Rothacker Reviews

Pinterest and Getting Real

This post is about helping teens prepare for post-secondary education and their careers.

I caught Pinterest fever about six weeks ago and I have yet to find a cure. Pinterest allows one to post pictures found on the Internet and those from their computer. Pictures, along with brief descriptions, are posted in categories. Follwers can repin the image and or comment on yours. I created a category which I named Books Worth Reading. Yesterday I posted an image of Kenneth Gray's book, Getting Real: Helping Teens Find Their Future. In the description I wrote one of the dumbest statements I've ever written online: "This book is a tad expensive, but still worth it."

Write much more than a few sentences in a Pinterest description and you'll lose the reader. The staggering amount of images being uploaded now just about guarantees you'll get no longer than a two second look. I am going to leave my comment anyway, and elaborate here for those interested in their kids' future.

The book Getting Real is a spotlight on a mind boggling economic problem in the U.S. But even more important than that, it illuminates a pathway for parents and those intested in helping teens, toward post-secondary and career success. Here's a quick look at the economic problem:

For every 100 students who enter 9th grade, 70 graduate from high school. Of those 70, 21 go directly to work. The other 49 go to college. Of those 49, approximately 25 drop out. Of the 24 who graduate from college, 12 find commensurate employment. And most of this information is based on facts prior to 2008!

Aside from the obvious, I'm not concerned about numbers here. I'm concerned about Danny. Danny goes to public high school. He struggles and has below average grades. His parents are divorced and his dad is not a part of his life. His mom, who works 50 hours per week and has little time for him, his guidance counselor and all of his relatives think he should go to college. As Danny enters 12th grade, he has absolutely no idea what he wants to do in life. He knows that he can carry a C average this year and graduate. He figures he'll go to community college and figure it all out.

What do you suppose Danny's chances are of making one of those 12 kids who graduates from college and finds work commensurate with his education?

Here's the thing. With early preparation and career direction, Danny could eliminate wheel-spinning, confusion, the needless waste of time and money, and settle in an occupation that's both in demand and one that will support himself and or family. The key is preparation. And armed with Kenneth's book here, it will not cost much more than time. Kenneth's pathway is doable. It makes so much sense that I can't understand why his book isn't more popular.

Getting Real is about fifteen bucks more than your average paperback book. A tad expensive? There is no relationship to fifteen extra bucks and your child's future. Even if you half-heartedly applied the information here, you and or your kids will still be thousands and thousands of dollars ahead.

Books worth reading on my Pinterest board.

More Soul Searching with Penelope Trunk

Okay, I finished Penelope's book. Since I don't write a book review of any book that I don't like, there's one driving force behind the ones that I do write. It goes something like this:

Eleven year old, out of breath David who jumps off his bike and runs up the driveway to his buddy's front door and bangs on door until his buddy comes out: "Bobby, Bobby! Ya gotta see Timmy's new bike! It's gotta banana seat and four foot sissy bar! You're gonna want to buy one man!"

Well, that's how I am towards the books I really like.

Even though Penelope has taught me a very valuable lesson, I still have one problem with this book. I cannot recommend it. I would recommend it, if you could buy it, but you can't. Penelope printed 1,000 copies, signed, numbered and sold them out. That's it, there ain't no more and she will not print no more and there will be no more editions. Capeesh?

Now, in a way this does make me feel good. It increases the value of my book. That is, it makes me want to cherish it even more, because I'd never sell it to a soul.

Please allow me to pause for a moment and dispense with the review of this book right quick. Penelope's intent on writing this book was to help her friend Melissa, stay on track with the development of her career. Penelope dives into the forty or so years she has spent collecting material and comes up with material in which she divides into the following sections:

1. Soul
2. Path
3. Work
4. Lost
5. Found
6. Happy
7. Life

Since you can't get the book there's little use in me telling you what it's all about. I will say, if Melissa listens and follows through, she will have a most fulfilling life and career.

About that lesson from my most favorite ex-professional volleyball player on the planet. Actually, Penelope was just doing her thing. The lesson comes from the reaction of a few people who were upset with themselves for not getting the book before it sold out. I do not want to be in that position!

Moving forward, I'll make sure to pay attention to folks like Penelope and organizations like Brazen Careerist. One such organization that offers limited time availability on promotions is The Domino Project. All this really requires of me is a little more focus, and the willingness to tune into those who are providing value and to tune out those who are not (you know who is filling your inbox with gobbledy-gook).

I think I'll go cancel a couple of e-mail subscriptions right now.

Soul Searching with Penelope Trunk

I received a copy of Penelope Trunk's latest book last week. 999 other people did as well. It's a sold-out, limited edition. I'd tell you the book's name, but from cover to cover, it's nowhere to be found*.

This isn't a formal review. It's more of a "I can hardly wait to write something about this book because I like it so much even though I've only read half way through it," kinda thing.

Quick little story first.

I ordered this book March 18. I hadn't received it by the beginning of April so I wrote a note to Penelope. She said it was one of those "order printing after all book orders came in," kinda deal. I should get the book in six weeks. A week later Penelope sent out a global e-mail to those who ordered the book. She said book to arrive in mid May, she would then sign them and ship them out. Towards the end of June Penelope sent out another e-mail letting us know the books arrived. We'd receive them as soon as they were signed.

Perhaps this process could have been handled differently, although Penelope's hands were tied because they were dealing with a printer in China. But it doesn't matter one bit to me. From the first time I read Penelope's stuff in the late 90's I've been totally smitten with her, with her learn-from-experience demeanor, with her honesty, with her passion and desire to help Gen-Y, with her tell-you-what's-real style and with her writing ability. Add in the street cred that she's developed with Brazen Careerist and it's a no-brainer. No problemo.

Conduct yourself in a manner that pleases your market, audience or reader and when that inevitable bump in the road comes, it isn't a problem.

The driving force behind the book is that Penelope wants to help her associate, Melissa, keep her career on track. So Penelope digs into her Library of Congress-sized archive of articles and finds those that will be of use to Melissa. Place those articles in a well designed book of gold-lined pages that is aesthetically appealing and pleasing to touch and you have a most excellent career / life guide.

Actually, this is total value for me. I could try to take the time to peruse Penelope's site and assemble similar articles. But by the time it would take me to do it, I still wouldn't nail down all the articles of help and I wouldn't have them all neatly assembled in a book that stands out from three hundred or so others that I keep at arm's length from my writing chair. Not to mention it's a limited edition. One that's numbered and personally signed.

One of the things I love about this book is that it has plenty of white space - plenty of room to journal and write notes.

More to come on Penelope's new book...

*Penelope explains about the book's title in this post.

A Book for your Life and Career

  Life After College by Jenny Blake.

Very seldom do I write about a book before reading it in its entirety. When I do you know I'm pretty excited about it. 

On the top of the back cover of Jenny's book it reads:

Life After College. Is your portable life coach. Congrats, you've graduated!

Stewie Griffin can deduce that Life After College is being targeted to recent college graduates. I believe however, there is another group of people who can benefit from Jenny's sage advice just as much. And, after I tell you a quick story you'll come up with a third audience as well.

I had the privilege of receiving an advance copy of Penelope Trunk's book, Brazen Careerist. Penelope knew that I was (and still am), insanely interested in Gen-Y.

After reading Brazen Careerist I felt as if I had been struck by lightning. I discovered that there was a group of people out there who could benefit as much if not more, from the best career book written for Gen-Y'rs. Baby Boom managers. Suddenly I felt like James Bond as I wrote a few articles for this older generation and explained how they could get un-perplexed, un-frustrated and un-agitated with this most promising generation by reading Brazen Careerist and trying to understand them first.

That group of people who Life After College is a veritable treasure chest full of wisdom and knowledge? High school juniors to college seniors. Students have the opportunity to reflect and prepare for life after college without the pressure of finding a place to live, finding a career-related job that's meaningful and finding one's self while staring at a mountain of college related bills and trying to figure out a way to manage their money.

I recommend students use Life After College as both a compass and a journal. The high school junior has a minimum of six years to soak in Jenny's messages on:

• Life
• Work
• Money
• Home
• Organization
• Friends & Family
• Dating & Relationships
• Health
• Fun & Relaxation
• Personal Growth

The advantage that I enjoyed with Brazen Careerist is the same one students can use with Jenny's book. When we look at something through a different lens, that subject matter has a tendency to become stickier. It allows us the freedom of exploration and the opportunity to experiment with connections. By the time the student graduates and is ready to apply the contents of Life After College, she will have a huge edge on those who graduate and say, "Hello world, it's nice to meet you. Where should I send my resume?"

I will have more to say about Life After College in a formal review, but I can see already it's one of the best books around for the college graduate.

That third audience I spoke of earlier? Baby Boom and Gen-X managers.

One other reason that I feel confident in recommending Jenny's book (without reading in its entirety) is I've been reading her work at the Life After College Web site for quite some time and Jenny's message has always been consistent. Consistently appropriate that is.

Note: I received a copy of Life After College from Jenny's publicist.

One of the Best Non-Fiction Book Intro's Ever

From How YOU are like Shampoo for College Graduates: The complete Personal Branding System to Define, Position, and Market Yourself and Land a Job You Love, by Benda Bence.

The job of a non-fiction book introduction or opening is to establish relevancy and hook the reader. In the case of branding for me personally, I do not need to be hooked. Unless the author immediately pukes out three paragraphs of corporate speak, I'm digging into the book. Relevancy however, sets a much different tone for me. It causes me to pay closer attention and makes the book that much more interesting.

In How YOU are like Shampoo for College Students, the first story in the Introduction is brilliant! I'd love to recite it for you, but I can't. Its relationship to this book is similar to the ending of a suspense-thriller.

Here's what I can tell you: Everyone has a personal brand. We all have the power to guide our brand to desired outcomes. Brenda uses a very, very prominent person from history to illustrate this. The encouraging thing is that fictitious high school senior, little Suzy McBee, has more wherewithall today to develop her brand than this most famous person from history did.

I intend to review this book in the future. But for now I can tell you How YOU are like Shampoo for College Graduates is the best book on personal branding for young people I've ever read. Specifically personal branding and how it can help the college grad land a desired job.

I would like to see this book read beginning in the junior year of high school. Here's the thing, the college senior begins to get her act together, preparing to get a job following graduation. In addition to her major and areas of study, she lists extracuricular activities like volunteering, college clubs and work related experiences. But what if she only worked part time at Six Chicks Hamburgers? She says, "no one ever told me I needed to have all these experiences when I was a freshman!" That's one of the things Brenda's book can help underclassmen with.

Tom Peters is not a BIG MOUTH & stuff you can learn from him

I used to think Tom Peters' writing was annoying. While I've always appreciated his message, his use of capitalization, bold fonts, radical paragraphs, wild exclamation marks and fonts, in more sizes than there are defintions of design, downright irritated me. It did that is, until one day I had a conversation with my doctor.

I asked my doc, who is also a teacher, "how many students in your class are passionate about what they're learning and are engaged in their professional development? "

Doc said in a class of twenty, maybe one or two. Those one or two make her fifteen hour days worth it. They give her reason to go on.

I think it has to do with how strongly my doctor believes in her craft and its power to heal. To the core of her being she knows it does. The precise moment when I realized this is when Tom and his exclamation marks took over my head. And as they did, Tom's writing style began to fade and his message leapt at me from the pages.

Tom believes so strongly in this message that he overpowers the fonts and punctuation marks and enlists them into his army of persuasion. I don't think Tom is willing to settle for the smaller percentage of believers as my doc, so he raises the volume on his discourse.

To be real, this isn't so much about Tom as it is about me getting my head on straight. Here's another example. My perception of Tom's audience / market was CEO's and managers who wanted to be like the rock star CEO's who Tom consulted with.

This view changed when I read The Little Big Things, Tom's latest book, for the second time. I read it through the window of this mindset: How can Tom's book help college students stand out from their peers and prepare for life after college? OMG! I think The Little Big Things is more relevant to college students than it is to some ole coot managers (or x-managers like me). Matter of fact, I could pattern my entire Standing out in a Sea of Sameness site after it.

The book's premise is that Excellence is the result of many small tasks, all of which can be practiced and mastered. Tom says, "hard is soft and soft is hard."

More on Tom's book here.

If you're an ole coot you need the book because it is relevant. If you're a college student catch Tom over at You Tube where he is presenting short videos of the book's content.

Design is How it Works

Design is How it Works by Jay Greene.

It's summer. It's Florida. And it's hot. I pick up Design is How it Works and begin to read. Three paragraphs in and I look around for my fireplace, my mug of hot, green tea and my stack of cherry and oak firewood. Why? Because when you settle down to read a good story, that's what you need. Although my fireplace is but a distant, N.E. Ohio memory, visions of its crackling flames and warm heat are instantly evoked. Any notion that my good story observation was premature was totally dispelled by book's end.

Here is what Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO says about Design is How it Works:

"Jay Greene gets to the heart of the matter. Design is not just about how things look, it is about how they work. Follow his fascinating journey through some of the world's most significant design-led companies, and learn how they have made design central to their endeavors. Design Is How It Works offers ideas and inspiration to anyone seeking to build a business that makes a difference."

If you like how Malcolm Gladwell spins a non-fiction tale you'll like how Jay presents eight separate case studies yet ties them together into a main theme. As you journey into the book you'll notice how he references earlier case studies and people and how this tightens up his overall discourse.

You know how some business books seem to talk directly to uninformed CEO's? You can almost feel the author's spittle hit your face as his or her's anger builds into a near physical thrashing of those CEO's who kowtow to monthly numbers, quarterly projections and stoic reluctance towards innovation and progress. I'll pause a moment while you wipe the spittle off your bus partner's face... Well, this book isn't like that. Jay's much more diplomatic.

As a matter of fact, backwoods, wayward CEO's didn't come directly to mind. My first thought was that this is an excellent book to help identify a quality company. One that's driven to satisfy customer's latent and obvious needs while sticking to its guns and following its own soul script.

I Want To Be An Author: Now What?

I Want To Be An Author: Now What? by Kimberly Llewellyn

Do you write? Maybe you're a journalist or maybe you write books or magazine articles. Maybe you even author a blog. No doubt people have asked you, "I've always wanted to write. How does one go about becoming a published author?"

All of a sudden you freeze and think to yourself, "shall I give Ms. Kabeets the sanitized version or shall I take my underwear off in public and be real?"

Consider letting Kimberly save you from, "well Ms. Kabeets, I drank alcohol in excess for twenty years while I worked two jobs, raised two kids and a husband, fought off depression, took writing classes, studied the craft, scribbled a few words each day and collected two thousand rejection slips along the way. Oh yeah, and make sure you read Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird and Strunk and White's The Elements of Style."

Kimberly Llewellyn's book I Want To Be An Author: Now What? is the perfect book for beginning writers. Or, and I love how Kimberly puts it, "for hobbyists and subject matter experts who want to get in print."

When I finished reading the book I asked, "quick dave, what are you thinking?"

I blurted out to myself, "succinct, useful, clear, encompassing, thorough, concise and the perfect gift!"

Kimberly takes the reader by the hand with her initial chapter titled Getting Started and eighteen chapters later shows them to the door with Making the Sale. In between chapters like Guide to the Genres, The Craft of Writing, 15 Mistakes of New Writers, Finding a Publisher and Facing the Rejection lead the reader in a to-the-point, logical sequence that leaves no rock unturned or mystery as to what it takes to become a published author.

Keep your underwear on (unless you're a romance author) and pick up a copy of Kimberly's book today. And while you're at it, pick up a dozen more for the Ms. Kabeets in your life.

Last Lecture Synopsis

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

"What wisdom would you impart upon the world if you knew your demise was to be immediate ?" "What matters most to you?"

College professors are frequently asked to plan a lecture with these questions in mind. The searing difference between Randy Pausch's last lecture and all of the others? Prior to the lecture, Randy was told he really did have only a couple of months to live.

I originally wrote what I called a synopsis of Randy's book The Last Lecture on July 20, 2008. A disappointed anonymous Google user voiced an opinion in the comment section. He or she basically said that my writing was not a synopsis. I agree. And as I was about to write a review for the book The Comet & The Tornado, a book written by Randy's colleague, I thought no, I need to do a better job with The Last Lecture first. One of Randy's life lessons is to learn from our mistakes. I will attempt to do that now.

The title of Randy's Last Lecture, which can be seen here on You Tube is Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. One of the things that I look for in a book is a connection to the author and his work. There is no relevance in my life to childhood dreams, much less achieving them. On that alone I could have passed on this book. But I had seen a portion of Randy's lecture. He is a magnificent and captivating storyteller. I had to read the book. I did...with much joy. By the book's end I had become a victim to a teaching technique that Randy calls the head fake and by that point I had connected with Randy in a major way.

Randy starts off discussing the opportunity to give the Last Lecture, should he do it in lieu of his circumstances, how his wife Jai weighs in on the opportunity and what makes him unique - what sets him apart -what would he speak about. Finally he determined that his life accomplishments were rooted in his childhood dreams and the ability to fulfill most of them.

Randy goes on to talk about how nurturing, supportive and influential his parents were. He spoke of one time when he wanted to paint things on his bedroom walls. His parents asked what kind of things. He said things that mattered to him. And then they let him. This type of parenting forged Randy into the successful adult that he turned into.

The following chapters are devoted to specific childhood dreams and how Randy was able to achieve most of them, with lessons learned along the way. Randy dreamed of:

• moving about in zero gravity
• playing in the NFL
• authoring a World Book Encyclopedia article
• being Captain James T. Kirk of Star Trek
• being a Disney Imagineer
• winning big, stuffed animals

Randy's journey to becoming a Disney Imagineer was rather unique and he uses the story to illustrate how running into the metaphorical brick wall should not stop us from doing something. He says that brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.

The next set of chapters are titled Adventures...And Lessons Learned. Here Randy tells us when he learned that his cancer was terminal, how his mentor Andy van Dam so eloquently called him a jerk, his relationship with his niece and nephew, meeting and romancing Jai, his father's Bronze Star and a few other stories.

The next section is titled Enabling the Dreams of Others. Randy shares key time management points, the importance of being able to judge ourselves for true growth, a story about Tommy Burnett, a student who went onto work on three Star War's movies, the development of the Education Technology Center (better known as the dream-fulfillment factory) at Carnegie Mellon and how his students excelled and a storytelling tool named Alice.

In the section titled It's About How to Live Your Life, Randy's stories drill into the essence of how to be a decent human being. He says to be earnest not hip, work harder, treat the disease not the symptom, find ways to work together with people, look for the best in everybody, be prepared and don't give up, write than-you notes, be loyal, apologize when need be, tell the truth, smell crayons and learn, communicate, and if you want something, ask. As you read through the rest of Randy's stories here you can't help but to compare him with Dale Carnegie.

Randy concludes by discussing dreams for his children, his relationship with Jai and the head fake. Earlier in the book, Randy describes how his football coach Jim Graham, was able to teach and get his players to learn - without them realizing it at first. This was one form of the head fake. The other was a type of indirect learning. He uses football as an example. The players learn the techniques and intricacies of the game, but the head fake results when they also learn about teamwork, sportsmanship, the ability to deal with adversity, etc. You'll have to read The Last Lecture to learn about the specific head fakes that Randy uses here.

The thing that I admired most about Randy was his commitment and devotion to his family. Past that it was that he went through life - eyes wide open...observing, recording and learning from experiences and people.

If you are a manager, parent or teacher, you have the opportunity to be of influence. Impart Randy's life lessons upon your contingent and encourage them to paint things upon their bedroom walls. Be a dream supporter and build your legacy along the way.

Visit the Last Lecture website here.

Ideaspotting

Ideaspotting by Sam Harrison

Ideaspotting is a book designed to help you generate ideas and to become more creative.

Did you ever dig into a book that was supposed to help you be more creative, and find yourself entangled in exercises so complex and tedious that they forced you into being creative, like using the book for a door stop? Well, Ideaspotting is not like that.

In another book of his Zing!, author Sam wrote about the following five-step process for generating ideas:

• Explore
• Freedom
• Pause
• Embrace
• Life

Ideaspotting focuses on the Explore stage. Sam underscores to explore with the actions of observing and listening. Please allow me to back away from Sam's book for a second and try to capture a 60,000 foot view.

Pretend that you have a problem that is contained in one room and you need a solution. Or you need to come up with an idea in relation to this room. The first thing you need to do is to observe and listen to the room. You need to be aware of details, ambiguities and nuances. Then you need to go out into the world for answers. Sam labels this Firing-Range exploring.

We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.                                             John Hope Franklin

In Free-Range exploring, Sam says to fill your work with life. This means to go out into the world and by way of a multitude of experiences, fill your life well. For the most part, how to fill your well is what the book is about. The following are examples:

360-Degree Exploring - Dive into your world and understand how wide it is. Sam lists categories of suggestions like personal surroundings, entertainment, internet, nature, customers, kids and a whole lot more to get you started.

Look into lifestyles - What publications, Web sites and events can help you monitor lifestyles?

Watch where people are and watch what they do - It ain't gonna happen sittin' on the couch.

Really listen - Sam uses this quote by Jiddu Krishnamurti: When you are listening to somebody completely and attentively, then you are listening not only to the words, but also to the feeling of what is being conveyed, to the whole of it, not part of it.

Ask a ton of questions - Do I really need to elaborate on this one?

Watch what thrills people - Make note of what people are WOWED by.

Make notes - When out in the world make notes in notebooks, sketchbooks, index cards or by camera or voice recorder. Be a reporter to your editor self.

Build and work your network - You know the drill.

Learn from your mistakes - Mark Twain says it best: I knew a man who grabbed a cat by the tail and learned 40% more about cats than the man who didn't.

Get out into the world - Travel to the corner of your street or to another continent. The world is your classroom.

Ideaspotting is one of the best books of its kind that I have ever read. And on a personal taste level, the book's design is absolutely intoxicating.

Ideaspotting was smoked-n-signed.