I had no clue that Drive to Thrive was a book about helping you become a good manager. Sharad Bajaj worked at Microsoft as a Manager and now works at AWS as Head of Engineering.

Bajaj started the book on an interesting premise about juggling real-life problems all needing his urgent attention. Two of them were personal, while one was professional. I was curious about the one management tip/trick Bajaj would offer, which would solve all his problems magically.

I learned the following things on this journey.

5 things I liked about Drive to Thrive by Sharad Bajaj

1. Well researched book

Obviously, the author has lived the life of a manager for many years. So all that he shares is through his own experiences, failures, setbacks, and accomplishments. And that makes the information genuine, authentic, and in-depth. 

2. The writing style is as if he has poured his heart out

He wants to give the readers everything he has amassed over his years of professional experience working at tech giants, without holding anything back. I loved this bit.

3. The content has Great intention

The intent of the author is very noble. To educate his readers and equip them with all the tools needed to become a good manager, a people’s manager.

4. The Chapter Summary in the end and the follow-up questions

At the end of every chapter, he sums the chapter well, talking about the highlights and takeaways. There is also some food for thought in the form of questions for the readers to ponder over.

5. The Quotes

Every chapter begins with a relevant quote by a famous personality like Aristotle or Steve Jobs and some more. I hadn’t read them before. In between the chapters, there are also some quotes created by the author himself. Not very profound. But simple and to the point. I loved those quotes. I've shared some of them as images in this post.

5 things I didn’t like about Drive to Thrive by Sharad Bajaj

1. Very Few (almost none) Images/Graphs/Infographics

The first graph in the book came up after 60+ pages. I think that’s too late. A book like this must be filled with charts/ graphs, Infographics, analytics, even simple pie charts or data graphs. Or it reads like a fiction book-without an interesting plot.

2. Extremely Long Chapters

Chapter CULTURE – VALUES AND HABITS started on page 77 and ended on page 120. That’s 40+ pages of writing with only two images. I think I love books with smaller chapters better because they give me a sense of accomplishment as I read through the book. Readers, I think, can better absorb information when it comes in bite-size chunks.

3. Huge paragraphs of information overload

In the other chapters, too, although not 40 pages long, the information he gave is in so many continuous paragraphs without subtitles or core ideas or some kind of a highlight. Without that, I had a sense of getting lost in all the information.

4. Repetitive Ideas

Facing Failure as a concept is talked about in Culture-Values and Habits. Then again, when discussing Maps for success. The book also touched during Hurdles of a Manager.

5. An Incomplete TOC

Better organization of the content and displaying the highlights of what is expected within each chapter is essential for a reader when selecting a self-help book.

Final Verdict

Alas, there’s no magic trick. Management is more about common sense than anything else, which I felt after reading this book. The book has some highlights and some not-so-great aspects.

As is clear from my list, I see a balanced review of the book, so I rate it a balanced three-star rating. It’s an okay Book.

Who Should Read This

Beginners in Corporate work or professionals thinking of walking the management ramp or those looking to find out what your role as a manager would involve should give it a read.

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