Connections

Buzzed. Passing by a bookstore last night, I was attracted to the window display which contained among others a book authored by Jefffrey Pfeffer, a former professor who brought this guy named Keith Ferrazzi to  a class session on "social connections." Keith himself wrote 'Never Eat Alone' earning him the invitation to talk about it in class. His book was written with the obvious intention of building and nurturing business connections thereby creating wealth. At home, I dug up his book which I have not read since that time he's given us autographed copies and then skimmed through some valuable insights which are shared in this post.

He says that in order to become 'interesting', one should always learn. .  .  .in order to earn more. And that content-creators (this includes bloggers) are readers, questioners, or conversationalists. He recommends quite expensive pursuits -- books and magazines, three to five conferences a year, a course or two, and developing relationships with leaders (in the field of blogging?).

Staying healthy, says Keith, makes someone interesting. Sensible. His workout regimen is five times a week (overkill?), takes a five-day vacation every other month (you wish!), and goes on a spirituality retreat once a month (yeah - in Burma).

"Creativity is worthless if it can't be applied", he emphasizes then says that the end-all should be that "this will make us more money".

There's this part of the book on personalities to watch and avoid from turning into one in social gatherings: the wallflower (you know who that is); the ankle-hugger who shadows his/her BFF; the celebrity hound who chases the most important person at the event; the swarmy eye darter who gives you a 30-second bad sound bite and moves quickly to another person; the card dispenser/amasser who passes his card out to everyone.  

In person, Keith is a highly-engaged conversationalist like a living proof of his book. He is in his early 30s, has written another book titled "Who Watches Your Back". Yes, he is gay and I think he still resides in America.

Light-hearted thoughts for the 'networker' on a lazy Sunday.

Change

While browsing through a bookstore over last weekend, I was struck by the title of this book. It dawned on me that I had received a complimentary copy of "Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard" from the Stanford University's Graduate School of Business where I went to years ago. One of the book's author in fact was among our teachers. Obviously, it got lost among the pile of "to-dos".

Being psychologists, the authors look at reasons why change is so difficult to achieve in individuals and in organizations. The book proceeds to recommend certain ways of creating lasting change and provides specific examples of success. These are the interesting elements of the book -- the stories that lead us to practical actions in daily life.

I had read the book, some parts with greater emphasis than others, and overall found it a good one. Apparently, it is the second one that I have of these authors who have proven reliable and very pragmatic. In case you might be wondering how best to deal with change without having to scan the litereature of theories, I recommend the purchase of "Switch".