Scobleizer - Latest Comments in Ending 2005 in a book store

Re: Ending 2005 in a book store

Gretchen — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 16:03:46 -0000

Hey Robert - Don't judge a book by its cover. You've entirely missed the point of "Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office." It's actually a fantastic book ... but don't just take it from me. The author, Lois Frankel, is speaking next week on campus at the Microsoft Women's Conference. You should check out her presentation before you accuse her of going "Donald Trump." ;-)

Re: Ending 2005 in a book store

Phil Gerbyshak — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 23:36:50 -0000

Thanks for a great website Robert. I look forward to more great stuff from you in 2006! Here's to your book's (and your life's) success in the years to come!

Re: Ending 2005 in a book store

shel israel — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 23:01:53 -0000

Before others took the conversation so far afield, Robert, I love the coincidence that both you and I spent part of the last day of 2005 in Barnes & Noble bookstores. I was at the Hillsdale one, looking at the business shelf and wondering--fantasizing about how many copies we would have on that shelf at this time next month. The funny thing, after checking out two existing blog books, I spent my time in the store section where I have done the most buying ver the years--American history. Happy New Year, partner May the next year bring us fame and fortune. Okay, you take the fame. I'll take the rest of it.

Re: Ending 2005 in a book store

Christopher Coulter — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 06:44:20 -0000

Think of Tom Peters as the Corporate version of Esther Dyson (only a tad less spacey). Peters is about Saturn distance-level, Dyson is beyond Pluto.

Don't follow rules. But in not following rules, follow these eight rules (add disclaimers years later), waltz along, dance, consult, speech seminar serious, make bold statements, make bolder promises, be superficial, zap up catchy phrases, worship whatever new trend is happening, if some catch on, go back and claim you knew it all along. Make everyone feel good, be generic enough to give yourself wriggle room outs, fudge data (confess later), write trendish books, make Jane Dixon sweeping predictions, fess up 20 years later (umm well, see, well, about Amdahl, Wang, Amdahl, Data General and Atari). Kiss up to bloggers (hey, it's the hot trend, all the kool kids are doing it). Get smart fast, screw around vigorously. The irrational exuberence bubble fallout, hogwash, 20 years from now no one will care. The information-technology revolution has yet begun. And now about the biotech revolution! Yes, jump in now. It's not fake made-up data, it's just an "aggressive headline."

Tom Peters is a ready made bubble. Quite fitting for your forward, in an ironic way. ;)

Re: Ending 2005 in a book store

Christopher Coulter — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 05:57:59 -0000

Tom wrote the forward

Well that explains your excepting him from 'biz books that suck', but with all the blogs, feeds and your impossibly to quantify short attention span, how on earth do you ever make it thru a whole book? But using Tom as a GOOD EXAMPLE? Oh for the LOVE OF GOD, have you no sense of history?

Tom is a trend whore, he just sucker fishes onto whatever is the hot plate of the day, updating himself as he goes along, and fudging data to support whatever notion comes along.

But now, the outspoken and flamboyant Peters, 59, shockingly admits that he and his co-author falsified the underlying data in that breakthrough book. In an article in the December issue of Fast Company, Peters writes: "This is pretty small beer, but for what it's worth, okay, I confess: We faked the data." Peters may consider it small beer, but this confession is a doozy.

http://www.businessweek.com...

Re: Ending 2005 in a book store

scobleizer — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 04:37:28 -0000

Farooq: not among the smart sales-types. You think Steve Jobs thinks his customers are stupid? I don't.

Re: Ending 2005 in a book store

Farooq — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 04:14:01 -0000

actually, isn't it a general perception among sales-types that the general consumer is stupid?

Re: Ending 2005 in a book store

scobleizer — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 04:10:56 -0000

/pd: hey, those exclamation points remind me of TP's PPT's. :-)

Re: Ending 2005 in a book store

hugh macleod — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 03:47:12 -0000

1. Yep, Tom Peters writes damn good books.

2. For some people,, being mean to people for a living is less daunting a prospect than coming up with a great product.

3. Congrats on the book, Robert and Shel =)

Re: Ending 2005 in a book store

/pd — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 22:50:56 -0000

How ironical !! Reviewing a TP book and the lights go out !! He wrote the fwd for naked conversations !!!

I would suggest you get tp-sixty, its limited edition. Well worth a collectors item !!

Happe new year Scobles and community !!

Re: Ending 2005 in a book store

chrismeller — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 22:35:17 -0000

Speaking of your book coming out... What about selling some signed copies on your blog? You could even donate the money to a charity or something if you don't want to be greedy... :)

Re: Ending 2005 in a book store

Jeremiah Owyang — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 22:27:10 -0000

Good quick review of books. I know that Stevens Creek, I used to study there in college.

"How to sell to an idiot" Does that mean if you bought it then you're an idiot?

Re: Ending 2005 in a book store

Todd Dailey — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 21:27:07 -0000

Robert, did you read Freakonomics? While not strictly a business book, it was thought-provoking. I enjoyed Welch's "Winning" too. He comes across as a jerk, sure, but he also talks about the value of people and has some interesting things to say about presentations and business meetings.

Also: I live about four blocks from that store, you could have stopped by. :)

For 2006, make sure you put Edward Tufte's Beautiful Evidence on your wishlist. He said it would be out about April. Can PowerPoint 12 do Sparklines? :)