Enchantment: Be well, do good, and kick butt

enchantment by guy kawasaki // review by genpink

enchantment: the process of delighting people with a product, service, organization, or idea. The outcome of enchantment is voluntary and long-lasting support that is mutually beneficial.

Have you ever met a person or bought a product/book/song/gadget and immediately become a fangirl? Quick, name 3 things you are a fangirl (or boy) of.

Mine: Apple, Amazon (Prime in particular), and Mac & Cheese. What do these three things have in common? Nothing and everything.

enchantment by guy gawasakiLast week, before heading off to the whirlwind idea-fest that is SXSW, I had the pleasure* of reading Guy Kawasaki’s latest creativity Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions. To say that I was enchanted by the book would be cliche, cheesy and also true.

I’ve never been a fan of “how to” books (or blog posts for that matter). I like open ended questions, ideas, possibility and new ways of looking at things rather than if you do A, B, and C then you will achieve D. And so…

Here are some of my favorite questions that are addressed in Enchantment:

  • In a professional setting is it okay to be overdressed compared to your colleagues? What does being under-dressed say about you?
  • What are your passions? Do you hide them?
  • Are men and women held to a different standard about swearing?
  • What’s the ideal length of an email? [ok fine I’ll give you this one – 6 sentences. But you’ll have to get the book to find out why]
  • Is “you’re welcome” really the best response to thank you?

And… because I am a foodie by hobby (see food blog for proof) I heart this quote:

There are two kinds of people and organizations in the world: eaters and bakers. Eaters want a bigger slice of an existing pie; bakers want to make a bigger pie. Eaters think that if they win, you lose, and if you win, they lose. Bakers think that everyone can win with a bigger pie.

Action Items:

  • Buy the book. Anywhere you like, but I’m partial to Amazon.
  • If you have a website, blog, or even just a twitter bio – go read your about section. Does it sound human? Does it mention your passion? If not add it. People do business (and offer jobs to) people not robots.
  • Stop sending emails that could understudy as a novel.
  • Acknowledge someone who has enchanted you recently. I was most recently enchanted by Kevin Hail, COO of National Breast Cancer Foundation. That story to come in a future blog post.

As a writer (blogger, with aspirations of writing a book) my favorite idea from the book was “There is no greater reward for an author than to see how people use his work.” Without knowing it, that’s how I feel about blogging and that is also why I love books.

*I was provided a review copy of this book. All opinions stated are my own. I’ve meet Guy Kawasaki a few times and overall he’s a nice dude. So, all to say I appreciate the book in more was than one!

3 thoughts on “Enchantment: Be well, do good, and kick butt

  1. I presume you bought the book? There were an unknown number of bloggers who were asked if they wanted a comp copy to review it on their blogs, myself included. My review is forthcoming. It’s taking so long to read the damn thing, which will be part of my review.

  2. Ari – I guess I should add that to my post… I received a review copy but that of course never changes my opinion of books that I read. I didn’t find it particularly long to read.

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