ROBYN’S pick 

The One Thing, by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, is a productivity book that focuses on “the one thing” – the most important task or goal one should prioritize to achieve success. The book argues that focusing on one thing rather than trying to do many things simultaneously can achieve more significant results and increase productivity. 

The One Thing presents several strategies and techniques for identifying and prioritizing the one thing, such as the “Focusing Question” and the “80/20 Rule,” which states that 80% of results come from 20% of the effort. The book also includes examples and case studies of individuals and organizations successfully implementing these strategies to achieve their goals. 

The timing of this book was well suited moving into a new year and a follow-up to our year-end episodes of ‘Planning for the Yearend’ (EP 50) and Goal Setting (Season 2 EP 2). The application of this book is excellent for anyone with goals they would like to achieve, with an unclear path of how to get there. 

CLINT’S pick 

It’s an interesting read, the book “Surrounded by Idiots: The Four Types of Human Behavior” by Thomas Erikson. It introduces different categorizations of people by their communication through four main types of behavior – red, blue, yellow, and green- each having its own positive and negative attributes. It also explains how to identify and interact with each type to communicate effectively. 

This is beneficial as long as you’re willing to take a long look inside yourself and be brutally honest with such an assessment of your communication style. I chose this book to compare to The Enneagram personality test we recently took with Evan from the Unpacked Podcast. After reading the book, I highly recommend doing an enneagram test over the color tests found in this book for yourself and people in your organization because of the detail you receive when receiving feedback on nine different types in the enneagram versus the color test in the book.  

According to this book, I would be the Colour red with a mix of yellow and green, which makes me wonder what’s the point in pinpointing your communication deficiencies or other communication styles if we all are 2 or 3 versions of the test meaning we all should be able to communicate fairly effectively with other types of people, which we all know is not valid. I wouldn’t say it is not valuable to understand yourself better by analyzing the theories in the book against your communication styles and how you approach others in conversation. Still, I don’t find it as valuable of a breakdown as other books on personality and communication effectiveness for your relationships in life and business. 

From the Business Lifes book club perspective, both books offer valuable insights and strategies for increasing productivity and improving communication. Both books provide a practical and actionable approach that can be implemented daily. They also offer a common ground for discussions, allowing members to share their own experiences and challenges and how they would apply the concepts in the book to solve them. With One Thing focuses on productivity and goal setting, while Surrounded by Idiots provides a better understanding of how people communicate. These two books, together, can be an excellent addition to your personal and professional development.