Business books are entertainment, not strategic tools

(theorthagonist.substack.com)

593 points ZeroTalent | 1 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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tiffanyh ◴[10 May 25 01:15 UTC] No.43942475[source]▶

>>43942334 #

I’d say most books period, not just business books - could be shortened to just a couple of pages.

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1. prewett ◴[10 May 25 02:29 UTC] No.43942774[source]▶

>>43942475 #

Sure, but at some point you miss something. You could summarize “The Lord of the Rings” as “Frodo journeys with much effort to destroy the One Ring at Mt. Doom, but in the end claims it himself and Gollum accidentally destroys it for him.” But the book is far more than plot.

“The Iliad” is basically “Achilles gets insulted and sits out the battle, while everyone else tries to win everlasting glory through bravery until Achilles finally has had enough and kills Hector.” But nobody is going to be reading that summary for 2500 years.

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