What do you think?
Rate this book
Working Wisdom: Top 10 Lists for Improving Your Business
Business smarts for people on the go.
217 pages, Paperback
First published January 25, 1998
2 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 10, 2014
Books that promise success fall into either of two categories:
- some merit
- no merit
Of course, success is always a relative thing, even when narrow in topic, scope, and measure. People are always going to have different ideas of what's good in life, what matters, and what works. So in some sense, this all boils down to personal preference. But with that said, I certainly prefer books that are:
- neatly organized
- clearly written
- accessible to the target audience (no needless jargon or advanced concepts)
- on topic (at least, for the most part)
- at least occasionally light in tone (a little humor or colloquial expressions never hurts)
Working Wisdom lands on target for each of theses. A friend lent me this book and I knocked it out in a few days. I wasn't particularly interested in the topic, but I took this one over the herbal medicine book and politely turned the cover. I was pleasantly surprised to find an interested, well-written, well-thought out book on making wise choices in business, in your career, in life in general. It's easy to dismiss this whole genre of literature. And most of it is dismissible - a bunch of hokey get-rich-quick schemes, specious reasoning and easy answers. But there is good stuff out there, if you're willing to put in the time to sift through the rubble.
Leonard makes several interesting points and shares perspective he's either earned personally or acquired through relationships over the years. It's nothing to blow your mind, but so often it's not the what but the how - hearing sound advice in a way that makes sense to you. How many people scoff when I tell them Bruce Lee is perhaps my favorite philosopher? They don't want to hear it. Well, it did help that he had no hesitation "borrowing" the ideas of any of the greats. And for all I know Leonard is sharing notes from Business Management 101. But I've heard things like this over the years and he does a good job at making it make sense to me.
The book is a grab bag of this and that. It wasn't written to give any one person an all-in-one package, but to share sound advice for people in all walks of life, all trades, and all points in their careers. This was written in 1997, so feel free to take the stuff about getting involved in the "fun" new internet thing as either dated or clairvoyant. The shelf life of the specific advice has long since expired, but the main ideas (public image, utility, simplicity, accessibility, etc.) are more about public needs than technical means, and so remain relevant. I guess the point hear is that a wise man can learn more from dial-up advice than a fool can learn from Facebook.
So get reading, get active, and get on with your life.
- some merit
- no merit
Of course, success is always a relative thing, even when narrow in topic, scope, and measure. People are always going to have different ideas of what's good in life, what matters, and what works. So in some sense, this all boils down to personal preference. But with that said, I certainly prefer books that are:
- neatly organized
- clearly written
- accessible to the target audience (no needless jargon or advanced concepts)
- on topic (at least, for the most part)
- at least occasionally light in tone (a little humor or colloquial expressions never hurts)
Working Wisdom lands on target for each of theses. A friend lent me this book and I knocked it out in a few days. I wasn't particularly interested in the topic, but I took this one over the herbal medicine book and politely turned the cover. I was pleasantly surprised to find an interested, well-written, well-thought out book on making wise choices in business, in your career, in life in general. It's easy to dismiss this whole genre of literature. And most of it is dismissible - a bunch of hokey get-rich-quick schemes, specious reasoning and easy answers. But there is good stuff out there, if you're willing to put in the time to sift through the rubble.
Leonard makes several interesting points and shares perspective he's either earned personally or acquired through relationships over the years. It's nothing to blow your mind, but so often it's not the what but the how - hearing sound advice in a way that makes sense to you. How many people scoff when I tell them Bruce Lee is perhaps my favorite philosopher? They don't want to hear it. Well, it did help that he had no hesitation "borrowing" the ideas of any of the greats. And for all I know Leonard is sharing notes from Business Management 101. But I've heard things like this over the years and he does a good job at making it make sense to me.
The book is a grab bag of this and that. It wasn't written to give any one person an all-in-one package, but to share sound advice for people in all walks of life, all trades, and all points in their careers. This was written in 1997, so feel free to take the stuff about getting involved in the "fun" new internet thing as either dated or clairvoyant. The shelf life of the specific advice has long since expired, but the main ideas (public image, utility, simplicity, accessibility, etc.) are more about public needs than technical means, and so remain relevant. I guess the point hear is that a wise man can learn more from dial-up advice than a fool can learn from Facebook.
So get reading, get active, and get on with your life.
Displaying 1 of 1 review