Tedded - Business Book Review

It has been seven months since I started reviewing business books with my rating method. Personally, I think it’s successful not because there are numerous people reading my blog but by the impact I had on, even on a few, people. I have great and valuable comments in my blog and the helpfulness rating in Amazon.com is not bad at around 80% albeit very few people rated them.

I will make an analysis on the 20 books I’ve reviewed so far.

(disclaimer: this analysis is based solely on my personal reviews and it has no scientific or academic data to support it.)

EoU - Ease of Understanding

Dist - Distinction

Prac - Practicality

Cred - Credibility

Ins - Insight

RE - Reading Experience

…..

The highest rating out of 20 books is “Winning” by Jack and Suzy Welch at 8.0/10. However, I reviewed this book years after I read it and it might not be fair to other book. Thus, the runner-up is “Business Stripped Bare” by Richard Branson at 7.8/10. The lowest score is “Six Disciplines Execution Revolution” by Gary Harpst followed by “Tribes” by Seth Godin.

On the average scores of each attribute, “Ease of Understanding” has the highest at 7.75 not that I am intelligent but because nowadays, books need to capture broader market and they need to be easy to read since readers seem to have less patience nowadays. The lowest average score is “Practicality.” I believe that authors do not want to write their books like Dummy’s guide to … but sometimes it would help the readers if the authors really do focus on what can the readers do after reading.

There is no obvious correlation between each attribute. However, the “Read Experience” seems to be the most probable determinant of the overall book rating probably reading experience is an instillation of every dimension of the books.

Ease of Understanding:

Highest: “Reality Check” by Guy Kawasaki (9), “The Ten Commandments for Business Failure” by Donald Keough (9), and “Tuned In” by Craig Stull, Phil Myers, and David Meerman Scott(9)

Lowest: “The Brand Bubble” by John Gerzema and Ed Lebar (5)

The determinant of the Ease of Understanding comes from the structure of the book and how different parts of the book are woven together. The notable attribute of “Reality Check” is its structure and bullet points writing style. “The Ten Commandments for Business Failure” is written casually and every point is easy to grasp. “Tuned In” has the most obvious step-by-step structure with nice stories. On the other hand, “The Brand Bubble” tried to put lots of things into the mix and each point of the book is not in sync.

Distinction:

Highest: “Influence” by Robert Cialdini (9), “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell (9), and “The Future of Management” by Gary Hamel (9).

Lowest: “Six Disciplines Execution Revolution” by Gary Harpst (2)

Distinction comes from how the author and the book looks at something from a unique perspective. It takes a careful but courageous creativity to look at the same things differently. “Influence” looks at sales from the perspective of deep psychology with astounding findings. “Outliers” look at success in a way people rarely thought about, Opportunity and Legacy. “The Future of Management” sees management from a genuine vantage and analogy. The lowest score is “Six Disciplines Execution Revolution”; the word revolution is a deadly overstatement. It is like a university textbook, but worse.

Practicality:

Highest: “Who” by Geoff Smart and Randy Street (9), and “Winning” by Jack and Suzy Welch (8).

Lowest: “Tribes” by Seth Godin (1)

Practicality is difficult to achieve by a book but “Who” did a great job by elaborating a step by step guide on recruitment. It covers essential things and tell you exactly how to implement. “Winning” is another great example; the one you will hear Jack Welch screamed “DO THIS, DO THAT.” Most books do not focus on actions and “Tribes” is not a very good example. The book does not tell readers to do anything. It only tells you some stories and hope you find your own way, if there is any.

Credibility:

Highest: “Winning” by Jack and Suzy Welch (10), and “Business Stripped Bare” by Richard Branson (10)

Lowest: “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell (2)

It does help if you write something you are really good at. Jack Welch is arguably the CEO of the 20^st century and Richard Branson is one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs. You can have high credibility with other people’s researches but the best proof is when you can do it yourself, then, you can expect others to believe you. Although “Outliers” views the world from a different angle, it fails to convince the world. There are lots of things that Malcolm Gladwell did not cover and it is hard to believe picking few examples and write rules around them.

Insight:

Highest: “Influence” by Robert Cialdini (9), and “The Brand Bubble” by John Gerzema (9)

Lowest: “Tribes” by Seth Godin (4), and “The Little Book of Bull Moves in the Bear Markets” by Peter Schiff (4).

Taking too many researches from other people might not build your credibility but they pack your book with interesting findings. “The Brand Bubble” is not the best written book but the amount of work and effort of the authors to write about lots of deep stuffs is insightful and we learn a lot from it. Likewise, “Influence” has a (very) long list of references and you can talk about the stories in the book all day. On the other hand, you should not write things based solely on your opinion. “Tribes” by Seth Godin is very shallow and “The Little Book of Bull Moves in the Bear Markets” has very little insight, just speculations.

Reading Experience:

Highest: “Reality Check” by Guy Kawasaki (10), and “Business Stripped Bare” by Richard Branson (10).

Lowest: “Influence” by Robert Cialdini (2), and “Six Disciplines Execution Revolution” by Gary Harpst (3).

“Reality Check” is very humorous and funny while “Business Stripped Bare” is exciting and adventurous. They are the books with emotions and they even entertain the readers. “Execution Revolution” by Gary Harpst did the opposite. It lacks emotion, dull, and boring. It is like a summary of a textbook. On the other hand, you should not reinforce a negative emotion from readers like “Influence.” Read my review for the details but all in all, you should not piss off the readers!

…

All in all, although I have no experience or knowledge to write a book, I come up with an easy guideline to write a better book from a reader’s point of view.

DOs;

- Write a book with a concise structure in plain language

- Look at the subject from a different point of view

- Tell readers what they have to do

- Write something you are truly good at

- Do research, and do some more

- Put feelings and emotions into the book

DONTs:

- Don’t write simple stuff with a rocket-scientifically complicated theory with a mess up structure

- Don’t try to write a textbook (there are a lot of them already)

- Don’t write what you know just to show off; tell people what to do

- Don’t think readers are thick; don’t think they will always believe you

- Don’t base everything solely on your own opinion

- Tell a story, or a journey…. Don’t just write a book

I’ve started a new life. Simply put, it’s a new career life. That’s why I’ve stopped writing for quite a while; I was stunned.

I never thought that life in a big organisation is very different from as an entrepreneur. It’s a big change; and it’s a big leap.

I’ll get into details later on how I cope with it. However, I’ll tell you the first impression.

Adaptability

Only the strongest will survive. And the strongest is always the one who is the most adaptable. In my previous company, I was a business developer. I was overwhelmed with the urge to create, the urge to invent. It has been fun. Now, things are different. I cannot solely do the strategic thinking and imagination. Now, everything is in my hands.

How am I adapting?

I forget

I did not forget my strengths. I did not forget my principles. I did not forget my past. I did not forget my belief.

I forget the curse. The curse of knowledge.

I realised that what I knew that worked might not work anymore. What I thought is correct might not be correct anymore. I realised that “I am right” in one place is not going to be “I am right” in another place.

I learn

I learn to adjust to the new working environment. In the past, I was surrounded with people with degrees. Now, I am with people with less education background. I learn that education means nothing without passion. I learn that people with less education background with higher passion are more productive. I am learning the new way of business. It’s intriguing.

From my point of view

Adapt = Forget + Learn

Why coackroaches have been in this world longer than dinosaurs and possibly human beings?

They have no ego, no ambition, and no arrogance. They have always been willing to “adapt”. They forgot dinosaurs, they learnt how to live with homosepiens. I’m not saying that we should not have ego, ambition, or arrogance (confidence) but we need to keep them under control.

T-Rex might be physically stronger than a cockroach. But a cockroach adapts better. It lives on.

Human beings are smarter than coackroaches (by a million lightyear) but cockroaches will still be able to adapt better.

…

Forget

and learn

…

Life’s too short; don’t be afraid of change. Embrace it. Good luck to you all.

“And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.”

Thank you Barack Obama, the world welcomes you.

(This article by William Kole honestly reflects our feeling)

“When everything is said and done, a lot more is said, than done.” Lou Holtz

Today is the day not only American awaits but the entire world.

I have been a strong supporter of Barack Obama (from this side of the world)

I have two personal stories to share…

Earlier this year (probably February) I went to the United States, Florida, to Orlando to be specific. On my transit at Tampa (I’m not 100% sure, it was a transit from L.A. to Orlando). I met an American lady whom I forgot the name.

I watched the news of the primary in the pub, I sat next to this lady, drinking beer, a budweiser. She greeted me, I greeted back, we talked a bit about traveling and I asked her about politics.

She had not got a clue, she clearly didn’t follow politics and was neither a Republican or a Democrat.

I thought I did well that day convincing her to think about Barack Obama. She said something like “He must be good” (to make a world’s citizen from the other side of the planet speak strongly and positively about him).

Another incident was only last week where I met a black guy in front of the nightclub spot in Bangkok having an instant noodle; I was having one as well nearby.

I asked him “Have a good night out?”

He replied: “Yes” with a smile back

I asked “You’re an American?” I noticed from an American accent

We talked for a bit and we talked about Barack Obama

He said “He will be great for Americans.”

I said “No,”

He then said “Yes, to the world.”

…

I hope he wins today (as the polls show).

I hope he delivers to the world as he promised.

This is just the end of the beginning.

When a blogger starts a blog, the first post (in some cases, many more than the first, my previous one for instance!) is talking to yourself

Uncool

So be it

Purpose:
As long as there are knowledge and people in this world, there are going to be talent in people and enterprises of people.

“Tedded” cherishes this notion

Isn’t it cool if more people are talented and collaborating with one another in the network within and across enterprises. And Tedded will strive for that

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I know you’re thinking “yea right”

(hang head in shame)