When Average Sucks: Why being stuck in a comfort zone is a slow death, and what you can do about it

by Terry Williams

There is a real concern amongst leaders that their people are unfit for change. Being unfit for change leads to disengaged and burnt-out people who won’t develop themselves nor meet their goals. The lack of development and unmet goals further reinforces negativity and contributes to a downward spiral. This is called ‘Change Extinction’. The more positive alternative choice (and it is a choice) is a pathway called ‘Change Evolution’.

The theme of this book is getting out of the ‘room’ you’re in, getting out of your comfort zone, getting better at getting better, working out your change muscles and building up your reservoir of resilience so you've got them before you need them. And you're going to need them - change is always on the way. Then it’s on the way again.

Or, if you don’t need ‘Change Muscles’ and a reservoir of resilience, then others might. People such as those you lead, those you love, or those in the community you wish to influence.

Adopting an attitude around doing two dangerous things a year will stretch your comfort zone, and challenge your thinking.
And the rewards for this? How you feel about change, how you approach risk, and how joyful your life and your relationships become as a result.

The book has three
1.Why you should be proactive about change and risk,
2.Why most people aren’t, and
3.How you can – how you can make a start, build momentum, muscle through when it gets tough and bring others along for the ride.

CONTENTS

The Dumbest Person in the Room
The Risk of Not Changing
How Confident Are You That You & Your Team
Are You‘Change Fit’?
Why You Should ‘Change Evolution’
or ‘Change Extinction’
The ‘Development Zone’ is Beyond the ‘Discomfort Zone’.
Change Workouts
‘Workplace Exaptation’
Change Fit
Your ‘Danger DNA’.
Why You Don’t Change
Dry Times in your ‘Resilience Reservoir’
‘Self’ vs ‘Other’ Orientation
The ‘Universal Human Experience’ (UHE) Fallacy
Lacking Practical Empathy
The Challenge of Change
How You Can Change.

This is Terry Williams' story of doing two dangerous things a year, starting with stand-up comedy. Amongst the humour are lessons and tools to better handle change at work and in life.

Terry has been a facilitator for 25 years. An author of five books, he takes psychological research and makes it interesting and useful. Terry is also a comedian performing for festivals, conferences and cruise ships.

73 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 2, 2019

About the author

Terry Moses Williams, Ph.D. (City College of New York, 1978), is Professor of Sociology at The New School for Social Research who has received the MacArthur Foundation Award and the Russell Sage Foundation Fellowship, and was selected as Senior Fellow of the Yale University Urban Ethnography Project.

Professor Williams’ research has focused on a variety of distinct but related research topics in the field of social inequalities and subcultures, notably: poverty, homelessness, youth unemployment, teenage suicide, teen survival strategies in the illegal drug economy, drug abuse and drug culture, crews and gangs, sex work, and incarceration. For over four decades he has conducted a micro-sociological analysis of social inequalities and subcultures by systematically reconstructing and highlighting their voices and everyday practices while emphasizing the agency of these groups in social spaces such as after-hours clubs, crack houses and sex clubs. Notably, the five volume “Cosmopolitan Life Series,” created by Professor Williams and published by Columbia University Press under the rubric “Studies in Transgression” (2015–2024) is a manifestation of his efforts to integrate these different research topics both empirically and theoretically while exploring the transformation of NYC as an urban space.

Reviews

[Jamie Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an extended excerpt from this author's other book that I had previously reviewed which was about doing two dangerous things each year. So if you've read that book, you don't need to read this one because there isn't anything new at all here. I wasn't aware of this fact when I chose this book from my favorite book review site because the title and the blurb were different enough that I didn't see the similarity. And, of course, it's not as if I go through my notes to see if one book by an author is related to another when I'm choosing titles to review. The title and the subtitle of this book are so different from that of the other book. Also, I didn’t really think that the title and subtitle of this one matched up with what was actually in the book. I like my nonfiction descriptions (including title and subtitle) to promise what the book delivers… and for the book to deliver on the promise. I think the author should have actually slightly rewritten what he took from his other book because of this (or changed the title/subtitle). It didn’t really discuss being average, why it sucks, or why staying in your comfort zone is a slow death (all from the title and subtitle). The book is really all about change: why it's important, why we have difficulty with it, a better mindset to approach it with, etc. I think the author would have served his content better by actually titling and subtitling it what it's about (or changing the content). Just make it all line up! People do have a hard time embracing change, so that might be why he was reticent. But with the right title, subtitle, and blurb, he could sway hearts and minds I am sure, and this would have been better than the disconnect between content and title.

I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.

My book blog: https://www.readingfanaticreviews.com