Mindful Musings - Jan 23

Mindful Musings, January 23rd - Reading

Since I began commuting to NYC in the fall of 2005 I spend much of my train time reading books. I was always an avid (or rabid) reader at least since I taught myself to read at age 3. In the later part of my life my reading time had been reduced to a couple of pages at night before bed. I was convinced that the back and forth eye movement too closely simulated REM sleep and so made me drop off no matter how interesting or stimulating the book. As a result I was only able to finish a couple of books per year.

With 2 hours of train time and another 40 minutes on the subway, I have been devouring books at the rate of about one per week. Frequently I will also take my book to lunch, whether at Roto Roli or a local Cafe so I can experience a little time away. I had begun with the best sellers from business and leadership. The Tipping Point, Blink, Execution, Good to Great, Blue Ocean Strategy, and others. I would like to see the list of the top 20 as I probably have read 15 of them.

Easily the best are the three books by Marcus Buckingham (with co-authors for the first two). First, Break All the Rules followed by Now, Discover Your Strengths gave insights into managing and self understanding that began a transformation in my thinking. MB's third book, The One Thing You Need to Know is a landmark book. After reading that I brought some of the ideas to my work team, namely the emphasis of Clarity of Purpose and the four questions: Who do we serve? What are our strengths? How do we keep score? and What actions can we take today? I recommend that book for every manager/leader if you only will read one book this year.

I will also add to my favorite read list the book by John Naisbit, Mindset. Afterall, a guy who rote the book Megatrends that sold 9 million copies must have something important to say. His comparison of USA, EU, China and India are worth the effort to read.

After the business books I also went for literature that I had neglected in my earlier life. Most notable are the books by Ayn Rand including Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead. I love the fact I heard that people when polled consider Howard Roark as one of the top four arhitects even though he was fictitious. He really came alive in Ayn's writing. I also read several books of poetry but I must admit that poetry is a mystery to me. Maybe I am too left-brained to really get it. It fascinates me but I will leave that topic to another musing.

Of course my favorite genre remains Science Fiction and I have recently been re-reading the Hyperion series of four novels by Dan Simmons. I have to rate Simmons as the best author writing these days as he also does other genres including horror and general fiction. He is as creative as they come and his writing is poetic prose. I have to also give a nod to Peter Hamilton. He is the most wildly creative and imaginative writer and I read his recent two-part novel, (find out name) and Judas Unchained.

I will have to see where my future reading takes me. I have to admit that I have to bring the books up closer to me without my glasses as my arms are not long enough with them. I still have the wish and desire to write and to create, maybe someday soon I will put fingertips to keyboard again...

Enjoy the day, above anything else, create.