Monday, June 02, 2008

Seth Godin - one more time

I read Seth Godin after a loong time and got these two things that kinda made me sit up. First was about Danny DeVito where he says

"(number of people resembling George Clooney)/(jobs for people resembling George Clooney) is a much bigger number than the ratio available to Danny. For the math challenged: Because everyone in Hollywood is trying to be George, there are a lot more opportunities for the few Dannys willing to show up.

Invest in Danny. The edges usually pay off."

That was so like me! I am an engineer in the development sector and I guess people in the UN and now in PwC hired me for the diversity - 'the edge' that Seth talks about.

Next he kind of self-promotes business books. But the following holds good for any book. Simply put if u dont act all u read is pretty much brain candy that might make u look smart in cocktail convos. Nothing more ( and nothing less!)

"So, how to read a business book:

1. Decide, before you start, that you’re going to change three things about what you do all day at work. Then, as you’re reading, find the three things and do it. The goal of the reading, then, isn’t to persuade you to change, it’s to help you choose what to change.

2. If you’re going to invest a valuable asset (like time), go ahead and make it productive. Use a postit or two, or some index cards or a highlighter. Not to write down stuff so you can forget it later, but to create marching orders. It’s simple: if three weeks go by and you haven’t taken action on what you’ve written down, you wasted your time.

3. It’s not about you, it’s about the next person. The single best use of a business book is to help someone else. Sharing what you read, handing the book to a person who needs it... pushing those around you to get in sync and to take action--that’s the main reason it’s a book, not a video or a seminar. A book is a souvenir and a container and a motivator and an easily leveraged tool. Hoarding books makes them worth less, not more."