Comments

This afternoon, I'm reading "Common Errors in Interpreting the Ideas of the Black Swan and Associated Papers", by N. N. Taleb, published on October 18, 2009 and available through the Social Science Research Network.

Posted by Randy Bosch at November 12, 2009 4:13 PM

I agree...I teach daily and periodically design courseware. Gotta read to get the stories and examples necessary during delivery for folks to assign meaning to the content. I am currently reading the Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman book " First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently". One of Tom's slides refers to their point that employee satisfaction and retention is overwhelmingly based on the first line manager. Have to give a class to the "guilty"...the first line managers in an organization with 75 percent annual turnover. I'm gonna have a great time with that one!

Posted by Dave Wheeler at November 12, 2009 4:50 PM

I am going to show this video to my SWMBO as EVIDENCE of why I need the spare bedroom to be literally piled high with books....

Seriously Tom makes a great point on the factual side - the stories, the examples and the ideas. In addition to this there is your own communication ability. When you read widely you also improve your vocabulary, your eloquence and style.

I don’t mean this in the using big words to make you look sophisticated way. Using simple, direct and powerful language is an art that needs practice.

Posted by PaulH at November 13, 2009 4:13 AM

Yep. However, Charlie 'Tremendous' Jones said
it slightly differently:

"Five years from today, you will be the same
person you are today, except for the books
you read and the people that you meet."

If I have had any success, much of the credit
goes to my willingness to outwork the other
guy. That has always included reading.

-ski

Posted by SKI at November 13, 2009 6:27 AM

I have 3 books on the boil right now:

Work the System by Sam Carpenter
NutureShock by P Bronson & A Merryman
The Design of Change by Tim Brown

All 3 have me so excited to get up in the morning and get reading all over again! Always a dilemma to decide which one to read first.

Posted by Helen at November 13, 2009 10:20 AM

1) The master's thesis of the Acting COO of a company circling the drain.

Found a lack of awareness that 'the union' and 'our dwindling pool of skilled labour' are the same people.

The company managers had been preparing for a change from company-funded training to employee-funded for several years, without even giving the union a heads-up, much less bringing them into the discussion at the beginning.

Now they're facing low morale and the exodus of their best and brightest.

I'm glad they're not my client, as consultations that start with pounding on the boardroom table while screaming 'You fatheads!' don't usually go as well as you'd imagine.

2) JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (again)

It's an excellent exposition of the rise and fall of petty dictators.

3) Comte-Sponville's the Little Book of Atheist Spirituality.

Addresses human spiritual experiences from a non-theist view. No setting up of straw men here!

Posted by Lois Gory at November 15, 2009 5:57 PM

Read, by be carefull. Mush of whats on the bestseller list is BS. For example,
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/15/books/review/Pinker-t.html?ref=books

Posted by zorro at November 15, 2009 11:40 PM

Thanks, Tom. I agree about the importance of reading. I'm a lover of books.

You know it's a sad commentary when a vice presidential candidate can't even recall a single magazine that she reads, let alone a single book. I wonder if she's even read her own upcoming book.

Excellent thoughtful article, Zorro. Thanks a lot for posting that.

Posted by Judith Ellis at November 16, 2009 4:12 AM

Malcolm Gladwell is the subject of the article
and he is #2 on Forbes most influential business thinkers.
And (according to the article) doesn't know what he is talking about much of the time.

Posted by zorro at November 16, 2009 11:52 AM

So, how many of you have got the ultimate enabler - Kindle?

Posted by Shankar at November 18, 2009 9:01 PM

Hi Shankar-

I think Kindles are great for students- all your textbooks in one little device and room for downloadable reference material besides, but-

When it comes to reading a book, I want to feel it in my hands, I want to smell the paper, appreciate the font and the layout and the binding- or be exasperated by it!- dog-ear the pages, write in the margin, enjoy another's notes in a second-hand book, stick bits of paper in to mark the good bits.

Electronic words are fine for work, but for pleasure I want the whole sensual experience.

Posted by Lois Gory at November 19, 2009 7:50 AM

Good kick-in-the-butt suggestion on reading, but I'll skip the Kindle - and computer reading for long stretches. Some day we'll have the tools to evaluate the health effects of spending many hours a day reading a blinking page, while swimming in electromagnetic radiation from multiple sources. I've been trying to lead a mostly unplugged life for the last year - at least at home - but it ain't easy.

Zorro, great article on Gladwell.

Posted by John O'Leary at November 19, 2009 2:49 PM