Personal business

Automotive Design & Production, Feb, 2003 by Gary S. Vasilash

Business books tend to look pretty much like other books. Novels, for instance. But whereas novels tend to have, oh, writing that is provocative, business books tend to be, well, let's just say not as engaging as other types of books. Which makes a new series of books from Perseus Publishing all the more interesting because these books don't physically resemble any other books one tends to encounter--business books, or otherwise. These books, part of what they're calling the "Momentum" series, are actually designed in a format that includes bright cover colors, type that's sometimes run sideways (at least if you're holding the book in the conventional orientation), various font sizes and treatments, lots of white space, lists, cartoons, and other things that are atypical of business books. The tagline for Momentum is "the stuff that drives you."

The four books that I've had a chance to go through from the series are Lead Yourself: Be Where Others Will Follow by Mick Cope, The Big Difference: Life Works When You Choose It by Nicola Phillips, Change Activist: Make Big Things Happen Fast by Carmel McConnell, and Happy Mondays: Putting the Pleasure Back in Work by Richard Reeves. As you may discern from the titles, the first three are most certainly oriented toward personal development. Yet so, too, is Happy Mondays, a title that sounds like a something for a group of semi-mindless boosters, but which includes some of the most demanding observations, such as, "There is nothing admirable about sticking at a soulless task. There is nothing liberating about working to live. There is nothing cool about hating your job and doing nothing about it" and "the idea of working in unfulfilling jobs during your youthful years so that you can enjoy some golf and cribbage in your dotage has to be one of the most depressing thoughts there is." The other authors have similar prods in their texts, such as:

* McConnell: "No one out there is going to do the things you want to make your life how you want it. You can't pay someone to learn to how to ride a bike For you."

* Phillips: "Being honest means being honest. You either are or you aren't. We are a short time on the planet, and it does seem to be an awful waste of time to lie to oneself. Your call."

* Cope: "People often blame the company and bemoan the fact that their efforts haven't been recognized or valued. Nonsense! The onus is on you to map, measure, manage and market your personal value. It's not their responsibility to pamper and comfort you. It's your personal capital so it behooves you to place a value on it and ensure that you receive a fair share and suitable reward from the market."

If there is something troubling about these books--beyond the feelings of self-recrimination that may result from realizing that you're not doing all that you could with your short time on the planet--it's that they were originally published in England and some of the references and examples don't translate well into American. And in some instances, there are long stretches between insights. But those sparks give off plenty of worthwhile light--assuming that you're willing to catch those sparks and light afire. Otherwise: