In general, I think I’ve been reading too much of the same kind of book. And it’s starting to be a little repetitive; I’m not getting enough new ideas from them. However it’s my birthday next month (May 4th) and the best thing anyone could get me is a Kindle book, especially if it’s something weird or unexpected that I can learn something new from!
I really liked Enchantment (Amazon). It’s in many ways a collection of ways to be likeable – both online and offline. I must now endeavor is to be enchanting! Some good observations about what is (and isn’t) enchanting online, too much self-promotion would be the biggest example of not-enchanting. And offline, I enjoyed the instructions for the perfect handshake and how to dress (equally to the people you’re meeting). I love the default to yes attitude when meeting people. Response to email is something that is enchanting, apparently, which I’ve heard elsewhere too. Must continue to work on that…
The cartoons alone in Evil Plans: Having Fun on the Road to World Domination (Amazon) make the book worth reading. There’s also some funny stories and it’s very short. But, I can’t help feeling that it’s another one of those books that’s essentially “people keep asking me how I make a living in an unconventional way so I wrote a book about it” – of which I’ve read too many of late. They all seem to come down to the same thing, which Guy captures in Enchantment, being enchanting online. And working really, really hard.
Confession: I have not finished Make Work Great (Amazon). I’m about half-way through and have started reading other non-fiction books (typically I limit myself to one physical book, one non-fiction kindle book, and one fiction kindle book on the go at one time). I’m just bored by it. I think there’s some good stuff here, but one of those where I think everything could be contained in one good-sized blog post. Perhaps this is because my workplace is already really great! The one big takeaway for me so far is the idea of “overtness about task”, which I do think is really helpful. It’s about being transparent about what you’re doing, why, the impact it will have, what it requires, how long it takes, and what you’re capable of.