The notion of this book is to explain how to use simple pictures to solve problems and communicate ideas.
It is a compelling idea, especially because so many business presentations are a boring collection of bullet points (text). A problem exacerbated by poor presentation technique in which the speaker reads the text to the audience. Yawn.
So beyond the use of images as a problem solving technique, I was interested in the use of images as a showing / explaining / selling technique. The book covers both topics well.
But it isn't simple. Or at least not easy. The SQVID notion, for example, is clear: if you want to show a topic, consider if its visualization should be Simple (vs elaborate), Quality (vs quantity), Vision (vs execution), Individual (vs comparative), and Change (vs as-is).
Bottom line: some great ideas for brainstorming, approaching complex problem solving and presenting things. But I will have to have this book at my side as a guide to walk through the techniques for at least the first few times I do this. And I'm not sure that, under the pressure of deadlines, I'll have the fortitude to look at the guidance instead of just pushing forward, seat of pants, to a delivery.
We'll see.
Do I seem like a cranky or over-demanding reader to you? I didn't think so. Yet I don't seem to have found any good novels recently. This one did not break that streak.
Once again, I found myself at an airport bookstore. I'd had enough time before the flight to deal with email, and besides, my seat wasn't going to be conducive to opening a laptop. This book - barely - got me through the flight.
Another fast paced, highly entertaining thriller from the author of The Faithful Spy.
I bought this at an airport bookstore when I learned my flight was delayed. The best thing I can say about it is that it took the delay and most of the flight to read, thus giving me something to do.
The thunderingly uninteresting and possibly religiously bigoted patriot would have been a more appropriate title for this poor excuse for a thriller.
I heard about this book from an NPR broadcast. It is outstanding reading. I highly recommend it: very well written, interesting, and with several strong messages that will, I expect, benefit any reader.
This was a fabulous book: well written, great and unusual plot, wonderful characters. Sad that Mr. Pekearo perished in the line of duty in his role as an auxiliary NYPD officer.
I liked the prior book for Saturday morning procrastinating chores by reading something silly, so tried this one. It is identical, stylistically, to it's predecessor.
Silva's books are all suspenseful, interesting and well written. This is one of his earlier novels, that I'd not read before. It was true to form.