Thursday, May 22, 2008
Reading business books
Seth Godin shares my take on reading business books. In How to read a business book:
... How to read a business book... it’s not as obvious as it seems.
- Bullet points are not the point.
If you’re reading for the recipe, and just the recipe, you can get through a business book in just a few minutes. But most people who do that get very little out of the experience. Take a look at the widely divergent reviews for The Dip. The people who ‘got it’ understood that it was a book about getting you to change your perspective and thus your behavior. Those that didn’t were looking for bullet points. They wasted their money.
My notes on Twitter:
two kinds of business books: the absolutists who tell you what is good for you, and the relativists who tell you what they experienced. 03:14 PM April 14, 2008
the more i read, the more i prefer adapting from the relativists than kowtowing to the absolutists. 03:14 PM April 14, 2008
I’m currently reading What Management Is by Joan Magretta and totally loving it. Blossom’s in Bangalore has it for Rs 160.
nikita nawdani — Jul 8, 2008 12:49:54 PM — # ↩
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So log onto seagatememories.com/india
Liz — Jun 5, 2009 11:45:13 PM — # ↩
I kind of enjoy the bullet points – it gives me the quick advice I’m looking for, generally. But I liked your twitter response – boy, you did a great job distilling the essence of the two points of view. I’m thinking a fun business book, <a href=”eoutofego.com“> “Take the E Out of EGO</a> & GO!” is in the revisionist camp. It tells, as the sub heading says, “powerful secrets to prosperity, relationships, healing and fun,” and is about the authors’ experiences in the business world. Their point? If it’s not fun, change what you’re doing. I’d never heard of servant leadership before, but I got a whole new take on it and its value. The examples they use are really clear and simple – so they’re pretty useful! And the book, because it relates to many of Jerry’s experiences and he had lots of good ones, is funny. It’s kind of a hoot.