• Here’s a question:

What if we live in such a short brevity world that it is hurting our capacity to think deeply?

• Background:

Last Friday, I presented my synopsis of the book Smart Brevity.  (Read my “short” blog post here).  I liked the book.  I agreed with it.

And then…and yet…

But, today, I read this article by Ross Douthat in the New York Times: I’m What’s Wrong with the Humanities.

In it, Mr. Douthat refers to another article dealing with the same issue – an article he admits he did not read thoroughly, at first, which is part of the problem – and then, he acknowledged that he does not read the great novels like he should; like he once did.

• My thinking:

Though my academic work, and my personal reading, have never included enough time in the great novels, I have read nonfiction, philosophy and rhetoric pretty seriously.

For 25 years, I have presented synopses of business books, and books on issues of social justice.

I read these books quite thoroughly.  And, my synopses are not brief.  My synopsis for the book Smart Brevity was not brief:  it lasted just over 30 minutes.  (I record them; and see the actual time).

• So…

Maybe I am simply trying to justify my long presentations, my use of what some would consider way too many words.  But…

For my synopses, I prepare multi-page, comprehensive synopsis handouts.  They are 9-12 pages.  They include quite a few pages of the “best of Randy’s highlighted passages” from the books.  When I make my presentation, I read extensively, directly, from the handout (every participant has a copy; a physical copy).  I read a number of the highlighted passages, almost like a book reading.  Then I present from the rest of my prepared synopsis handout.

People tell me that they really do get the essence of the books I present.  Even when they have read the book on their own, they thank me for what they learned in my synopsis presentation; what they had not quite grasped in their own reading.

If you attend my First Friday Book Synopsis event, you will hear two full synopsis presentations; each about 25 minutes, or so.  In other words, a pretty deep dive in a smart brevity world.

• Deep dive; read a book in its entirety!

Now, I may be fooling myself.  But I might say to Mr. Douthat that the need is not to read the great novels thoroughly, though that would be a good thing indeed.  Maybe the need is to read any kind of book thoroughly.  To read with a deep dive; to focus your thinking; to learn from and argue with the book – the entire book; the book in its entirety – in the way that only a thorough reading makes possible.

Of course my synopses are not as good as reading the book for yourself; not as thorough, not as deep…  But, they are not nothing.  Our monthly sessions provide a rare concentrated moment of something close to depth in our too-busy, too-distracted, too-brief world.

Maybe we all need to take a deep dive in a smart brevity era.

• What are you doing to tackle such a need?

(Note from Randy:  I presented my synopsis of Sorry, Sorry, Sorry: The Case for Good Apologies at the March First Friday Book Synopsis. I will write my “normal-length” blog post about this book later this week.  But, here’s my short version).

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Sorry, Sorry, Sorry: The Case for Good Apologies by Marjorie Ingall and Susan McCarthy

• What is the point? — Our entire culture is starved for apologies; sincere, good, well-worded apologies.  Learning to make a good apology is part of the calling of being fully human.

• Why present a book on apologies in a business book gathering?
• hospitals need to apologize
• Businesses, like health-care systems, have to create an environment that makes it safe for employees to admit errors and then work collaboratively to fix them.
• airlines need to apologize
• companies need to apologize.
• people need to apologize to other people they work with.Until they do, the work will be…harmed…

• SIX SIMPLE STEPS TO GETTING IT RIGHT (from the book)

 1)  Say you’re sorry. — FIRST, say “I apologize” or “I’m sorry.” Say it. Say those words.

2) For what you did. — Say what the something was. Specify! This is important. This is something that gets bungled a lot. Name it. Say it simply. …Remember, apologize for what you did. Not for how the other person felt about it. You are apologizing for your actions, not how the other person responded to them.

3) Show you understand why it was bad.

4) Only explain if you need to; don’t make excuses. — Focus hard on not letting explanations drift into excuses. Keep in mind that “I didn’t mean to!” is an excuse. It is not a get-out-of-jail-free card.

5)  Say why it won’t happen again.

6) Offer to make up for it.

6) 6½: Six and a half. Listen. — Make sure the person you’ve apologized to can have their say. Listen. Do not interrupt; do not protest. Just listen.

• Clearly, not every step is needed in every apology. But never ever skip one and two—always say you’re sorry and what you’re sorry for.

• And here are my Five Lessons and Takeaways:

#1 – You will do wrong; you will commit wrongs that hurt other people. Try to do wrong less often.

#2 – When you do wrong to another person, apologize; say you are sorry.

#3 – When you apologize, apologize.  Don’t explain, justify, excuse, blame, or ask for anything.  Apologize.

#4 – If you lead a team, group, company, be on the lookout for hurt between people.  Learn to help people apologize to each other.  Company success, group success, team success all depend on this.

#5 – Apologize with no expectation.  Apologize because it is the right thing to do.

 (Note from Randy:  I presented my synopsis of Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz at the March First Friday Book Synopsis. I will write my “normal-length” blog post about this book later this week.  But, here’s my short version.  According to the authors, this version is plenty long enough……)

—————— 

Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less – (less than two minute read)

• The point: Your messages are too long. In order to get people to really read them, shorten them.  Make them a lot shorter!

• The formula (in my words)
• Short; no, shorter than that
• shorter sentences; shorter paragraphs;
• shorter words — Short words are strong words. A general rule: A one-syllable word is stronger than a two-syllable word is stronger than a three-syllable word.
• the big idea/the MAIN point – the actual point!
• then, why it matters
• then, go deeper (for those who choose to; the very few who choose to)
• Giving your reader the power to “Go deeper” is an exit line from a Smart Brevity item that makes the reader feel fulfilled and allows you to point to context without a glob of words that’s going to lose the audience. …Here’s a secret: Most won’t. …Ending your item with “Go deeper” is efficient and elegant—and shows your reader that Smart Brevity doesn’t come at the expense of nuance or context.

• My six Lessons and Takeaways:

#1 – Remember – you are in the communication business.  Yes, you!

#2 – Remember that no one wants to actually read your communications; or listen to them.  They want to have read and listened; but they don’t want to read and listen.  They are too busy watching cat videos to be bothered by you

#3 – You have to think about, and constantly refine and improve, your communication with others.  All kinds of communication with others.

#4 – Do a serious examination of your communications:  your e-mails, your memos, your reports, your speeches and presentations. How can you make them better? – Note:  you can make them better!

#5 – Pay attention to the structure of all of your communications.

#6 – Read books on effective communication, like this one.  Purchase my synopses on books on communication. Just focusing on this, thinking about it, will make you better at it.

The New York Times has published it’s list of best-selling business books for March, 2023.  Though Atomic Habits is still at the top spot, as it has been since George Washington crossed the Delaware River, a number of new books have landed on this month’s list.

Occasionally, this monthly list has books that maybe do not quite make sense being on a list of best-selling “business” books.  Sometimes, because their connection to “business” is not very obvious.  At other times, maybe the books might better fit on a list of “political” best-sellers, or maybe other lists.  This month’s list includes some books that might be considered a little out of place.

Of the ten books on this month’s list, we have presented four of them at our monthly First Friday Book Synopsis events in Dallas.  I have presented my synopsis of Atomic Habits, Dare to Lead, and The End of the World is Just the Beginning.  My former colleague, Karl Krayer, presented his synopsis of Thinking, Fast and Slow.

Here is this month’s list of best-selling business books from the New York Times.  Click over to their site for a link to a review of one of the books.

#1 – Atomic Habits by James Clear

#2 – The Creative Act by Rick Rubin with Neil Strauss

#3 – Unscripted by James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams

#4 – It’s OK to be Angry about Capitalism by Bernie Sanders with John Nichols

#5 – Dare to Lead by Brené Brown

#6 – The Climate Book byt Greta Thunberg

#7 – Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

#8 – Bad Mormon by Heather Gay

#9 – Cobalt Red by Siddharth Kara

#10 – The End of the World is Just the Beginning by Peter Zeihan

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You can purchase our synopses presentations from the buy synopses tab at the top of this page.  On that page, you can search by book title. And click here for our newest additions.

Each synopsis comes with my comprehensive, multi-page synopsis handout, plus the audio recording of my presentation delivered at the First Friday Book Synopsis in Dallas.

———————

FOR THE LIFELONG LEARNER IN ALL OF US!

Come to learn; and make some great connections!

MAKE 2023 A YEAR OF LEARNING!

APRIL 7 – OUR 25th ANNIVERSARY!

——

A personal note:  every month since April 1998, we have presented synopses of two good business books at the First Friday Book Synopsis, in Dallas.  Now a hybrid event (both in-person at the wonderful Park City Club, and on Zoom), it is a true learning event.

So…if you are free on Friday , April 7, come join us for our 25^th Anniversary gathering!

---

• About our April Session:

First comes the idea.

Then comes the building out of the idea.

Our two books for April take us through that journey.

The April First Friday Book Synopsis will provide useful and usable teachings.  We will better know what to work on, and how to get it to done!

April 7, 2023– Park City Club (and Zoom) — 7:00 am Central Time — (program begins at 7:25 am)

The two books for the April 7 session are:

1. How Big Things Get Done: The Surprising Factors That Determine the Fate of Every Project, from Home Renovations to Space Exploration and Everything In Between by Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner.

2. Ideaflow: The Only Business Metric That Matters by  Jeremy Utley and Perry Klebahn. (David Kelley, Foreword).

At the First Friday Book Synopsis, we make each month’s session a genuine learning event.  You learn from the best business books, and then it is up to you to put into practice the things you learn.

For the April 7, 2023, session, I will present my synopses of these two useful books.  Click here to register for the in-person session.  (Zoom info is below).

For 25 years, we have presented synopses of business books at the First Friday Book Synopsis.  So many of these books that I have read and presented have shaped my thinking and helped me better understand business success…and failure.

Mark your calendar for April 7.  Attend in person, or on Zoom.  Here are all the details.

——————–

In our 25th YEAR of the First Friday Book Synopsis

Randy Mayeux provides thorough synopses of the content of useful, best-selling business books. He provides a comprehensive, multi-page synopsis handout, that concludes with his own lessons and takeaways from each book he presents.

“I love good books; and I read books
And share their core concepts
To help people become more literate
And know what to work on
To do a better job
To build a better company
And, ultimately, to build a better life.”
Randy Mayeux
——————-

For 25 years, Randy has been presenting synopses of best-selling, useful, helpful business books.  Every month!  

What we know, we know because we have learned.
And, much of our learning begins with the thoughts we think, and the words we read and hear.

And, one good way to keep learning – some would argue the best way to keep learning – is to learn what is in the best books.

I hope you can join us to learn from these two terrific and important books.

April 7, 2023 – Park City Club; and on Zoom 

What to expect:

Two fast-paced synopsis presentations.

For In-person participants, you will be given copies of the two synopsis handouts.  For those attending remotely, you will receive a synopsis handout to download for each of the two books, delivered the day before the event, via e-mail (and, available on this blog).

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO READ THE BOOKS IN ADVANCE! – No pre-reading of the books required!

If you are like many, you do not have time to read all of the books you would like to read. The First Friday Book Synopsis is designed for you.

Our synopses are comprehensive, thorough, and they will give you plenty of the key content from each book. You will learn, and be able to ponder the ideas in a useful way. And, even if you have read the book, my synopsis will help you remember more of what you read.

I hope you can join us.

For in-person participants: click here to register for in-person attendance.

For remote participants:
The cost of this remote meeting is “free.”
But, if you would like to contribute to participate, Randy would welcome you to send $12.00 directly to him through PayPal. Click here for a direct link to “donate” through PayPal.

For remote participants, here is the Zoom info.  The Zoom meeting requires no registration.

Randy Mayeux is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: First Friday Book Synopsis, 2023
Time: April 7, 2023 07:00 AM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88546338687?pwd=NC9hRVhoaW8waUlnZGllU1UvOEJWZz09

Meeting ID: 885 4633 8687
Passcode: 208376

{Note:  you can also still register to attend in-person for the March 3 First Friday Book Synopsis, at the wonderful Park City Club, by clicking here}.

Our books for March…

In our 25th year!

You are invited
First Friday Book Synopsis,
Friday, March 3, 2023, 7:25 am (Central Time), on Zoom.
I hope you can join us!

Meeting On Zoom

Around 100 people (in our combined in-person and Zoom participants) have been joining us for our First Friday Book Synopsis gatherings. We have had participants from all over the country. Please share this word far and wide — all are welcome!

This Friday, March 3, 2023, 7:25 am – Zoom 

The two books for tomorrow are both worth your time! 

1. Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, Roy Schwarz

and

2. Sorry, Sorry, Sorry: The Case for Good Apologies by Marjorie Ingall and Susan McCarthy

Both of these books are worth your time!

Smart Brevity will help you improve all of your communications, written and spoken.

And Sorry, Sorry, Sorry could seriously change your life for the better, in all of your interactions — at work, and in all the other arenas of your life.

Note: The first presentation will begin around 7:25-7:30 am.

I intend to keep this free. But, your voluntary participation would be appreciated.  If you would like to contribute to participate, Randy would welcome you to send $12.00 directly to him through PayPal. Click here for a direct link to “donate” through PayPal.

PRINTING TIP: I strongly encourage all to print out the two handouts. If you will begin printing on page 2, you will still have the full handout, and save the ink that you would use on the front/cover sheet. 

This Friday, March 3, 2023 – Zoom

1. Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, Roy Schwarz

and 

2. Sorry, Sorry, Sorry: The Case for Good Apologies by Marjorie Ingall and Susan McCarthy

Where:  On Zoom

When: This Friday, March 3 — presentations begin at 7:25-7:30 am (Central Time)
The presentations will conclude around 8:35 am
Speaker: Randy Mayeux will deliver both synopsis presentations.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88546338687?pwd=NC9hRVhoaW8waUlnZGllU1UvOEJWZz09

Meeting ID: 885 4633 8687

Passcode: 208376

————————

We are all set for Friday’s Remote First Friday Book Synopsis.

#1 — Download, and print both synopses handouts by clicking here.

If you have ever attended our event, you know that I am handout intensive. You really will be able to follow along better with physical copies of the handouts in front of you. So, if you have a printer, please print the handouts.

#2 — Come on in for conversation whenever you can. I have enabled the “enable join before host” button. You will arrive in the waiting room, and be let in quickly. So, you can come in, and talk to folks.

#3 — Here is the info, with the link to join the gathering:

Randy Mayeux is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting

Topic: First Friday Book Synopsis, 2022
Time:  March 3, 2023 07:00 AM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88546338687?pwd=NC9hRVhoaW8waUlnZGllU1UvOEJWZz09

Meeting ID: 885 4633 8687

Passcode: 208376

—–

Reminder: The cost of this remote meeting is “free.”

But, if you would like to contribute to participate, Randy would welcome you to send $12.00 directly to him through PayPal. Click here for a direct link to “donate” through PayPal.

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=PFVH25LQL6XBE

(Note: you can also send money through Zelle, at Randy’s e-mail address).

(Randy’s e-mail address for PayPal, and Zelle, is ).

Please help spread the word far and wide; help make this a success.

————————–

You might want to read this post. It has a printable one-sheet reminder on how to make the most of your remote learning experience.

Remote Learning 101 – Read this before attending your learning session.

 ——————

Here is more complete Zoom info:

Randy Mayeux is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: First Friday Book Synopsis, 2023

Time: March 3, 2023 07:00 AM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88546338687?pwd=NC9hRVhoaW8waUlnZGllU1UvOEJWZz09

Meeting ID: 885 4633 8687

Passcode: 208376

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