What The Dog Saw

Malcolm Gladwell took a ride with me to Phoenix. I'm a big fan. Started with The Tipping Point dove into Blink and then Outliers all while working on my MBA and being inspired to stay up even later to blog about it and other things.

I went to Phoenix to visit my sister over Labor Day weekend. She's very sick. It's a ten hour drive and Malcolm came along and read his book, What The Dog Saw. Hearing him read his breakout book was inspiring. Listened to it straight through. It truly engaged my mind and help the hours fly by. This book was peppered with the seeds of ideas that fully bloomed in his next three books.

He had me at his explanation of the title of the book. I won't ruin it by trying to explain it but I am a dog person and many times I have wondered what my dogs have seen. Tyler especially. He's our rescue. I'm the rescued.

It's a compilation book from his many articles as a New Yorker writer and is a very personal telling of how he became a writer, by default actually. What I remember most is his concept of Minor Genius. He had story after fascinating story of people who where in no way an "Einstein" but rallied what genius they did posses into legendary success. Come to think of it I think there was bit about Einstein not actually being an "Einstein" either.

It's fitting I listened to this on the way to see me sister. She is a Genius. I've spent my whole life trying to live up to the man my big sister sees in me. I would have never survived my childhood without her. None of us would have.

I think what was most helpful in this book was the explanation of choking. The idea of thinking too much and how the brain can get in the way. It reminded me of being a pitcher in baseball. You had to clear your mind, keep your eye on the glove, and just throw strikes. You had to trust your skills and your training and just let 'er rip. You can't think a fastball into the strike zone. You got to throw it!

Let me quote Wikipedia just to cover my basis,

"What the Dog Saw is a compilation of 19 articles by Malcolm Gladwell that were originally published in The New Yorker which are categorized into three parts. The first part, Obsessives, Pioneers, and other varieties of Minor Genius, describes people who are very good at what they do, but are not necessarily well-known. Part two, Theories, Predictions, and Diagnoses, describes the problems of prediction. This section covers problems such as intelligence failure, and the fall of Enron. The third section, Personality, Character, and Intelligence, discusses a wide variety of psychological and sociological topics ranging from the difference between early and late bloomers and criminal profiling.^[3]

"There's Nothing Wrong With You"

Thank you Steve Chandler for writing one of the best business books ever! The first book I ever read by Mr. Chandler was, "Re-inventing Yourself" and I remember arguing with my boss about it. My manager was a firm believer in the idea that people fundamentally can not change. He conceded that with determination and effort people can learn new skills, change their attitudes, and become better people, but a person's "personality" can not be willfully changed. His strength based management philosophy was based on this premise and he coached that it is better to identify and magnify your strengths to render your weaknesses irrelevant. He understood that who you are is not something negotiable but is to be understood and managed so you can effectively use what you been given to get what you want out of life. He once told me that knowledge is powerful, but self-knowledge is empowering. The man is a genius.

I wondered why I argued my point so aggressively. Now years latter I get it. At the time I was tired of being me and wanted to re-invent myself so badly it hurt. Since then I earned an MBA and have read over a hundred books and the more I learn the more I realize he was right. The more I have tried to change who I am the more I realize I am who I am. No matter where I go there I am. More knowledgeable, more accomplished, more experienced, but still the same old me.

Then I read another book by Mr. Chandler and it turns out to be one of the best business books ever, "The Seventeen Lies That Are Holding You Back and The Truth That Will Set You Free!" I don't recall all of the lies, but one of them nailed me. There hasn't been a day go by since I read it that I don't repeat this truth to repel the lie that has held me back my entire life. "There is nothing wrong with me!" I did suffer too many concussions, I do have memory problems, I do have ADD, I do have dyslexia, I do have asthma, I do have pain, I don't have a thyroid, I don't have a lot of things, but one of the most important things I have ever learned in my life is THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH ME.

 No matter where I go there I am. And that's OK!

Thank you Steve Chandler.

 

 

Execution

"The Four Disciplines of Execution" by Stephen Covey and Chris McChesney is awesome. Sometimes it takes a new vernacular to make ideas spectacular and in this book that's true. The idea that every job has a "Whirlwind" of the thousand things that have to be done just to stay in business. The million and one details that must be addressed to do the job you do. Everything you are expected to handle each and every day just to keep the doors open, to keep you job, to not loose the customer, to not fail. You may be saying to yourself at this very minute, "Why am I reading this when I have so much work to do?" Being stuck in the Whirlwind is not a fun place to be. It is so hard to get anything done when you are frantic trying to get everything done. If you feel this way get some help. Figure it out. If you can't get it all done or at least get it all managed, maybe you are in the wrong business, maybe. But first, get some help. Get the natts out of your eyes, swat the flies, clean the slate and know there will always be a Whirlwind. Now set some goals that will really make a difference.

"WIGs" are wildly important goals that if executed properly will really move the needle. Set one, two or three at the most and set them outside the Whirlwind. I like to think of them as my Big WIGs. Plan a step-by-step approach to achieving these goals, devise a creative scoreboard to track the progress towards those goals (with end-zone and time clock) and most importantly start a regular and public process for holding yourself accountable for the results. We used an "Execution Teleconference" when I was a part of the www.bestsalesteamever.blogspot.com on a bi-weekly basis.

Another important idea was lag measures verses lead measure. You must discover or devise lead measures (actions and results that can be easily measured in real time) that will drive the lag measures that we are ultimately judged on like quota attainment or profitability.

Since reading and listening to this book I have executed an MBA, read dozens of business books and launched several blogs and now will use these disciplines to start a new career. These disciplines have also been very helpful in leading my family and understanding the lag measures of daily happiness and fulfillment to achieve the ultimate lead measure and Big WIG of a happy family!

Malcolm Gladwell is the man

"The Tipping Point", "Blink" and "Outliers" changed the way I think. My old boss wrote a reference email for me and called me a real "Outlier" in regards to my love of learning making a silver lining in the dark clouds of my job search.

"Blink" helped me understand how awesome we really are.

"The Tipping Point" helped me understand human dynamics and he simply put, "Some people just matter more in the way they influence other people." It changed the way I see people and myself.

"Outliers" helped me understand what influences success. To be an Outlier you must make the most of your opportunities. And it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become and expert. Excellence is not an accident. To become successful you must develop expertise and use it in the right place at the right time and never look back. So I am working on putting myself in the right place at the right time with the right skills to stand out. Simple right?

Malcolm Gladwell is a freak. His research is freakenomic like and his insights are inspiring. Thank you for your art.

From the heart

Theses are the books that helped bring both of these guys together.

This blog is my attempt to preserve the insights received during my recent age of enlightenment. In the last three years I have earned a Masters Degree and read more books on self improvement than I ever thought possible. Today I saw this picture on Facebook and it made me think of one of these books, "A Whole New Mind" by Daniel Pink about the importance of strengthening both your left and right brains to develop a whole new mind!

I was stupid for a very long time, but through education and a new found love of learning have brought my left directed brain up to speed with my right directed brain and my whole new mind yearns to create and share and grow. So here I sit and write a new art form for me. Blogging has allows me an outlet to share the fruits of my whole new mind. More from Daniel Pink later, but for now welcome to the www.bestbusinessbooksever.blogspot.com  hope you enjoy!