Seth Godin’s Favorite Business Books. A good, short list on Goodreads.
New Book Day
Today is a good day. I bought three books and discovered another.
I started reading Linchpin by Seth Godin, but quit because I was getting frustrated. Not because I didn’t like the book, but because I’d borrowed it from the library. Getting books from the library is a good way to save money, but I don’t think the county would be thrilled if I marked it all up and then “forgot” to return it. Some books you want to own; this is one. I even got another couple for my team in California.
Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath is another no-brainer purchase for a couple reasons. One: their book Made to Stick was excellent. Two: Michael Hyatt recommends it. Good enough for me.
Last is Getting Naked by Patrick Lencioni. I read a bunch of his books last year. They’re quick reads with good, practical info.
While wandering the store (I love brick and mortar book stores!), I ran across The Christian Atheist. It goes on my interesting books page. When my to-read stack gets a little lower, I’ll look for it again.
What new books have you bought or read recently?
Homeless Worldview Test
Seth Godin asks:
Is this:
- someone in real need of help
- someone you should give money to
- someone who will take whatever money you give and go buy a substance that makes his problem worse
- someone you should cross the street to avoid
Although Seth tries to help with a hint, “there is no right answer,” I have the nagging feeling there is. Maybe there’s more than one right answer, that all of these could be true.
This exact question has been bothering me for more than a week. On our drive home from Sacramento at the conclusion of spring break, my family stopped at my favorite rest stop, just north of Yreka. As we were leaving the stop, a man standing near the back of his parked pick-up held a cardboard sign asking for food, gas, or money. The tailgate was down and the camper shell door was up. A couple of kids were lying in sleeping bags in the back, their heads to the opening. A puppy sat attentively next to the man.
I pointed out the cute puppy to my family as I turned left onto the road that would take us to the northbound freeway onramp. In response, one of my daughters said we should stop and give our traveling food to the man. As I continued on, silently preparing a response explaining why we wouldn’t, she said, “You’re so mean!”
In the next few miles, I was unable to convince my kids that we shouldn’t help this family so we took the second exit, turned around, and headed back to the rest stop. We gave the man some apples, chips, raisin-oatmeal cookies, and a little cash. We turned around again and headed back toward home.
I’d like to say that I felt better helping this man, but I didn’t. I felt like a sucker. And I felt guilty for feeling like a sucker. The car was silent for miles. As I drove, I replayed all the arguments I’ve heard why we shouldn’t have given anything.
- The man didn’t need money. He’s just lazy and he probably makes more money than I do at no cost other than his dignity.
- The man would squander the money on drugs or alcohol and throw away the food.
- I already support homeless people with my taxes.
- I already support homeless people with my offerings at church, some of which go to our local community service programs and our church’s international relief organization
- Organizations do a better job helping homeless people; if I want to help, I should donate to an organization.
- I had other places to spend my money, such as on my family.
Weeks later, I still don’t have a good answer for my kids. Do you?
By
on
Tags:
The Inertia of Laziness
Seth Godin blogs today about the power of habit. I think it’s the inertia of laziness. Because they’re lazy, people:
- Don’t refinance for years even though interest rates are lower.
- Don’t change cell phone plans even though they could get more minutes, larger coverage areas, more services, and better cell phones to boot, for the same or less money.
- Don’t change ISPs, cable companies, web hosts, etc., even though their current one continues to raise prices without improving service.
- Don’t change web mapping/search sites, even though their current one is collecting personal data and better options may be available.
- etc.
As Seth writes:
Worth a thought the next time you convince yourself you can get people to change just because you’re better.
It takes more than a better product or service to win a customer. You must make it easy for that customer to switch.
Photo credit: “Oh, It’s YOU Again” by faith goble on Flickr. Used under a Creative Commons license.
By
on
Tags: