New books: differentiation, innovation

August 29, 2006 by Mary Wynne-Wynter 

Off the Shelf: Attitude Isn’t Everything, but It’s Close: "What separates one company’s employees from another’s? A series of books says that once you get past intellectual horsepower and experience, the difference is attitude."

The first is about changing attitude and I like the author’s change in thinking.

Mr. Maxwell says he used to believe that attitude was the only thing that mattered when it came to achieving success. But he realizes now that is not the case.

“If attitude were everything, then the only thing that would separate me from a successful singing career would be the belief that I could do it,” he writes. “But trust me, there is another factor that stands in my way: talent.” His point: “You cannot disconnect attitude from reality and expect success.”

Nonetheless, he contends that attitude can be your greatest asset, what he calls “the difference maker.”

But I disagree with his basic premise:

“Life often gives whatever you expect of it.”

I’ve learned that "life is what you believe."

The second book is about the effect of knowledge and experience on innovation.

Ms. Rabe, a former innovation strategist for Intel who founded Zero-G, an innovation and strategy consulting firm, contends that knowledge and experience can actually kill innovation. “When we become expert,” she writes, “we often trade our ‘what if’ flights of fancy for the grounded reality of ‘what is’ ” and so limit our approaches to challenges.

My model for knowledge sharing is based on a similar premise: the importance of awareness of the ‘what you don’t know you don’t know’ knowledge zone.

(Via NYT > Job Market.)

Filed under: Consciousness, career, going solo
Tagged:
Comments: None