Book review time. Took a look at I Hate People by Jonathan Littman and Marc Hershon, and overall I’d say it’s a 2 out of 5. For the most part, I could do fine with just the last major part: Spaces and Places.
It starts off by listing The Ten Least Wanted. This is a list of 10 different archetypes of time stealers, road blocks, or in general people who get in the way of getting stuff done. The short list:
If you want details on each, you’ll have to read the book. It’s a reasonable list, but I think it doesn’t help much other than being a list to identify. I was hoping for concrete ways to defuse these people and just didn’t find it. Maybe it was something I overlooked.
The second major section is all about Solocrafting. Other than “do stuff on your own,” I really don’t have a good definition for this. This section told the stories of a few Solocrafters out there, and did make a point that most of the major achievements in the world have been done by individual or small group efforts. I want to say I believe that last part, but I’m not to sure about it. Again, other than identifying many points of the problem, it does not really give you many directions for solutions.
The third section is all about Office Life. There’s a few choice pieces from here:
The last section is about Spaces and Places and really describes a lot about how to find the environment to get your work done. This could be keeping an office closed, keeping the headphones on, finding a coffee shop, or staying home. There was also discussion about how it may not be a place more so as a time or an activity. You gotta find whatever sharpens your saw, or however you can recharge.
There’s a random gem regarding intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. People (at least the subgroup of passionate workers) are really motivated by intrinsic reward – by getting the work done. The studies, it claims, show that when given an extrinsic reward, those works’ performance actually goes down. Food for thought.
All in all, as I said, it’s a 2 out of 5. I wanted to like it more, but it really didn’t give much advice, just identify the problems.
As a side note, I really wonder why people believe that it’s acceptible or proper to waste other people’s time. There just seems to be a lack of clue with regards to the courtesy it takes to be around people. People have different styles and likes, but from my perspective, I feel as those there are a great many people who intrude on me. I take a significant effort to not intrude on them – why can’t there be reciprocity? It’s sad that I can at least understand (though they really get me going also) the backstabbers because they are usually motivated for themselves in an intentioned way, but really can’t understand the people who just feel like you have to listen because they have something to share.