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I read three magazines, and only
three, religiously:
WIRED- The do their best to stay
near the leading edge and do it better than
most.
Fortune- I think the writing is a
bit fresher than Business Week and Forbes.
The New Yorker- I write a lot;
copy, sales letters, plans, reports, etc. If you want to
improve your writing, read great writing. This magazine
has the best writing I've found. Some of it astonishingly
good.
Books
Hurt, inside the world of today's
teenagers, by Chap Clark
A clinical psychologist's rather
clinical look into the 2007 lives of our teenagers. It's
not much fun to read, but he has interviewed literally hundreds
of teens, so the picture he paints appears to be fairly
accurate. And fairly depressing. The bottom line for
me: kids feel they do not need adults to operate in the world
today, feel very isolated, but also want adult role models.
Sobering, but worthwhile reading.
Words that Work, It's not what you
say, it's what people hear, Dr. Frank Luntz
Luntz is a Republican pollster and
advisor of some stature. If part of your job is to
persuade people, and isn't everybody's, it's worth reading.
He lays out 10 steps to creating words that work. One of
those books you can blast through, reading every word only about
60% of the time and get the meat. Words do matter.
The Cluetrain Manifesto by Levine,
Locke, Searls, Weinberger
One of the best books I've read,
even though I probably read it four years late. Good book,
you should read it. They talk about how the Internet is
changing human communication for the better; how the industrial
revolution separated producers from customers (producers lose
touch with the people they produce for) and how the Internet is
bringing them back together. The phrase that may sum up
the book: markets are conversations. Fascinating. . .and
accurate, I believe. Read it.
Blink
The much anticipated next book by
Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point. He
observes how we "thin-slice" our information: make judgments
about people (and products!) in an instant. He gives many
interesting examples and threatens to give advice how we can get
better at using our intuition but dare I say I missed it, it
passed over me or it just plain wasn't in the book. Unless
you're the type that reads everything, you might want to pass
this by.
The Social Life of Information by
John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid
This feels like homework, but
these guys are really, really smart (both spent years at Xerox's
PARC, Brown was its director). If you can sum up The
Cluetrain Manifesto by "markets are conversations," then you can
sum up this book by "context gives information understanding."
Wow; big, beefy stuff when your head's into marketing (which is
about creating understanding).
Re-imagine! by Tom Peters
THE BEST BOOK I'VE READ for ideas.
Don't read more than a chapter at a time or your brain will
explode, there's just way too much to process. If you read
just one book in the next 12 months, read this one.
Honest!
Envisioning Information by Edward
Tufte
Beefy stuff! I attended his
seminar on information design and was blown away by his
intellect, style and content. Check out my blog for more-
Edward Tufte- Information Design
Season of Life by Jeffrey Marx
A must book for men about what it
is to be a man, and it's not what you think. About the
life of Joe Erhmann, past pro athlete who now coaches high
school football the way all coaches should coach all sports.
You can finish the book on an airplane. If you have a
child in sports, you'll want to read the book and give it to his
or her coach.
Social Life of Information by John
Seely Brown and Paul Duguid
Both guys worked at PARC (Brown
was the director) and have profoundly beefy ideas on how we
humans process information and how we who purport to communicate
ideas should proceed as a result.
Good to Great by Jim Collins
If you're one of the less than
1,000 people left who hasn't read this, it's worth it.
"Good is the enemy of great."
The New Culture of Desire by
Melinda Davis
The premise is a bit overblown, or
perhaps oversold, but interesting nonetheless. Davis says
we behave in ways to make us feel better at our core. And
consequently, if you aren't approaching customers with messages
that connect with them at this deeper level you're missing the
boat. That's waaaay oversimplified, but not to worry, she
uses a million examples. Skim it, it's worth it.
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