I've been told I'm fairly critical, which I suppose is one reason I don't recommend many books. "Making Ideas Happen" is an exception. If you do any creative or project development, it WILL be of value.
Each year I walk the floor at CES just to keep tabs on all the new gadgets. This year I encountered something different. Scott Belsky was giving a lecture out in the open booth area. I'd never heard of him but stopped a minute to listen, expecting to quickly dismiss the speaker and presentation - just another sip from the fire hose.
But Scott captured my attention immediately. And it got better from there. What he was saying not only made sense, some were things I'd been doing for years. And the rest were worth considering. I stayed for the whole presentation then ordered his book.
"Making Ideas Happen" is not a collection of original ideas. Many you've heard about in the management press from others such as stand at meetings, prioritize your task list and own your actions. Scott didn't invent this stuff - he gathered it. His objective was to collect the best ideas from those who have succeeded at translating ideas into reality. The book's value is in how Scott has collected and arranged these ideas into a system for their application in a terse, meaty way.
While you may not agree with everything (I didn't), most of it is valuable to at least think about. For instance, group-think, killing ideas or leaving things undefined as long as possible, will challenge some, but it may also help them keep an opened mind.
"Making Ideas Happen" is a VERY practical book, not new-aged fluff. It's a quick read and well organized. It's also easy to pull the main points into a few quotes, so you can keep them in front of your face until adopted. Or discarded.
I was going to post a list of my favorite points here, but realize your list may vary, and there's no advantage in giving you a bias, unless it's to action. Speaking last in meetings is also on the list - so I'll honor the concept, and let YOU have the last word. Check out the book and let me know what you think.
