The 3 People In a Room Test
Does your head hurt when you read business books? It shouldn’t. I rarely read business books anymore since they’re often so divorced from how the working world actually functions. It’s one thing to disagree with an author’s ideas, but if comprehending their points feels like running uphill, in the rain, at night, while pelted by icy-cold jargon and sedative-tipped diagrams, it’s hard to imagine there’s enlightenment waiting at the top.
Peter Drucker’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship and The Effective Executive are half as long, twice as honest and three times as good as most new business books, depend on zero jargon, and don’t make the miraculous but empty promises often found in business book sales copy.
As a counterpoint to feeling lost in a book, here’s a test to use.
The 3 people in a room test
All decisions in any organization eventually filter down to the level actual work gets done, the level where it’s 3 or 4 people in a room doing the work. This is true independent of industry, strategy or the size of an organization.
So when reading a book that loses you in theory and jargon, ask: How does this impact the 3 people in the room?
- How does this concept change how those 3 people should work?
- What impact does it have on how they make decisions?
- Does it change how they relate? Communicate? Their roles?
- Does it effect how those 3 people get rewarded? How empowered they are?
- Might it change their goals? Or how those goals are defined?
If what you’re reading has no impact on what goes on with 3 people in the room, go up a level. What impact does this have on the people who manage the 3 people in the room? No impact there? Ok, go up another level, to middle managers. Nothing? Ok, keep going.
If you can’t find a place where, in application, the ideas you’re reading changes something, stop reading. Unless you’re enjoying the book for some other reason, you deserve something better.
So how do you decide when to abandon a non-fiction book you’re reading? Do you have a better method than the 3-people in a room test?
[Edited 2-12-15]
I agree. I wish all business books were all half as long. When I read a business book, I often think the author could have made their point in 5-10 pages instead of 200-250 pages.
As far as business books go, here’s my typical screening process:
– First, I read the “About the Author” section to see if they have practical experience. I try to avoid books by authors who have “only” academic or consulting experience. It’s not that I won’t read a book from these authors, but they lose some points if they don’t have experience applying what they’re preaching.
– Second, I skim through the table of contents to get an idea of how the book is organized. If it seems to be logically organized, I assume the author thinks and organizes their message logically.
– Third, I read the inside flap as my last deciding factor on whether to give the book a shot.
– Once reading the book, I typically give a book 50 pages. I always have 5-10 books in line so if it isn’t interesting and/or thought provoking, I have no problem walking away from it.
> I guess it’s one thing to disagree with an author’s ideas, but if merely comprehending their points feels like running uphill, in the rain, at night, while pelted by icy-cold jargon and sedative-tipped diagrams, it’s hard to imagine there’s enlightment waiting at the top.
I haven’t read either book in full, but from what I have seen of their work; both authors are very skilled at crafting meaning. That is; their advice isn’t to be taken as literal thought points but strategies for thinking.
Oftentimes in a meeting, there is an opportunity for innovation, you know it, everyone else around you knows it, but the nay-sayer seems to be making the most sense. How can you strategically change the flow of conversation such that the nay-sayer begins to look not like the risk-hedger (“we could fail!”) but the risk-taker (“but if we don’t act..”).
I, personally, am a huge fan of Moore’s writing style. Yes, it is overblown. But dude’s got some skillz.
I recommend “The Innovator’s Solution” by Christensen. It is much easier to read and better than “Seeing What’s Next”. Either way, Christensen, could use a really good editor.
“half as long and 5 times as good as most of these books” – seems pretty common, that shorter books tend to be more informative and usable ones. Krug’s excellent web-usability book “Don’t Make Me Think” is another example that comes to mind.
As a coder, I keep trying to get the same message across with fewer lines. From your experience, is there some motivation for writers to do the opposite (e.g, payment according to length, or enabling publishers to charge more for thicker books)?