The Hot Iron

Saturday, May 03, 2008

My Take-Away From The Book the Girl From Farris’s

To keep well-rounded, I try to read both business books and anything else.  One book on my list was The Girl From Farris’s by Edgar Rice Burroughs.  Set in Chicago in the early part of the last century, it is the story of a young woman who tries to go on the straight and narrow after a career as a prostitute, and the people who try to help and hinder her.  My original intent on reading it was due to the references to Chicago’s Loop.  And like anything about life, I found takeaways from the book.

My greatest takeaway is that you must follow your dreams, no matter how hard they are.  The heroin of the book, Maggie (who’s real name is June), makes the decision to go on the straight and narrow, get a job and make a life for herself.  She is lured back to her old ways and as well encounters people who try to help her but are more furthering their own causes.  But Maggie persists, moving forward but not forgetting where she came from.

Another takeaway was that it’s a small world.  Maggie repeatedly encounters people from her past throughout the story, under varying circumstances.  And this was in the day of the manual typewriter!  Keeping this is mind will help you in dealing with people you may never want to encounter again the next time you see them.

The Girl From Farris’s is short and enjoyable story, packed with plot twist throughout.  If you’re looking for a book for a cross-country flight, allow me to recommend this one.

Friday, April 25, 2008

My Take-Aways From The Book The Age Of Conversation

Have you ever been alone in a crowded room?  It can happen to anyone, and the remedy is to engage in the conversation of the room.  So not to look like a bull in a china store, you put yourself out there, introduce yourself, listen and participate.  Soon you will shed the wallflower costume.

Broaden the scope of the room to the entire planet, and that is the idea behind the book The Age of Conversation.  If you are reading The Hot Iron or other blogs, you may have seen the word “conversation” used a lot.  Rather than people posting static comments on a Web site, they (as done here) open it up to comments, thus making the post a topic of conversation and comments the interaction of the conversation.  In this book, Gavin Heaton and Drew McLennan posted a topic – on conversation itself – and received 103 comments, which are compiled and presented in book form.

My greatest takeaway is that, at a high level, conversation online is not much different than offline.  Norms of having a dialogue with people you have just met or really don’t know still apply, and the idea is to engage with others.  Of course the online medium provide greater advantages you don’t get offline, such as engaging with people on the other side of the planet or typically untouchable CEOs.

Another takeaway is that we tend to gravitate to people we share a common opinion or approach with; likeminded individuals.  With 103 ideas presented, naturally you won’t agree with the content or approach of all of them, and that was the case with me.  Ideas presented by people that were practical or less prophesizing resonated with me more as I tend to take a more practical approach.

A final takeaway was the need for such a book.  More and more I find myself explaining social media and networking to people, whether they are friends, clients or colleagues.  In the grand scheme of things it is still a new topic.  A book like this can serve as an introduction to what you can gain from having such conversations, as well as be a catalyst for creating your Facebook account once and for all.

I recommend The Age of Conversation for both folks in the conversation and not.  It is not all words either – there are several illustrations, with my favorite being from my friend AJ in Sydney, Australia.  Interestingly, through AJ I met Gavin Heaton several years back.  Through this book, I have reconnected with him, as his name rang a bell when several other people recommended the project behind it to me.  Which is the whole idea, isn’t it?

Saturday, April 12, 2008

My Take-Aways From The Book Money-Smart Secrets for the Self-Employed

One of the greatest frustrations of any entrepreneur or small business is working more in your business than on your business.  Working in your business is when you are doing the mundane but vital tasks of running a business, everything from balancing the checkbook to selecting insurance and beyond.  By being in the trenches, you can lose the big picture perspective of growing your business, but due to your size and headcount there is probably nobody else to do these things.

This reality of working on your own is the theme of the book Money-Smart Secrets for the Self-Employed by Linda Stern.  The book guides the reader through starting their own business, from merely thinking about doing it, to the fears surrounding income to the tasks required to maintain your business.  It was written in 1997, and was a recent gift to me from a friend who herself used it as a guide through breaking out on her own.  Where some of the specifics are outdated (such as software products) much of the book is still relevant 11 years after it was published.

My greatest takeaway from the book is you need to understand the big picture of running your own business before you do so.  There are many things you do when on your own you would not do as an employee of a larger company, such as marketing yourself and hiring people.  You may not even know how to do some of these things, but understanding what is involved will help you determine if being on your own is for you, and what to expect to be doing.

My next takeaway from the book is to put together a semblance of a plan for your business and review it.  Not every business needs a formal business plan.  A comprehensive checklist will do for some, to outline what has been done and what remains.  As life changes so does business, even more so when you are working for yourself.  A plan is only as good as it is realistic, thus the need to revise it as your business evolves and hopefully grows.

A final takeaway from the book is to document the money.  Whether you use a logbook, a spreadsheet or QuickBooks (I highly recommend the latter!) you need to keep track of the money.  Not only will this benefit you personally but it will make it easier to deal with at tax payment time, which you will learn quickly is more than just once a year when you are on your own.

Money-Smart Secrets for the Self-Employed was a good read and motivational for someone starting out on their own.  As I read it several years into my own business, it served as reassurance to some of the decisions I had made.  Even though it came out over a decade ago, I would recommend it for someone thinking of going on their own or just starting, as it can help them with the logistics of their corporate operations.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

My Take-Aways From The Book Purple Cow

When I read the book Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin, it reminded me of one of his previous books I read, Purple Cow.  But was it just the content of the book, or the fact that the book arrived to me several years ago in a milk carton?

The premise of the book Purple Cow, published in 2002, is about being remarkable.  Godin’s point is that in an age where we are deluged with images and messages, these have reduced their overall effectiveness, and to get your message out there, your product or service needs to be different or unique in its own way.  The first example in the book is driving through farm lands and seeing cow after cow and they all look alike, but a cow that is purple will stand out and be remembered, thus remarkable.

So is remarkable something you put on top of a product or service?  Not necessarily.  The book gives examples of how L.L. Bean and Sears Craftsman line of tools are remarkable in their unconditional return policy.  Ikea is remarkable in how they sell low-cost, assemble-yourself furniture that is extremely stylish.  Dr. Bronner’s soap is remarkable in its unique labeling.

My greatest takeaway is that remarkable is not a gimmick.  From the above examples, what makes them remarkable are attributes that have lasted for years.  Gimmicks may drive sales, but not over the long term.  Gimmicks are also not considered sincere.

Another takeaway is that you may already be remarkable.  When many entrepreneurs venture out on their own, their catalyst is often they can do what they do better or in a more unique way from where they previously worked.  They may not have been able to do it, whatever it is, when they worked for someone else and have the conviction to do it themselves.  This was part of my own motivation for starting Dunkirk Systems, LLC.

The book Purple Cow does not over-do it with examples and is an energetic, quick read.  If you are venturing out on your own, or taking a strategic look at your business I recommend reading the book as it will definitely inspire you, and you may get some ideas from it as well.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

My Take-Aways From The Book Meatball Sundae

What the heck is meatball sundae?  As it sounds, it is a dish with balls of meat and whipped cream and a cherry on top.  Not necessarily something you would want, would you?  Replace the meatballs with ice cream and you have something you’d like – something that works well together and is a tasty treat.

This harmony, and the converse lack of harmony, is the crux of the book Meatball Sundae by marketing consultant and author Seth Godin.  He uses this graphic example to state how you take your business products and services (the meatballs) and market it with today’s marketing tools, namely online (the whipped cream and cherry).  Godin’s premise is you just can’t slap today’s progressive marketing techniques (blogs, viral videos) on staid products and services just as they are and how you have marketed them in the past, or New vs. Old Marketing as he refers to it.  New Marketing is making a personal connection between the consumer and the emotion of the product or service, where Old Marketing is broadcasted, interruptive promotion as it has always been done in the past.

My greatest takeaway from this book is not necessarily a positive one – it is more unlikely to happen in an older organization than a newer one.  In a newer company or firm, New Marketing is all they know, or could even have been the prevailing catalyst for the start of the business.  Therefore, the firm is more in sync with what needs to be done to practice New Marketing.

In older companies, where marketing has happened “that way” for a long time and has worked, this understanding may not be in place, and unless it is guided throughout the organization, it will never happen.  In most older, traditional companies, people are concerned more for their own jobs in a fluctuating economy than anything else, and are less likely to champion the cause of New Marketing.  Despite this, many companies have taken a fresh look at what they do and sell and have made personal connections with their audience.  It takes a different allocation of money and resources than before, but with such a perspective, they can see their results, measurable more than a billboard on a highway.

Meatball Sundae is a quick, lively read and full of many examples of companies and what they did well – and didn’t do well – in practicing New Marketing.  I recommend it to newer or old companies, to help them in their thinking.  Depending on the company, making such a leap may not be as wide as crossing an ocean.

When I read Meatball Sundae, it made me think of a book Godin wrote back in 2002, Purple Cow.  I think I’ll re-read that one next.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

My Take-Aways From The Book Your Inner CEO

What makes a great leader?  The answer is surely not quick or short.  Commonly it is discussed if someone is a born or made leader.  But what if it is neither and you or someone discovers you are a leader, and what kind of leader are you?  This is the premise of Your Inner CEO by Allan Cox.

Your Inner CEO takes the reader through this discovery – literally.  Stories of Cox’s own personal experiences with leaders he has met, know and consulted to are married with exercises throughout the book that take you through this journey.  They are broken into 9 steps, each one building on the previous to paint a picture of the kind of leader you could be, the kind others desire to be and be around.

My greatest takeaway from this book is leadership is not just about you.  Where the model has been and continues to be where workers follow what the leaders does solely to make the leader succeed, in reality we all gain from all of us gaining.  The leader brings out the best in all of the team so that all of the team, including the leader, succeed.  If it fails, the team fails, learns from its experiences and moves on.  This is something I have always followed myself – and anyone reading who has ever worked with me, feel free to comment on that statement!  As a sole proprietor transitioning my business to a true company, I need to shed the role of control-freak entrepreneur and be a true leader and mentor.

Speaking of mentoring, another takeaway is mentorship is not dead.  In a world where it seems being a contractor is the way to go and all we should hire, mentoring people pays for both the mentee and the mentor, and this book gives several examples of how to do it well.  Many leaders and managers and people in general do not follow this - they hired a specific set of skills where the reality is they hired a person.

A final takeaway is leadership may be in all of us.  We need to want to and try to seek it.  As I have written before that entrepreneurship may be in us already the same goes for leadership.

I recommend Your Inner CEO to leaders, people who are about to be leaders as well as people who work on teams.  Read the book through once then go back and complete the exercises, which is what I am doing now.  There are accompanying online resources to it, including a Web site, wiki and Facebook group, the latter is how I connected with the author and learned of the book.

Friday, February 01, 2008

My Take-Aways From The Book Never Give Up

Starting out another year of reading I chose a book I have owned not too long, given to me by my friend Eric when it came out a few months ago.  Never Give Up is the autobiography of New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi.  Written with Boston Globe sportswriter Michael Holley, it tells the story of his life, focusing mostly on the stroke he suffered in 2005, weeks after the team won its third Super Bowl.

Bruschi’s story made national news, both the stroke itself and his return later that year to the team.  This story tells his side, “the inside” I would all the “real” side of what he encountered within the year of his stroke.  The background of his life story lays the foundation for his path through this episode of his life.

My greatest takeaway from Never Give Up is you will never truly know what is going on in “the inside.” I call “the inside” the private interactions of one or more people, including business partners or a couple married or in a committed relationship.  Whatever you or I may see or experience from someone, it is on “the outside.” This is not saying what see of people on “the outside” is not genuine.  It may well be, but it may not be as well.  What happens on “the inside” is just for those there.  We can all probably think of a case where we didn’t consider there was an “inside” or everything was or was not ok.  Friends going through a divorce and my own move from Boston to Chicago come to mind as negative and positive “inside” events respectively.  In the case of Bruschi dealing with his stroke and recovery, this book gives high-level insight with details of people and experiences.

Another takeaway is we must keep in mind we may never know the true “inside” when we react on the “outside.” Have you ever wondered why we didn’t get some business or haven’t heard from someone?  I know myself I tend to think the worst – it may not be that I am not good enough, rather it could be the project was cancelled or the client wasn’t in a hurry to tell anyone.

In the book, Bruschi talks of how various people reacted to his stroke.  Some wrote letters, some sent food.  And some changed their tune, especially when Bruschi came back to football, though most of this came from the naysayers who didn’t have “the inside” information.

My last takeaway – don’t listen to sports talk!  Talk about an entire industry centered on not knowing the whole story!  Though I do reserve the right to rescind this takeaway if sports talk personalities and their listeners follow my first two takeaways.

Never Give Up is not just a book on sports, but is a story of a stroke survivor who happens to play football.  I recommend you read this book, especially for those who themselves or a friend or loved one goes through trying times with an illness or medical condition, or may do so, which means this book is really for anyone.

Monday, December 31, 2007

My Takeaways from the Book Power Plays

Whenever something happens to an elected official – usually something bad – reporters often ask them how they feel their reputation will be after whatever happened.  And more often than not, the politician will say history will judge them properly on their action.  This is the basis behind the book Power Plays by political analyst Dick Morris.

Power Plays takes on several politicians from the last century and a half and categorizes defining moments in their terms, then compares and contrasts their actions to others – some who faced adversity and did well, and those who did not, and in either case why.  It does so in a way that is not of a single opinion, quoting many books, authors and people who knew the subjects, which are all compiled in a lengthy format at the back of the book.

A takeaway from the book is that history repeats itself.  Where the times or technology may be different, people tend to make the same mistakes of others, even those who held a similar position.  Another is a reaffirmation of the popular phrase “keep your friends close and enemies closer” as in politics, and not much differently than in business, you must build bridges and get buy-in from those against you in order to achieve your own personal or group’s goals and tasks.

My biggest takeaway from the book was to simply be honest.  This is something I have always strived for, and is usually the toughest thing to do.  Whether it is the task at hand or a business situation or something personal impacting your role in business, the honest approach is usually the best path to take, and many times less complicated than a web of lies.  And isn’t it more about how we overcome what has happened than what happened itself?

On the note of honesty, the book interestingly concludes with a comparison to former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s honesty with their respective countrymen about the realities of World War II in comparison to how former President Lyndon Baines Johnson handled communication during the Vietnam War.  In his introduction to this section, he makes somewhat of a prediction about the war on terror in Afghanistan – the book was written in 2002 – and states that current President George Bush should follow the FDR/Churchill path of communication rather than the Johnson path in whatever happens in our fighting in the Middle East.  It is interesting to read this part in 2007, and I will leave any political opinion to you when you read the book.

Power Plays is an enjoyable text on leadership and history and I highly recommend it.  I was pleased I liked the book in the end.  I bought the book at a reading Morris did shortly after it came out, along with another book he wrote, Vote.com, which I thought was horrible.  Morris is listed as being “behind” the site along with his wife, and the book simply lacked any real substance in my opinion.  Maybe that’s why Power Plays sat on my bookshelf for a long time?  It was, however, worth the wait.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

Reading Mission Accomplished

At the beginning of this year I made a pledge – a resolution if you will – to read 12 books.  I did this for several reasons – I have never been much of a reader, I had books on my bookshelf I bought but never read, seeing my wife reading books all the time… you get the picture.  As 2007 closes, I am pleased to say I met my goal.

I decided to tie these books into my newly-launched blog, and would write something on each one as I read it.  Some of the books had been in print for many years, so writing a review would be no good, plus there are book reviews elsewhere.  Instead I decided to personalize my responses by writing what I took away from each book.  I would conclude my takeaways with whether or not I recommend the book for others to read, as I felt there would be a chance I didn’t like the book.

As I read each book, what would I do with them?  My bookshelf was runneth over with books, documentation and of course sports memorabilia.  As I was now a book reader, more shelf space was required.  So rather than have these books become like trophies on the mantelpiece, I decided to give them away.  Once I finished a book and wrote my takeaways, it was promptly sent off to someone who I felt it appropriate to them.  Sometimes this was via my wife who became interested in my newfound passion, but they have all left my office and are in the hands of others.

It would not be appropriate to sum up a year’s effort without stats.  Of the 12 books I read, only 5 were in my possession at the beginning of the year.  One book was given to me by the author, a friend, and another was given to me by the city of Chicago (along with several thousand others I presume).  Two books I heard about from articles I read, and one was mentioned in several of the other books I read.  One book I read via email messages from the DailyLit service, and 1 was book was authored by someone with the same name as me.

You can read all of the book takeaways and supporting posts under the “Book Take-Aways” category, always available on the sidebar of The Hot Iron.  Now onto writing my 12th takeaway post, then starting my first book for 2008!

Sunday, November 18, 2007

My Take-Aways from The Crucible

Growing up in Massachusetts I was well versed on the story of the Salem with trials in the town on the north shore of the east coast of the Bay State.  But like many things in your backyard, I have only been there once, and that was just a few years ago.  The story of the witch hunt came back to mind as I read The Crucible, the play written by Arthur Miller in the 1950’s.  Little did I think beforehand I would find lessons of business as well as life in its pages.

Miller’s play was written at the time of anti-Communist sentiment and inquisitions in Washington DC, and these events inspired Miller to write The Crucible as he saw parallels to the inquisition of a few hundred years earlier.  The book version of the play has a detailed introduction describing both time periods and how the play came into being, and is an excellent context to the play as well as a recap of history.

My greatest take-away from the play is a quest for the truth.  It is needless to say the entirety of the witch trials were based on hearsay and emotion and not the truth.  This is not to say business should be totally devoid of emotion or compassion, rather in the face of insanity and chaos that can slip into a business setting, a quest toward facts will more likely than not be the best path to take.

Another take-away from the play is considering the impact of your actions on your environment.  Even if a decision you might make is unpopular and pursuing its resolution is the best course to take, you can take steps to minimize its impact on the community you are in.  This can be everything from being completely covert to completely transparent.  The way information is delivered as well can satisfy those who may not agree with the decision.  Sometimes the medium is the message.

Speaking of community, I read this book as it was a gift from Chicago’s One Book, One Chicago program.  This is an excellent promotion of literacy around the Windy City where thousands of people are reading the same book at the same time!

I enjoyed The Crucible and recommend it to anyone.  It is a well-written story accurately retelling a dark period of the early history of the US.  Its script format helps the reader get deeper into the characters and see the story as someone living at that time.  Though Halloween has passed, read it now, and then re-read it next October.