I had an interesting call from a marketing exec in response to my mention of Think and Grow Rich. He called to thank me, saying he had completely forgotten about it.He said that he’d read it during college, it had been a revelation and he credited much of his success to the way it changed his thinking. He then asked me if I thought that giving a copy to each of his people could impact his group as it did him.

We talked for some time, but here is the gist of my answer.

First, just handing out copies of a book because the manager thinks its valuable rarely has the desired impact. The impact of this particular book would be even lower because the book’s language and idea presentation is “old-fashioned” and that, in itself, turns many people off.

I suggested that he start by using the well-known quotes I listed in the course of his group’s interactions. They’ve been paraphrased many times, so it would be simple to mention their original source as interesting trivia in the course of a conversation and describing the impact the book had on him. Obviously, this needs to be tailored to the circumstances, but he should get some sparks of interest.

Once he has those sparks he needs to build the fire carefully, since the goal is for his people to want to learn more as opposed to his trying to force it on them.

After the fire catches, he can offer to provide copies for everyone in conjunction with a set time to discuss the book. A brown bag lunch discussion, with the company supplying the lunch once a month, is usually a winner.

I also suggested that rather than limiting the discussion to Think and Grow Rich he should invite people to add ideas and commentary from other sources they’ve read. This makes for a richer discussion, draws people in and deepens their ownership of the whole idea.

Taking the philosophical information and making it work to the benefit of both the group and the individual is the real goal and should be plainly stated. I’ve found that people love learning “intellectual” stuff far more when it gives them practical advantages in everyday life.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, August 16th, 2007 at 10:38 am and is filed under Business info, Communication, Culture, Leadership, Motivation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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