"To Sell is Human" by Daniel Pink

Once upon a time, I got a degree in Theatre Performance.  Many of the parents of students in my graduating class had disowned their kids for pursuing something so frivolous.  Not my mom.  She knew that the skills I learned in acting classes would support me no matter what career path I took.  The ability to read a room, adjust on the fly and present well to a group were "critical life skills" as far as she was concerned.  She could not have been more correct.  Daniel Pink picks up on this theme in his book, To Sell is Human, with the premise that we are all salesmen, in that we all have to "convince, cajole, persuade" and otherwise "move" people from one place to another regardless of the work we do.  He outlines the new "ABCs" of marketing in pithy prose, using engaging, personal stories throughout to emphasize his points.  In 230 quickly read pages he lays out not only his premise, but a series of activities and surveys designed for readers to understand themselves better and apply these techniques to their workplace routines.

Like all authors of these pop-psych, pop-sociology, pop-economics style books, Mr. Pink is good at what he does.  The book is accessible, even fun.  I giggled here and there and had a few "a-ha" moments, which is what he was going for, I'm sure.  At a discussion of this book recently, there were people who didn't agree with the premise and weren't convinced by his arguments, but everyone was able to "get" what he was saying, whether they came on board or not.  The Forbes review on the cover says "Vastly entertaining and informative".  I couldn't agree more. Whether you are looking for ideas or amusement (or both), this book is a worthwhile read.