The Light At the End of the Tunnel on the Global Pandemic

According to Bill Gates, the health emergency could end during the spring of next 2021.

"For the spring, the numbers are going to change drastically and it will be possible to return to normality," commented the tycoon [Bill Gates] during an interview for NBC. He also thanked people to become aware of the importance of wearing a mask and other necessary care for decrease the number of infections.

Read more about what else Gates said on predicting the end of the global pandemic.

Article of Interest: Bill Gates and His Seven Top Reads in 2013

I read a business book nearly every week and have oftentimes been teased by friends and colleagues for hardly ever reading fiction.  Now I feel I am in good company.  Bill Gates presents his seven top reads in 2013.  Commenting on the lack of novels on the list, Gates writes:

"It’s not that I don’t enjoy fiction. I’ve read The Catcher in the Rye a bunch of times—it’s one of my favorite books ever (and I enjoyed Salinger, the documentary that came out this year) ..."

He goes on to say:

"But I read mostly nonfiction because I always want to learn more about how the world works. And reading is how I learn best."

Read all of Gates' picks for 2013 - here.  And his first pick, The Box, by Marc Levinson, I've not only read but mentioned it in my forthcoming book.

What books have you read in 2013 that have helped you better understand our world and run your business more efficiently?

Interview of Interest: Two of the Luckiest Guys on the Planet ...

... because they found what they love to do.

What's this? Talking up men on the Women Presidents' Organization Chicago blog? You bet. In case you missed it, this weekend (6/2) the WSJ ran a great interview with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates about how they paved the way for the personal computer revolution. Here's the question that was asked by the audience that I learned the most from:

You approached the same opportunity so very differently. What did you learn about running your own business that you wished you had thought of sooner or thought of first by watching the other guy?

Mr. Gates: I'd give a lot to have Steve's taste -- in terms of intuitive taste, both for people and products. We sat in Mac product reviews where there were questions about software choices, how things would be done, that I viewed as an engineering question -- that's just how my my mind works. And I'd see Steve make the decision based on a sense of people and product that is even hard for me to explain. The way he does things is just different, and I think it's magical.

Mr. Jobs: Because Woz and I started the company based on doing the whole banana, we weren't so good at partnering with people. And, you know, actually, the funny thing is, Microsoft's one of the few companies we were able to partner with that actually worked for both companies. And we weren't so good at that, where Bill and Microsoft were really good at it because they didn't make the whole thing in the early days, and they learned how to partner with people really well.

And I think if Apple could have had a little more of that in its DNA, it would have served it extremely well. And I don't think Apple learned that until a few decades later.

In looking back, what do you wish that you would have thought of sooner and taken action on? Do you feel like the luckiest gal on the planet?

Read more here including another interview, a podcast, other blog entries and transcripts from their talk.

Shortcut: Straight to The Wall Street Journal's D: All Things Digital executive conference.