TravellingBooks.Net

E in the name of the book stands for Entrepreneurial. The author, Michael Gerber, uncovers myths surrounding starting of your own business and very well explains why most of the small businesses fail and what to do about it. The whole book is very easy to read and understand and it’s full of simple practical guidelines.

The part of the book I liked the most was a description of three personas necessary for any business – Entrepreneur (designing the future), Manager (ensuring present works as best as possible) and Technician (doing the work). When presented like this it’s easy to see how a balance between the three is crucial for a success of any business and it’s quite clear how ignoring one or two of the areas could (and often does) lead to failure of businesses and unhappiness of entrepreneurs.

There were many friends I thought would love the book. In the end I decided to pass it on to my entrepreneurial colleagues from Cogent Law -  trainers Phil and Mark – I think their thinking is very similar to the one of the author of the book. I don’t remember an exact date when the eleventh Travelling Book started its journey but I guess it was 6 October 2011.

I hope it will inspire a lot of people on its journey.

Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath is probably the best book I have read in the last six months. It’s a book about ideas that stick that people remember and act upon. The best part of the book is that it says that anyone can design a message to stick and communicate it effectively irrespective of their personal traits such as charisma. The book also provides an easy guide or in fact a checklist how to design the messages and shows loads of examples. MUST READ for everyone who tells stories, which nowadays is absolutely everyone.

The tenth travelling book has been sent on its journey on Saturday 3rd September 2011. I gave it to my friend Samson an artist and a film producer whom I am sure will find a good use for ideas from this book.

The ninth travelling book is a czech translation of Four Friends (Cuatro Amigos) by a Spanish author David Trueba. It’s a very funny (dry humour) book about four friends from today’s Spain. At the first glance they seem to be total losers but after the second glance … you know it’s true. But having friends that are willing to be painfully honest with you is something after all.

This book has started its jurney with a very long trip from Prague to New Zealand (April 2010) and back again (September 2010). I finished reading it down under and lent it to my friend Braba who read it during our New Zealand road trip. But it wasn’t until back in Prague when the book got labeled a travelling book and passed on to my friend Rosta – that was on 27th of May 2011 (plus minus a day or two).

It seems that travelling books choose their own time to be passed on waiting for the right person being in the right spot.

I remember reading rants about personal development books – saying that they never help anyone except of the author. I believe it’s a result of false expectations. People think that buying and reading a book about personal developement will magically make them successful people. That’s never the case – a book can inspire you show you the path but the hard work, setting on the path and going ahead, will always be up to the reader and it will require a lot of strength and will power.

Awaken the Giant Within written by Anthony Robbins is a a life changing book for me. It is not an easy book to read, to get the full benefit of it you need to take your time to think and undertake exercises the book contains. Some of them will work for you others won’t but that’s fine.

If you feel like you could do more if you really want to realise and reach your full potential. Read this book.

While I was reading the book I was thinking the knowledge and ideas from the book should be spread but I didn’t know how I could spread it easily (beside sending it as a Travelling Book and recommending it to others) but at the same time I was concerned that a lot of people wouldn’t be willing to read it. And that’s when I decided that Travelling Book number eight will go to my friend Ichu who, as a coach, might be able to utilise the ideas for the benefit of others as well as his own.

Travelling Book number 8 has started it’s journey in Prague on 21st of March 2011.

E, from a British novelist Matt Beaumont, is the first non-english Travelling Book. I have sent it out in Czech. It is a hilariously funny book consisting purely of emails exchanged within one little advertising agency.

I have never been into corporate politics but after reading E I was definitely more observant to similar emails at my workplace such as this one:

To: AllBedford Park
Subject: 2nd floor ladies toilets
Importance: High

Good Morning All

Regretfully someone has again found it funny to force a toilet roll holder down one toilet in the ladies on the 2nd floor.
Whilst the mental capacity of the person doing this is probably on par with a Meerkat, it is not ’simples’ to remove it and you should be ashamed that our long suffering security guard has to clear up the mess from whatever fantasy you are in. If youa re trying to sabotage the drainage system, practice in your own home.
If anyone knows who is doing this, please feel free to let me know in confidence.

If this continues, then serious consideration will be made on locking the doors – and I know you would all like that to happen !

Regards

XXX
Facilities Manager

It was funny when, shortly after reading the book, I have found myself writing emails with similar elements as the ones ridiculed in the book – like Cc-ing people who didn’t need to be Cc’d.

Something about the style of E reminded me of my high school friend Jan – as if it would have been written by him – so I passed the seventh Travelling Book to him. It was on the 23rd of March 2011.

The Tribes is the third Travelling Book by Seth Godin. I just love his books. In the Tribes Seth points out how much we need leaders and declares that anyone can be a leader if one decides to.

It is really shocking how little leaders we have – how effectively various fears stop people from fulfiling their potential and leading others. This is a huge opportunity for anyone who wants to make a real difference. There are plenty of followers who are waiting for YOU!

The sixth Travelling Book set out on its journey on the 12th of February 2011. The first stop? Botanicus.

In the Dip Seth suggests that strategic quitting and determination are the keys to the success – keys to becoming the best in a world (not necessarily the World).

Tiny little book with one clear idea that has a huge impact potential.

Enjoy!

I discovered Randy Komisar, the author of this book, on The Silicon Valley Entrepreneur webcast where he spoke about his second book Plan B. I really liked his job – he calls himself a Virtual CEO and it seems like one of the best jobs in the world to me. I would like to do that and I am probably going to. So what does Randy do? Read the Monk and the Riddle to find out.

The book is about Randy’s journey from Harvard law school and a boring lawyer’s job through roles at companies like LucasArts, Apple and TiVo to becoming virtual CEO of several young startups.

Randy shares his colourful professional experience and his wonderful approach to life. The key message of the book is: “Do not delay your dreams just because you think you have to do something else (like making a lot of money) first.”

Apart of this Randy describes quite interestingly the world of Venture Capitalists (people who provide investment money to startups) and shows how much a view a common entrepreneur has about VCs differs from reality.

And that’s why I decided to pass this book on to my brother Lukas, a successful and very busy web entrepreneur. I sincerely believe the book can show him an interesting approach towards web projects and potential investors and ultimately lead to much bigger success and much more happiness.

The Travelling Book No.4 started its journey on Christmas Eve 2010 in Prague.

The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen has completely changed my view of the world around me. Before I read it I had an intuitive feeling that a better product is always superior to a worse one. After reading the book I look at dynamics between complemantary products from an angle of market demand. If two products meet market demand for a given charateristic it doesn’t matter if one of them is twice as good in terms of that characteristic – considering purely that single aspect the two products are equal.

Read the rest of this entry »

Linchpin is the first book I read from Seth Godin. I had read his great blog for a while but none of his previous books. However the book looks like a collection of blog articles with similar topics and one big message: “SHIP!!!”.

Read the rest of this entry »