My Favorite Books of 2017

December 30, 2017 by Leave a Comment

My Favorite Books of 2017I found myself in the company of some wonderful books in 2017. Some I had previous experience with the authors’ work and was interested in reading something new, others were recommendations, one was a gift, while others I discovered on my own. No matter how these books found their way into my life, I’m glad they did. I’m a better person for having read them.

Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant – I loved Grant’s book Give and Take, which was one of my favorite books in 2013. This is another thought provoking piece of work. Grant breaks many myths about success along the way.
Some key findings are innovators who are risk averse have better success than those who put all their eggs in one basket. They don’t quit their jobs until they know what they’re doing is working. He also talks about making sure your company culture doesn’t prohibit speaking out and questioning long held beliefs. In this case, it’s often valuable to have people with various backgrounds participate in projects from the beginning when the chance to make changes is least costly.
Another interesting fact is that innovators who are open to more experiences end up with more novel ideas. Those who moved frequently, mostly in foreign countries, had more experience to draw upon when creating. Their creations end up being ground breaking because they are pulling experiences from multiple cultures. Also, those who have an artistic hobby were more likely to win Nobel Prizes. Having an outside artistic pursuit allows the person to see things differently. This artistic pursuit also allows the person to take time away from a project with the ideas percolating in their head, giving them the distance from their endeavor and giving them time to think about it. This is similar to what was written about in The Pause Principle, which was on my list from last year.
Innovators succeed because of the sheer volume of ideas generated. They crank out enough work that they are constantly tweaking things and finding better solutions. It stands to reason that they have more failures and that they are able to pinpoint what didn’t work or what could work with slight changes. A non-traditional look at innovators and well worth reading.
Revolver: How The Beatles Reimagined Rock’ N’ Roll by Robert Rodriguez – The Beatles have been one of the biggest influences in my life. I’ve read dozens of books about them over the years. This book is different than anything I’ve read. It’s about their album Revolver. Rodriguez brilliantly lays out the book in three parts. He sets up what was going on on, not only in the Beatles’ lives, but in popular music and the world at the time, the origin and process of writing and recording the songs, and the aftermath of the album, including its reception and its place in music history.
You get a feel for where the Beatles were coming from and what the mindset was heading into this album. Rodriguez describes Revolver as the last true Beatles album in that they never collaborated at this level again. With the Beatles focusing on their work in the studio they gave of themselves completely. No matter who had the best idea, that idea won. Who ever had an idea for a part, they would play it. For example, the guitar solo on George Harrison’s song Taxman is played by Paul McCartney, though Harrison generally played the lead guitar parts.
With each new album the Beatles became more experimental and it’s clearly evident on Revolver. Also new in the studio was engineer Geoff Emerick. He helped the Beatles get the sounds they wanted and wasn’t afraid to go against EMI’s (Abbey Road studios) imposed limitations on how to use the recording equipment. With producer, George Martin, they created one of the most revolutionary albums in rock and roll. It’s interesting to point out that when the Beatles went on their last tour in the summer of 1966 as the album was released, they didn’t play any songs from the album. The author makes a case that if it wasn’t for John Lennon’s remarks about being bigger than Jesus, which took coverage away from the album, Revolver and not Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band would be regarded as the most important album in rock and roll history. And he may be right. This is important reading for any Beatles or music fan.
The Rise: Creativity, the Gift of Failure, and the Search for Mastery by Sarah Lewis – I’ve read many books on creativity but nothing quite as fresh and unique as what Lewis offers up. It’s a beautiful piece of work; a work of art in a way. When we think of creativity and innovation we think of writers, poets, painters, dancers, and musicians. Lewis expands that view to include practically everyone. She shares stories from who we consider typical artists, but also talks about, and with, inventors, athletes, explorers, educators and more.
Lewis writes about approaches to creativity from a different perspective. She talks about Ben Saunders, an Arctic explorer, who has hiked to both the north and south poles by himself. A feat that has killed many who have attempted it. Artists don’t endure the physical demands that Saunders does in Arctic conditions, but he shares a similar mindset. When faced with the wind, temperature (a constant -30 degrees Celsius), and the pain of the journey he gives in to a feeling of surrender. Surrender, not as giving up, but as giving in. This allows you to “convert your energy and operate at full force.” This is more along the lines of Neitzsche’s amor fati, to love your fate or in the martial art, aikido, the use of nonresistance. When we stop resisting something, we stop giving it power.
Another section is about being a deliberate amateur. This can be thought of not as a not knowing or lacking experience, but demonstrating a willingness to strive, to seek, to find, almost in a play-like state. One example, she discusses the story of Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, physicists who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010. They began holding “Friday Night Experiments” in their lab which were ideas that were so crazy, that they probably wouldn’t work, but if they did it would be surprising. The safe space of their lab allowed them to run experiments they wouldn’t otherwise attempt.One of these experiments lead to their Nobel Prize win.
This was an eye-opening book that’s made me look at my work differently. There are many more ideas presented other than the two I’ve covered. If you’re interested in creating and innovating pick up a copy of The Rise. You’ll be glad you did. I’ve incorporated many ideas from this book into my own life since reading it. I’ve adopted surrender as my new goal and it’s changed me. If you only read one book from this list, this would be my recommendation.
Imagine: How Creativity Works by Jonah Lehrer – I knew this book was going to be different based on the name of the first chapter – “Bob Dylan’s Brain.” This book did not disappoint. I’ve read many books on creativity and they follow a similar line. This one veered off the path and made a new trail! In that first chapter Lehrer shows the breakthrough Dylan had once he gave up music, went to Woodstock and started to write songs, but only in a style that he never did before. Once convention was out of the picture, music poured out of him. He wrote and went with the flow of where the songs were going. What he come up with was completely different – “Like a Rolling Stone” which was the debut single from Highway 61 Revisited.
The chapter entitled “Letting Go” was one of my favorites. In it, the author talks to Yo-Yo Ma about his approach to music. Ma said he looks forward to making the first mistake so he can enjoy the rest of the piece and perform. He also looks over a score to find out the story that’s being told by the composer and then imparts himself and his heart where needed and forgets the technical aspects and just plays. In a part about improv, looking at Second City, Lehrer talks about getting to a level where comedy seems easy and natural. It isn’t. Joshua Funk, the artistic director says, “it takes years of work before you can get good at improv. It’s like music that way. You can’t just pick up a sax and expect to be Coltrane. You have to work at not giving a fuck.”
Another fascinating topic was about the power of Q. Q measures the density of connections of people working in groups. It’s a degree of social intimacy. The ideal Q reading was a group not too big and not too small with most people comfortable working with each other who had previous history with a small number of newbies to keep things fresh. This measure was developed after looking at Broadway musicals and looking at the financial and critical successes versus those that flopped. The same structure is in place at Pixar and it helps to understand the unique culture and success.
Interestingly, the larger and more populated cities become, the more productive its citizens become. This may stem from people having a large number of weak ties. Though the internet brings people together. It’s people connecting with people face-to-face that leads to more cross-polanization and innovation. It’s a fresh look at creativity and worth reading. My second favorite book of the year.
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success – How We can Learn to Fulfill Our Potential by Carol  S. Dweck, PhD. –  I’ve been reading so many other books that referenced Dweck’s work that I had to go back to the original source. She talks about what success is and how it’s really achieved. It’s not what we were taught growing up. It’s not about being smart, it’s about learning. It also reexamines what it means to fail and what lessons are learned from it.
This book covers success from all angles. There are sections on business success and how parents, coaches and teachers need to look at it to help children understand what it is.
Fixed-mindset people are those who think they are smart or talented to a certain level and nothing can change it. Having a growth mindset means you see the potential to improve. You find the areas of weakness and work on them and get better. Telling a child that they are smart and/or talented sends the wrong message and doesn’t lead them on a path to success. If they are told they will need to work hard to achieve their goals they will achieve more than those with raw talent.
This is a must have on any book shelf. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this. It can reshape how you think about success and how you approach life.
George Lucas: A Life by Brian Jay Jones – I had been an admirer of George Lucas’ work with American Graffiti, but mostly of the three original Star Wars movies, since I was a kid. When he re-worked the original movies my thoughts of him soured. I could understand cleaning up the special effects, but not changing content. To me, he altered, and damaged, the stories by doing so. Still, I was interested to read more about him.
Like so many of the people whose work we treasure, it was fascinating to see the person behind the films. He was making movies at an early age and flourished as a film maker while studying film at USC. I hadn’t realized that he was a nationally known film maker as a student – that’s how good he was.
From a business perspective, it’s invaluable to see how he dealt with the studios in making his movies. He’s an idealist and didn’t tolerate the studios dictating to him how to edit or change his movies. Because the studios didn’t believe in Star Wars he was able to keep the merchandising rights. He used funds from the merchandise to finance the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, so he didn’t have to change the movies at the discretion of the studios. He loathed the studios and this comes across clearly in the book. After Star Wars, movie guys were overtaken by business guys trying to get there hands on Hollywood hits. People who knew and loved movies were replaced by money counters, which is the system we have in place today.
Lucas also had his hand in changing the way we experience movies. His company, Lucasfilm, spun off Industrial Light and Magic, which is the premier special effects company in Hollywood. Also created was THX, which is the high fidelity sound most movies are shown in today. Movie theaters were set up with THX because Lucas wanted the audience at Return of the Jedi to experience the best possible sound quality and he didn’t think movie theaters were equipped to provide that. Pixar also took wings at Lucasfilm and was eventually spun off and sold to Steve Jobs. A well researched look into the life of George Lucas and a must read for even a casual fan of his work.
Milwaukee Braves: Heroes and Heartbreak by William Povletich – Growing up in Milwaukee, I had heard about the Braves, but didn’t know much of their history other than the World Series Championship in 1957, their near miss in 1958 and the team leaving for Atlanta after the 1965 season. The Boston Braves were a joke in the National League with the league’s worst record, but with the move to Milwaukee in 1953, the team finished in second place and the city fell in love with the Braves. They lead the Major Leagues in attendance for numerous seasons.
Povletich does a wonderful job of recreating what it was like like back then and retraces each season with the help of archival news clippings, photos and interviews with former Milwaukee Braves players. He recounts several important games from each season, especially games that happened in the heat of the pennant races. I felt that I was going through the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat as it was happening.
In 1956, the Braves had a one game advantage with three to play but lost two games and their chance to play in the World Series by one game. In 1957, the team was determined, having been so close the year before, and ended up advancing to the World Series where they beat the New York Yankees for the championship. The city celebrated their team as heroes. In 1958 they again advanced to the World Series and held a three game to one advantage over the Yankees, but the Yankees won the last three games and the World Series. In 1959, they lost a playoff with the Dodgers and missed their chance at another World Series. They were in the pennant race in 1960 but their best years were behind them and interest in the team started to wane.
Many players talked about how the team should have won multiple World Series Championships, but it wasn’t meant to be. The Milwaukee Braves played 13 seasons in Milwaukee and never had a losing record. Many teams used Milwaukee as a model and moved to new cities because of Milwaukee’s financial success. In the 50 years prior to the Braves moving from Boston to Milwaukee no other team in Major League Baseball had moved. In the 20 years after the move, 10 teams relocated, including the Dodges from Brooklyn to Los Angles, the Giants from New York to San Francisco and the St. Louis Browns who moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles. This was a wonderful look back at a different time and a different game.
Finish: Give Yourself the Gift of Done by Jon Acuff – An interesting look at how to accomplish more. One tip, cut your goals in half. Acuff writes that most people stop pursuing their goals the day after perfect.That’s hard to live up to and easy to stop. Cutting your goals in half is a psychological trick. In doing so, you actually end up surpassing your original goal. What’s been shown is that achieving a goal makes you want to keep going. Want to achieve great things? Cut your goal in half.
The most impactful part of the book for me was the chapter entitled “Leave Your Hiding Place and Ignore Noble Obstacles.” Hiding places are unproductive traps. It’s taking care of things that don’t need attention to avoid what really needs to be done. Noble obstacles are those pursuits that trouble perfectionists. It tells them that they can’t do X, until they do Y. It makes your goal harder to accomplish. The example Acuff uses in the book is about a man who wants to clean the garage. Instead of emptying the garage so it’s clean, he decides to have a garage sale so he can make some money. Then this simple task becomes a list of 16 things that need to be done in order to have the sale, like picking the day, advertising, pricing the items, labeling, holding the sale, etc. This simple one-step goal turned into a project, one that never gets done because that’s too much work.
Another suggestion is to avoid the word “until.” Not doing your goal until you figure something else out first. His example is about a woman who wants to start a blog, but worries she needs to meet with a copyright lawyer first to protect her content. She doesn’t start because if she does she’ll get too successful and people other than her will cash in on her work. This is something I’ve struggled with many times. When I wanted to start a blog I spent more time researching web hosts, themes for my website and what widgets and plugins I needed than I did writing. The best idea is to start and if you become successful worry about the consequences later.
If you’re the kind of person who starts projects but never finishes them, this is the perfect book to read in 2018. I’m excited to see what I finish in the year ahead. What are you looking forward to finishing?
Did any of these books make your list? What do you recommend? What are you looking forward to reading in 2018?
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My Favorite Books of 2016

August 25, 2017 by 2 Comments

Favorite Books 2016

Books seem to find their way into my hands at exactly the right time. This year’s selections are a perfect example of that. It’s also fascinating how one book leads to others and how, after looking back at the books I read in 2016, a theme emerges. The eight books on this list had an impact on me and I hope you get a chance to read them, if you haven’t already.  Here are my favorite books of 2016:

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain – I purchased this book a few years ago and only got around to reading it this year. If I had known it was this good I would have read it immediately. This is a powerful book. Often, it’s not the loudest voice in the room we should be listening to, but the quiet ones. As a society, we need to place more value in the thoughts and ideas of introverts and work forces should understand how to draw out those responses without putting an introvert on the spot, which s exactly what they don’t want.

I originally got it to learn more about me. I’ve taking personality assessments where I’ve been shown to be a strong introvert, though I took one recently and am now a weak extrovert. I think that’s because I’ve adapted to work environments where before I worked in a team, I’m now more independent. What I didn’t expect, is that halfway through reading it I realized I was learning a lot about both of my parents. I had never considered my dad an introvert, but reading Quiet, made me see him in a new light.

Cain explores how extroverts came to be the ideal that someone should achieve and the role introverts play in society today. She gives many examples of quiet leadership and points to one example of how Warren Buffet prospered during the recession, while Wall Street failed. Cain also lays out of great tips on when to be an extrovert and how introverts can approach work, and how work places should accommodate for introverts in their work force. Those that follow Cain’s guidance will flourish. Highly recommended for introverts or anyone who knows one.

Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family by Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia – Chapman is the CEO of Barry-Wehmiller, a leader in the packaging, paper, and consulting industries. This book is the blue print for how companies can treat employees with humanity and respect and, coincidentally, become more profitable in the process. From the forward, written by Simon Sinek, you know it’s going to be good. Sinek has used Chapman’s company as an example of how to run a company the right way; with caring and compassion for others.

Chapman wasn’t always that kind of leader and Barry-Wehmiller wasn’t always that kind of company; a company that placed people over profit. It took a commitment to lead in a different direction and stick with it. In the end, the company culture changed. Employees were involved in decision making. Mistakes were seen as a learning experience. The company became more caring. Time clocks were gone, locks were removed from supply rooms, everyone entered through the same door to go to and leave work. And, boy did the employees respond, even the so called “bad eggs.” The so called trouble employees became the strongest proponents of the new culture, when they realized it wasn’t just talk, but it was real.

The BW Leadership Institute, was born out of a continual need for education. Chapman is not just talking about making people cared for as employees, but cared for as people. Their lives are transformed. I read story after story about people changing in every aspect of their lives with improved marriages, stronger family relationships, and becoming better parents. If you only read a few books from this list, make sure this is one of them.

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth – I grew up believing that successful people where those who showed extraordinary talent and genius, then took advantage of or exploited their gift. In fact, what Duckworth’s research has shown is that talent is only part of the equation. Talent matters, but not as much as we think. It’s effort that makes the difference in whether we succeed. It’s those people that don’t give up when others do that pushes them into another realm.

Duckworth studied grit in everyone from spelling bee champs to world-class athletes to West Point cadets and has developed a grit formula. It is this – talent x effort = skill and skill x effort = success. Successful people do difficult work and spend time in deliberate practice. This contradicts the 10,000 hour rule, a little bit. It’s not that you spend hours practicing but how you spend those hours to improve your skills. One other thing to help improve your skills is to compete with those that are slightly better than you. They will up your game and you’ll improve because of it.

I wish this book had been written 30 years ago. Reading it, I reflected on my upbringing and the role talent versus grit played in my life. I was always on the talent/genius side of things. That talent and genius would be recognize and rewarded. In fact, what I’ve realized in my life, which Duckworth’s book shines a light on so brightly, is that grit is the only attribute that allows you to achieve the things in life that make you feel fulfilled. Grit is a definite must read.

Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham and the Science of Success by Matthew Syed – Syed’s book came out a few years before Duckworth’s Grit and it falls into the same space, but Syed comes at success with a whole different perspective. He ‘s a three-time Commonwealth table tennis champion, and two-time Olympian. He draws on his own personal experience and looks at many other successful people to find out how they became so successful.

As one would guess, there are many examples of athletes used in the book, making it easy to relate to, but he also examines grand master chess players, composers, artists and students. He’s researched how they were raised, coached, and tutored. He goes back into the lives of successful people, but also looks at the science behind success. The conclusion is, success is all about mindset.

This mindset emphasizes hard work over talent. Like Duckworth, Syed has discovered that those who work the hardest at deliberate practice become the most skilled at their endeavor and end up being successful as a result. Talent again, is thrown out the window. It’s not the talented that become the dominate player in certain sports or fields of work, but it’s those who devote the most devoted hard work to their craft. Bounce is a remarkable book.

The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller with Jay Papasan – I found this book at the airport in Las Vegas. Better time management was one of my goals for 2016. This book was critically helpful in achieving my goal. This book is Pareto’s Principle, or the 80/20 rule, on steroids. Instead of breaking down tasks into smaller ones to cross off of a list, this book shows how to concentrate on only one thing at a time. We are often overwhelmed at work, and life in general, with too many distractions. This leads to watered down results, depleting energy and lack of focus.

One phrase from the book stood out for me is this, “What’s the one thing I can do, such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?” It’s a focus on big picture thinking. Start there, start big. That’s the one thing you should work on to start your day. Then when that’s done, you’ll work on the next one thing. Keller argues that starting with the big thing will let the small things either fall into place or become unnecessary to do.

If you’re like me you start your day knocking off a couple of small tasks so you can cross things off your list, which makes you feel like you’re being productive. But, this only keeps you working on small goals, which lead to small and insignificant results. Multi-tasking and juggling work are myths that we need to forget if we want to achieve great things. The One Thing had an immediate impact on my work at a time when I could have easily been overwhelmed. Instead I used this book to guide me to a highly productive part of my year, which lead to great personal satisfaction and success for my organization. It is a breeze to read and the lessons can be easily applied to your life.

The Pause Principle: Step Back to Lead Forward by Kevin Cashman – I tend to take my time when making decisions and thought it was a weakness. Cashman shows that pausing to think things over before making decisions is a strength. Organization’s seek immediate answers to problems, but this could lead to dysfunctional momentum; moving forward in a direction that’s not best for the future of the organization. When we pause to think about problems allows new ideas to emerge and creativity to flourish. Moving too quickly to the “right” answer kills collaboration and innovation.

Organizations that adopt the Seven Pause Practices discussed are more innovative and, in the end, more profitable. These practices will change the culture of the organization and allow employees to grow. The Pause Principle gets at some very fundamental questions about core values of an organization. Without pausing, an organization can lose focus on why it exists. This book is for anyone who want results fast and problems solved yesterday. Read this book, try a new approach to decision making and you’ll be presently surprised at how much more effective you’ll become.

Tom Petty: A Biography by Warren Zanes – I’m a huge Tom Petty fan and thought I knew all there was to know about the man and his music. Boy, was I wrong. Zanes tells a masterful story, in part because he was given access to people in Petty’s inner circle that no one has had access to before, which allowed him to paint a complete picture of Petty like we’ve never seen before. Zanes is able to give the stories context and offer a rich account of Tom Petty’s life.

Like a lot of people who didn’t have a positive family environment to grow up in, Petty found an escape in music. Music became his world and his life’s goal was to be in a really good band and keep it together. It wasn’t easy, even after landing a record deal. Turmoil was a constant in his personal life and within the band. Every day was a fight to survive and when he cleared one hurdle another one hit him right in the face. Whether it was declaring bankruptcy, fighting with his record label, someone burning down his house, trying to keep his band together, or trying to leave a failing marriage, work was the one thing he could count on to pull him through. He wrote, recorded and toured non-stop. There was never time to take a break and appreciate his success and sadly, he doesn’t seem to have been very happy along the way. Petty’s unhappiness led to substance abuse and addiction. It’s an all too familiar rock and roll story, but his has a happy ending.

Achieving success is never an individual effort, and he had people show up at just the right time in his life to take him to the next level. I enjoyed taking a peek inside his relationships with Leon Russell, Denny Cordell, Jimmy Iovine, Dave Stewart, Jeff Lynne George Harrison and Rick Rubin. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are now in their 40th year, which is remarkable. Most importantly, he got through life with all it’s ups and downs and is finally at peace. Petty’s story is another reminder that success doesn’t make life any easier to live.

Beneath the Surface by Michael Phelps with Brian Cazeneuve – During the 2016 Olympic games in Rio I became enamored with Michael Phelps. I was watching at history being made and wondered how the best athlete the Olympics has ever seen came to be. I read something about how he practiced on Sundays when other swimmers rested that day and how that would give him and extra 52 practices a year over his competition. When I read that I had to learn more.

You’d never know it but Michael Phelps didn’t like swimming as a kid and he was afraid to get his face wet! Funny, how life turns out. This book is a great lesson in taking the talent you have and nurturing it and practicing to improve your skills. Phelps was fortunate enough to have a coach that pushed him to be the best swimmer he could. I couldn’t help think this was also a book about Bob Bowman, his coach. I don’t want to get too melodramatic, but without his coach, I doubt we’d have heard of Michael Phelps. The difference between winning a gold medal or no medal at all is sometimes hundredths of a second. That’s when you realize the practice put in makes all the difference. The drive to compete is in most of us, but the extra push from a coach at the right moment, can help give you the slight edge you need.

I didn’t know much about Michael Phelps before reading this book. This book was published in 2008, so it’s a great look into the life of someone before he became one of the greatest athletes to every grace our planet. He’s likable, honest, and humble, which I hope still defines him. I couldn’t help but feel happy for his success, knowing what’s happened since he wrote it. It would be interesting to know if his approach to training and preparation has changed since this was written.

Did any of these make it onto your list for 2016? What were some of your favorites? Here’s looking forward to another year of books that enlighten, educate, and entertain. Happy reading in 2017!

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My Favorite Books of 2015

January 5, 2016 by Leave a Comment

My Favorite Books of 2015

Another year has come and gone, but not before I read my way through some inspiring and thought-proving books. Did these books top 2014’s list? I don’t know, but they’re just as awesome. I delved into creativity, a biography, leadership, and marketing. I took away a lot reading these, and I’m positive you will too. Without further ado, here are my favorite books of 2015.

1) Powers of Two (Finding the Essence of Innovation in Creative Pairs) by Joshua Wolf Shenk. The most fascinating book I’ve read on creativity. I, like most people, tend to think of creativity as something that a person does in solitude with their own special gifts. This book dispels that myth.
It looks deep into what makes someone truly creative, and how someone’s best work is always done as part of a team. Many famous pairs are analyzed in this book. As a Beatles fan, I found the look into John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s partnership eye-opening; and I’ve read a ton about them. Dozens of famous creative pairs are dissected; Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Vincent and Theo Van Gogh, are just a few.
This book made me evaluate how my best work came to be. I realize my best work happened because there was a strong partnership involved, even when the act of creating something might have been done singularly, the partner was in the back of my mind, motivating me, inspiring me to do my best work. It gave me a fresh perspective on the influence of my partners and my influence on them.
If you read only one book from this list, this is my choice. Powers of Two (Finding the Essence of Innovation in Creative Pairs) is an amazing work.
2) Big Magic (Creative Living Beyond Fear) by Elizabeth Gilbert. Gilbert beautifully discusses what creativity and artistry are about, which is letting go of fear and getting over your ego and allowing what’s inside you to come out. She stresses the need to do the work. Inspiration doesn’t come like a flash of lightening, it comes to those who show up to work, every day. Therefore, creativity is a result of the habit of doing the work that needs to be done.
Gilbert also talks about letting curiosity take you where it wants to go. If you are curious about a topic, follow that curiosity. You never know where it will take you and what might come out of it. Also, the Muse has a way of helping you create things if you realize that it’s not you that’s the creator.
This book came at just the right time for me. It made me see myself as the artist I am. In recent years I seemed to have lost that notion of myself. This book got my creative juices percolating again. I’m seeing, hearing, and thinking creatively. Highly recommended.
3) Rising Strong by Brené Brown. I was inspired by her previous book, Daring Greatly, and eagerly awaited the arrival of this one in 2015. It does not disappoint. It’s kind of the next step, if you will, to Daring Greatly. If you are brave and vulnerable you’re going to get knocked down, without question. Rising Strong helps you to bounce back when that happens.
The first step is to know that you’re having a breakdown, let down, or what ever you want to call it. Then you need to figure out why you’re feeling and reacting the the way you are. Once that happens you can work through it, feel your emotions, and learn to be comfortable with discomfort. It’s not easy work, but this book equips you with the necessary tools to be able to rise strong. You may want to start with Daring Greatly if you haven’t read it, although it’s not necessary to enjoy this book.
4) Heaven and Hell (My Life in The Eagles 1974 – 2001) by Don Felder with Wendy Holden. Having enjoyed the work of The Eagles I was very interested to read this account of life in one of music’s biggest bands. What was most inspiring were the stories of Felder’s youth, and his life before he joined The Eagles. He grew up in Gainsville, Florida and came from very humble beginnings. He literally grew up in a shack his father built. Life was tough and the relationship with his father was strained, especially after he took to music.
What is interesting is how rich his musical experience was in Gainsville. He played with and became friends with Stephen Stills, the Allman Brothers, and Bernie Leadon. Leadon convinced him to move to LA and got him his gig with The Eagles, He even taught Tom Petty guitar. Like many rock and rollers there are the stories of the glamorous and not so glamorous gigs and the struggle get to the next level and make ends meet. That is until he joined The Eagles.
Once in The Eagles his life turned upside down. They became one of the biggest bands of all-time and they were constantly touring or recording to cash in on their success. What was surprising is how dysfunctional the band was even before he joined. There is a shocking amount of tension, fighting and drug use throughout and as Don Henley and Glenn Frey began to believe that they were The Eagles, things became even more strained. Things took a turned ugly when they started asking for a larger cut of the money and Felder questioned it. The ultimate betrayal was Felder’s being kicked out of The Eagles.
It’s sad to read this tale being such a fan of The Eagles’ music and I’m glad I can listen to the music with pleasure. What I most took away from the book were the lessons about Felder’s early years and how devoted he was to his craft. When you’re good doors open up to you and when you wish for fame and fortune it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.
5) Joyworks by Michael Cudahy. I was first introudced to this book a few years ago through Michael Cudahy’s Ten Golden Rules on How to Run an Organization, which comes from this book. This book is as relevant today as when it was first published in 2002. It provides an inside look at the founding of Marquette Electronics and its rise as a multi-million dollar business.
Cudahy writes with great humor and I found it hard to put down. It doesn’t leave out the trials and mistakes along the way either. There are plenty of costly errors, but Cudahy looks at the lessons learned from each. He believed in treating his employees like family, and he took care of them like that. Just some examples he mentions include building a child care facility at their office, frequent employee celebrations and talent shows, generous rewards and pay, and treating employees fairly. He even eliminated time clocks at the company because he trusted the employees and reasoned that they would work harder and with more pride knowing they were trusted (he was right). The company cafeteria also offered another perk – beer and wine.
He writes sadly of how after he sold the company to GE, the company culture of Marquette Electronics was destroyed and many of the employees left shortly after the take over. I got a sense that this eats at him still. Overall, this is a fascinating look at how you can run a company by treating employees and customers decently and still make a profit. This is a must read for anyone in business and marketing.
6) Leaders Eat Last (Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t) by Simon Sinek. This book runs a similar path to Michael Cudahy’s book, with with many more examples. Simon makes the case for real leadership and how there are essentially no great leaders today. He discusses military leadership and leadership in companies that do things differently than most.
Sinek shows how when the economy changed employees became expendable, shifting what it meant to work for a company like our fathers and grandfathers knew. Companies not longer take care of their employees. Though it’s not the world we live in today, it is possible, as Sinek shows, to operate quite successfully by returning to old time values. Again, he draws on military references in showing how we can incorporate leadership principals into our own workplaces to make them places where employees feel safe and where we can work together trusting that our boss has our back, as we have his.
I love everything Simon Sinek stands for. This book is brilliant. A must read.
7) It’s Your Ship (Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy) by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff. I originally heard Captain Abrashoff on Wisconsin Public Radio a couple of yeas ago and was impressed enough to buy a copy of his book. It took me a while to get to it, but it was worth the wait. It contains a treasure trove of ideas on how to win the hearts and minds of those you lead.
Abrashoff provides real-life examples of leadership, demonstrated by his run as commander of the USS Benfold. He took over a ship with low morale and a low re-enlistment rate. During his tenure the ship became the highest ranked in the Navy’s fleet; morale and re-enlistments soared.
What struck me is how he didn’t try to radically change things, even though there was so much that needed changing. He worked within the bureaucracy and red tape to make incremental changes. Even the commander of a Navy ship has to know when to push the boundaries and when to conform. It’s a good lesson in picking the right battles.
Captain Abrashoff didn’t shake things up to make a ruckus, but enjoyed small wins, over and over, to where he built up credibility so he had leverage to push the envelope at times. One key aspect of his leadership, is giving the men and women on the ship control to make their own decisions. He told the crew, “It’s your ship.” The crew, with the control to make their own decisions, proved him right by doing the right thing. And if mistakes were made, it was a learning opportunity. Ideal reading for anyone in a leadership role.
8) Everybody Writes by Ann Handley. Something that is so easy to read shouldn’t be this helpful, should it? But, that’s exactly what this book is. Ann Handley gives practical writing advice in 74 easily digestible chapters. I found something useful in nearly every chapter. This isn’t a boring book about grammar rules. Sure, there’s some grammar discussed, but this book is about content, and we all know the importance of content in today’s world. So, not matter what type of content your’re writing whether its blog posts, annual reports, web copy, eBooks, or some other marketing copy, there’s something for you here; even if you think you’re a pretty good writer.
It was immediately noticeable that, even before I finished this book, my writing was stronger, more concise, and my word choices were smarter. My writing was impacted by reading this book and I will read this annually. If you want to take your writing up a notch, go out and buy this Everybody Writes.
9) Brandscaping by Andrew Davis. I resisted reading this book because of the awful title. It sounds like there’s hot wax and painful hair removal involved, but I heard so many great things about it, and about Andrew Davis, that I gave in and bought it. I’m glad I did because this book is brilliant.
This isn’t your typical marketing book. Davis really does break new ground with Brandscaping, and that’s saying a lot. He believes it’s vitally important for brands to ask “what if” questions. These “what if” questions make you think about marketing and branding completely differently. It could open up a world of possibilities previously off limits. It’s not enough to think about “what if” questions, but to be brave enough to implement them.
This book is a guide on how to innovate and find partners where you may not have realized they existed. It’s packed with examples on companies that have successfully brandscaped, proving that it works, not just in theory, but in the real world. If you’re a marketer this is a must read.
Did you read any of these? What were your favorite books of 2015? What are you looking forward to reading in 2016?
Filed Under: Books, Creativity, Marketing Tagged With: , , , ,

How To Remain Calm When Your Toaster (Or Anything Else) Is On Fire

March 31, 2015 by 6 Comments

How To Remain Calm When Your Toaster (Or Anything Else) Is On Fire

My work colleague bumped into another person at work when she was leaving the office we share and screamed when they collided. When my colleague came back she mentioned how when things startle her it makes her feel better to make a loud noise. She then reminded me of the story I told her about the fire extinguisher.

A number of years ago my sister was selling her house and stayed with my wife and me for a while. One day my wife and I were watching TV when my sister stepped into the living room and casually asked, “Where do you keep your fire extinguisher? Your toaster is on fire.”
I said, “I think it’s under the sink.” I got up, with no urgency, and walked to the kitchen, opened the cabinet underneath the sink and found it. I took it out and started reading the instructions. When I figured out how it worked I pointed it at the toaster and the flames jumping from it that were almost to the cabinets above it. I pulled the nozzle and the fire retardant foam quickly put out the fire.
People I share this story with are amazed at how casually my sister and I reacted. We were both cool and calm under what most people would assume to be a frightening moment.
I have always reacted to such things in an unemotional way. It’s a part of my nature, as it is my sister’s, but how did we get this way?
Here are four lessons on how to remain calm when your toaster (or anything else) is on fire:
1) Get the facts – It’s difficult to make a decision or react to what the real issue is if it’s clouded in emotion or judgments. You can’t fix things without knowing what the facts are, without the added flowery interpretation.
When I worked at AT&T I’d often get customers calling in to complain about something with their service, like the phone isn’t working, or their bill is screwed up. I would ask for specifics about what the issue was. This leads to lesson number two.
2) Ask Questions – The more questions you ask the closer you can get to pinpointing the issue. Most people tend to give you what they want to tell you. What’s important to them and how they feel. But, how they feel doesn’t affect how you need to approach things. Going back to my AT&T days a customer saying they don’t have dial tone on the phone in 2nd floor office is different than my phone doesn’t work.
3) Remain Objective – People have a tendency to exaggerate things. They bring their biases and past history into situations and give you their version of things. You can listen to what they say, but you need to strip away everything but the key details in order to get to the truth.
You need to remain non-judgmental. Once you label something, you approach in an entirely different way.
4) Don’t Get Emotionally Attached – We want to empathize with others, but we can’t get upset with them or excited. We need to help them, by taking a step back. When you are emotional you don’t think clearly. When you are faced with a crisis or conflict you need to be able to think clearly.
Think about it as if you’re an outside observer. If you look at it as though you have nothing to gain or lose you won’t be attached to it.
Is there something you do to keep yourself calm when chaos or conflict rears its ugly head? Share your comments and let’s help each other remain calm the next time we face it.
Filed Under: Life Lessons Tagged With: , ,

7 Steps to Become a Learning Machine

December 2, 2014 by Leave a Comment
7 Steps to Become a Learning MachineIn my last post I wrote about finding the motivation to learn something new. Once you have the motivation, how do you do actually go about learning?
There are three different ways to go about it; some people learn by listening, some by watching, some by doing. This is how school is set up. A teacher stands in front of class and lectures about a subject, writes on the board, and then has you work on it. But, how do you go further than that? How do you go from memorizing something to becoming intimately familiar with it?
Here are 7 steps to become a learning machine:
1) Model someone successful – Who can you model yourself after? Find someone who has done it before, with the kind of success you admire. How did they start? How did they learn? What were their breakthroughs to improvement? If you can learn shortcuts that will help you avoid their mistakes it might save you some frustration.
When I was learning to write songs, I copied what my heroes did. I tried to write songs like them. Listening back now I can still hear the influences – The Beatles’ “She’s a Woman”, Fats Domino’s “Walking to New Orleans”, or Roy Orbison’s “Only the Lonely”. I was learning how to craft songs like they did, but eventually I developed my own style. This also leads us to number two.
2) Model everyone – When I was trying to be a better baseball player as a kid, I tried to model my swing after dozens of major league players. I knew how everyone on the Milwaukee Brewers batted, along with others from the Royals, Yankees, Angels, Red Sox, and anyone else whose swing I liked.
By trying to copy how others players stepped up to the plate, approached their at bat, and swung at pitches, I could find out what worked and what didn’t work for me. Eventually I settled on a cross between Paul Molitor and Dave Winfield. Not that I was trying to be them, but what they did worked for me.
Today, I golf instead of play baseball, but I use the same philosophy. I model my swing after Ernie Els (because we’re about the same body type) and Inbee Park (because she reminds me to be fluid and take my time). Two different swings, but I can take something from each to make it my own.
Try everything you can to find out what works for you.
3) Read – This goes without saying. Read all you can about a subject; everything from the masters to people who might not be famous but have found great hacks to become skillful.
Make sure you mark up the book, take notes, jot down reminders or ideas as you read. If what you read just blows you away, re-read it. There will be a lot you missed the first time around. The lessons that resonated with you the first time will get stuck deeper in your head and you may look at other points differently.
4) Learn the basics first – We often expect expert results when we haven’t even achieved beginner’s skills. You need to learn to crawl before you can walk. It’s the same principle.
If you look at anyone who goes through a slump or tries to re-energize what they’re doing they always go back to the fundamentals. You’ll hear this in sports a lot.
The basics are the foundation on which you can go off in different directions, maybe in places no one else has ever gone before. But, but before that happens you need to understand the fundamentals.
5)  Practice – It takes time to learn something. We’re not going to be good right away, yet we are devastated when we aren’t. Instant gratification cheats us out of proper development time. I think our ego gets in the way of this. We expect to be good and we want to show others we know what we’re doing. We want to do this before we’ve put our time in. That’s what “paying your dues” is all about.
When you first try to learn something you’ll probably suck at it. That’s okay. Everyone starts out the same way. Give yourself permission to try something without having to be perfect at it.
We look at professionals and think they burst onto the scene overnight or they have natural talent that they didn’t have to work on. It may even be portrayed that way in the media. That’s false advertising. Those people spent countless hours practicing their skills before they got any sort of notoriety.
Nobody sees the sacrifice that went into developing their craft. Nobody sees the musician practicing scales at all hours of the day and night, or the swimmer doing laps at 4:00 am, or the baseball player at the batting cage all winter long, but we do see the concert, the Olympic Medal, and the home run to win the game.
Without those private hours of practice those public moments of glory would never have happened. They couldn’t happen. So, don’t take practice lightly, it’s your building block to personal greatness.
6) Never think you’re done learning – No matter how good you are at something, you’re never an expert. This keeps your mind open to continuous learning. Once you think you’ve mastered something you are closed off to new ideas about it.
Think of yourself as an explorer. There’s always something new to discover. With all you know, there’s so much more you don’t know. You needn’t look any further than the library. There’s so much information that’s written that it’s physically impossible to read everything out there and know everything there is to know. You’ll never know it all, so keep your mind open.
7) Share your expertise – When you share what you know it keeps you on your toes. It reemphasizes what you know (or maybe don’t know – re-read point #6) but it also allows you to see it from the vantage point of the person who is just learning.
Teaching also takes us back to each of the other six points mentioned. It can re-introduce you to the fundamentals, it can bring back memories of the people you modeled, and you may find something new to read. Sharing what you know allows you to experience learning all over again.
What steps have you taken to become a learning machine? Are there any steps that you use that I didn’t mentioned? What are they and how do they work for you?
Here’s to becoming a learning machine!
Filed Under: Inspiration, Life Lessons Tagged With: , ,

Learning Something New

November 25, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Learning Something NewWhen I was 10 years old my sister and I went with my mom to visit one my mom’s childhood friends in Jackson, Mississippi. My mom’s friend had kids around our age and every afternoon we’d head to the local swimming pool. At first I didn’t want to go because I didn’t know how to swim. Being in the water was terrifying. I thought I might go under and drown.

It was the middle of August and let me tell you it was hot, really hot. It didn’t take long before I decided I had to get in the deeper water to cool off. My mom’s friend’s son showed me how to do it and it didn’t take long for me to catch on. By the end of the week I was looking forward to going to the pool. I learned to swim in one week!
This is in stark contrast to my swimming lessons from five years early. My mom bid on, and won, swimming lessons from the Channel 10 PBS auction. She thought it’d be good for me to learn how to swim. Only I wasn’t ready to learn. Every time I got in the pool I began screaming. Even though I had a board to help me stay afloat I resisted every chance I got. I was sitting in the bleachers by the end of every lesson. I only went to about three or four lessons before my mom stopped taking me, I think out of sheer embarrassment.
There are many reasons we resist learning something new; our own ignorance of the subject, prior history, other people’s opinions, a bad experience the first time we attempted it. Whatever the reason, we can overcome it.
If we want to learn something new we are fully capable of doing so. We just need to make up our minds and see the value in it. When I was five there was no value to me in learning how to swim. I didn’t care, and that was reflected in my attitude. When I was 10 there was a huge value to me – I didn’t want to fry in the sun!
What have you been putting off doing because you’d have to learn something new? Find value in learning it and then start. Find a mentor, attend classes, or watch tutorials on YouTube. Just start. It will be rewarding when you learn it, and you’ll be surprised how much more of the world is open to you.
Filed Under: Life Lessons, Motivation Tagged With: ,

It Pays to Ask

October 28, 2014 by Leave a Comment
It Pays to Ask

Malcolm Gladwell at INBOUND14.

Last year I won tickets to go to INBOUND in Boston. In the marketing world, it’s a big deal. The conference boasts an amazing lineup of incredible speakers, authors, and experts. Unfortunately, I couldn’t work out my schedule with my employer and wasn’t able to attend. As the conference approached, I looked at going this time around.

I sent a message to the person who I won the ticket from last year; the company’s Chief Marketing Officer. I briefly explained my situation and asked if there would be any way I could cash in on the ticket this year since it didn’t work out for me last year. The worst he could say was no, right?
He emailed back the next day. His message was “sure, no problem.” He gave me a code to use and an email for someone to contact if I ran into problems. I immediately signed up and made preparations to attend the conference. By asking, I saved $999. It pays to ask!

How often do we want something, but never get it? They say that’s one of the main reasons a sales person doesn’t sell something is because they never ask for the sale. A simple, can I wrap that up for you, should we fill out some paper work so it’s yours, or do you want to buy it, could be all that’s needed to close the sale.
People aren’t mind readers. What you think are obvious signs are not that for others. Implying you want something and asking for it are two very different things. Children have no problem asking, “can I have this?”
That special someone you want to invite to dinner? There’s no chance they’ll go if you never ask. Sure, they could say no. If they do, you’re in the same predicament as you are currently. If they say yes, who knows what could develop. If you make your intentions known the possibilities are endless.
As I expected, the conference was phenomenal. The speakers were brilliant and I met talented people from across the country. I even made some new friends. It was such a blast that I can’t wait to go next year, even though I’ll have to pay.
I certainly learned that it pays to ask. What are you going to ask?
Filed Under: Life Lessons Tagged With: , ,

Do It Today. Do It Now.

August 5, 2014 by Leave a Comment

Do It Today. Do It Now.Over the weekend, I made a quick trip up to Sparta to meet my 6-week-old nephew. I wanted to be able to see him while he was still a baby, plus it’s been a while since I’d seen my niece, sister, brother-in-law, and my parents. But, I had a limited amount of time that worked in my schedule. I had a day to visit since I had some other things I needed to do in Milwaukee.

I could have pushed the trip off and waited until I had more time. I spoke with someone about a job on Friday, sent some samples of my work and said she’d be in touch with me early the next week. If I had made my plans based on the fact that I could miss a call from her I would’t have made the trip. She didn’t call while I was gone and I would have wasted the opportunity to visit with my family.
How much of life do we put off in anticipation of something else happening? I’m starting to learn that it’s better to just do what’s important at the moment and adjust to anything that comes up later.
A great example of this is when my wife and I took a trip to Paris and London. We had an hour before we had to board our train to Paris. I thought about just hanging out, but the British Library was a few blocks down the street. There were some hand-written lyrics from the Beatles I wanted to see, so I thought I’d give it a go.
The first thing I saw when I entered the room were pages from Leonardo da Vinci’s notebook. I saw Lewis Carroll’s diary that had the beginnings of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, scores by Mozart and Handel in their own hand, the Gutenberg Bible, oh, yeah, and this little thing called the Magna Carta! Not to mention that Beatles’ lyrics. The amount of history I took in, in just an hour was amazing. If I had thought that I can’t possibly do anything in an hour I would have missed that entire experience.
We need to put as much life as we can into life. We can’t wait for the perfect time or more time. We each have 24 hours a day to work with. Our days are limited. We need to use them wisely.
Start with whatever amount of time you can. If you want to write a book – write an hour a day. If you want to lose weight – workout for a 30 minutes a day. If you want to catch up with a friend – make a phone call and chat for 15 minutes. No amount of time is ever wasted. You don’t need a month’s worth of time in order to do something. Do it today. Do it now. Spend the next five minutes writing down what you’ve put off for too long. And then spend an hour doing it!
Filed Under: Inspiration, Life Lessons Tagged With: ,

What I Did at WordCamp Milwaukee 2014

July 29, 2014 by Leave a Comment

What I Did at WordCampWordCamp – the name conjures up an idyllic scene in the deep woods fighting off mosquitoes, making smores, and discussing the attributes and origins of words. Although Idyllic (in beautiful downtown Milwaukee), WordCamp is an event where people gather to learn about WordPress, the open source platform that 20% of the world’s websites run on. 

You don’t just have to be a web developer to get something out of it. Though I’d say two-thirds of everyone attending works in web dev, there are tracks for marketing, blogging and content, design, business, and user and general information. Basically, something for everyone, from the expert to the person just starting out.
WordCamp is a great community more than anything else. It’s a great place to reconnect with friends, meet new people, learn about WordPress, marketing, blogging and tons more, and give back to the community. And, that’s exactly what I did at WordCamp Milwaukee 2014.
Reconnect with friends: One of the first things I did, even before the event, was reconnect with people I met last year to confirm they were attending. Some were, some weren’t. On the morning of the first day I tweeted out to Tom Kepler, a web developer from the Chicago area who I met last year, to find out where he was. Once there, we had a great time catching up and deepening our friendship.
Meet new people: Throughout the day people would introduce themselves. I would too. You’d get to know each other quickly; “I’m a developer at so and so company,” or “I’m a freelance designer.” I introduced myself as a writer or partner at Glass Fish Creative, a business I’m just starting designed to help small businesses and entrepreneurs with their marketing. Many people shared their own stories of going out on their own. It was great to find out what everyone’s take was on freelancing and working for someone else.
There was also a great after-party down the street at the Hilton City Center. It gave us an opportunity to mingle with others we hadn’t had a chance to meet during the day.
Learn about WordPress: Session after session was filled with valuable information. Who knew non-profits could get free website hosting or that there are ways to make using public Wi-Fi safer?
Learning didn’t just happen during sessions; people were sharing ideas in between sessions, during lunch, in the Happiness Bar area (no drinking was involved, it was a room where experts were available to answer your questions about WordPress).
Give back to the community: During one session on non-profits, the speaker commented about a hackathon that took place the day before for a local group called My Sista’s KeepHer that helps young women find their identify through writing workshops. He mentioned that they needed help with content and blog posts. That was right up my alley, so I ended up writing a blog post, some other content, and fixing some SEO issues. In one weekend, they went from not having a website, to having one where they can spread the word and take donations. It felt great to give back and be a small part of that.
As I was leaving Sunday night, I walked out with one of the speakers I saw earlier in the day and told him how much I enjoyed his session. He asked what I was going to implement right away and I told him my brain was a little foggy and couldn’t think of anything right then. He mentioned that he had trouble focusing during the last two sessions of the day as well. That’s WordCamp, there’s so much to take in, in such a short amount of time that it’ll take a while to process it all, but what a great way to spend a weekend.
Are there any events that you’ve planned as part of your summer? How will you, or how did you, spend your time?
Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: ,