May 23rd, 2009
I’ve read lots of non-fiction lately and why I chose this book on my last trip to the USA, I really don’t know. I guess the title stuck out and I was looking for something different. Different it is. It is memoir about growing up in a totally dysfunctional family. When I say totally dysfunctional I mean it.
Augusten Burroughs tells the tale of growing up with a non-functioning mother and being farmed off to live with her psychiatrist’s even crazier family. The stories are really quite unbelievable and to think that Burroughs did eventually fine his core and become a successful writer is a tribute to the ability of people to survive all kinds of influences.
Burroughs memoir is indeed memorable, tragic-comic spectacle of a read. Don’t even think the thought that your family was dysfunctional. Nothing compares to this. Enjoy the read.
May 23rd, 2009
Simplexity is not a simple book to read. It is, however, about an interesting subject – the complexity and simplicity of the way things work. The author, Jeffrey Kluger, gets a little lost along the way, more concerned with showing off his vast knowledge in areas as diverse as economics, physics and biology. Yes, his knowledge is impressive, but what is the point of his many fascinating examples? How can we make sense of complex world?
Kluger’s examples are interesting – the difficulty of predicting the stock market, predicting people’s instincts in an emergency, predicting the results of sports events and why we usually fear the wrong things. Americans worry about terrorists after 9/11 when 3000 people died, but not about the fact that over 220000 people died on the roads in the six years after 9/11. Kluger asks us to sort out nonsense from reality and to look for patterns in behavior. What is really going on? Look beyond the complexity to figure out the simple reality. This is not all that simple to do, but Kluger reminds us of the importance.
May 23rd, 2009
The title of this book and the sub-title, “How street-smart entrepreneurs learn to handle whatever comes up” got the better of my curiosity. Norm Brodsky (with Bo Burlingham) book has very little to do with “knack” and street-smart. It is about the serious work behind the scenes of running a small business.
We’d like to think that (well, I’d like to think) that the power of a great idea is enough to grow a business. No way. Brodsky gives the entrepreneur a real punch in the stomach. Get your figures straight. Know the difference between gross and net profit. The book totally freaked me out about how little I know the secret behind the numbers of my own business – and I’ve been running my business for thirty years. “I know nothing” is more than a comic phrase. It is a tragic-comic fact. Luckily I have survived and done all right. Imagine, however, if I had 10% of Norm’s business knowledge. I feel like going to business school. At least I feel bawled out by the teacher.
May 23rd, 2009
Charles Murray is co-author of the very controversial book The Bell Curve. He is described as a “professional contrarian”. Murray analyzes statistics and comes up with some very uncomfortable conclusions – things we don’t want to hear. His work was instrumental in reforming the American welfare system because he could point out what works – and what doesn’t.
Now Murray takes on our preconceptions of the educational systems and bluntly points out that school reform without “family” reform is basically useless. There is so much data out there pointing to the fact that most children are caught in there own level of intelligence. We should make decisions more on this fact. For example, less young adults should attend college and more get vocational training. We need to do a better job of training the elite – a very controversial point of view. But certainly the lowering of standards in our educational systems is not helping very many people – or the nation.
If you are ready to open your mind to another way of thinking about education, then welcome to a book that will spin your head around. Murray’s contribution to the debate is crucial.
May 23rd, 2009
I like to read a lot of self-help literature. I’ve read a great amount and the message is basically the same in each case: take responsibility for your own future. I found Debbie Ford’s book, The Right Questions to be refreshing, despite the message being the same. Ford has written several best selling books in the field and is a renowned workshop leader and coach trainer.
Essentially Ford says that we need to continually ask ourselves questions as we make life choices. For example, Will this choice propel me toward and inspiring future or will it keep me stuck in the past? Will this choice bring me long term fulfillment or will it bring me short term gratification? Am I standing in my power or am I trying to please another?
She is asking us to ask ourselves ten most vital questions that definitely can help keep us on the right path.
She helped me with one biggie… shall I give power to agents and publishers or should I take the power and publish myself, something easier and easier for each day. The frustration of looking for someone to help me is know over. I will do it myself. Sure it’s hard, but it is just as frustrating to give my power to some unknown forces I cannot really trust. Maybe I will not make the New York Times best selling list, but then what are the chances of that anyway. There are other ways to make a difference.
The basic idea of the book the question of moving forward or not. Will this choice help me move forward in my life? If, yes, then go ahead. Go ahead and read this book.
May 23rd, 2009
I am in a reading period right now and it is interesting to see the common themes in the books I happen to choose. Malcolm Gladwell is the author of two previous best sellers, The Tipping Point and Blink. Formally a business and science magazine writer, Gladwell analyzes research and explains trends in a simple, effective way. His new book is absolutely terrific with stories, statistics and explainations. Gladwell uses research and statistics to point out trends that we often are unaware of.
In this case Gladwell tries to explain that there is, in fact, a reason why people become successful and it doesn’t always have to do with personal perserverance and drive. That helps, of course, but it also helps to be born into the right types of families and the right time of the year or the right year. Bill Gates usually says he was lucky – and Gladwell explains that Gates, though clever, smart and a brilliant entreprenör, also happens to be born (along with other prominent computer experts) in the right year (1955-1956) and provided a unique opportunity to practice computer coding for an unlimited period of time long before most people could. He, and others like him, had the practice time that very few others were able to come by. And just like in the book Talent is Overrated, Gladwell points out the importance of practice, those 10000 hours that so called geniuses have put in that others haven’t. Combine all these factors – right time, year, lots of practice, right family, right place – and the chanses of super success suddenly explode. That is not to discourage others, but just to understand that there is more to success than simply being smart.
May 23rd, 2009
I seem to do a lot of business book reading and especially about marketing. I guess it has to do with my own personal quest to finally get published in English and to spread the word outside of my lovely Sweden. Jack Trout is one of the most respected marketing analysts around. Trout picks apart some of the common marketing practices of today. For example, he says the point of advertising is not to be funny and win prizes, but to sell the product. That’s obviously, but often overlooked. Firms changes their messages, logos and slogans just for the sake of change. Keep doing what works. Define your product and just don’t ad on more and more options. It is easy to see why General Motors has declined. It is hard to understand why there must be so many variations of Coke. While most examples are from big business, there are many important messages for small business people like me: define your message, the form of your message and fine tune the way you reach out. Look for simple and obvious solutions.
May 23rd, 2009
Two important books have been published based on some of the same research, both claiming that success is more about practice than talent. Geoff Colvin is the senior editor of Fortune and has gathered the research into an easily readable and valuable book that claims that the 10000 hour rules. Practice 20 hours a week for ten years and voilà you will master the skill you wish. Even Mozart did not write his best work before that period of time. We all know the story of Tiger Woods whose father started him off on golf at the age of 18 months. As the subtitle of the book says, “What really separates world class performers from everybody else” is deliberate practice. This is a message for both individuals and businesses. In the business world think about how seldom employees are encouraged to develop world class skills. So, stop reading and start practicing.
The other related book is Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.
May 23rd, 2009
Seth Godin is one of my favorites. He seems to always have something fresh, trendy and exciting to say about marketing. He is one of the best selling authors in the field with iconoclastic books like Purple Cow (how ideas must stand out) and The Dip (how dropping things and failures can help you). In his latest book, Godin explains that the new media forms can let almost anyone with the energy and competence gather a following. You can gather a “tribe” that will follow you and your ideas with the help of of everything from Facebook to Ning and a myriad of other network building tools. Godin gives plenty of specific examples. Godin says: Publish a manifesto of your beliefs. Make it easy for your followers to connect to you. Make it easy for your followers to connect to one another. Relize that money is not the point of a movement, but a result. Track your progress. Your movement needs to be bigger than you. Good luck creating your tribe.
May 23rd, 2009
Gregory Berns in a neuroscientist dealing with the new field of euroeconomics – trying to figure out the economic implications of decisionmaking as we learn more and more about how the brain works. A unique idea, hard work, lots of talent – yes, that can yield good leadership in a certain field of endeavor. Berns makes the argument, however, that the wiring of brain has as least as much to do with break through people from Walk Disney to Henry Ford to Steve Jobs. Iconoclasts think diferent, therefore they act differently, willing to stick out their necks, take risks and have faith in their ideas despite the pressure to think ”normally” around them. It takes not just a certain kind of person, but a certain kind of brain to become an icon. Berns explains and gives examples. The book is a good blend between technical informaiton on neuroscience and concrete examples.