What a New Book Says about e-Mail

Since you are taking a break from your e-mail right now to read this post, I thought you might be interested in a new book by John Freeman entitled The Tyranny of e-Mail (Scribner, 2009).   My plans are to feature this book at our January First Friday Book Synopsis.

The premise of this book is that unlike the phrase that rings for every AOL user, “you’ve got mail, ” e-Mail actually has you.  Freeman explains that contrary to popular belief, e-Mail has not brought us closer together.  Recipients misread and misunderstand large numbers of e-Mail.

In his book, Freeman suggests that e-Mail is at fault for a number of maladies, including difficulty concentrating, trouble maintaining depth in relationships with friends and loved ones, problems feeling rushed, and several others.

I think that his suggestion not to quit is a wise one.  Rather, learn to manage e-Mail so that it does not manage you.  Send fewer of them.  Reply only when you feel that you have to.  Check them on your terms and schedule.  Don’t visit your box excessively during the day.

I look forward to delivering a synopsis of this provacative book in January at our Dallas-based program.  Until then, let’s talk about what you think! 

Seth Godin’s 2005 Book is Still Amazing!

 

We all have so many books to learn from, but I hope you had a chance to read Seth Godin’s book, All Marketers are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World (Portfolio, 2005).  Only four years old, this book is on its way to becoming an “instant classic.”

The book does an outstanding job of explaining how successful marketing is actually a product of consumer lies and stories that they perpetuate among themselves. The key successful step for a marketer is to find a worldview that affects the product or service that you want to sell, and then frame every story in ways that are consistent with that worldview. That is what gets the story told and heard. Consumers notice what is new and different, and frequently make snap judgments that they resist changing.

It is a highly entertaining book, filled with practical information, and framed in a new way!

We have a synopsis available at http://www.15MinuteBusinessBooks.com.

Have you read this one yet?  Tell me what you think!

Before We See Foreclosure Signs on Book Retailers…

Before we post foreclosure signs outside of book retailers such as Barnes & Noble, Borders, Half-Price Books, and others, because everyone purchases books and downloads them on devices such as Kindle, let’s talk about what these retailers really are.

Yes, they sell books.  But, any cursory glance at a visit to these stores will tell you that customers are there for many reasons.  They are there for an experience.  Last night, at a prominent store of this type, I walked in and found it packed.  Patrons filled cafe tables, drinking, eating and chatting.  People were on sofas chatting.  As I kept walking, I found people listening to CD’s in the music section, conducting business near the magazine section, browsing through gift items near the cash registers, listening to stories in the children’s section, and of course, perusing book aisles.

Any trip to these stores will confirm the notion that these are places that offer experiences, not sell books.  Predictions were wrong that Amazon.com would put these stores out of business.  It didn’t happen.  Predictions will be wrong that devices such as Kindle will do the same. 

The reason is very simple.  These stores have amply diversified beyond any one product type or line.  There is much more to them than books.  In fact, they are much less of “bookstores” than Starbucks is a “coffee shop.”   As Joseph Pine and James Gilmore argued in The Experience Economy, they have evolved into places where people can go for a fulfilling experience.  

While sales have slipped, a CNN Money report indicates that they have done so less than expected, and in fact, no more so than other types of retailers who have felt the brunt of a shaky economy. 

Don’t think for a minute that people do not like to get out and relish in experiences.  If that is the case, then we would have lost every retail mall once online shopping became available.  There are plenty of people who will download books to devices such as Kindle, and among them, many who will curl up in their recliner and read their books that way.  But, there are also many of them who will do that and also find their way into retail outlets that stock and sell books.

Perhaps if a retailer only sells books, it will be in trouble.  But, not in any more trouble than any other kind of retailer who puts total emphasis upon one product type.  That is not what these retailers are doing.  They sell books, but offer experiences.  And that is why an electronic device will not shut them down.

Do you disagree?  Let’s talk about it.

One More Reason that Kindle Won’t Erase Traditional Books

Much excitement exists about the future of digital books that we will be able to access on devices such as Kindle.  Some traditions, however, have no chance of  being part of that digital framework, and remain as reasons that traditional books will simply not go away.

One of these is an author’s book signing.  Avid readers who are fans of popular authors look forward to the date and time when they can see him or her in person and obtain a personal autograph.  Publishers relish the great publicity that these signings produce.  Many authors post upcoming cities, locations, dates, and times on their web sites.  See, for example, the web site for the popular fiction author, Stuart Woods.  In some cases, readers join lines that are doubled around a building, waiting patiently for the personal reward resulting from this experience.

How a book signing using a device such as Kindle would work is comical.  Can you imagine a reader shoving his or her Kindle in front of the author, and then, obtaining a digital signature with an electronic pen?  Or, maybe the author sends the reader a digital signature in a .jpg file so the reader can insert it.  Or, maybe the reader can purchase the signature for an extra charge at the time he or she purchases and downloads the book.  Such a signature is worth about as much emotionally and intellectually as the fradulent autographs that appear on some sports memorabila. 

What an awakening this item must be to anyone who is ready to bury traditional books.   Along with traditional books come traditional practices, and this one of many factors that I believe will keep traditional books alive.    What do you think?

Is all the business world a field or court?

A quick stroll through the business section of a bookstore or a search through the management section of an on-line retailer will quickly reveal the plethora of  titles available from sports figures.  Working from the analogy that the activities inherent around a basketball court, a football field, or a baseball diamond simulate the activities in the workplace, many current and former athletes and coaches have penned treatises teaching us how to be successful on the job.   Topics for these books include leadership, management, motivation, teamwork, self-improvement, finance, and others.

A great recent example of this is the book by John Wooden that we featured at the First Friday Book Synopsis and that you can purchase at 15MinuteBusinessBooks.com.   This book is also accompanied by videos, manuals, and training courses.  No one can question Wooden’s success as a repetitive NCAA champion head basketball coach at UCLA.   You could say the same thing about practically any of these authors.  After all, who would read a book from a loser?  I learned a long time ago in attending conventions of the National Speakers Association, that if you want to be successful in the business, follow the path of a successful speaker, not a failure. 

Here are some others:

Rick Pitino – head basketball coach at the University of Louisville:  Success Is a Choice: Ten Steps to Overachieving in Business and Life 

Fran Tarkenton – former NFL quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants:  What Losing Taught Me About Winning: The Ultimate Guide for Success in Small and Home-Based Business

Mike Ditka – former NFL head coach for the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints:  In Life, First You Kick Ass: Reflections on the 1985 Bears and Wisdom from Da Coach

The assumption behind all of these books is that the activities and best practices which yielded success for these authors in sports are relevant and applicable to what we do at work.  Therefore, a manager can use the techniques that a head coach uses, employees are players, competitors are opponents, strategies are plays, pilots or rollouts are practices, groups should become teams, and so forth.  We can use terms and phrases such as, “she struck out today,” “this looks like a home run,” “he’s our quarterback,” and “we’re in a sand trap.”  You get the point.

I think that there is some legitimacy to this, although I can tell you that in teaching my MBA courses at the University of Dallas, students are tiring of the sports analogy in business, particularly for teamwork.  You may remember the series of silly commercials from American Express a few years ago entitled “Great Moments in Business,” where employees piled up on each other in a room after a successful presentation, and high-fived each other as if they had just won a World Series after a closed sale.

If you believe that the principles that motivate human beings are the same, no matter what the context, then you would have no problem with what these books try to do.   Who would not advocate “practice” before performance, whether that is a presentation, a draft of a document or e-mail, or a pilot program prior to a national product introduction?   The same principles and behaviors that qualify a group of people as a team on the court or field should apply on the job.  Consider trust, which is a necessary, but not a sufficient condition for teamwork.  Without trust, there is no team, no matter where it is.   We don’t have to talk about money -  that’s an issue in the business of sports as much as the business of business.  Some have a lot, and some don’t have enough.  Some even go out of existence, such as the recent announcement that the 20-year Arena Football League will cease operations.  Some look for outside buoyance.  The Federal Government keeps General Motors alive.  Major League Baseball did the same for the Montreal Expos before moving them to Washington, D.C.   Every sports franchise is as much of a business as a firm on Wall Street, or anywhere else.

And, managers and employees can go through all the motions of strategic planning, just like coaches and players study a playbook, diagram motions, and run through plays on the practice field or court, only to learn that when they face a competitor, it is considerably different.   Rarely is there a situation where the presence of an opponent is the not the cause of substantial modifications in strategy, and the possibility of failure. 

Remember when George Will told us that baseball players are not the “boys of summer,” but rather, “Men at Work.”  He argued that baseball managers, just as business managers, examine a set of complex variables in making decisions.  And, that players perfect their skills on the diamond in ways that go well beyond how employees do the same in the workplace.

In conclusion, advice from sports personalities about business is probably no worse than the lessons we can read about based upon Abraham Lincoln, Jesus Christ, Machiavelli, or General Robert E. Lee.   Like many of these sports personalities, they didn’t run or work for any of today’s companies, but authors have used their best practices to show us how to work better in our jobs. 

Is all the business world a field or a court?  Perhaps no worse than a stage.  No matter how we do it, we all have to perform.  The question is simply what resources we want to use to guide us to success. 

Let’s talk about it.  What do you think?

In Pursuit of Elegance – What about the Enthymeme?

My book for July, 2009 at the First Friday Book Synopsis is In Pursuit of Elegance: Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing by Matthew May.

The book covers many areas and numberous examples of the power of the missing element. To quote the author, “The full power of elegance is achieved when the maximum impact is exacted with the minimum input” (p. 6).

I find it surprising that the author does not include a chapter on Elegance in Argument. Some of the most powerful arguments are those that fail to include all of its components, leaving it to the recipient to fill in the blanks.

This type of argument is called an enthymeme. Popularized by Aristotle in ancient Greece, the enthymeme is a syllogism with an implied premise. You are well aware of the famous syllogism: “All men are mortal; Socrates is a man; therefore, Socrates is mortal.”

When the premise is implied rather than provided, the argument becomes an enthymeme. Here are two you likely remember from recent advertising:

“This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?” (The Partnership for a Drug-Free America)

“Want him to be more of a man? Try being more of a woman!” (advertising slogan for Coty perfume)

Therefore, in an enthymeme, the speaker builds an argument with one element removed, leading listeners to fill in the missing piece. Listen to how Paul Waldman in the Washington Post, September, 2003 illustrated this well: “On May 1, speaking from the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, President Bush said, ‘The battle of Iraq is one victory in a war on terror that began on September the 11th, 2001, and still goes on. . . . With those attacks, the terrorists and their supporters declared war on the United States. And war is what they got.’ This is classic enthymematic argumentation: We were attacked on Sept. 11, so we went to war against Iraq. The missing piece of the argument–’Saddam was involved in 9/11′–didn’t have to be said aloud for those listening to assimilate its message.”

In his book, May explains why what is not there often trumps what is. It is unfortunate that he does not extend his case to introduce the enthymeme to his readers.

Remember that one of the most powerful effects of persuasion is when the recipient believes that your idea is his or hers, or when he or she reaches a conclusion that you want, without your own input. The enthymeme is a powerful and elegant tool to do exactly that.

What do you think? Let’s talk about it!

Randy’s Table is Ambitious – and Correct!

I hope you had the chance to read the recent blog by Randy Mayeux, in which he inserted a table of topics and issues, correlated with best-selling business titles.   The title included “strategic plan” and you can find it quickly by clicking here, or by going to “Randy’s blog entries” under Categories on the main blog page on this site.

You should find that table very useful in selecting business books to learn and share information about for each topic on the job with your colleagues and direct reports.  This was an ambitious undertaking.  As Randy writes, a strategic plan for how to discover what to read and how to incorporate what you read is absolutely the right thing to do.  Working from a plan makes the time that you invest in finding and reading these books worthwhile.  You will find that we have prepared synopses of many of these books on our 15MinuteBusinessBooks.com site.

Classifying books by subject matter is a difficult task.  It is particularly challenging when someone asks, “what is The Outliers about?”  Most books are about so many things that it is hard to say.  Even Amazon.com does not do well at classifying books.  For example, my own book, Organizing Change, is sold there under team building, when in fact, there is scarcely any mention of teams from cover to cover.

Our pledge is to build upon the table that Randy started and make an honest attempt to give you an accurate classification of every book that we have presented at the First Friday Book Synopsis.  We will publish that table on our FirstFridayBookSynopsis.com site.  How will we know what goes where?  It will take some sweat, some arguments between us, and maybe some luck or divine intervention.

But, at least we are starting from the right place. We read every one of  them!

Business Books as Teaching Tools – On the Bandwagon!

I find increasing interest among professors in schools of business to use popular and professional business books as required and optional texts in their courses.   I have required Jim Collins’ Good-to-Great in my Human Behavior in Organizations course, and over the years, have required other books, and have had many students provide oral reports and written synopses of popular titles.  Some business professors have required students to purchase our recorded synopses from 15MinuteBusinessBooks.com. 

What role do these books play in a course?  First, they augment textbooks that are filled with principles, variables, and concepts with real-world applications and experiences that the authors share.  Second, they provide subjective viewpoints on issues that textbooks must treat in an objective manner.  Third, they provide depth with corporate and industry-specific treatments of topics that textbooks must only cover in a general sense. 

Consider some of the recent books at our First Friday Book Synopsis that are candidates for a business course.  Why not Ask For It in a Negotiation course?  How about Me to We for a Projects and Teams course?   Would you consider The World is Flat for a Global Business course?  If the course is entreprenurship, then Young Guns would be an excellent complement. 

No, these are not academic titles.   But that is exactly why they are so valuable in an academic course.  They are different.  They are written by and for professionals.   Remember that many students in business courses are already in business!  While they are students, they are also professionals.  This genre of literature is highly appropriate.

How refreshing it is when students do not “have” to read a book, but instead, “want” to read one.  There is a significant difference in drive, motivation, and intensity for the latter.  I don’t know too many people who look forward to reading a textbook.  But, put a best-seller in their hands, or a synopsis of the book in their headphones, and there is new light and a very different perspective. 

In the near future, I will host a forum on this site with several business professors to discuss this issue.  Look for the participants, along with the date and time in an upcoming e-mail.

Why Kindle Won’t Win: Books are Symbols!

Let’s wait just a few moments before we christen Kindle as the force that did away with traditional books. Although this technology will continue to add available titles, and as sales for the product through Amazon.com will continue to rise, the chances that it will eliminate books with hard covers, paper, jackets, and traditional marking devices are simply not too high.

I believe that one reason for this is that books are symbols. Books on Kindle cannot be symbols. First, books do not have to be read to serve as a symbol. Many people fill the shelves in their homes and offices with books that they have never read in order to symbolize their interest in, or affilitation with, a particular subject. A great example of this is Peter Senge’s “The Fifth Discipline,” which is a terrific-looking book on any shelf, but one that many people profess to have never read. If I want to show visitors to my home or office that management is important to me, there is no better way than to display many books on the subject. The same is true for deep-sea fishing, religion, cooking, or anything else. The display of books symbolizes one’s purported interest or expertise in a given topic. I’m sorry, but you can’t do that the same way with Kindle.

Second, carrying books symbolizes an active approach to life. When I see someone with a book, I know that he or she always has something to do. The book serves as an avenue to fill unfilled time, such as waiting for an appointment, riding to a destination, sitting before a presentation begins, or waiting for co-workers to arrive back in a meeting after a break. The book is a symbol that this person values time and makes the most of the time available to him or her. It’s not the same with Kindle.

Third, and finally, books are symbols because they represent another part of life for the person who carries them. Books are escapes. Novels such as John Grisham’s “The Associate” or non-fiction works such as Jim Collins’ “Good to Great” take the reader out of the here-and-now and to a place that allows him or her to get away.

You may have more difficulty seeing why can’t books on Kindle cannot fulfill my second and third reasons. It is simple. They are perceptual, not actual. Strange as it seems, there are people who carry around books so that others will notice them doing so. They have not read, nor have any intention of reading the book they carry. Do you really believe that EVERYONE who carries the Holy Bible does so because it is a source of inspiration for them whenever they have a chance to glance at it? Surely that is true for some, maybe even many – but true for everyone? Hardly.

Books are symbols. People ask “what are you reading?” “How do you like that book?” Or, walking into your study, they say, “I see you enjoy birdwatching.” Those comments are not going to come about with Kindle.

Traditional books will continue to sell – and sell well, because to many people, they are symbols. Am I right? Let’s talk about it!

Are Harvard Business School Publications Biased Toward Their Own?

The Harvard Business School publications are of high quality and have served the professional and academic community well for many years. These include the Harvard Business Review, Harvard Management Update, Negotiation, and others.

A cursory look at these publications reveals an interesting result, namely, that many articles that appear within their pages are pared down summaries and excerpts from their own Harvard Business School Press books. In addition, many of the quotes from experts that are referenced in the articles are from their own publications.

We have delivered many books published by the Harvard Business School Press at the First Friday Book Synopsis. Indeed, they continue to provide numerous best-sellers on the active lists from which we draw our presentations.

While I am sure that if we questioned the editors, we would be told that “we take the best that we get,” I have to be amused that the bias is obviously to look internally first.

Maybe that is the best – but what about the rest? And, would you do the same thing? Let’s talk about it.