms of active listening.  In the simpler form, it involves non-verbal cues intended to suggest that you are paying close attention. In another form, you are engaging with the other party in a much more conversational form.  This latter form of active listening is much more effective, and it signals clearly that you are in no way feigning attentiveness.  Collins focuses on three types of interaction:

• Paraphrasing: “Let me make sure I have this right. What happened at school today was…”
• Conversational callbacks: “As you mentioned in your email last week, your team needs more support to complete this project on time.”
• Follow-up questions: “I hear that you’re asking me to do more around the house. What specifically would help?”

For more on how to have an effective dialogue that includes a healthy dose of active listening, I highly recommend Charles Duhigg's book, Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection.