Book Reviews by David Anderson and Eric LaRue

Tommy Spaulding has built a successful career by being a leader and teaching others to be leaders. In his book, It’s Not Just Who You Know, Spaulding acknowledges that his success is greatly due to living the credo of Dale Carnegie’s How To Win Friends and Influence People. However, It’s Not Just Who You Know does more than expand or update Carnegie’s classic. Spaulding has re-imagined Carnegie’s ideas and infused them with his own spirit. This is a book about love.

Spaulding starts off with his own story of being a good kid who had trouble succeeding in school because of what would eventually be diagnosed as dyslexia. Yet he was the youngest Eagle Scout in his town, the captain of his high school football team and the president of his senior class.

Young Tommy was also fortunate to have chosen his parents well. Tommy Spaulding, Sr. told him three profound things: First, living with goodness in your heart counts more than good grades. Second, you have an obligation to make a contribution to this country because Democracy isn’t free. Third, the people who are making top grades in your school are going to work for you someday.

Relationships move Upward

Spaulding talks about the different levels of relationships. These start on the first floor where the conversation never gets past news, sports and weather. The top floor is the fifth, or Penthouse, where you don’t just get a Christmas card – you get invited to Christmas dinner.

This book also shows you how to get to the Penthouse and what to do once you arrive. Spaulding advises against being a chirping bird – someone who is also asking for something out of a relationship. He goes further and challenges us to find unique ways to keep in touch and connected with our friends, colleagues, business partners, etc. By making his business life personal, Spaulding is a friend first and always looking for ways to give to others without a thought of what should be given in return.

Spaulding calls this way of thinking a Return on Relationship (ROR), a twist on the financial Return on Investment (ROI). He isn’t some guy who charmed his way into the corner office; he firmly believes that his ROR delivers a better ROI.

When I signed on to read and review this book I did it with an eye toward how it might help me, but I want to conclude with an attempt to help you.

Over the past few months I have been using these methods. I have hand-written a number of notes in situations where previously I would have called or sent a quick email. The response has been remarkable and universally positive. I even wrote a letter to the IRS, because I owed more than I could pay this year, and soon after I got a phone call from a charming woman who works for them. She is by far the nicest person I have ever spoken to at any government agency. We worked out a deal in a friendly manner and now I have a friend at the IRS.

It’s Not Just Who You Know has got the goods. Read it, and if you are bold enough, live it. I have begun that journey and my Return on Relationship has been incredible.

———–

Review by: Eric LaRue

Most people will come to read It’s Not Just Who You Know in the same way they read How to Win Friends and Influence People. However, through personal experience and illustration, Tommy Spaulding manages to show why the book which so influenced him (How to Win Friends) in his youth, while revolutionary when first written in 1937, is no longer adequate in the 21st century.

Told largely through narrative from the author’s own life, Spaulding begins the second section with an analysis of the “Five Floors of Relationships,” with the most casual interactions taking place on the first floor, such as the interactions most of us have with the grocery store clerk, then moving up through our regular business transactions and finally up to the fifth floor relationships with our family and closest friends. This section will do wonders for readers at their next networking event. If Dale Carnegie teaches the importance of focusing on the interests of one’s negotiating partner, Spaulding teaches in these chapters how to demonstrate it.

However, the real value of the book comes in Sections 3 and 4, where Spaulding teaches how to move a business relationship into an intimate one, and how to leverage that relationship for everyone’s benefit. Section 3 teaches the reader how to build a relationship of trust to the point where you want that person to succeed, moving beyond the simple quid pro quo relationship. He shares examples of his most trusted friendships that’s he developed, from a bartender to old clients. Section 4 talks about building a simple business practice and moving into something “bigger than you” – a powerful force for good in the world, aligning those fifth floor relationships into a vision that results in a powerful movement.

It’s Not Just Who You Know is the perfect book for those who want to increase their business. It’s the perfect book for those who want to have more fulfilling relationships with the people they work with. It’s the perfect book for those who want to grow something bigger than themselves. And it’s the perfect book for the No Shortage of Work community.

Review by: John Lester with Sara McDermott

In the past 100 years, the world has been changing at a rapid rate. Now, more than at any other time in history, both information and human connection can be delivered at an alarming speed; truly, the world is entering a new dimension of discovery and consumption. The Power of Pull discusses this phenomenon and how it affects everything and everyone, from an individual, to a company, to a nation.

The title comes from authors John Hagel, John Seely Brown, and Lang Davison’s definition of ‘pull’ as “The ability to draw out people and resources as needed to address opportunities and challenges.” A powerful concept. They discuss how advances in technology aren’t only changing access to information, but also how the amount of easily-available information is changing the whole competitive landscape of business. Major consumer products and institutions, from cassettes to the U.S. Post Office, are now approaching oblivion as a result of not adapting to the times. This ties into another key concept presented in the book, ‘push,’ which deals with the dissolution of the current business structure.

The authors go on to break the ‘pull’ concept down into three levels: access, attract, and achieve. They then analyze, level by level, the methods used by individuals and companies who have been able to harness the power of pull and achieve great results.

Perhaps most importantly, the book makes the reader think about why they should change their current formula for success. Very convincing is their argument that, as the world constantly evolves, so must the individual evolve with it in order to stay on top. Anyone who has mastered the power of pull through new technology is already ahead of their competitors. Also, the book points out that generating competition and more opportunities to create value among employees will lead to a more dynamic and profitable business.

This book is very accessible to a general audience, despite the scholarly subject matter. While the book has a few slow sections, they are brief. All in all, it offered a fascinating portrait of the current world, and acted as a guide for maneuvering through a time of unpredictable change.

A book review by Steve Amoia

Carmine Gallo is a respected business journalist by training. He created a company, Gallo Communications, that provides presentation, media training and communication skills advice for some of the world’s most recognized brands. His first book about the iconic CEO of Apple Computer, entitled The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs, was a best seller. Gallo’s newest offering, The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs: Insanely Different Principles for Breakthrough Success, no doubt will achieve similar success. This compelling book is a deep look into a man that figuratively and literally changed millions of lives.

Compelling Introduction Set the Tone

Many of Jobs’ innovation secrets were used by the author in this book. Gallo opened with a provocative quote attributed to Thomas Friedman of the New York Times: “We need to create more Jobs.” It was a play on words about the Apple CEO, but one that clearly exemplified one of his key tenets: Master the Message. Speaking of messages, one by Gallo immediately grabs your attention:

“Michelangelo looked at a marble block and saw David. Steve Jobs looked at a computer and saw a tool to unleash human potential.”

Concise, Insightful and Organized Format

Gallo used short, easy-to-digest chapters to outline seven innovation principles of Steve Jobs. All sections followed the same format. First we see Jobs implementing the principle in question at different times in his life. The next chapter illustrates examples from other business professionals. The author provided three “iLessons” after each chapter to reinforce your learning. It is a “Rule of Three” that frequently appears in this book, and is one of Jobs’ key presentation and persuasive tools.

Memorable Quotes

Unlike his product line, Steve Jobs does not maintain a high-visibility. One feature of this book that stood out was the sheer volume of notable quotes by Jobs. The author didn’t interview Jobs; however, he provided numerous examples of direct quotes to enhance the many lessons provided in this book. Here were a few of my favorites:

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” (A principle inherent with Apple Computer’s mission and philosophy.)

“1000 songs in your pocket.” (iPod)

“Hold the Internet in your hand.” (iPad)

“Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone.” (iPhone)

“What Would Steve Do?”

The above quote is frequently stated or implied in this work by Gallo. This “Steve” read the book, and is glad that he did. It has made me question and enhance design considerations at my international soccer site and online portfolio. This book challenges us to examine better methods to cultivate and present ideas both personally and professionally. The added benefit is that Steve Jobs and Carmine Gallo are there to help us.

My Rating: *****

Steve Amoia is a freelance writer, editor and translator from Washington, D.C. He is a contributor to NSoW, and is the founder of World Football Commentaries.

Present Like Steve Jobs

Please note:

No Shortage of Work and the book reviewer were not compensated for this article.

A book review by Adrienne Rodney

In 2005 I borrowed $60,000 to take 12 classes in an 18 month master’s degree program in Journalism at Boston University.

Now my boss is paying for me to take writing classes taught by professional writers at Gotham Writer’s Workshop for $395 a class – that is 92% less than the $5000 cost of a BU course.

For more than a decade I will be paying off debt for a master’s degree that has proven to be neither a requirement for, nor guarantee of, getting a job. In my current job my boss is paying for writing courses that will improve the articles I write for No Shortage of Work – a direct link between my education and employment.

Now I find that there are free writing courses, not just cheaper ones, In her book DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education, Anya Kamenetz discusses the ways we can educate ourselves without going into debt. More people are choosing alternatives to four year universities, such as online and for-profit schools, while others are taking advantage of the free courses universities offer on their Web sites.

The Open Courseware Project at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) offers video, audio and lecture materials from their 1,900 courses. MIT pays up to $15,000 in development costs to put each course online for free, and they’re not all science related. I can take courses in creative writing, anthropology, and Chinese. Other schools such as Tufts and UC Berkeley offer courses which can be found at the Open Courseware Consortium.

Teachstreet.com is an online community for people who love to learn a variety of subjects and Unclasses.org connects students with teachers on anything from graphic design to rock climbing. DIY U lists these and hundreds of other resources for free universities, work colleges, and study aids which we’ve put up on our Resource Links.

Kamenetz’s goal is not to discourage people from attending college, but to encourage parents and prospective students to research their options and understand what they are paying for. While a degree is necessary for a career in medicine, you don’t need any degree to be a journalist.

Anya Kamenetz wrote another book, Generation Debt, detailing the negative effects the rising costs of education are having on the younger generations. I asked what we can do to stay out of debt, and she offered some advice for those looking to go to school but aren’t sure how to pay for it.

Unfortunately it {debt} is all too common. There are lots of great sources of information out there on the costs of higher education and dangers of student debt, from the Project on Student Debt (http://projectonstudentdebt.org/)  to Finaid.org to Student Loan Justice (http://www.studentloanjustice.org/)  to the National Center for Education Statistics (the federal source for higher ed information), which has a great College Navigator search engine that includes expected student costs, graduation rates, and cohort loan default rates – the percentage of students from that school who end up defaulting on their loans.

Good information about the benefits of a graduate degree is harder to come by. I wish everyone who was thinking of applying to graduate school, whether business school or journalism school or the humanities or MFA programs, would reach out through their social networks and talk to at least one person who managed to make it in their chosen field who did NOT go to graduate school, or did not complete it. As a person who didn’t go to journalism school, I would have lots of advice about how to succeed in journalism without that degree.

Kamenetz also has advice for adults past college age who want to embrace the do-it-yourself educational movement.

I have one suggestion. The next time you need to caulk your bathtub or program your DVR or make a birthday cake, the first step should be to go to YouTube and type in “How to…” and the task you are looking for. Chances are you will find dozens of videos with step-by-step instructions to learn how to do the task yourself. Or think about reaching out to your existing social network: post a Facebook status update or a Twitter update and say, “Hey, anyone out there have experience with…” These are very simple ways to adopt a DIY attitude while leveraging the vast amounts of resources that are already there for you.

Reminder: The resources Kamenetz lists in DIY U can be found on our Resource Links.

Watch Anya talk about the DIY movement in higher education at the TED conference in Atlanta:

Adrienne Rodney Interviews Shawn Achor, Author of The Happiness Advantage

Here are a few fallacies many of us believe: If only I had a job, then I’d be happy. Once I have all the material things I’ve been after, I won’t have time to be depressed. The grass is always greener. Shawn Achor, Harvard University psychologist, lecturer and author, says we’ve got it all wrong. Happiness fuels success, not the other way around.

In his book, The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work (2010, Crown Business), Achor presents the seven ways individuals can achieve the positivity and optimism that set the tone for a successful personal and professional life.

Achor’s research suggests we change the way our brains work in order to improve our productivity and performance. Each of his seven principles describes the ways in which we can turn from being “glass half empty” realists in a troubled world to people who focus our energy on the good things in life.

One principle is The Tetris Effect, a pattern of thought in which our brain gets stuck that affects all aspects in life. Instead of falling prey to negative patterns, we can retrain our brains to spot positive patterns and specifically seek out the things for which we are grateful.

This relates to The 20-Second Rule, a principle that instills lasting changes that help replace bad habits with good ones without having to rely on willpower. Achor says by putting a 20 second gap between you and negative habits, such as hiding the television remote or making your computer home page work related, you are more likely to stay on track. This path of least resistance goes both ways.  Put your running shoes next to your bed, and you are more likely to exercise after you wake.

The theme of The Happiness Advantage is living a positive home and work life. If we stay focused on what matters most, we will have no choice but to see the positives in everything. This book is a helpful manual to everyone, whether or not you see the glass as half-full.

*****

I spoke with Achor about the other principles and how the Happiness Advantage can be applied to our readers here at No Shortage of Work, especially for those who are currently unemployed or looking for something new.

“This message is even more important with someone who doesn’t have a job. In the midst of a challenge, when you’re unemployed or underemployed, you have two options. You can stay negative and frustrated, which science shows turns off your brain, or you could try to remain positive, which causes your brain to turn on, allowing you to see more possibilities, allowing you to avoid depression, and allowing your brain to be intelligent and creative. So what I often tell people is happiness in good times is a luxury item. In challenging times, positivity becomes a necessity.”

He also states that the strongest positive force we have in our lives is our social network, and the more time we spend with our friends, the more likely we are to overcome our hardships.

“What we found as a more successful option is that the most successful people in the midst of a challenge actually increase the amount of investment that they make in their social support network. They spend even more time with friends. They spend more time making connections with people. They spend more time deepening relationships. And when they do that it not only increases their level of happiness, it gives their brain more energy and resilience to deal with the issues they are experiencing.

“In fact, I would argue that going to the movie with your friends, based on this research, will actually increase your likelihood of finding a job.  If you think about it, we always make ourselves miserable when we’re faced with a challenge. Like if we have too much work, or in school we feel we have to study all the time. But really, our grades improve and our job performance improves when we have a strong social support network.”

I also asked him why so many of us find ourselves in a never-ending quest to be happy, meaning, why do we expect external factors to make our lives better, even when we have experience getting what we want and still not feeling fulfilled?

“I think because our society, our schools, and even our companies teach us that if we work harder and are successful, then we’ll be happier. But our brains don’t work in that order. So even with somebody who is unemployed who is thinking, ‘once I have a job I will definitely be happy,’ that’s not actually what happens.

“I think waiting to get a job to be happy is counter-productive, because it makes you unhappy in the present, and second, it turns off your brain which makes you less likely to find a good job. The better approach is to try to be positive in the present, and as a result of that we found that you are more likely to get a job and more likely to be good at the job.”

Listen to our complete interview with Shawn:

Book review by Frank McGrath

At one time or another, everyone has gone to a networking function, returned with a stack of business cards, and said “well, now what?”  That literal and figurative inert pile of cards is evidence of an evening of pleasant conversations – and not action. Talking to folks is an act of prospecting, a key part of networking. But the other key component is closing – a shared commitment to progress. Successful closing is the difference between networking and going to a cocktail party.

Closing is ultimately a sales function- getting people to do something: introduce you, vouch for you, interview you. Fortunately, sales is one of the oldest human activities. It is important, so smart people have thought about it. Sales success is easily quantifiable, so approaches can be evaluated.

Anecdotally, there are few careers that have risen in public esteem since the ‘70s than the salesman. The hamartia of Willy Loman and the jokey stories of the “traveling salesman” are worn.  A lot of that is due to Tom Hopkins and a book he wrote in 1980 called “How To Master The Art of Selling”. Hopkins was a key catalyst to “professionalize” selling – the movement away from pressure and aggression to consultative, non-adversarial approaches. The power of this book is perhaps demonstrated by the fact that it is still in print. There are tons of copies on e-Bay, 403 copies via Amazon’s secondary sellers and many in the NYC library system (with a waitlist here in Brooklyn). How many other books from thirty years ago can say that?

Parts of the book are dated and hokey. But there is still real knowledge in the chapters on closing like a professional, advancing your agenda. With millions of copies, it is also designed for beginners. Closing is a lot like skiing; you can learn enough to be competent at the very first lesson.

Frankly, it is also an informative, smack yourself on the forehead, fun read: so that is how my living room furniture, engagement ring, swimming pool, etc. got here! I got closed by that guy at Macy’s! Is it ethical to close a toddler about bedtimes? Don’t go through life without knowing about the “assumptive close,” a “say no” question or “a bridge”.

Ten years ago, I was tentative about asking for an intercession, help or business. But fear usually stems from ignorance – what do I do here? Hopkins outlines a couple dozen safe, polite, professional ways to ask for what you want – just pick a few that seem comfortable.

Some are probably dubious. I will point out that billions are spent training sales forces, and millions make a living at closing, differentiating themselves in the process. Either there is some intelligence to it or there are a lot folks who are dupes. No one disagrees that there is a robust science to communication. This is merely one of its real useful disciplines. So take a chance and read thirty minutes of Tom Hopkins at the library.

People at networking events long to be closed. They want to help. Be polite and don’t be grasping, but do them the favor of not only knowing what you want but also engaging your targets in a manner that helps them help you.

Book Review: by Steve Amoia

Seth Godin is a best-selling author and well-known public speaker. His latest book, “Linchpin,” reinforces many of the concepts that we promote at NSoW: Being different, creativity, innovation, generosity, personal networking and passion for your work. Mr. Godin teaches us that indispensable people, who he calls linchpins or artists, think “along the edges of boxes, because that’s where things get done.”

Mr. Godin has written an entertaining, compelling and provocative work. He discussed how the workplace has evolved along with how our brain structure creates resistance for 9 to 5 success. I liked how the book was organized into short chapters with many interesting anecdotes from his own life and concise examples from famous and not-so famous people. The author’s perspectives challenge our notions about the structure of work and the factory/office notion that defines modern-day jobs. Mr. Godin stressed that we must change to survive in a world where competition is not only around the corner but across the globe.

Several Thought-Provoking Quotes

One feature that I enjoyed was the amount of wisdom the author shared in easy-to-digest quotes sprinkled throughout the book. Here were a few of my favorites:

“Linchpins make their own maps.”

“We have gone from two teams (management and labor) to a third team. The linchpins. These are people who own their means of production, who can make a difference, lead us, and connect us.”

“They (linchpins) bring humanity to work. They don’t leave it at home.”

“Linchpins don’t work in a vacuum. Your personality and attitude are more important than the actual work product.”

“Having a factory job is not a natural state. It wasn’t at the heart of being human until recently.”

“Lots of people can lift. That’s not paying off anymore. A few people can sell, almost no one puts in the time to create or invent.”

“Find a company that hires people, not paper.”

“Successful people are successful for a reason: They think about failure differently.”

“The only way to be indispensable is to be different.”

“What the boss really wants is an artist. If he can’t have that, he’ll settle for a cheap drone.”

“If you don’t have a resume, what do you have? How about three extraordinary letters of recommendation from people the employer knows or respects? Great jobs, world-class jobs, jobs people kill for, those jobs don’t get filled by people e-mailing in resumes.”

“You are not your resume. You are your work.”

The Status-Quo of the American School System

The author raised many interesting points about the American educational system. Namely, that the American school system is fear-based, punishes mistakes, stifles creativity and rewards conformity and test-taking skills. Mr. Godin believed that these factors produce future workers who are afraid to stand out due to fear of reprisal. He had an illuminating quote about this scenario:

“Many successful people got that way despite their advanced schooling not because of it.”

Five Minutes of Brilliance

The author noted that linchpins have a unique quality: They solve problems that others don’t anticipate in small bursts of activity. Mr. Godin used a brilliant example to hammer home this point. He discussed a time when a young Sir Richard Branson (Chairman of Virgin Group) was stranded on a Caribbean island after missing the only flight of the day. Instead of waiting for the airline to solve the problem, young Sir Richard chartered a plane and charged fellow travelers $39 a ticket to finance the entire trip.

Gifts and Reciprocity

Mr. Godin is a firm believer of giving without expectation even if the reciprocity inherent in gift-giving has been a part of humankind since the early tribal societies. He believed that when you focus on your art and helping others by your work, the rest will take care of itself.

“Art is a personal gift that changes the recipient… A loan without interest is a gift.”

This book will make a valuable addition to your business and self-improvement library. Please share it with your employer, colleagues and clients.

My rating: *****

Seth Godin on Social Networking


Steve Amoia is a freelance writer, editor and translator from Washington, D.C. He is a contributor to NSoW and is the founder of the World Football Commentaries blog.

Please note:

No Shortage of Work and the book reviewer were not compensated for this article.

And They’re Coming to Teach You Things You Need to Know
By: Victoria Goldenberg

Could No Shortage of Work (NSoW) have existed 20 years ago? The costs in time, money and labor to gather and direct members and run a publication might not have justified the modest and seemingly unrealistic ends of encouraging people to work for free. But now that the Internet is widely accessible, setting up the NSoW Web site was relatively inexpensive and easy. More important, communities commonly assemble around Web sites without anyone organizing them. The formerly difficult task of finding people and directing them to collaborate on meaningful work now happens organically, as those who share NSoW’s philosophy participate in the community on their own.

NSoW exemplifies the behavioral shift New York University professor Clay Shirky analyzes in his engaging book Here Comes Everybody (2008, Penguin Books). He describes a compelling variety of cases, from charming Livejournal and Meetup groups to flash mob protests against the government in Belarus, to illustrate how ordinary people are taking the reins and using new tools, such as cell phones and blogs, to organize themselves.

Mr. Shirky stresses that technology itself hasn’t changed the world, but the ways people adopted it have. He cites people who took photos of Coney Island’s annual Mermaid Parade and posted them to the photo-sharing site Flickr under one name, so people could view all the pictures in one place. Prior to 2005, parade attendees hadn’t pooled their photos, but they’ve changed their behavior because of access to a service that makes it simple. At the same time, the photo-takers organized the pictures themselves, without supervision from Flickr or the parade’s sponsors. By coming together, the photographers created a new, valuable resource for the public.

What’s most appealing about Here Comes Everybody is that it resists exaggerating the Internet’s democratizing power and takes a realistic, contextual approach. Mr. Shirky acknowledges that new media and behaviors do not render older institutions useless, (such as newspapers and commercial developers of operating systems), but they do decrease their relative influence. I especially liked the chapter “Everyone is a Media Outlet,” which compared the effects of mass amateurization of journalism to the popularizing of the printing press, noting how it ends professional publications’ monopoly on the news just as the printing press ended scribes’ monopoly on publishing.

I spoke with Mr. Shirky by phone to discuss how No Shortage of Work can challenge people’s assumptions and encourage working for free, rather than not working at all.

“Whenever the digital sharecropper hypothesis comes up—why are all these people working without pay?—the answer is: That’s the wrong question. The idea of working for free assumes there’s this normal case in which you only do something if you get paid, and then there’s this pathological case in which you do things because you like them. That is a legacy of neoclassical economics that assume we’re all self-interested and isolated, rational, maximizing actors. One of the observations I’ve made recently is that one reason these behaviors are so surprising to us is because our previous explanations for human behavior were so lousy. We all do things for free all the time and we don’t even experience them as being for free.

“I think the surprise has been that we’ve believed that intrinsic motivation—things we do because we like them—is inherently limited to the private sphere, basically hearth and home.

“The intrinsic motivation can take place in the public sphere now. We just needed a medium to make that possible. The value of people working, full stop, is basically the value of making yourself happy. It’s a value that’s indivisible to other things.”

He also discussed whether communal learning might decrease the higher education system’s relative importance in the job market:

“Given that the premium of college education offers on the job market is now being leveled out, we’re clearly going to see a rise of lower-cost attempts to deliver the value of a college education.

“We may be in one of those times where people say, ‘demanding a four-year college degree for the training I need for this job doesn’t make sense anymore’. There have certainly been enough observations about the economic disadvantage of four-year education that people are willing to consider it, but it’s not going to be a general social change. Probably some industry will shift away from demanding a four-year degree pro forma to figuring out when it matters and when just having the skills training is enough.”

Shirky described how he learned skills such as computer programming from online communities and how this valuable method of learning can be invisible:

“I think it’s telling about the social piece that we don’t have any middle word between ‘I went to an accredited institution and got formal learning’ and ‘I am self-taught’ to reflect the way a lot of people learn these things which is, ‘I joined a community that knows and cares about the subject I care about, and I learned it there.’

“The language doesn’t yet give us a way to reflect on being communally taught as opposed to institutionally taught.”

No Shortage of Work is a venue for communal education. By participating in it you can learn from the pros, outside of a formal setting, and work to build vital job skills—or just for the joy of it.

by Brooke Allen

I was eight when we got our first television. Although it cost a month’s take-home pay, my parents consumed it sparingly, as if it were candy.

In the eighth grade I became interested in Amateur Radio, and lost interest in TVs configured as receivers, so I took one apart and rebuilt it as a shortwave transmitter. When my friends watched the Flintstones, I talked to people all over the world.

Yet television is insidious and relentless, and by my senior year in high school, my father, mother, sister, and I would spend hours each day sitting together as we drifted apart.

My freshman year at college was 100% TV-free and it felt great. As I flew home for the summer I formulated a speech about how I had no time for television.

Before I could speak, my dad told me the TV was in the barn if I wanted it for parts. My family had figured out what was happening to them. One night after dinner, my mom and my sister watched as my dad took out a .22 and put a bullet through the picture tube.

_________________________________________

Clay Shirky discusses television and brains with time to spare in his book Cognitive Surplus – Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age. He says TV claims about 200,000,000,000 brain-hours in the United States each year. He estimates this to be about 2,000 times the effort that it took to build the Wikipedia in all its various languages.

Broadcast television and the Wikipedia are both things your brain can consume, but the Wikipedia is also something you can help produce. And if you do, two things will happen: 1) The world will be a better place, and 2) You will increase your connectedness with others.

In 1973, my girlfriend and I hitchhiked to Appalachia to spend a week with her aunt and uncle, who had surprisingly little news to convey about her childhood friends. “Don’t worry,” my friend said, “we’ll get the low down at the hoedown on the weekend.” It turned out there were no more hoedowns; they had been canceled once Hee Haw went on the air.

Shirky says that when lonely people watch TV, they report feeling less lonely, even though their passivity and the one-way nature of the experience makes them even more alone.

Q. What do people do when they lose a job?

A. They watch more TV. (Click on the graph above to see an interactive version of how people spend their time throughout the day. The big dark red band is TV viewing by the jobless. The tiny orange sliver is time spent working.)

When you lose a job, it is easy to feel useless and disconnected. And yet, watching TV is a useless activity that does not make you more connected – it just makes you feel as if you are.

Instead, do something with your excess brainpower (cognitive surplus). Even if you can’t find someone to pay you right away, I’m sure you can find something you enjoy doing for its own sake.

View the rest of this article for more pictures from people who have better things to do than watching TV all day (such as taking photographs). Copyrights are reserved by all original photographers.

The photo above was conceived of by model Miss LoLo who says, “The inspiration behind it was to display an independence from TV and to motivate people to think outside the idiot box.” The photo was taken by  Dave Wolanski who says, “My50th birthday was a month ago. I can hear the clock ticking and I don’t want my legacy to be that I knew all the quirks of the characters of NCIS, one of my favorite shows by the way.”

Would you go out of your way to take a photograph for a complete stranger for no money?

Eleven people did that for me.

TWICE!

The First Time: I wanted to illustrate an article about my favorite park in Japan so I wrote to people who lived near the park on my favorite social networking site, Couch Surfing, and asked if anyone had a photo lying around. None did, but 11 people went to the park to take pictures just for me. This is free time and generosity at work.

This Article is the Second Time: Zillions of people have posted gadzillions of photos on Flickr, including hundred of smashed TVs.

We asked 12 people for permission to use there photographs for this article and 11 said yes. (Still have not heard from one of them.)

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Ede swares he does not have a gun. However my father did, and Ede has the perfect photo to go with the story of how my dad shot the TV.

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Hopefully Andrina did not waste too much of her day watching this TV.

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Chase says, "The economic downturn may make it hard to find a regular job, but it can also be a great time to go into business for yourself. Invest that time in yourself in one way or another."

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Reed says his brother, his girlfriend, and he found this old TV in the desert and decided to put it out of its misery.

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Jim says, "I find that ordinary television just sucks the intelligence right out of my head. The best use for a TV is as a DVD monitor so that you can at least choose exactly what to put into your mind. Have you heard the Groucho Marx quote about TV, probably from the ealry 1950s? He said, "I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book."

Julia says, "I like watching TV as much as any other teenager, but I don't think that a life should depend on that."

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Whitney and some German friends found this shirt in a store and althought they did not have enough money to buy it, they tried it on in the changing room. "I, however, snuck a photo, SHHH"

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Dustin says, "I'm proud to say I watch zero TV and haven't had cable for multiple years. Life's too short to spend yours watching someone else's."

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A book review by: Steve Amoia

Pat Williams, who was assisted by Mike Sielski, has written a book about a famous American baseball player. (Baseball has the same popularity in the USA as cricket enjoys in Australia, India, Pakistan, South Africa and the West Indies.) More importantly, this is the story about a great American: Mr. Jack Roosevelt Robinson, a man of incredible courage, character and integrity. It is a story that transcends sports. This tale epitomizes the tremendous burden carried on the shoulders of one man and how the rest of us can benefit from his example in our daily working lives.

Legendary Athlete and Civil Rights Champion

“Jackie” Robinson was a star in the American Negro Leagues of baseball. He was a multi-sport legend at UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles) and also a former military officer. One of the painful ironies of the United States was that an African-American could die defending America on foreign lands, but he could not play in the Major Leagues (the highest division of American baseball.) Two men changed this injustice and altered the American sporting landscape forever: Branch Rickey, owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and Jackie Robinson, the first man to break the color line of professional baseball in 1947. This was the first act by Mr. Robinson as a life-long champion of civil rights.

Strength of Character for a Greater Good

This book is replete with inspirational quotes, along with the long road of courage that was taken by Mr. Robinson. He had to make a vow to Mr. Rickey that lesser mortals would have never considered for a day. Jackie Robinson had to promise never to retaliate against the racial slurs, insults and deliberate attempts to physically injure him during his first season with Brooklyn. Mr. Robinson was a proud man and a ferocious competitor. But he understood the challenge that awaited him, and in one of the most unselfish acts, sacrificed his own personal feelings for a greater good. His actions opened the doors for generations of African-American athletes, and also opened the eyes to the country at large. As Dr. Martin Luther King would eloquently state many years later (and I paraphrase) “A man should be judged by the content and quality of his character. Not by the color of his skin.”

A True Champion

If I take one thing away from this great book, it would have to be the initial meeting that took place between Mr. Rickey and Mr. Robinson. It set the tone for everything that would follow. Branch Rickey began to insult Robinson in every form possible as a means to “test” him.

“Anger smoldered within Robinson, but he remained quiet for awhile.’ Mr. Rickey, are you looking for a Negro who is afraid to fight back?’ ‘Robinson, I’m looking for a ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back.’ “

Learn from His Example at Work

In an American society that is becoming increasingly sensitive, bad-mannered and thin-skinned, we need to look at the sterling example of Mr. Robinson. The next time that a boss or colleague gets under your skin, think about Jackie Robinson and his unique workplace circa 1947. It might put the matter into its proper perspective.

To learn more about the book at Amazon.com, please click here.

My rating: *****

Steve Amoia is a freelance writer, editor and translator from Washington, D.C. He is a contributor to NSoW and writes the World Football Commentaries blog.