I know the title sounds like some bullshit PR, but it's a message with truth behind it. And NBC was also right about the whole "The More You Know" Saturday morning positive messages in between mindless cartoons. Eek the Cat, anyone?
You don't just get an innovative idea by sitting on your sofa watching American Idol or playing Halo 3. Actually, you can if you allow yourself to, but reading still yields the most inspiration for me. I'm not talking about leather bound books with gold trim on the pages. I'm talking about blogs from other entrepreneurs, websites, and my favorite - magazines. Printed media is not dead (yet), and at $6-20 a year for 12 issues I load up. I try to stay away from more traditional "business" magazines like BusinessWeek or The Economist since they generally report on proven strategies or established methods which are usually common sense to most people or widely reported and you've already heard about them.
Non-fiction books about "new age" business concepts, like The Tipping Point, Long Tail, Wikinomics, etc contain great ideas, but the books are dead to me. No one needs 300 pages to prove a point. Reading a non-fiction book is a huge waste of time. The point of each chapter is usually made in the first few paragraphs, and is followed by 43 more pages of citations and similar examples. The author is basically saying, "Here you have my idea, and here are many other resources that I have arranged in a way to make my idea seem like it is supported whether it is or not." Once you catch onto the pattern, unless the subject is extremely interesting to you the book will be back on the shelf in no time. I would rather go on-line, get the basic premise, and see what other people have to say. It's quicker, more interactive, and rather than one person pitching some crazy new idea there will be many people with different opinions selling it to you or throwing it away. And you can ask them, "Why?", like the inquisitive 2-year old version of yourself is wanting to know the entire time you are trapped reading the book. Pick up a book from the Fiction section, and at least entertain yourself if you're going to spend days or weeks reading one thing.
Magazines have time-sensitive material. The articles are shorter, straight to the point, and more relevant to current trends and events in the world. Most magazines have a consistent voice, so you can usually find several that match your style and you end up reading cover to cover. Most of the articles are on-line for free, but let's be honest, you will get distracted after half an article and mosey on over to Facebook to see pictures of your buddy passed out on some beach during Spring Break. Get the actual magazine, and step away from the computer, and you would be surprised how quickly you will breeze through it picking up ideas to research or look into when you get back to the computer.
So, which ones do I read?
FastCompany
Inc.
Wired - not a "business" magazine, but I'm a tech guy and I would argue that it does contain valuable business info
Esquire - a lifestyle magazine, I know, but successful people are interviewed and popular trends are identified among some other stuff that I would qualify as crap
GQ - same as above - you need to stay in touch with pop culture at some level. It's all about balance.
PopSci - technology mentioned in this bad boy is usually featured 6-12 months later in mainstream media
Technology Review - The intelligent and more research oriented version of PopSci
Scientific American - I read very little of this magazine, but pick up just enough information to be dangerous in conversations that I have no business being included in. You never know when an investor may start discussing the possible types of life in underground oceans recently discovered on a different planet. Or you may be on Jeopardy and win money.
Surprised by the variety? I feel it's important to keep a broad perspective, so that you do not get on one path. Think about it: you are thinking about ideas from different perspectives, picking up general information that may help you or simply rot away in your brain, and you are well-equipped to hang in conversations with many types of different people. If you're ever a manager or business owner, this will be a killer skill in my opinion allowing you to hopefully connect with all of your employees at some level outside of work-related conversations.
Reading is a bore when you could be watching a movie or playing Wii, I realize this. I look at it this way, though: I just spent 20 years going to school, spent close to six figures on college, and I am not going to quit the personal investment just because I have a degree.
You are your greatest asset. There, another BS corporate zinger for you. I'm sure many people who think they are important have said those five "inspirational" words with a straight face. I have always laughed at them when they say them, and chuckled as I typed the phrase. We know this already, and choose to deny or accept it. Thanks for the coffee mug worthy slogan, though. All right, I'm done. Two posts in two days? It's been awhile.
