Revolutionary – DaneCobain.com

Neil Usher – The Elemental Workplace | Review

Title: The Elemental Workplace

Author: Neil Usher

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 218

Rating: 3.5/5

Neil Usher – The Elemental Workplace

I picked up this book because I was being paid by a client to write in-depth book reviews and I needed to read the book to be able to do that. Still, it’s the kind of book that I like reading from time to time, and I thought that Usher had a lot to say on the subject of how we arrange our workplaces. I’m a big fan of efficiency, and so it pleased me to see Usher addressing that.

At the same time, though, I don’t really need to worry too much about my workplace because I work from home. True, there are a few concepts that I’m going to take from this and apply to my house, and there’s still more that I’d do if I had space to have an actual office in the place.

All in all, I think this is a pretty good book if you want to improve your workplace, and while it isn’t exactly revolutionary, it is interesting. I also liked the way that Usher sprinkled in stories and statistics here and there to help to make the book more interesting. You can tell that he’s also a performance poet.

Neil Usher

Click here to buy The Elemental Workplace.

Gary Vaynerchuk – The Thank You Economy | Review

Title: The Thank You Economy

Author: Gary Vaynerchuk

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 258

Rating: 3*/5

Gary Vaynerchuk – The Thank You Economy

This is another example of something that’s happened a lot of late. I was looking forward to reading it but once I actually got round to it, I was left unimpressed. The problem is that while Vaynerchuk was clearly right in what he was saying, it’s a lot less revolutionary now than it was back then.

That doesn’t mean that I’m not a fan of his, though. It just means that I think it’s one of his weaker books, and it’s also the one that hasn’t aged well. Don’t get me wrong, the basic principles of the book – which largely focuses on going out of your way to help your customers as much as possible – are still relevant, and they’ll still be relevant in the years to come. But the truth is just that many of the examples are now outdated and it just has nothing on some of Vaynerchuk’s more recent books.

That’s why I’d recommend getting started with something like Jab Jab Jab Right Hook or #AskGaryVee if you can – or better still, skip the books altogether and just watch Vaynerchuk on YouTube instead. His energy comes across more in videos than in the written word, and ultimately you’ll feel more inspired if you catch some footage than you will if you read the book. I was hoping to get some more out of it, but no worries – I can inspire myself enough.