Read it and reap

Read it and reap

MJ Flanagan discusses the book, and its relevance in the digital age.

Every few years the pundits announce the book will die, they say we will all listen to book recordings, watch our internet screens or heaven forbid - give up all together. I am pleased to say annually they are proved wrong. At learnpurple we love books - if I get a spare hour (if I am really lucky I get a few!) I like nothing better than to browse the shelves in a local bookshop looking for the latest offering - and it seems I am not alone. According to the Sunday Times best seller list last week the top 20 combined fiction and non-fiction sold a total of 187,450 copies.

In any one week I'll have several books on the go. There will be the business book - my latest favorite being Freakonomics, Steven D Levitt & Stephen J Dubne. I'll also be reading a biography, by anyone from Chris Evans to Jack Welch. And then there's the trashy novel - Celia Ahern being the author of choice this week. Once I open them I can escape. I learn, laugh, and weep. Once I have finished I lend them to friends and we discuss them over a glass of wine. I then use the lessons I have learnt to build others' skills in my training sessions as well as my own.

Years ago whilst working for Bass I worked for a director called Tony Hughes. Whenever someone in his team excelled in any way he would send them a book with a hand written note telling them why he had sent it. These books would become our tools for enhancing our management abilities. I have kept every one of the books. This is a fantastic way of recognising your team whilst developing their skills. What an inspirational leader!

Recently, while flicking through O magazine I saw an interview with JayZ, I carried on flicking doubtful as to what I would have in common with an internationally famous rap artist, originally from a housing project in Brooklyn. I then noticed a list of his five favourite books; three of them were also mine:

- James Redfield - The Celestine Prophecy

- Malcolm Gladwell - Outliers

- Seth Godin - Purple Cow

Needless to say I went back and read the whole interview, he turned out to be an incredibly successful entrepreneur, honest and a true role model: a definite case of judging a book by its cover (I am still not really a fan of his music though!)

For me, one of the best things in life is when you open a new book and within a few pages you know it' going to be fantastic; that happened whilst on holiday this year. The book - Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain - is about his career and journey to become one of New York's top chefs and enfant terrible! It's a must for every chef and front of house manager. It's also the perfect double with - Setting the table, Danny Meyer's story of setting up and running the Union Square Hospitality Group - also in New York. One that is closer to home is Nigel Slater's 'Toast', a tale of growing up through food, it rang many bells with my childhood.

Whilst writing this I decided that in time for your Christmas wish list I would ask several of our clients and associates to give us their favourite books; here are a few for you to think about:

- The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce - Paul Torday - good for food and wine lovers

- 59 Seconds, think a little change a lot - Professor Richard Wiseman

- Never Eat Alone - Keith Ferrazzi, an old favourite apparently

- The Artists Way - Julia Cameron, absolutely amazing book on creativity, writing and the 'artists date'

- The Speed of Trust - Steven Covey, a business best seller

- A Fine Balance -Rohinton Mistry - It chronicles the story of 4 individuals from very different sectors of the Indian Caste system

- The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell, 'Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.' This is the tipping point principle

- Clive Woodward - a Biography, fantastic lessons in leadership and team building from the England rugby coach

- Leadership - Giuliani, not only does he share some great leadership lessons, the book talks about New York during 9/11

Some of these I have read but those that I have not I will work my way through. With Amazon selling second hand copies at such reasonable prices why not start a library for your people so that those who want to build their knowledge through reading can do so easily and cheaply; or perhaps next time you want to show your appreciation to one of your team send them a book and a handwritten note?

For those with more exotic taste I love the 'teach yourself' books where you can learn everything from Mandarin to chicken farming. They also have ones on leadership, coaching and feedback and emotional intelligence as part of their series.

I am off to put my feet up now and read a good book - 'Teach yourself blogging'! with my friends 'Green and Black'.

What are you reading at the moment? What is your favourite book?

9 November 2009

Samantha Felton on 9 November 2009

To touch on one of your first points here MJ, I believe the power of our imagination and a thirst to independently learn will always mean that reading books will be an important part of our culture, values and our individual worlds.

I think, as the interpretation of whether a book is good or not is totally subjective, if two people find the same books of interest then your personalities are probabaly quite similar too (MJ, you and JayZ are almost the same person-lol)...!

Jane Sunley on 9 November 2009

I too am an avid reader and always have a book on the go. On holiday I read at loads of them. Business-wise I am just about to embark upon Gladwell's What the Dog Saw. Social reading - have just finished 'The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest' the third book of Steig Larson's Millennium trilogy - can highly recommend it and the previous two. Books are a fantastic way to expand the mind. They are also excellent for stress relief - bury yourself into a book on a busy tube and get lost in the plot - it really 'takes you out of yourself' - don't get too engrossed and miss your stop though.

sally brand on 10 November 2009

Upon your recommendation I've gone out and bought Gladwell's "Outliers" (it's recently come out in paperback and it's on special offer in Waterstone's!)....I'll let you know what i think!

Kim Dunsmore on 19 November 2009

What a fantastic article - so relevant and thankfully highlighting that, indeed, books are as popular as ever and don't seem to be in danger of dying out any time soon.

I personally love reading, and also the social benefits we gain from it. Countless hours (don't tell the bosses) are spent in our office debating / discussing / laughing over what we each are reading and swapping books we recommend.

As a result of this, when I was asked to put a community project together for a course I am currently doing, I instantly thought of The Big Book Swap, and have now managed to secure The Royal College of Physicians on the 6th January to host the event. The premise is that people from all walks of life and backgrounds will come along with a copy of their favourite book, with a little note inside about why they love it, how it touched them, why the story has stayed with them for months / years / decades, and will then swap it with someone else. Complete strangers will be sharing a little piece of their lives, at the same time encouraging people to perhaps branch out and read something which may never otherwise have appealed to them (bank executives reading chick-lit, beauty therapists reading a sportsman's autobiography etc).

At the same time, I will be asking for donations for The Pelican Post, a fledgling organisation working as an umbrella for a number of charities in Africa, which assists with buying books for schools in countries like Ethiopia, Tanzania and Malawi. It is an amazing cause and something which I am sure will really take off in the years to come, so it would be great to give them a boost with some much needed funds! I hope as many people as possible will come along (Wednesday 6th January 2010 from 6.00pm at The Royal College of Physicians) so please do spread the word if you are reading this!!

And my favourite book? 'Anne of Green Gables'. Maybe a little sad for a woman approaching 30 to admit to this but from the moment I first picked that book up at the age of 12 I was hooked and I must have read it 20 times since. And Jane, I agree, Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy is AMAZING!