Guy Kawasaki’s new Book: Enchantment
Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions by Guy Kawasaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Full Disclosure: Guy sent me a free review copy but I would still say the same things even if I had paid for it. I did feel obligated to read the book and write a review before the book hits the stores. I’m glad that I pushed it up on my reading list.
In short, its great book and everyone who deals with people in one way or the other should read it. Which, I guess, means pretty much everyone. Guy has put together advice taken from several great sources: books, blogs, people he knows and his personal experience and put it together in a very accessible way. Just the sheer wealth of insights/advice collated together makes this book worthwhile. Furthermore, Guy has put it together in the usual Guy Kawasaki way: conversational and bullet pointed. Thus, it makes for easy reading. I also noticed that the Contents page is presented as a checklist which incidentally is one technique that Guy advocates in the book.
The strong point of the book is its weak point too. The advice sounds quite simple and easy to use. On the positive side, its easy to start using it the next day. On the negative side, if one falters, there isn’t much to incorporate the feedback as the matter is condensed into crispy bullets. For deeper understanding and better chances of success, one is better off reading the books and other sources that Guy refers to. I think Guy does realise that and he has done his job through extensive attribution and Bibliography. The rest is up to the reader.
There are parts where the research looks thin. For example, I don’t know in which Indian language Tata means Grandfather and I’ve traveled/lived fairly all over the country. It just makes one a bit more skeptical of other parts of the book. But given that Guy’s been here only twice, I’m inclined to overlook it.
Overall: Great compendium of great advice. Well put together. Saves a lot of effort in reading a lot more material written in a far more tedious way. Don’t stop at this book though and get into the books that Guy refers to.