Scott Berkun

By the time I was reading the end of the 2nd chapter of this book, I was thinking of all the friends that I wanted to tell about this book. That obviously got me thinking about all the other books I wanted them to read as well. And from there, I was thinking about a list of books that I would have on my, "XXX books you must read no matter who you are or what you do!" This book definitely found its place on that list.
This book is funny, interesting, and insightful. And for people who speak show more often or wish to speak often in public settings (like me), it can be immensely helpful. This book is definitely on my gifts/prizes list of things to give my friends and members of my audience. Kudos to Berkun. show less

Berkun chronicles his experience working for Automattic, the company that runs WordPress.com. In the process, he talks about how this extraordinarily successful company breaks all of the rules about how to run a successful company.

I run a WordPress theme development company, with remote employees, so I was looking forward to reading this and gaining some insights into how to best manage my employees. I did learn some very useful things... but one of the strengths of this book is also a show more frustration to people trying to learn how to build a successful business on Automattic's model. Berkun stresses that you can't just read a book of business advice and copy it to run a successful business. Every business is different, and just mimicking what works for one business won't work for another. Automattic's success is largely contingent on the company culture, which is largely contingent on the personality of one of the co-founders, Matt Mullenweg. So in some ways, the big takeaway from the book is, "you can't be like Automattic because you aren't Automattic."

That's a really sensible takeaway, and Berkun repeatedly makes the point that just copying what works for one company won't work for another, which is some of the smartest business advice I've read.

But if you're looking for business advice, that's rather anti-climactic. So some of the useful takeaways are about how to treat your employees: trust them, treat them like adults, give them independence (but also guidance), and make them happy. So many of the trappings of business - career ladders, meetings, managers - really just get in the way of doing what the company is supposed to do. The people doing the actual work - in this case, developers and support staff - should be given all the support they need to do what they need to do. show less

An easy-to-read jaunt through design from multiple facets that continually delights by going deep

This book is a quick read, and an easy read, but it's never fluff. Scott Berkun is a really strong writer, with a clear voice and just the right amount of humor (too little can be too dry, too much can be self-indulgent and distracting). Reading the book brings a real pleasure in coming across many stories and examples that I know about (of course there are tons of stories, and examples that I show more hadn't heard about before), it's so well-researched and reported that these examples are fleshed out with details and new context.

Berkun integrates an enormous number of examples, many from the work of others, of course, but again this is where the mastery comes in, because unlike some books which are merely a compilation of other examples and writing, this truly is a synthesis, creating new knowledge and guidance from these sources, woven together elegantly. show less

I found Berkun’s book to be a fun and informative read, a primer for public speaking. His honest advice and observations about public speaking are very practical. Though I don’t necessarily have a variety of venues or AV gadgets, the points about audience perspective and preparedness (and unpreparedness) are good. As a high school teacher, I really appreciated Chapter 9. His point about making “your audience members’ minds feel active even if their bodies are not” is especially show more poignant.

My favorite observation is that “Nothing kills your power over a room as much as a lack of silence.” This is so true (though I wouldn’t identify it as “my” power), especially as a teacher because silence is often seen as an invitation for students to start chattering or going off task. Poet Jackson Mac Low said, “During silences when you, as a performer, don’t do anything for a while, other things that are happening become part of the piece.” I like that because silence is no longer antagonizing, but a partner for the performance. Once, after reading a particularly moving piece, there was a long silence. One class clown type, probably not even cognizant of the silence, muttered, “This is powerful shit.” We all heard him and started laughing; he then explained why he felt this way. If I hadn’t let silence, my partner, have a few moments, then we would have all missed out on this funny and heartfelt discussion, the student’s part in the performance, and killed the power of the written word over the room.

A very good book for any person who attempts to communicate, in any capacity, with anything more sentient than a lamppost. show less