Do Interesting: Notice. Collect. Share.

by Russell Davies

Don’t try to be interesting. That’s a fool’s errand.  Do interesting instead. Make the world light up by paying proper attention.  In this book, writer and strategist Russell Davies has rounded up a bunch of interesting people to help    You’ll turn the things you notice into a compost of creativity – slow hunches, spark files, scrapbooks and moodboards. It’s where unexpected elements collide to form new ideas. Then you’ll share those ideas. And you’ll learn something about yourself – your passions and interests. Your life and work will become more creative, fulfilling and fun.  Interesting isn’t a personality, it’s a decision. Don’t hunt for diamonds. Get fascinated by pebbles. 

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Lifestyle, Business

128 pages, Paperback

Published October 24, 2023

About the author

This is the disambiguation page for otherwise unseparated authors publishing as Russell Davies

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s not that there’s nothing interesting in this book. There is. Just not enough to justify the price tag or the label of ‘book’. Between the acres of white space, the oversized quotes, and the too much space devoted to telling us what he’s going to tell us, this book was a one hour read that would have been fine if I’d been looking for an appetizer. But I wanted a main course and it’s not that, not by a long shot.

[Mikhail Kalashnikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Книга с советами о том, как стать интереснее, зачем это нужно и что нужно делать.

Для меня было очень мало нового – кажется, я бы сам написал похожую книжку. Наверное, будет интересно для тех, кто не такой эксперт в интересности. )

Цитаты:

«And when we talked, he said that the best people at that job are always the ones that can get interested in any problem, no matter how tedious it seems on the surface. They don’t get drawn to the obviously cool problems — sport, tech, fashion, purpose — they get stuck into things that seem a bit boring — insurance, infrastructure, finance, logistics — and they find what’s interesting about them.»

«Task switching increases creativity. If you want to be creative, you should actually be switching tasks a lot more than you are already. Forcing people to switch frequently between two different tasks increased their creativity in two ways: It improved their ability to generate multiple ideas, heading in diverse directions; It improved their ability to identify the unique or best solution to the problem.»

[Cara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This little book showed up on my doorstep one day and I have no idea how it got there. My name was on the package but I had no memory or trace of ever ordering it. It was meant to be. I call books this size “pocket books”—books to stash in my car, purse, bag, or bathroom to pick up in those books and crannies. I read it slowly, tried to digest. I started reading it with my husband and wish we’d been able to read the whole thing together because the discussion was the best part. Practical, interesting, doable stuff here. Highly recommend!

[Laura Manuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet little book. To be read when you need a jolt and reminders about noticing and creating. There’s nothing groundbreaking here, but you will be sure to unearth at least one jumping off point to stir up the mundane. I can see myself returning to it when I need a nudge.

[Abi Ghifari · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is an easy-to-read, very digestible book that consists of three main parts (which are not spoilers since they are mentioned in the title) to do interesting: noticing, collecting, and sharing. It seems that the book is a culmination and reflection of the ideas that put forward by the author in the book, which is collections of ideas that seemingly quite random at a glance, but coherently connected as one thread or pattern.

I appreciate the organization of the book that looks and reads like a blog, filled with mostly quotes (and in some parts pop culture reference) or topic sentences followed by short paragraphs or anecdotes that further explain the ideas. In some places, interviews or excerpts of interviews from "creative-minded" people are also included, which some of them, the author admitted are people that author knows or befriends with. To be fair, I found some of these excerpts are not particularly interesting as the author tried it to make, or simply does not really emphasize the idea being put forward in the chapter.

Overall, it is an enjoyable read, more of a quick digest type of read if you want to get reminded of how to be an interesting person or to do something interesting.

[rumbledethumps · Rating 3 out of 5]

If this book had come out 17 years ago, when Davies first published his article "How to Be Interesting," it would have been revelatory.

But now it feels a bit re-hashed, and unfortunately a bit derivative of people who have copied his original ideas and written their own books around his ideas. Also feels like a blog post expanded into a short book by trying to flesh out the basic ideas with anecdotes.

[Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eu trabalho com planejamento e é um trabalho bem complexo, porque a gente fica com uma antena ligada no mundo mais tempo do que as outras pessoas.

A gente não pode se dar ao luxo de perder um fato, uma mudança, uma tendência importante que pode fazer parte da história de uma marca que quer ser relevante pra um cliente.

Mas às vezes a gente esquece que essa antena é o jeito como a gente percebe a vida ao nosso redor o tempo inteiro.

Não dá pra gente ficar alerta pro mundo como se fosse o momento de trabalho, 24/7. A gente presta atenção no mundo porque se interessa genuinamente pelo que acontece no mundo.

E é isso que eu acabei relembrando de forma bem feliz nesse livro que terminei recentemente. O que eu achava que ia ser uma leitura mais do lado de produtividade, de me aprimorar como profissional, na verdade me relembrou de coisas que estavam meio de lado no meu jeito de ver o mundo.

“Do Interesting” é do Russell Davies, um estrategista britânico muito famoso na publicidade mundial. Já trabalhou com muita marca grande como Nike, Apple. Ele é um dos caras responsáveis por aquela famosa campanha da Honda, “The Power of Dreams”. Já foi colunista na revista Wired… e ele escreveu esse livro onde ele conversa com um monte de gente que ele julga interessante pra entender, como que no trabalho e na vida, eles fazem 3 coisas que são muito do nosso trabalho de planejar:

1 como que você nota o mundo ao seu redor? ou seja, como você liga essa antena de perceber e notar as pequenas e grandes coisas, seja quando você está trabalhando ou simplesmente vivendo?

2 como você coleta isso? ou seja, como você guarda essas coisas que nota? tira fotos? leva um caderno o tempo inteiro? anota de forma estruturada? de forma mais bagunçada? mantém listas do que você vê?

3 como você compartilha isso? você guarda isso pra si ou espalha isso com as pessoas? escreve sobre? publica algo sobre? usa no seu trabalho? de que forma?

É um livro curto e não tem grandes técnicas envolvidas, a não ser essas 3: notar, coletar e compartilhar. E a gente vai entendendo junto com esses exemplos que o Davies coleta (ahá) quais podem ser as melhores maneiras de que isso funcione pra você, até com exercícios simples e práticos.

[Kate McGhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this. 34 ways to exercise the creative muscle from a cluster of creative people, all pulled together by Russell Davies, a writer, communicator and strategist. Written with a warm, generous and enthusiastic tone. This is a return to that joyful spark which made the Do Book series so useful and inspiring. It feels like a book I want to keep by my side for the next few months. It’s populated by creators and examples of creative practice which feel like a hug to the soul.

Have I done some of them already? Yes. Will I do all of them? Of course not. Is this groundbreaking stuff. Not really. But there are some absolute treasures in here and reminders that the human capacity for creating is right here. We are our own large language models.

All it takes is a tiny bit of effort, repetition and crushing any unhelpful thoughts that it isn’t worth it, or the doubts that your output might not be good enough and all the other limitations that can get in the way.

Get this book if you need a creative shot in the arm from time to time. Don’t we all?

[Brandur · Rating 2 out of 5]

A tiny pocket book that’s the perfect format for carrying about and skimming in a session or two. It’s quite short, and no tips in here will change your life, but I found the book a helpful reminder to get out and do things and to publish what you did.

There’s a couple sequences where he (or someone being quoted) glorifies lockdowns (and how they were so conducive to being interesting), which drives me up the wall, but the content is reasonably good beyond that.

[Rebecca Joskow · Rating 4 out of 5]

With my tate modern membership (thanks mom), I get a discount at the museum store, I saw this little book likely propelled by frenzied ‘new year new me’ energy (@gig it went with my word of the year so I had to). And actually it was the perfect little jumpstart of inspiration ! Sparky thoughts on what makes people interesting with tangible examples, I think I’ll refer back to it like a creativity dictionary.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

A conduit to good ideas

I really wanted to read through this book fairly quickly and move on, but I had to keep putting it down to think about and try the ideas. I mean really, a book that actually makes you try new things and think new thoughts? The nerve of some authors.

[Simon Veksner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Russell. He's one awesome, awesome dude. There is nothing wrong with this book, but nothing amazingly revelatory either. It felt to me like it was written for introverted people who worry they are not creative. It may help them.

[Florian · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are looking for inspiration, this book is full of it and pieces of things to broaden your horizon.
It made me change my everyday life, not in a “this is lifechanging” way but in a more deliberate POV and some actions that I incorporated.

[Megana Mikuciauskaite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being a sceptic of “how to” books, I found this one absolutely brilliant. Full of great writing and greater tips, it might not blow you away, but it will teach you how to be more interesting by noticing the world around you and sharing yours with others.

[Tom Manning · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a less a book you read than—as the series title suggests—a book you do. I look forward to trying the experiments Russell suggests.

[Finlay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good reminders in here, this book is a useful trigger or nudge to start or re-start some habits.

[Abby Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very inspiring for the creative process

[Tim Nowotny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some overlap with the gift but I really liked the condensed and actionable format. Nothing in it for me, but for many I imagine

[Lars Bjørnbakk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basically ‘A Technique for Producing Ideas’ by James Webb Young, with extra steps, internet, and computers/smartphones.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thought provoking and I wish I had read it with someone to talk through it. I’ll need to read it again. Thoroughly enjoyed this.

[Alyssa Foll · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun, quick read on how to notice, collect, and share your work. It reminded me a bit of “Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleon.

A great book to return to for a jumpstart of inspiration.

[Nina Rundgren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Been reading it now and then for a while, and like it a lot. I imagine I will keep reading parts of it now and then for a while, when ever I need a nudge.

[Katelynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[M G · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book with fun anecdotes and is sprinkled with little tasks to allow you to practice noticing, collecting or sharing ideas.

[Tills B · Rating 1 out of 5]

the worst £2 at a charity shop I have ever spent

[Valentina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lettura stimolante, con diversi spunti e suggerimenti per riaccendere la creatività.