The Other Hero of The Goal

Almost everyone has read (or at least heard) of The Goal written by Eliyahu M. Goldratt. The sequel too turned out to be very popular - though not immediately in India; only when It's Not Luck was re-titled as The Goal II that the sales picked up!

Personally, I think It's Not Luck is a far more important book that The Goal. It's Not Luck discusses a more comprehensive Thinking Process whereas The Goal is a more spoon-feeding kind of solution offer; perhaps that's why The Goal is more popular.

There is, of course, another reason why The Goal is more popular. It is infinitely more readable. It reads like a novel. And the credit to that should go to the co-author of The Goal, Jeff Cox. After having read both the books, I think Jeff's narrative style makes all the difference.

Naturally the next question is: where is Jeff Cox now? Turned out that he is active and doing some good work even now. Here is his website if you want to follow him up.

What you have not read The Goal yet? Sad. Very Sad.

To become an author

I really envy authors like Malcolm Gladwell, Nicholas Taleb, James Michener, actually all of them.

As I read their books, I am overwhelmed by the amount of 'research' that goes into writing. No wonder this is a full time job.

I am reading Outliers now. Unfortunately just before I started on that I read a scathing criticism of Outliers in, guess? Scientific American (April 2004, Vol 4 Number 4). This is by Michael Sermer, who says:

"Journalists unconstrained by research protocols churn out self-help books that focus on select variables that interest them. Few do better than Malcolm Gladwell.

Obviously, I started off Outliers with a biased mindset. But I am half-way through the book. The amount of research done is huge. The supporting evidence dug out to support the thesis of the Outliers is compelling. It is easy to deride such an effort as unscientific. Perhaps, it may be true to a large extent.
But it is also unfair.

I am glad I read Outliers despite my misgivings after reading the Scientific American article. It might be unscientific, but it is pretty damn convincing.

Anyways, coming back to the point. There are 9 chapters in Outliers. Each chapter is supported by on an average 10 reference sources. That makes it about 90 books, journals and internet sources. I am assuming to shortlist these 90 sources, Gladwell must have sifted through 400-500 sources. And this is just a 285 page thick book. Phew!

The interesting questions for Gladwell are:

a) Has Malcolm Gladwell put in his 10,000 hours of hard labour?
b) Did he have the correct opportunity?
c) Is he a product of correct legacy?

The interesting questions for me are:

a) Will I ever write a book?
b) Will I ever write a successful book?

I wouldn't even know where to begin.
And knowing fully well that successful books are Black Swans, I am definitely not going to quit my job to take a plunge.
Perhaps, after I retire.

I therefore need to start now.

The formula to write a non-fiction seems to be

(i) Arrive at a conclusion through random observations.
(ii) Support your observations by reading books in related field. (Don't forget to keep taking notes!)
(iii) Support your observations by reading books in totally unrelated field.
(iv) Try and establish a connection.
(v) Find a publisher.
(vi)I think I am drunk!

And by the way, constrain by research protocols may actually constrain your imagination. Let your imagination fly!

Taking time out

That's two out of two.

And this has taken me completely by surprise. I have been reading since ... I don't even remember since when.

In my ideal world Authors are good people. At least the ones I read. Only sensitive people can reach out and touch my mind and body. (Note that there is a major assumption here: that I am good too ;-)).

But as we all know the real world can be very different. In order that my ideal world remains intact, and in spite of my intense desire to communicate with the authors - just to thank them for all those wonderful books that they write (no hidden agenda here), I had refrained so far from sending them snail-mails (in the pre-Internet era) or e-mails.

But that was about to change. I wrote to the best selling authors of The Go-Giver, Bob Burg and John Mann. To my surprise I got a response. This response was not just a curt response e-mail. It was a longish reply from persons who really cared. See my post Reaching Out.

Naturally I was thrilled. So, last night I send an e-mail to Seth Godin, the author of Purple Cow. He zapped me. The turn around from the time I send that e-mail to him to his response must have been around 10 minutes. Check out my lens on Purple Cow - Book Review. His response is embedded there.

I am delighted that my ideal world is still intact.

Reading every e-mail and responding to each one of them is a discipline that we all need to inculcate. You can never be busy enough.