After 18 months or so of doing these business book summary reviews, the question I’m most frequently asked is whether or not I actually read the books. That is something I haven’t been asked since 6th grade, when Ms. Dowling accused me of fudging a book report. Not only do I read these books, my reading comprehension is so bad – no better than…
Book Review – The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Perhaps you’re among the folks in America who are more than a little fired up about the NFL season that’s about to kick off. (Non-football fans, hang in there – this isn’t a sports column!) And if you’re a typical New England Patriots fan, there’s no love lost between you and the Indianapolis Colts. But you may just have a modicum of respect…
Book Review – Do You Matter? by Robert Brunner and Stewart Emery
Perhaps you’re a few years removed from college, but let’s revisit that existential philosophy class, shall we? This month’s book report is on Do You Matter? by Robert Brunner and Stewart Emery, with Russ Hall. (Does anyone else ever wonder about the “with” credit? Is Mr. Hall an idea guy, a permanent house guest, the one who makes the beer run when the cooler gets low? It’s not…
Book Review – The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal, Ph. D.
If you ever get the chance to interview or befriend someone who counsels troubled inner-city youth in violent neighborhoods, you might hear the following description of a successful day: no one got shot or arrested. These selfless “street workers” teach patience, deep breathing, and control, three key aspects to this month’s book selection, “The Willpower Instinct” by Kelly McGonigal. With McGonigal’s breezy and humorous style on a topic of…
Book Review – Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi
A friend recently shared his old Yale professor’s approach to efficiently tackling books, which goes something like this: read the table of contents and introduction; the first and last chapters; the index, noting and researching the most cited topics; the table of contents again; then the first and last paragraph of all the remaining chapters. Got it? The professor’s point was one can absorb nearly every important concept in a book…