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Business books are entertainment, not strategic tools

(theorthagonist.substack.com)
593 points ZeroTalent | 4 comments | 09 May 25 20:51 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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abetaha ◴[10 May 25 00:49 UTC] No.43942334[source]▶
I am always amazed how most business book authors take a simple idea that could be described in one page, and turn it into a 200+ page book with popularizing narrative. What's more amazing is that the ideas are usually commonsense, but due to human nature are seldom practiced.
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1. econ ◴[10 May 25 01:23 UTC] No.43942519[source]▶
I'm not much of a book reader. Someone told me that if they follow the style guide you only have to read the first sentence of each chapter. It was kinda mind blowing to read a bunch of example books he gave me. The funniest part was returning to a previous book to read more of one of the chapters. I apparently didn't know how [those] books work.
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2. Propelloni ◴[10 May 25 11:19 UTC] No.43944788[source]▶
There is an old chestnut in scientific publishing: "Say what you are going to say, say it, say what you have said."

This extends beyond the paragraph. You can get very far by reading the table of contents, the introduction and the conclusion of a scientific book. Dive in only if you need details or quotes ;)

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3. plemer ◴[10 May 25 12:17 UTC] No.43945048[source]▶
Not exclusive to scientific publishing, either. Minto’s Pyramid Principle is a classic in strategy consulting and includes this structure. Have slso heard it called “triple coat”.
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4. Propelloni ◴[10 May 25 12:32 UTC] No.43945119{3}[source]▶
"Triple coat" is nice. I like it!