Heroes Not Zombies

Daniel H Pink, who wrote “A Whole New Mind“, has written what he calls “America’s first business book in the Japanese comic format”. Now, I don’t know how you feel about comics, graphic novels and so on, but I know my mum really didn’t like them! She was never keen on the comics I used to look forward to every week, rather disdaining them as something inferior to “proper” books. But I liked them. And I still do. The graphic novel is whole art form in its own right and in France the “bandes dessinees” (sorry, don’t know how to get an “e acute”!) section of the bookshop is always VERY busy. I’ve picked up some utterly beautiful examples over the years. The graphic novel has developed in a very distinct way in Japan. They call it Manga. It’s this latter style which Daniel Pink has chosen for his latest book. You can actually read it online. Don’t be put off by its pitch as a business book. It’s a simple, easy to read, fun, but thought provoking self-development book.

He makes just six points, each of which is delivered to Johnny Bunko, an accountant who is bored with his job, by Diana, a sprite who appears when he breaks magical chopsticks (I know, I know, stay with me here, you have to take the genre as it is!). Here they are –

1. There is no plan (“It’s nice to believe that you can map out every step ahead of time and end up where you want. But that’s a fantasy. The world changes“)

2. Think strengths, not weaknesses (you know this one – it’s the positive psychology message)

3. It’s not about you (“the most successful people improve their own lives by improving others‘ lives”)

4. Persistence trumps talent (“practice and practice and practice some more”)

5. Make excellent mistakes (that’s a well-rehearsed one. One of the key messages of “Feel the Fear“)

6. Leave an imprint (“use your limited time here to do something that matters“)