Wait, I'm Working With Who?!? the Essential Guide to Dealing With Difficult Coworkers, Annoying Managers, and Other Toxic Personalities

 Wait, I'm Working With Who?!?  The Essential Guide to Dealing With Difficult Coworkers, Annoying Managers, and Other Toxic Personalities by Peter Economy  206 pages

Summary from Goodreads: This is the go-to guide on working with anyone in your office—from the difficult or negative to the toxic and destructive—whether they are your manager, a team member, or someone who’s just waiting out the clock. Chock-full of useful advice that will make your workday happier and more productive. Who hasn’t had to deal with a jerk at work? Whether it’s a toxic team member who loves nothing more than to suck the life and excitement out of her colleagues, the difficult coworker who isn’t happy unless the office is filled with mayhem and drama, or a bad boss who causes his employees to constantly dream of telling him to “Take this job and shove it!”, we’ve all had to deal with people on the job we would rather not.

And here's what I thought:  It never hurts to read a book like this, even if you don't work with a lot of difficult people. Economy breaks things down into different types of people, and then some practical advice on how to work with them.  Note -- not befriend them, not change them -- work with them.  If you do work with someone you find difficult, this book may also help because you might be able to figure out what type of person they are, and then go from them.  Quick read, but helpful.

Good Boss, Bad Boss

 Good Boss, Bad Boss by Robert Sutton  308 pages

Summary from Goodreads: f you are a boss who wants to do great work, what can you do about it? Good Boss, Bad Boss is devoted to answering that question. Stanford Professor Robert Sutton weaves together the best psychological and management research with compelling stories and cases to reveal the mindset and moves of the best (and worst) bosses. This book was inspired by the deluge of emails, research, phone calls, and conversations that Dr. Sutton experienced after publishing his blockbuster bestseller The No Asshole Rule. He realized that most of these stories and studies swirled around a central figure in every workplace: THE BOSS. These heart-breaking, inspiring, and sometimes funny stories taught Sutton that most bosses - and their followers - wanted a lot more than just a jerk-free workplace. They aspired to become (or work for) an all-around great boss, somebody with the skill and grit to inspire superior work, commitment, and dignity among their charges.

And here's what I thought: I found some really good things in this book and wound up marking a few pages with sticky notes to come back to later. While I felt there could have been more perspectives from female leaders, the no-nonsense advice here applies to any boss, at any level. Good book and something to maybe keep handy (depending on your job). 

Radical Candor: Be A Kick-ass Boss Without Losing your Humanity

 Radical Candor:  Be A Kick-ass Boss Without Losing your Humanity  by Kim Malone Scott  246 pages

"From the time we learn to speak, we’re told that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. While this advice may work for everyday life, it is, as Kim Scott has seen, a disaster when adopted by managers.

Scott earned her stripes as a highly successful manager at Google and then decamped to Apple, where she developed a class on optimal management. She has earned growing fame in recent years with her vital new approach to effective management, the “radical candor” method.

Radical candor is the sweet spot between managers who are obnoxiously aggressive on one side and ruinously empathetic on the other. It’s about providing guidance, which involves a mix of praise as well as criticism—delivered to produce better results and help employees achieve."  (Goodreads)

I really liked this book and wound up using page flags to mark some things to share with some other people (and I also put it on my "Want" list in LibraryThing so I remember I want a copy for myself).  While I have studied emotional intelligence, communication styles, management, etc. over the years, I still found some new things to think about in this book.  I also found touchstones for things that I already practice, which was helpful --- always good to know if you're on the correct track.  

Creativity, Inc.

Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
by Ed Catmull,  Amy Wallace  340 pages

“What does it mean to manage well?”

This is the idea that Ed Catmull, a co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios, explores in this book about creativity in business. Catmull takes you through the history of Pixar but also explores management topics along the way, explaining how Pixar has learned to do things in a way that works really well for them.  He and his colleagues have built an organizational culture that is based on philosophies including:

• Give a good idea to a mediocre team, and they will screw it up. But give a mediocre idea to a great team, and they will either fix it or come up with something better.
• It’s not the manager’s job to prevent risks. It’s the manager’s job to make it safe for others to take them.
• A company’s communication structure should not mirror its organizational structure. Everybody should be able to talk to anybody.

I had heard about this book in a webinar and thought it would make for an interesting read, both as a history of Pixar and as a management book.  I found some pretty thought-provoking things here about management (and I made a bunch of notes), but the book is also an interesting read as a history of Pixar, a company that has seen a lot of ups and downs.  I appreciated how this book was a combination, so some of the management philosophies would be illustrated by clear examples of how Pixar works through problems and difficult situations.

EntreLeadership:20 years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches

EntreLeadership:20 years of Practical Business Wisdom from the Trenches by Dave Ramsey            AudioBook:  11hrs., 30 mins     Hardback Book:  320 pages           

Dave Ramsey is literally teaching a business course here whether he tells you that or not.    In this Business 101 course – you learn it all.     Dave gives you his and his family’s backgrounds from beginning to end when he first started on a card table in his house to the multi-million dollar business he has created today.   Between running his business, dealing with his employees or giving the reader practical advice and the benefit of his experience good and bad times in his own life and how he dealt with both this is a true gem of a book.    If you are an employee, a supervisor or an uber boss you will come away with some great tips for doing things better here.    In such understandable terms, Dave walks you through from starting a business and builds on that from the ground up to becoming a rockstar in your field of expertise.    He is a firm believer in setting goals and achieving them by setting achievement deadlines.     He tells the reader how to motivate your employees, how to deal with ethical issues and gossip in your employees.    He talks about breached trust issues and how best to deal with them.   He tells how take your workers to being a cohesive team.    He talks about paying off debt and working from cash as quickly as possible, both in your business life and in your personal life.   There is so much positive and helpful information here that can be applied to both business and personal sides of your life.    He cites examples of his own screw ups and his major achievements.    He tells the reader how to nip disastrous employee behavior in the bud before it destroys the company’s culture.   He teaches how to delegate.   He covers every aspect of business in this book, he speaks honestly and he doesn’t suffer foolishness or allowing an employees incorrect  behavior regardless of their output to spoil the morale of the other employees.   He talks about his faith, how to work well with a spouse when it is a family business,  he talks about giving back to his employees and thereby the community.   I can’t think of anything he missed.   He is so spot on with his advice and laser like eye on behavior in the officeplace.     EXCELLENT BOOK.    I would recommend this book to anyone young or old – there is so much to learn here you might want to read this book more than once because you will want to retain it all.   Another book that should be on everyone’ shelf.   Bravo, Dave Ramsey!

 - Shirley J.

What Rich People Know And Desperately Want to Keep Secret

What Rich People Know And Desperately Want to Keep Secret By Brian Sher 251 pages

Reviewed by Rae C.

This is a great book! The title is completely misleading, but also great marketing- it makes you want to pick it up and find out what the secrets are!  The book should really be titled “What Successful, Ethical Businesses Know And Are Happy To Share”.  I’ve worked for a lot of small businesses, and many people are just buying themselves a job, or just want to the boss, or are really nothing more than hobbyists or dreamers with no understanding of how to run a business.  In other words, someone who loves to cook and opens a restaurant is not a business person.  This is why most small businesses fail.

If you want to start a business because you want to create a successful enterprise, become a leader in your field, and develop both customers and employees, this is a great place to start.

The book grabbed me because I opened it to the part about the importance of employees- they are just as important as customers.  Too many business people do not consider the knowledge the employee has of the customer, the work environment, and/or the product.  Sher advises consulting employees, developing relationships with employees, and respecting workers.  “Hire Giants, not Dwarves.” “Delegate, don’t try to do everything yourself.”

A successful business develops systems.  He uses McDonald’s as example.  Business owners should be able to set up systems and train other people to follow those systems.  Many small businesses never bother to set up systems, and rely on long term employees or third party contractors.  This does not lead to success.

His instructions on advertising and the actual value of a long term customer is invaluable.  Don’t spend money on advertising unless you know it is going to pay off, and follow his formula for assessing the actual cost of advertising.  Pay attention to the profit from an average sale, and how often a customer purchases from you.

I recommend this book to all business owners and to all aspiring entrepreneurs.

BELATED JULY POST: Think Like a Champion

Please note: Shirley emailed me this post and I failed to get it posted before the end of July. So, it's posted in August but goes towards our JULY totals. - Jen

Think Like a Champion by Donald J. Trump and Meredith McIver                 Audio Book: 4 hours, 16 mins       Paperback Book:  224 pages                

Written during his time on the t.v. show, “The Apprentice,”  Donald Trump talks about the importance of education and how it lays the foundation for everything else one wants to do in life.   He talks a lot about military strategies in this book as relates to succeeding in life and sites many examples from historical figures,  Napoleon, Abraham Lincoln, the Greek philosophers, etc. as he talks about his daily quest to strive to learn something new every day and tells the reader that if one wants to succeed in life everyone should do as he does.     He talks about tooting one’s own horn to get your personal brand out there because who knows you better than you yourself and who can you trust more than yourself to be the one to get your name known, respected and associated with excellence so that your constituents know they can depend on you and trust what you say.   If you say it follow up and do it.   Let your name represent you.   Let your name/ your brand become so well know and trusted that people automatically associate the best when they think of you (your name/brand).     Many ideas and slogans he put forth in his campaign and within his remarks as President are found here and maybe this was the beginning of his formulating the idea that he would one day run for office because though this was written years before he entered the political scene, there are so many Trumpisms to be found here that it is pretty clear that seeing his popularity grow from his television show and his real estate development of all property with the Trump name and his rising from the ashes of bankruptcy to become a billionaire breaking the power of bankruptcy stigma and promoting the TRUMP brand to the gold standard has been quite a feat.   He sees himself as the superhero of his own life and recommends those reading his words take them to heart and do the same.   Sometimes he seems to be talking to the younger generation coming out of highschool or college but in his words you feel the power of the presidency clearly.   This book gives an interesting look into Trump the businessman as well as an introduction into the thought processes of Trump the president.

Rebel Talent

Rebel Talent: Why It Pays to Break the Rules at Work and in Life by Francesca Gino    304 pages

Francesca Gino has been studying rebels in life and the workplace for more than 15 years and has discovered that those people who practice "positive deviance" at work may be harder to manage, but they are good for the bottom line. Having someone like this on your team means that their passion, drive and creativity can raise the organization to a new level.

Gino takes case studies from all kinds of businesses, including Google, Pixar, fast food chains and more and analyzes what rebels in these workplaces have in common. She makes the argument that while most of us are taught from an early age to be rule followers, that this can make us less effective and more unfulfilled at work.  Luckily, the has some strategies for embracing rebellion at work and in life.

Definitely an interesting read, and I made some notes while I was reading this book.  One example that struck me was how one workplace analyzed a situation and asked three groups, "What should you do?," "What would you do?," and "What could you do?" --- and the "could" approach actually led people to analyze a situation from many perspectives and then generate more possible solutions than the other two approaches.  Having Gino present evidence but also strategies makes this an interesting and approachable read that gave me some ideas, as well.

Poke the Box

Poke the Box by Seth Godin        Hardback Book: 83pages                       

 I am a fan of Seth Godin’s books.   He speaks to the reader like your best friend who is in your corner and trying to motivate you to be your best.    He says a lot though his books are not that long.   I think he has figured out a person’s attention span and hits hard with juicy bits fast and doesn’t make his books seem overwhelming.   You come away feeling like you have covered a text book in how do things better in better ways, faster.   I really like his style.   In Poke the Box his message all the way through is to stop sitting back and letting fear keep you from doing what you want to do.   He explores how humans are brought up to think they should keep quiet and not make waves in order to get by in life.   However, never speaking up keeps you out of the notice and under the radar of the powers that be.  Kind of herd mentality.   Just sit in your cubicle with your head down working for 8 hours, leave and come back and do it again the next day until you either die of boredom or retire.     He says you have to poke the box.    You have to speak up, get noticed, if you have a good idea – speak up – if it’s not a good idea, so what?    Every brilliant mind has had so many failures and bad ideas along the way – that is what lets you know what doesn’t work which gets you ever closer to what DOES work.    He calls fear the lizard base nature of man that causes us not to believe in our own abilitites and how well we can handle, accomplish and come up with viable new ideas for doing things from work to home to leisure.    We have to fight the tendency we have to not believe in ourselves and work toward realizing the dreams we hold.   We have to stop sitting back and letting others get the praise and glory for ideas we may have had first just were too hesitant to make them come to fruition.   We have to poke the box and if we are in a place that stifles new ideas does not respect people who try to come up with innovation to increase sales, increase market recognition to push ourselves to the forefront so that we can advance if all of these things are not happening where we are then we need to move on once we have made the way.   He doesn’t advocate jumping off the cliff to see if we can fly, he advocates building a bridge to our next horizon then cross that bridge and go where we are appreciated.    Public school and many corporations forbid their students or employees to start, to stand out and perform at top level they can hold us back and hold us down so that we fit into a controlled mold.   Seth Godin promotes poking the box – ask the hard questions of others and yourself.   Don’t accept the status quo set your standards and Go-Go-Go!   Everybody else will see your bravery  so few have the heart to poke the box.     Achieve and be recognized or be mediocre and invisible.   He ends with a quote from Siddhartha Gautama, “ There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth.   Not going all the way, and not starting.”     Realize your truth and poke the box until you make others realize it , too.

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?

Linchpin:  Are You Indispensable?  by Seth Godin             Audio Book:  8 hours, 27 mins.       Hardback Book:  256 pages                   

Excellent feel good book.   Very motivational – showing that no matter what your position with an organization you can be a star by being indispensable.   A new spin on loving what you do or don’t do it.   He discusses how if you don’t feel like you are appreciated for your creativity why stay in a job that will only make you more and more miserable and where you will never rise above the position you currently hold.   He decries accepting mediocrity because it will make you an old school cog in the system.   Never allow yourself to stagnate in the position you are in.   If the organization you work for refuses to accept your creativity move on.    He likens our work to art that we as artists create.    He says all linchpins do two things for the organization they exert emotional labor and they make a map.  He says these contributions take many forms and here are some of the things that make you a linchpin (indispensable) to your boss and to your organization:

1.)     Provide a unique interface with the members of your organization.

2.)     Delivering unique creativity.

3.)    Managing a situation or organization of great complexity.

4.)    Leading customers.

5.)    Inspiring staff.

6.)    Providing deep domain knowledge.

7.)    Possessing a unique talent.

He cautions that we have gone against our true nature and become dehumanized because people try to brainwash us to settling.    Godin says “Don’t settle!  You are a genius and we, the organization and the world need your contribution.”  He said things just keep getting more homogenized and cheaper, compartmentalized, corporatized (his term – is that a word?) and the lack of personal contact is dehumanizing us all.   He says if you are only there for the paycheck you have already lost.    Trying makes you an artist and allows you to try again.    He adds artists always give without expecting to get anything in return and if you give enough to the right people your gifts will be appreciated and that you should create moments where your boss can take credit (then your efforts will not only be appreciated but reciprocated)  they will remember you made them look good and won’t want to lose you ergo you become indispensable to have around.    He says remember boxes have boundaries you cannot escape so if your efforts aren’t being appreciated and rewarded it is time to embrace a new path.    Why kill yourself or do amazing things when your creativity is constantly being stifled?   If it is not a good fit and you are not happy and acknowledged for all your good work, great ideas and ceaseless efforts to make things better – GO!   Find you niche elsewhere.  Do the work and specialize – that is what your competitors are doing.   He says make a difference, stand for something, change the world!   I love this guy’s enthusiasm.      He also talks about the placebo affect and how if we believe a thing is good it is or will be.   He suggests using this strategy with our co-workers.   Even if they come across as other than pleasant believe in their being good, continue to treat them well as if they are good.  He says the people you work with will not change unless you believe.   Keep in mind even when things get bumpy as they will in all facets of life from time to time –  no airplane has ever crashed from turbulence – you just ride it out till you get through it.    You are an artist, you have many talents, let your light shine.  If others don’t like it, its because they don’t have the desire to excel they prefer to stay in the dregs of mediocrity don’t ever let anyone pull you down in the abyss of mediocrity.   You are a star not a cog.     He also asks that if you find this book helpful he hopes you read it again and that you recommend it to others.   I am hereby recommending this book to everyone.   It is an excellent read.

You Don’t Have To Be A Shark:

You Don’t Have To Be A Shark: Creating Your Own Success by Robert Herjavec                    Audio Book:  8hrs.,  37 mins         Hardback Book:  288 pages           

Robert Herjavec first came to my attention when I saw him on “Dancing With the Stars.”    During the background info shown on the show I learned of his success as a business entrepreneur.   I also learned he came over from Yugoslavia as a child with his parents.   None of them spoke English.    Such a brave thing to do leave the familiar for the unknown and a new life to create, and braver still going to a new culture, without knowing the language.   I admire the bravery of the people who jump in and sink or swim.   He discusses all of this in this book.   The bravery he saw in his parents and the bravery that took to go for it on Dancing with the Stars because it was a skill he did not have and he always likes to push himself to learn new things and to do new things.    He works to movtivate the reader to do the same.   He talks about how he achieved his success and how while he may be on the t.v. show, “Shark Tank,” and for the cameras he sometimes has a meltdown or if the person on the show is not willing to work to achieve their goals or don’t take it seriously – you might see his tyrannical side, he assures the reader there are genuine reasons for that happening because he is a man of great faith in the Catholic religion and emphasizes to all of his staff that you don’t have to be rude, gruff or a bully to be the boss.    He sites many scenarios and true life happenings and the way things could have gone and the way they did.    His experience working at a homeless shelter has taught him to see all people as similar even though our circumstances may be very dissimilar.   Our backgrounds bring a lot to the table and ieven if people have low self-esteem he motivates one to not dismiss the skills we all bring whether we acknowledge them or not we all have a set of skills to bring we just have to find what brings out our passion to be able to be happy in what we do.    He says if we are not happy to go to our jobs then they aren’t inspiring our passion so folks should look to find what would spark that excitement and joy and if we follow that feeling it will bring us to our happy place in life – the place where our home life and work life can find a compatible meeting and we can find contentment and fulfilment then all we wish for can be achieved.   He goes in to so many good things, sometimes he comes across a little tyrannical but then he will soothe that by saying something really profound and turning back to a nice understanding guy.    He says sometimes as a boss you do have to reign things in if you feel it is necessary – you can’t ignore something today that might cause things to go off track down the road.  He makes good points and shares a lot of his own life and emotions with the reader such as how devastated his divorce and loss of visits with his children for 2 years about drove him over the edge of sanity.  He tells you how far he went then he tells you what got him to come back get himself in check and pull himself up by his bootstraps and get going on what he needed to do to achieve all of his goals and he is a very goal oriented guy.    He feels everyone needs goals in all aspects of their life in order to keep going on and achieving and receiving that dopamine rush from pure satisfaction in things going right in your life.    A good read.   I recommend it.

Earning It

Earning It by Joann S. Lublin        Audio Book:  8 hours, 15 mins     Hardback Book:  304 pages  

Joann S. Lublin shares her trials and tribulations as a woman working to achieve her career goals.    She is honest in describing not just her personal journey up the corporate ladder but also the stories of about 50 or more other women working at the CEO level in a number of fields.   The copyright on this book is 2016, I had to check that date because so many of the stories involve women in corporate America who are still being treated as underlings.    While I realize there is still a glass ceiling to a large degree (yes girls there honestly is still an old boys network out there),  I was surprised that women are still being ogled, pawed,  asked to get coffee,  and asked to step out of photos of their male colleagues because the wives aren’t in this shot.    People, this is 2017 not 1964!    Whaaaaat?    Truly, I was surprised.    Women CEOs are not new they have held the helm of major corporations for a long time now so how anyone can think such unconscionable behavior could be ignored or accepted is beyond belief.   Oh, there will always be someone who has questionable ethics regardless the field,  and now and then some “player” who feels he is the office Cassanova who might see how far he can push the boundaries but, when a woman who has earned her position through diligence in pursuing her education and/or working her way up the levels to achieve the top spot running an organization is treated with such a dismissive attitude on the parts of the males in the room I have to ask, “How can that be in this day and age?”   While there is still somewhat of an equality imbalance and the stereotypical “suits rule” remains imbedded in the social psyche (think “Mad Men”) isn’t there at least a crack in the glass ceiling by now?    Not shattered, not gone, but a definite crack should be felt.    Women still have to prove themselves capable and work harder, put up with more b.s. and no matter how good they do their job are still made to feel less than their male counterparts.     The book ends with the hope that by the time the daughters of the current female CEOs come of age the stories they tell them of what they had to endure will sound like something so foreign they just might not believe them.    Very well written.   This book gives you insight into just how difficult and how much of an uphill battle women still struggle as suffragettes in the board rooms across the world.    

Works Well With Others

Works Well With Others: An outsider's guide to shaking hands, shutting up, handling jerks and other crucial skills in business that no one ever teaches you by Ross McCammon.  254 pages.

This book is written by a senior editor at Esquire magazine, and focuses on business etiquette.  Chapters include: How to be interviewed, How to have a first day on the job, How to smile, and more.

Okay, I was expecting a little more business from this book.  McCammon's writing style is humorous, but I felt like the tips here would apply to young men under 30.  At least, most of it felt like that.   I had seen the title and was curious.   After all, it could be helpful to read some new insights into business/work interactions.   However, I felt like personally, this wasn't aimed at me.   With a background in the business world, I felt like I had a good handle on many of the things covered here.   But, if you're starting out in a new career, you could find some helpful tips here.  This is the kind of book I'd hand out to my cousin's son who's just entering the workforce.

I will point out that I took some notes on the chapter called "How to Work With Someone Who Clearly Resents You."   Not that I'm saying anything about the people I work with, but he had some good advice here (which I'll keep in my back pocket, just in case).

Users, Not Customers

Users, Not Customers: Who Really Determines the Success of Your Business by Aaron Shapiro, 243 pages

In Users, Not Customers, Shapiro turns our focus to the digital users of a business rather than the tried-and-true customers. Shapiro argues that users--here defined as digital followers or users of websites, with an emphasis on "digital--are the key to creating a successful business, and outlines the ways in which a company can capitalize on this segment.

While Shapiro makes some excellent points about website usability and rolling out tech innovations at the right time (it does your company no good to be first to market with something if it's riddled with bugs or if the supporting tech isn't yet ubiquitous), a lot of what he says may be difficult for a small company to implement. Paradoxically, it also sounds difficult for well-established brick-and-mortar businesses to make the switch to user-centric design without some major cash going into it. There's a lot to be gleaned from this book, though I don't know that many companies can use all of it, at least not all at once. It's worth a read though, if your business is in the market for a digital overhaul.

The Mesh

The Mesh: Why the Future of Business is Sharing by Lisa Gansky, 242 pages

Netflix, Airbnb, Zipcar... all of these businesses are based on the idea of people sharing or renting resources instead of purchasing them. And that's what The Mesh is all about. Gansky discusses the many ways in which our world is changing to be more suited to rentals and sharing rather than purchasing: the economy in the recent years, the collapse of big businesses, the continuing strain on the environment... according to Gansky, these have all primed us for Mesh businesses, which are transparent, feature goods that are built to last (or be upgraded), and are shareable.

Gansky does a great job of presenting her arguments, using real-life examples to back up her claims. Are some of her ideas a little dubious? Yes. (Especially the one that suggests that Walmart create a share club that will let people turn in their used goods for a discount on an upgrade; the used goods would then be sold to others. Somehow I don't see the Walton family going for that.) But that doesn't mean the overlying theory isn't solid. I mean, look at the library. This is the original Mesh business, albeit one that's not based on making money. So really, this book could be summed up as taking a library mentality and applying it to money-making businesses. A pretty cool concept if you ask me.

Note: the last 60 pages or so of this book are a Mesh directory, with sections on different types of industries, and information about Mesh businesses that fit into those categories. It's really cool, and I definitely plan on investigating some of these businesses in the future.

On Message

On Message: How A Compelling Narrative Will Make Your Organization Succeed by Zach Friend, 176 pages

In On Message, Friend, a former Obama campaign spokesman, offers up some tips on creating a good brand and marketing campaign. As can be expected, he illustrates his points about narratives and branding with examples from Obama's 2008 and 2012 campaigns; however, he also discusses brands with a cult following, including Apple, Starbucks, Nike, and Southwest Airlines.

Friend's book is easy to read and understand, with clear language and examples. I found very little to disagree with, which was a first for my last several months of delving into business books for the Business Reads book group. What makes this appealing, however, is that a lot of what Friend suggests can be done at any price point, and on any scale, from an individual promoting him or herself to a global corporation trying to recover from a controversy. Well worth the short amount of time it will take to read it.

Eat People

Eat People: And Other Unapologetic Rules for Game-Changing Entrepreneurs by Andy Kessler, 253 pages

Before I start, THIS IS NOT A COOKBOOK!

For once, this is a business book that lives up to its title. In Eat People, Kessler leaves any notion of political correctness at the door and offers up some suggestions on how entrepreneurs can launch themselves into the stratosphere of big business, such as creating a business that cuts out people, carving out a horizontal slice of the market instead of going vertical (for example, creating a better widget that makes the big machine run more efficiently rather than just building a whole new machine), and figuring out a way to make something cost less to make more money. Along the way, he gives lots of great real-life examples, some dating back 150 years, some dating from last year.

There were a lot of things I agreed with in this book, but when I disagreed with the author, wow, I REALLY disagreed with him (he seemed to throw around stereotypes WAY too much). I appreciated Kessler's candor, snark, and laid-back writing style, though at times I wanted him to throw some research at me; too often, he would give a number (say, "eight out of ten" or something like that) and would give no indication of where he came up with it. I also didn't really like the way he kept name-dropping. Yes, every business book will have some quotes or information from moguls/superstar innovators, but Kessler made a point to refer to them as his friends. Not necessary.

I honestly don't know if I'll recommend this one to anyone, though that's as much because of the people at who it's aimed as anything else. Most of the people who come to me looking for business books are looking to start a business, not take it global, and it's the latter to whom this seemed written. Should make for an interesting discussion at the Business Reads book club tomorrow though!

Mash-up!

Mash-up! How to Use Your Multiple Skills to Give You an Edge, Make Money, and Be Happier by Ian Sanders and David Sloly, 246 pages

In this book, Sanders and Sloly argue that the way businesses run today, people need to have versatile skills, allowing them to switch gears and become experts in fields that vary widely. For example, one of the authors is a business consultant and a hypnotherapist, as well as an author and lecturer. Throughout this quick read, the authors present different ways to branch out into new fields without dropping current jobs or projects, as well as ways to market yourself as someone who specializes in multiple fields. Along the way, they introduce the reader to several "mashers" who are juggling multiple jobs at once.

This is certainly intriguing, and they're definitely right that versatile skills are important in today's business world. And maybe I'm just looking at this from a librarian's perspective (that is, from the perspective of someone who learns something new every day and gets to work on a variety of projects throughout the day, week, and year), but I think they're a bit narrow-minded to say that the best way to "mash" is to have different jobs and job titles at the same time. There's definitely a bit of a sneer when it comes to the idea of someone staying in the same job, or same type of job, for years and years; while I'm fairly new to the librarian game, I'm guessing that new projects and skills are somewhat of a requirement if you want to stay in a field for any length of time. Sanders and Sloly's ideas of "mashing" seem a bit more suited to those who simply can't settle down, or just haven't found a job they love.

That said, this book will definitely appeal to and be useful to entrepreneurs, freelancers, and others who like the idea of a hyphenate life. It also has some pretty cool ideas that can be applied to those of us who are good with just the one job title, especially their system of ranking the various qualities of a project/job (On a scale of 1-10, how much do you love it? How annoying are the people you work for and with? Are you getting enough out of it financially? etc.) Like I said before, it's a quick read, and as long as you can get past their Britishisms (Whilst? Seriously?), it's worth a skim.

The Lemonade Stand

The Lemonade Stand: What Every Entrepreneur Should Know to Succeed in Starting and Running Any Business by Ara Bagdasarian and Nick Gustavsson, 192 pages

This is the March Business Reads book, and focuses on entrepreneurs and starting small businesses. As in other business books, the authors offer up a list of principles for their "Lemonade Stand" method; what makes this one different is that Bagdasarian and Gustavsson have some fairly unorthodox principles, including forgetting about a business plan and investors, and not setting out to compete. When they explain themselves, these actually make sense, especially for someone with a small business in mind (they often use the example of someone starting a lawn-care business or car wash). There's also a LOT of emphasis on optimism and learning from problems, which are probably pretty good ideals for everyone, not just entrepreneurs.

What I didn't particularly like about this book was the fact that they pushed the "lemons into lemonade" analogy a little too hard; it got annoying pretty quickly. It's not a bad metaphor to use, but it gets old quickly. I wish they'd introduced the idea at the beginning and maybe touched on it again toward the end rather than referring to problems as "lemons that must be squeezed" on nearly every page of the book.

On the whole, however, this was an easy-to-read book with some good ideas. Anyone thinking of starting a business would probably appreciate some of what the authors are trying to say.

Think Twice

Think Twice: Harnessing the Power of Counterintuition by Michael J. Mauboussin, 190 pages

Everybody makes hundreds of little decisions every day, and a lot of times everything pans out just fine, whether the decisions are good or bad. But sometimes there are big decisions, with major consequences. In Think Twice, Mauboussin urges us to look at these big decisions in ways that are against our natural instincts. Don't think that just because someone has been winning it's safe to bet on them winning again; nor is it necessarily a good idea to ditch a stock of a company that's performing poorly.

Unlike most business books, Mauboussin avoids offering up a formula of how to succeed. Instead, he focuses on critical thinking, often times illustrating his points with non-business situations, including sports and psychological studies. Occasionally, he veers a bit too far toward the academic, but in general, Mauboussin offers up an engaging read. Fans of Malcolm Gladwell (who is cited several times in this book) will appreciate this one.