Sanders Says

Keep your business real

Pine and Gilmore are back. They changed the world, and flipped my mind, with The Experience Economy.

They argued, succesfully, that the customer is loyal to an experience and fickle to a high quality service or product. Moreover, they suggested that we aren't working on the right things at business: staging, using products as platforms and products as a stage to create an experience.

They've done it again with their follow-up, Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want.

This book is full of great research and even better advice on how to either preserve or restore the realness of your company's brand. For some, it will be a sobering wakeupu call. For others, it will shape the way you think about marketing for the next few years.

Reality TV's rise is fueled by the same sentiment that is causing customers to choose authentic over phony, and know the difference! My research jives with theirs: The number one psychological need today in America is authenticity. We hunger for it, we fear we cannot attain it. That's why Pine and Gilmore have hit on something big here.

Check out this video clip, where I taped them talking about this concept back in 2002!
Pine And Gilmore crash a conversation at ThinkAbout

Meet Ishmael

I just finished reading the novel Ismael by Daniel Quinn, and it blew me away.

The book was recommended to me by Ray Anderson, Chairman of Interface. He’s read it ten times and it has changed his paradigm about EVERYTHING. I’m sure I’ll read it a few times too – as the book has had the same effect on me. The book is highly controversial and not for people that have sacred cow beliefs. You have to read this with an open mind and a thoughtful heart to "get it."

I don’t want to spoil the suspense, but by the end you will understand why man is killing the environment, and what we can do about it. The story is about a teacher (a gorilla named Ishmael who has telepathic powers) and a student (a writer, who participated in the 60’s revolution, but was cynical until he became Ishmael’s pupil).

Consider this a breathless endorsement for the book. You’ll thank me later.
Purchase Ishmael by Daniel Quinn on Amazon

Take a chapter from Kurt

It's Friday the 13th, the power is out in the Hollywood Hills and Kurt Vonnegut is dead.

Kurt has enriched my life with his books, his point of view and his influence. Over the years, I've grown cynical yet hopeful through his musings.

20 years ago Slaughterhouse Five ripped the top of my head off.

10 years ago Timequake made me laugh out loud.

5 years ago Like Shaking Hands With God changed my life as a writer. (You must read this mind bending conversation between Kurt and Lee Stringer at a bookstore. Some of the classic ideas include Kurt's observation that being a good writer is "like being a good first date. When you break through and write, it's like shaking hands with God.")

Over the next month, read one of Kurt's brilliant books to his honor. One of my favorite lines I've ever read him utter was, "I like the period when I'm writing a book because it is the only time that my mindless blathering is actually important for my wife to listen to."

Read these ten books next year

One of my life mottos is "readers are leaders". I believe in reading great books from non-fiction and business to escape. They open your mind and deepen your empathy.

One of my favorite subjects is great books. I loved to buy them, read them and recommend them. In previous posts I suggest that you read at least one book per month. You vary what you read, to keep reading an interesting process, and in a year you grow as a person.

Here are my ten books of 2006, in no particular order. Read them all in 2007 and learn great lessons about life.

Business and management:
Mavericks At Work: Why the most original minds in business win by Polly LaBarre and Will Taylor.
This books is a rollicking read of case study after case study of true against-the-grain-but-with-the-market best practices in innovation. If you loved Good To Great, then you'll like this one a lot.

The Power Of Nice: How to conquer the business world with kindness by Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval.
Finally, a book full of relevant research regarding the law of reciprocity in the business world. This powerful work will help you grasp the power of inspriation to drive productivity and reduce risk. In the future, much of leadership talk will revolve around listening skills and the capacity to possess compassion. If you liked my first book (Love Is The Killer App), you'll find these authors kindred spirits.

Trends
The Long Tail: Why the future of business is selling less of more by Chris Anderson
Wired's Anderson pinned a note to the church door (publishing, media) with his article (The Long Tail) a few years ago. The premise of the book is simple, yet profound: the hits business is a miss in the future. This book confirms the role of ecommerce and self-service in the future of profit margins and truly scalable business concepts. If you loved The Tipping Point or Freakanomics, this book is a must-read.

Revolutionay Wealth by Alvin and Heidi Toffler
Alvin Toffler is the original Gladwell-Earth-Is-Flat futurist. In the 70's he dropped Third Wave and Future Shock on us and was right more often than wrong. In his newest work, he and Heidi demonstrate how wealth building will change -- and drive change throughout the business world and society. He could have predicted user-generated content as a key media force. If you love Dan Pink's Whole New Mind, this book is the one for you.

History and Memoir
Mr. Lincoln's T-Mails: The untold story of how Abraham Lincoln used the telegraph to win the civil war by Tom Wheeler.
In a world of email as primary communication weapon, this book will blow your mind. If Lincoln was around today, he'd give Bill Gates and Steve Jobs a run for their money. He'd teach the Hill a thing or to about fund raising. T-mails (telegraph messages) are the original emails. This book will expand your thinking about how to leverage email effectiveness into a strategic advantage.

Leaving Microsoft To Change The World by John Wood.
I met John at The Power Within conference in Toronto this year. He struck me as a smart, compassionate and inspired sort -- and gave me his book to read. This memoir will inspire you to think about your work life and success in a different way. He tells the story about his odessy to educate kids in Africa and beyond -- at the sacrafice of a multi-million dollar stock-option rich career at Microsoft. At the end of the book you realize that you need to do something too, because significance is the new success. Read it and weep.

Psychology/Self-Help
Stumbling On Happiness by Daniel Gilbert.
For a Harvard prof, this guy is funny! This book, also a mind bender, will change the way you think about happiness. Turns out that you can't ever find happiness, because most of the things you want will actually make you miserable. In the end, this psychology guru with a writing style like David Sedaris, will convince you that you've got to learn to stumble a little through life -- and then you just might accidently find true happiness!

Social Intelligence: The new science of human relationships by Daniel Goleman.
This is the long awaited followup to Emotional Intelligence (I also loved the business version, Primal Leadership). Dr. Goleman's work has deeply influenced me and you'll find it tightly weaved into my last book (The Likeability Factor). The premise of this book is that our brains do a little dance with other people's brains throughout relationships -- and we need to learn some steps! Consider this psychology 101.

Non-Fiction
Laurel Canyon: The inside story of rock-and-roll's legendary neighborhood by Michael Walker.
I moved to Laurel Canyon about 18 months ago. Our house was owned at one time by the bass player for Gun's and Roses (Duff McKagan). He had a studio downstairs and there was a drumstick on the floor the day we moved in. My wife Jacqueline bought this book at the Laurel Canyon market and enjoyed it immensely. I just read it on a trip and couldn't put it down. From the Byrds to the Eagles and Zappa to the Doors, you get the whole story here about the time and place when rock's mirror moved from NYC to LA. The book is written romantically with wonderful prose and great storytelling. Read this one and disappear into the Canyon's history.

Marley and Me: Life and love with the world's worst dog by John Grogan.
Here's another book to cleanse your palate. Grogan tells a touching story about the power of love and emptiness. I truly believe we can learn powerful life lessons by studying our pets. This book will put a smile on your face and a lump in your throat. Don't read this one if you've just lost a pet. Read this one if you want to grow as a person.

Good luck in the new year and great reading!

Tim Sanders, your lovecat book maven.

Support my work by getting The Whole Enchilada media package -- It includes exclusive products you cannot get anywhere else (such as my Love lecture from 2004 and the yet to be released Dirty Dozen Rules of Email Etiquette Audio CD). Get it at my Ebay store.

When a book should have just been an article: The Barticle

Have you ever purchased a business book and twenty pages into reading it, you realized that it should have been an article instead? I call these barticles (pronounced bart-ick-elz). You know, the authors took a 4000 word article and spread it out to 180 pages in large type and sold it to you for twenty clams. It’s a pretty typical formula; Long intro that basically reveals the premise, the facts, the advice and the benefits. Then the next several sections expand on the outline like a Senator at a filibuster. Same point, six different metaphors, blah blah blah. As you go through them, you find countless tables, sidebars and side ventures to pad the book. It is not a good reading experience.

There is no hard research for this, but in my experience if you buy a barticle and put it down within thirty minutes, it impacts your faith in buying business books. If it happens over and over, you may become a pure fast food media consumer. You stick to only reading blogs, magazines, newspapers and whatever is on TV. That is not good for you. You need to include a healthy dose of deep paper reading with your fast on-screen browsing. It creates balance in your self-education. Real books can offer depth and and real value towards understanding complex concepts.

It would be difficult to glean the knowledge of Good To Great, The Tipping Point or even The Innovator’s Dilemma with without reading the entire book (maybe even a few times). But many of you have read those three books and know that you have a competitive advantage in your business life because of it.

Blame it on publishers that want to make a hit out of a splash in a magazine. Blame it on consultants that use books as two pound business card/brochures. Blame it on yourself for just grabbing or clicking on any book with good endorsements and a compelling explanation. Whatever I say, the secret is to improve your selection process when it comes to buying business books.

“It should have just been article” is a terrible thing to have said about your book, and book reviewers are more than happy to say it. So do more research before you buy. Here are three ways to improve your business book buying acumen:

1. Go to page 100 of a candidate book and start reading. If it doesn’t feel alive with movement in a few pages, you might want to pass on this as a book. Here’s the idea; most authors can make the beginning of any book fun and filled with movement, often autobiographical. But when you are dog-paddling in the literary sense, halfway through it becomes obvious to the reader. Some of the greatest books I’ve read can easily pass this test. Just tried it with; In Search Of Excellence, The Art Of Possibility and The Experience Economy. All of them rocked at page 100.
2. Don’t just use Amazon or the airport book stores to find your books. Those are both numbers games. Pervasive presence at either location is no indication of quality. If the Hudson’s buyer liked the publisher’s sales pitch, that book goes in the airport shops. I’ve seen some real clunkers in airport book stores. If someone has all their colleagues buy their book to buoy their Amazon ranking, it becomes prominent on the Amazon site (accompanied with one hundred five star reviews by well wishers related to the author). That doesn’t mean the book is rich throughout. Go to 800CEOREAD, where active editors feature books and a great fan of good business books offers his recommendations (Jack Covert Selects). They even have a daily blog for business book readers. If you go to your local bookseller, find out who buys business and ask her.
3. Survey your friends before you buy. You can do it fast via email or your blog. You could create an “on-deck” section on your blog to represent books you are thinking about getting. Let their fingers do the talking.

For example, here are two books I’m thinking about buying. Both are based on articles. Tell me what you think in comments and help me make a good decision.

The Long Tail by Chris Anderson
Original article in Wired
The book page on Amazon

Free Agent Nation by Dan Pink (I loved A Whole New Mind, so maybe I’ll love this)
Original article in Fast Company
The book page on Amazon

Remember, readers are leaders and you have to believe in the power of great business books. They help you grasp change and be a pioneer and innovator; instead of the late majority or laggards. And nothing makes you less excited about reading, than a bad experience with a fluffed out barticle. You know, a book that should have just been an article.