The Exuberant Accountant - Scott Heintzelman

One of the books I have enjoyed reading this summer is Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin. 

The main idea of the book is debunking the age old theory that some people are just born with a talent; that this talent comes easily for them. The book cites Mozart and Tiger Woods as examples. Most people think, as I did, that these two men were born with a natural bent toward their talents.

But the book reveals that both these gentlemen had fathers who started training them at very young ages. In fact, by the time Mozart and Tiger came into the public eye, they had been practicing their skills for years. The author backs up this theory with research that shows that it is only through 10,000 hours of practice can world class performances be achieved. This practice is what makes a talent exceptional. 

Geoff Colvin calls this enormous amount of practice “deliberate practice” and states that deliberate practice is made up of the following: 

• It must be designed specifically to improve performance.
• It can be repeated a lot.
• Feedback on results is continuously available.
• It is highly demanding.
• It isn’t always fun.

 Often books have a cool title and grab your attention, but then once you read the book it disappoints. Well have no fear with Mojo, as it is filled with…well Mojo!! In life we may often feel we have lost our edge or that we may be stuck. How do we get “it” back and once back, how do we keep it?  In his follow-up to the New York Times bestseller What Got You Here Won't Get You There, executive coach Marshall Goldsmith lays out the ways that we can get and keep our Mojo.

What is Mojo? Mojo is the moment when we do something that's purposeful, powerful, and positive and the rest of the world recognizes it. This book is about the moment—and how we can create it in our lives, maintain it, and recapture it when we need it.

The book offers an easy set of tools and questions to discover your Mojo. Marshall explores a number of effects of Mojo and negative Mojo or “Nojo” as he calls it. He explains that our professional and personal Mojo is impacted by four key factors:

Most management courses taught in college and business school teach us that the best way to motivate people is with external rewards like money – the carrot and stick approach. According to author Daniel H. Pink in DRIVE: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, this actually can have the exact opposite impact. His new thought provoking book comes off of his great success with his book A Whole New Mind.

In DRIVE, Pink draws on decades of scientific research on human motivation to reveal the secret to high performance and engagement – at work, at school, and at home – is the deeply human need to direct our own lives, to learn and create new things, and to do better by ourselves and our world.

Pink explains the surprising mismatch between what business/management does (carrot and stick approach) and what science actually reveals. People are best motivated not by “extrinsic motivation” but rather by “intrinsic motivation,” wherein the performance of the task is its own reward – when work doesn’t feel like work.

Ever feel unappreciated and taken for granted? Wonder why it seems you are seldom rewarded for doing the right thing?  A great book written by Kent Keith can hopefully help you find meaning and purpose in this crazy world.

He first points out that life is not always fair or logical, but that you should not complain about it or give up hope. Even though the world doesn’t make sense, you can make sense. You can find personal meaning in a crazy world.

The paradoxical commandments are a challenge by the author. The challenge is to always do what is right, good and true, even if others don’t appreciate it.

Acceptance of the Paradoxical Commandments translates to freedom – they can be your personal declaration of independence. You can be free from the craziness of this world. The ten Paradoxical Commandments are:

I regularly read a blog called: CEO Blog - Time Leadership, written by Jim Estill.  He had very nice post this week about Amish Businesses and a book that was forwarded by Elizabethtown College Professor Donald Kraybill (one of the 3 authors of Amish Grace).  I thought I would share Jim's thoughts.

I read a fantastic book called "Success Made Simple an Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses Thrive.” On the book jacket it says "discover why Amish businesses have a 95% success rate." Impressive.

It is written by Erik Wesner who spent an intensive period of time in the Amish community even though he is not Amish himself. He started by trying to sell them books which he did with some success.