Read this or fail to communicate
I spent a number of years in an operation role with a lot of communication between companies, geographies and cultures. One of the things that I like to key on is terminology particular to groups - it probably goes back to my days in sales where mirroring the tone of who you’re meeting with can make them feel comfortable with you. In the business and technology worlds, there is a lot of terminology that comes from books. I’ve found that in certain groups, you’re missing some critical information if you have not read or at least are familiar with the concepts in the book.
As an example, when I started at my current company, our CEO would often reference the classic Andy Grove book Only the Paranoid Survive. After a couple of months at the company, I read it and with a common knowledge of the book, you could shorten some business discussions. In talking to engineering groups and talking about new potentially disruptive technologies, The Innovator’s Dilemma would be used to illustrate opportunities or risks.
It seems that the adoption rate of ideas from books is happening faster. I’ve heard Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point terminology mentioned on NPR and in many meetings at work. I just finished reading his newest book, Outliers, and even Scott Adam’s is talking about this book. I really enjoy Malcolm’s storytelling and it’s probably his delivery that helps get his thoughts into the mainstream discussion so quickly.
I’m not one for writing long summaries of books (one of my coworkers has a great blog with some great book reviews including Outliers that I’ve been referencing to fill me reading list), I tend to write a one sentence review on Facebook and talk to friends and family if they’re worth passing on.
A final thought on books and workplace communication - in the high tech world, it seems that there should have a mandatory reading list of science fiction and fantasy. I was a voracious reader when I was younger, so I’m versed in Tolkein, Heinlein, The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy, tons of others and a dose of comic books.
And, if you haven’t read the business or “geek” books, luckily you can find summaries and analysis on blogs or Wikipedia entries - and you thought that required reading was only for school.
