Genuine Curiosity

Author Dwayne Melancon is always on the lookout for new things to learn. An ecclectic collection of postings on personal productivity, travel, good books, gadgets, leadership & management, and many other things.

 

My favorite books from 2005

A bit slow on posting this week, since I screwed up my back over the weekend and it's been hard to simultaneously a) lie on my back on the floor, while b) doing anything on the computer.

However, I would like to take a few moments to recap the 5 favorite "self development" books I read in 2005.

  • Managing with Aloha, by Rosa Say.
    • As I mentioned in my review earlier this year, this is a "why to" book much more than a "how to" book. It is about managing with values and principles, and is loaded with very poignant stories and words to live by. As I read the book, I was also fortunate enough to become a part of Rosa's "Talking Story" blog and her "Ho'ohana" community.

      Along the way, I've met lots of very interesting, genuine people through this process and made some great friends. For me, the magic extends far beyond the book. Read the book, visit the blog, and see if you find the same happens for you.
  • Mastery, by George Leonard.
    • This is one of my most-often recommended, and most frequently "given" books (I've given tons of copies away to friends). It is great for people making transitions (or trying to) such as graduates. As I summarized it in my review:
      "The essence of this book: On the road to Mastery, there are many plateaus where you may become frustrated because you aren't getting any better. True masters learn to savor the plateaus because they understand that they are building character and feeding dormant skills that will blossom later."
  • Is Your Genius At Work?, by Dick Richards.
    • I love books that take you on a worthwhile journey. Dick's book is one of those. It's a guided tour to find your Genius. In my review, I described "genius" as: "that special capability that you have that makes you special, and flavors all the other parts of who you are and how you interact with the world." Isn't that worth discovering? I think so.
  • High-Impact Middle Management, by Lisa Haneberg.
    • As I assembled this list, I realized I hadn't really reviewed Lisa's book. I could've sworn I did, since I've mentioned it so often this year. As you may recall, I participated in Lisa's "2 Weeks 2 A Breakthrough" pilot earlier this year, which I found out about through her excellent blog Management Craft, which led me to this excellent book. The book, which is often called "H.I.M.M." for short, is an excellent toolkit to help you become a more effective middle manager. It combines solid theory, lucid examples, and practical tools to help you manage yourself and your team more effectively. It's ideal for anyone who manages.
  • Beyond Bullet Points, by Cliff Atkinson.
    • This book transformed how I do presentations. In the first review, I cover the essence of the book, the Beyond Bullet Points process, and describe my first results using this technique. In the second review, I describe my experiences with Netcentrics' powerful Beyond Bullet Points PowerPoint Add-In. Check them out if you do presentations.

Honorable Mentions:

Consciously Not On The List

By the way, before you ask - there is nothing from Covey or David Allen on the list because I read them all before 2005 started. Also, I'm in the midst of a few other good ones to give 2006 a great start.

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Here's to you, Mr. Rogers

"Of course, I get angry. Of course, I get sad. I have a full range of emotions. I also have a whole smorgasbord of ways of dealing with my feelings. That is what we should give children. Give them ... ways to express their rage without hurting themselves or somebody else. That's what the world needs."

--Fred Rogers

I spent a bit of time in Pittsburgh the other day. While I was waiting for a flight, I wandered past a display celebrating the life and works of Fred Rogers (1923-2003). I just had to take a picture.

For any of you who grew up watching Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, you know that he was no ordinary guy.

I remember how much I looked forward to seeing Mr. Rogers once I discovered his show. I watched every chance I got - my favorite thing was seeing the Trolley that took us to the Kingdom of Make Believe. I've always been a fan of trains, and that Trolley was so cool.

I remember Mr. Rogers' songs, and can still sing a lot of them from memory. I remember the tours he used to take the audience on, to show us how things were made - and how different people did different things in different parts of the world.

When he introduced us to his friends around the neighborhood, they seemed like my friends, too. I always wanted to go visit that neighborhood for real.

What I remember most of all is the consistent message he sent: We're all different, and that's OK because we each bring a unique value and perspective to the world. He seemed to maintain a child-like innocence throughout his life, and spread tremendous energy in a way that mattered somehow. Not just in the big things, but in the small things, too.

We need more people like Mr. Rogers.

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A Quest for Genius

I've been reading interacting with Dick Richards' book "Is Your Genius At Work?" for weeks now. This book is not long and is very easy to read and understand. But man, is it deep.

When I say I've been interacting with the book, I mean that I've been doing (and repeating...and revisiting....) the simple exercises Dick provides in the book. The exercises approach the challenge of finding your genius from a lot of different angles, to enable you to get a glimpse of the essence of your power. I feel like I'm getting closer, but I haven't gotten the "buzz" that others in the book describe when they finally name their genius (I'm looking for that "tongue on 9-volt batttery" kind of buzz - I know it's out there).

Provisions for the journey

The book provides you with the tools to go through a personal discovery process to discover and name your "genius." Dick goes into lots of detail about genius, but I describe genius as: that special capability that you have that makes you special, and flavors all the other parts of who you are and how you interact with the world.

The whole concept was very intriguing, and Dick provides some vivid examples of how others have found and named their genius. If you want to see what the book is like, head on over to OnGenius.com and you can check out a sample chapter and sample exercises.

Here is a brief overview of what you'll find in this book.

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Stuck in a rut? Why not make a breakthrough?

Just heard from my friend Lisa Haneberg that she's rolling out an all new version of her "2 Weeks To A Breakthrough" program. As you may recall, I was involved in the first round of this program earlier this year. I loved it and recommend it to you if you want to achieve a breakthrough performance on any big challenges, hopes, and dreams. Or, if you just want to stop doing the "same old same old," this will do it for you.

The new program features improvements like:

  • A better, more complete preparation workbook
  • Daily worksheets with more examples
  • More personalized attention - each person will receive a minimum of 3 one-on-one sessions with Lisa, and she will email personalized ideas to each person

To me, that last bullet is the best part. Lisa rocks.

The course description and details are up on the breakthrough blog now - check it out here where you'll find details about the process, the benefits, and how to get started.

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Everything happens for a reason

I often say that "Everything happens for a reason," and that it's up to us to find out the reason. Recent reflection on this topic has caused me to alter this philosophy just a bit.

I am still convinced that everything happens for a reason, however, I am also convinced that it is up to us to define that reason within our own lives. Events have meaning because we assign meaning to them. Events only have significance when we choose to do significant things because of them.Events only have significance when we choose to do significant things because of them

In my recent post about feeling "stuck" in my action lists, I realize that a big factor in that "stuckness" is that I haven't been doing enough to create significance out of the opportunities before me. I'm not talking about earth-shattering things; more along the lines of less time focusing on things that don't matter in the grand scheme of things, and more time focusing on the things that make a difference.

A bunch of recent events and "nudges" came together to get me to this point. In no small part, I owe a lot of the credit to the blogging community where I've found a gold mine of ideas, great advice, and a lot of inspiration - thank you. Ironically, the final piece clicked into place as my wife and I were watching the movie "Envy," in which the main characters (played by Ben Stiller and Jack Black) each go through a period where their effectiveness ratings at their jobs were good for most of the year, but their performances went down the tubes when their "focus score" was poor..

So, now that I've seen the spark, what will I do differently? On the personal side, I spent a refreshing few days with the family doing fun family things the last couple of days (had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner, saw Nemo On Ice, saw the new Harry Potter movie, got my 12-year-old son signed up for our local health club and took him to work out a couple of times, and stuff like that). And, as Lisa suggested in her comments, I stayed off of email. I intend to do plan more stuff like this.

On Monday, I am going to take a "clean slate" look at everything I'm doing at work and decide what significant things I want to achieve there. My goal is to stop sailing on the prevailing winds of urgency, stop putting off "hard stuff," and chart a course that feeds my passions and plays to my strengths as fully as possible..

This realization is simultaneously a very liberating and frightening to me, but I think that only good can come from it. And it's up to me to make that true, isn't it?

Related posts:

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