More Reading

I'm still travelling a lot for the Day Job, which means I still have a good amount of time conducive to reading.

This time around, you can see I've been focused on motivation.

I didn't care much for Drive or The Bully at Work.  The topics are relevant and useful, but each of these books were longer than they needed to be and I got impatient with the non-value-added portions.

With respect to The Bully at Work, I got especially frustrated.  The authors stated that they were using the word "target" instead of "victim" because they didn't want to reinforce the idea of victimization, but the book was still mostly written from the "you poor victim" point of view.  Although I do have to say that to be reading about the different bullying tactics with our current president's behavior, his treatment of CNN, and especially Jim Acosta was quite interesting.

This is a good reminder that changing words is the first step in changing thought process and behavior.... but if behavior doesn't change, the key words don't matter.  We see this all the time, especially with respect to "servant-leadership."  Servant-leadership is more than just drawing the organizational chart upside down.  Some people do it well, and others are just using the key words.

I mostly enjoyed reading Delivering Happiness.  It captured my attention and I looked forward to the next time I could pick it up.  But a lot was left out...  The stories were presented primarily as Tony Hsieh seeking the next adrenaline rush without working too hard, rather than a driven process with a long-term plan.  There was so much focus on the euphoria that I found myself asking "How does he not have a substance abuse problem?"  The book was longer than it needed to be, but Tony is a good story teller and it's worth the read.

One wonderful thing.... I had left the Bullying book on my inbound plane.  I didn't realize until the next day and hadn't finished reading it yet.  So I filed a lost item report online, thinking I probably would never see it again.  Then about 10 days later, I got an email from SWA.  They had found my book and were willing to mail it to me, and I was able to finish reading the book.  That's pretty awesome customer service.

Of course, being without that book meant I needed to find a new one for my ride home...  I found several at this new, well-curated, independent bookstore next door to my cousin's first coffee shop.

I will continue travelling, frequently and indefinitely... so I have plenty of future time for reading.  I'm loving the dedicated time to make a dent in my stash of books.

Happy Reading!