Observations On What People Read
It’s always fascinating to see what people read — it’s like a tiny peek into how they’re wired. Granted it’s only a glimpse, but there’s a big difference between someone regularly reading the Washington Post vs. the Washington Times, or Daily Kos vs. Michelle Malkin.
It’s with the idea in mind that whether and what we read has an indelible effect on how and what we think that I noted the following:
Todd Defren suggests that young PR professionals become loyal readers of new media resources such as The Bad Pitch Blog, Forward, Marcom Blog and others in order to avoid making the same mistakes their predecessors made. Good idea. Is this standard practice at SHIFT Communications?
Steve Rubel decides to become a man of the world ("Those of us who live in the United States sometimes forget that the majority of the world’s population lives beyond our borders. I am one of them. So, now that I am part of a global firm, I am committed to broadening my worldview to, well, the world.") by reading Thomas L. Friedman’s The World Is Flat. Trevor Cook graciously provides additional suggestions to help Steve in his endeavor.
Steven Silvers points out that former Enron president Jeffrey Skilling is in desperate need of a muzzle, err, better timing. For Skilling I suggest the following two books, How To Do Good After Prison: A Handbook for the "Committed Man" and Chicken Soup for the Prisoner’s Soul.
I find this fascinating, too, Andrea. Or even what one would admit to reading. In my blog roll, I have been putting mostly colleagues’ sites, rather than ones I frequent personally—those I keep among my coComments’ list. Why? Because people will get an impression of the positioning of my blog based on whom I have linked to, and that is all part, I would say, of personal-brand management (note where the hyphen went!).
As a customer of PR companies, I have to agree that the persons world view plays a role in our thinking about who to use.
It is also true that we align ourselves whether consciously or not to people who we have a natural affinity.
As a (wild) generalization, our Lawyers are right of center (and you want that right? (-: ) and our creative (of which I include PR are left of center. As a non USA person (i.e. the rest of the world), it is funny that these distinctions are made, having worked in senior positions in other countries, this is not such a big deal. My suggestion for a read is not to read American authors (exception Jeffrey Sachs) who write about the rest of the world but European and Asian authors. (Although I like Thomas Friedman’s work, I would however questions one’s sanity to reads Michelle Malkin.)
Jack:
I agree that all these things — blogrolls, the things one admits reading — are all part of our personal-brand management. While there’s a risk in getting too uptight about trying to control every conceivable impression, it’s a fact that conclusions are drawn one way or another.
Greg:
How interesting that you admit that a person’s world view plays a role in deciding who to use in business. I’ve always wondered whether purely technical & strategic expertise counts more among prospective clients than professional & personal affinity. It probably depends on the situation and circumstances.
The “I learned what to do by seeing what NOT to do” suggestion is a key point. With so many blogs out there, it’s easy to replicate the tactics used to make them successful, but as Guy Kawasaki points out, an expert who blogs will be read more than an expert blogger.
Bottom line is, the best content is what matters.
(Guy’s article can be found here: http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/04/the_first_100_d.html#comments )
MLTB: Yeah, it keeps coming back to the content.
Teh World is Flat is on my reading list too. I try to get a book in every month in addition to all the other stuff (blogs, news online and off) that I read.
Kami — I’ve pretty much given up on reading books for the time being since I’m so busy trying to keep up with my other stuff. But I’d like to get back to books. Let me know how you liked The World is Flat after you’re done.
Andrea
That is true. Whether conscious or not, it plays a role in it. I choose the person first then look at the technical ability. I have personally been involved in hiring about 3 different firms with varying degrees of success. But one thing I have learnt is trust your gut.
MLTB and Andrea - I couldn’t agree more (in fact I’m staking my career on it). Content is king. True, well presented content will stand out from the crowd but well presented but poor content is still ulitmately poor content. When you’ve got the 2 things working for you, then you’re in business.
Rubel’s point is a good one and one that not just the Americans are guilty of. Just a quick scan of the Nobody’s Frappr map shows how an international social network of bloggers can quickly develop and result in a fantastic forum for lots of different perspectives and recommendations.
I’ve certainly expanded my reading list (on and offline) through other bloggers’ recommendations and links
Yes, well maybe by the time we meet in July I will have tackled it (ha-ha). And we can have a marvelous discussion about it! We’ll have to wait and see.
Greg: The “trust your gut” probably goes back to the feeling of whether you’ll be able to constructively work with the person, or whether, despite their technical or subject matter expertise, they’re just not worth the hassle.
Sam: Your thought on the necessity of extending/expanding one’s exposure to new or different ideas reminds me that it’s not just for the reason of wanting to learn new things, but also so you can see that’s actually gong on “out there.” Only then can we fully measure our approach against that of others, right?
Kami: Can you write a 1-page summary for me as well