Strangely, after the number of words that needed to be written, re-written and re-written again in the process of getting The Performance Principle together and published, I find myself short of words to say about the book's arrival.
Being a man and all, I can’t claim to understand just how hard it is to give birth. However, having watched my wife go through it twice, I do have some appreciation for the magnitude of effort associated with the whole process, and I’m not talking about just the process of labour. The months leading up to those very intense hours where the baby finally arrives are a significant investment in the whole process. With apologies to Douglas Adams, I’ve found that writing a book is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike that process. But it’s not easy, it seems to take forever, and the last bit just before it comes out can be intensely sweaty and painful. So it is with a certain measure of relief that I’m finally able to say that The Performance Principle is here. It’s out! It’s done! It’s here!
The book itself is a collection of ideas and structure around my attempts to understand what motivates people, and how to work with that. It’s based on some principles discovered by people far smarter than I, but it attempts to put a practical spin on how to implement those principles in real life. It’s also written as a sequel to my last book (Making It Happen), and is in the format of a novel, the thinking being that the story format makes the reading a little easier. Not to mention that deep down I want to be a novelist, and this is my way of satisfying some of that urge. If you get a chance, check it out, and if you do, I hope you enjoy it.
The birth of the new book has also prodded me to get moving on what I’ve been talking about doing for a few years now, namely, this website. In the course of work, life, and everything that goes on, I occasionally come up with interesting if half-baked ideas. The discipline required to articulate those ideas goes a long way (at least for me) toward translating them into something I find I can use. Very few of them are book-length, but many will (hopefully) fit nicely right here. Although I may be casting them anonymously into the void without a single other reader, the existence of the blog creates (in me) a sense of obligation to articulate those ideas regularly. The posting of those ideas completes that articulation and will give me a certain sense of satisfaction and avoid the guilt of not doing something I feel obligated to do (see the topics of ‘reinforcement’ and ‘avoidance’ in The Performance Principle.)
And so as they say in an alternate universe “May your reinforcers align with your goals!’
Until next time…
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