Recently, I re-read a great book that I discovered about a decade ago.
The Experience Economy revolutionized my point of view about the nature of business (it's a stage to create an experience on) and helped me sell streaming video while at broadcast.com. Later, on the lecture circuit, it offered great content for my talks to retailers and service providers.
Reading it again, I'm picking up on entirely new points: Create street theatre, don't measure satisfaction, differentiation is an enduring profit driver, etc. The book's premise is as true as ever, but with my growth over the last ten years, I'm taking away fresh insights.
The same goes with my recent re-read of Norman Vincent Peale's A Guide To Confident Living. I read it twenty years ago, three years ago, and two weeks ago. Each time, I marked new sections and took away new insights. That's the way great books work. They are meant to be read over and over, and with the passing of time, their truths will build your total wisdom. Think about Good To Great: You may have read it back in 2002 or 2004, but reading it again will likely give you fresh leadership ammo (maybe the Hedgehog Theory resonates now that you are at a new company?)
Too often, we want to read the latest and greatest book, thinking the older ones are 'out-of-date.' While this is true of certain eCommerce or social media books (that were just a snap shot of a tech development), you'll find that mixing in the ones you've already read can really add a lot to your perspective.
It's like visiting your home town after being gone a decade - If you open your eyes, you'll discover it all over again!
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