Summer Reading - We Tip, Blink, Out-lie & Sway

Over the weekend, I enjoyed a big dose of summer relaxation with my friend & running partner, Tresa. As we were leaving Sky Harbor airport on Friday for our weekend away on Coronado Island, I picked up the book Sway - The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior; the cover caught my attention with its look that is clearly reminiscent of The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. As the plane pulled away from the gate, I began to read Brafman & Brafman’s first pages that jumped out at me as Gladwell wannabes.

But, as our plane reached its travel altitude and I began sipping my Diet Coke, I kept reading until I ended up appreciating the book and deciding that I like Brafman & Brafman as co-authors (forgive me for my first impression). While Malcolm Gladwell talks about the diversity of his personal background that has shaped his worldview, Brafman & Brafman share that Ori earned an MBA while Rom holds a PhD in psychology - so some of the Brafmans’ approach comes from their shared experience as brothers combined with the diversity of their educations. It would be fun to have lunch with Gladwell, Brafman & Brafman. I wonder what they think of each other’s work?

Of the many topics that surface in Sway, two include use of incentives and how dissenters may affect group dynamics. My career in sales has taught me that incentives are often not used effectively even within the most sophisticated organizations and sales forces. And, I know that while I am typically an initiator, which may correlate with a positive outlook and forwarding innovations, I also acknowledge the important role that natural dissenter's sometimes play. When books bring up tidbits we can apply to our everyday lives, we tend to attribute value to them; it is likely that something in this book will apply to your life, too. As with Gladwell’s books, the topics in Sway are introduced in a way that makes psychology tantalizing but it is always necessary to dig deeper into the topics presented to really gain a sense of what research has suggested so far.

As I have been a fan of Gladwell’s books, I also recommend reading Ori and Rom Brafman’s Sway; my hope for these books is that they continue to open doors of critical thinking about “being human” that can help each of us grow in our individual thinking and help our culture become wiser overall. Since The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers and Sway are all national bestsellers, we know that they are reaching the American consciousness which gives them a real shot at being seeds for personal and cultural progress. Beyond the possibilities within the United States, the books also give us glimpses into cultural similarities and differences that could become a start at developing cultural competence which could then lead to global progress (think big!).

For more information and opportunities for critically thinking about “being human”, read the reference sections of all of these books. You can then find the primary sources the authors relied upon and also begin to search for related articles/books that could help you gain a deeper and broader perspective on the topics covered. These books can be early steps in an exciting personal journey that contributes to a potential “tipping point” within groups and cultures; yes, it may be you who changes the world for good ~





Are any of these on your summer reading list?

The Tipping Point How little things make a big difference
By Malcolm Gladwell


Blink The power of thinking without thinking
By Malcolm Gladwell


Outliers The story of success
By Malcolm Gladwell


Sway The irresistible pull of irrational behavior
By Ori Brafman & Rom Brafman

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Need a book or two to read?

Interested in Management? Two Books to Experience

First, Break all the Rules and Now, Discover Your Strengths
from Gallup Press
Opinion by Caron Sada © 2008 & 2009 All rights reserved

When I consider management books I have read over the years, these two remain on my list of favorites: First, Break all the Rules and Now, Discover your Strengths. Since I prefer environments that are inspired by vision as opposed to being controlled by rules, I was certainly attracted to the earlier book’s title before becoming completely engaged in its content. And, because I was raised in a family that embraces a strengths-based approach to life, the connecting theme of both books fits ideally with my approach to life and business – focus on strengths and manage around weaknesses.

Within First, Break all the Rules, there are lots of great anecdotes and challenges to conventional wisdom. For example, as a person with a significant portion of my career in sales, I was sometimes frustrated by sales leadership that seemed obsessed with hiring and honoring the single strength of competitiveness; while competitiveness can be a strength in salespeople, there are also many successful salespeople who are focused on excellence and results, but for whom the win-lose-beat-the-competitor metaphors do not represent. So, when I read the story about a professional-football-player-turned pharmaceutical-sales-representative who was achievement oriented (not competitive), I remember being grateful that a top selling management book finally shared a deeper understanding of how individuals may have different motivations and traits while still being successful in the same job function. Although conscientiousness is consistently linked with performance across employment types, there is no single sales litmus test that perfectly predicts who will be outstanding. In the case of pharmaceutical representatives, I would even suggest that achievement orientation or need for affiliation may trump competitiveness so that the team selling model used by many companies has its best chance of succeeding. As First, Break all the Rules teaches, understanding potential insights and limitations of assessing talent is a good starting point for selection, hiring and development within high performing companies.

What makes this set of books an experience, as opposed to just good reading, is the opportunity to take the StrengthsFinder on-line assessment and print a copy of your personalized, signature theme report. In your copy of Now, Discover Your Strengths, you will find a unique code that you can use to log onto the assessment system. For anyone who wants to operate at 100% of their potential, self-awareness is a critical factor and, by participating in the StrengthsFinder program, you are likely to find focusing on your strengths uplifting while also demonstrating a proactive step in your personal development journey.

On January 6th, 2009 the next book in the series will be available: Strength Based Leadership.

For more information:

First, Break all the Rules
By Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman(Gallup Press 1999)

Now, Discover your Strengths
By Marcus Buckingham & Donald O. Clifton, PhD(Gallup Press 2001)

StrengthsFinder 2.0
By Tom Rath(Gallup Press 2007) ** This is an update to Now, Discover Your Strengths.

Strength Based Leadership By Tom Rath and Barry Conchie (Gallup Press - available January 6, 2009)

or visit: www.gallup.com


Positive Psychology
The special issue of the American Psychologist (2000) that announced positive psychology to the world is included in the references for Now, Discover Your Strengths (2001). It is worthy to note that Buckingham & Coffman were already on board with the positive psychology, or strengths psychology by Dr. Clifton, since First, Break all the Rules was published earlier (1999).

For more information on positive psychology and the “father” of modern positive psychology, Dr. Martin Seligman, visit the following website: http://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/Default.aspx

Strengths Psychology
Donald Clifton, PhD (co-author of Now, Discover your Strengths) received recognition as the “father” of strengths-based psychology from the American Psychological Association (APA) in 2002. His work in studying “what is right with people” as opposed to “what needed to be fixed with people” began long before positive psychology became a widely accepted movement. http://www.strengths.org/donclifton.htm

Big Five Personality Traits
For a brief summary of the big five model, (conscientiousness, openness to experience, extroversion, neuroticism, agreeableness) visit the following link: http://psychology.about.com/od/personalitydevelopment/a/bigfive.htm

Motivation Theories
For an introduction to theories of motivation, visit the following link: http://www.goal-setting-guide.com/motivation-theory.html

PS --- a little personal disclosure ... you probably already guessed, but my preferred work style is collaboration (not competition) since I am achievement oriented ... but I DO like competitive sports and agree that a competitive spirit is a strength that can be a basis for outstanding sales results! My perspective is that it is a wise thing to recognize a variety of strengths ~


Originally printed on Caron’s Blog that can be found at www.studio22azwa.com
Tuesday - December 30th, 2008


Update – January 24, 2009
Strength Based Leadership, that was released on January 6th, is another outstanding book by Gallup Press. It has recommendations for how to interact with people of different strengths and also offers an updated strengths instrument.

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