Book Review:The 1% Solution For Work and Life
Book Reviews August 9th, 2011How to Make Your Next 30 Days The Best Ever
    
Author : Tom Connellan
I have always enjoyed business books written with strong things to teach, but done in a fable or story context, such as Lencioni’s book, The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team. Connellan has done the same with The 1% Solution since it is written as a story, yet with very clear elements taught to the reader. This particular story is of a guy, named Ken who had reached a point where things seemed to be a struggle in his life and he was noticing vast differences in people around him, some doing well, some struggling. The coach of all people on his son’s soccer team met Ken and steered him towards a new path with the help of a group of others in a 1% solutions team.
The concept from the group was clear, that doing everything in your life just one percent better and constantly striving (deliberately) to improve just one percent can have dramatic positive consequences. The difference between many first place medals in Olympics and no metal is often as small as 1% so that 1% can make a big difference. Whether you are after an Olympic Games goal or not, everyone has the ability to be better than they are, and the 1% solution provides a model and outlook towards life to do just that, be better.
As Ken meets and spends time with each of the 6 people in the 1% group, he learns important concepts about learning, improving and focusing his life around becoming a better person in many areas. The group of 6 is realistic in having Ken think about how to get better than what HE already is, instead of thinking about where he’d like to be the best which compares to others and often holds people back from improving step by step. The messages are very practical and cover a lot of personal development aspects I’m sure many people have seen or heard. The author puts them into context of a person’s life and tells them in a way that is compelling and believable. Here are just a few of the examples and messages from the text:
- You can’t be 100% better than everyone else, but you can be 1% better at hundreds of things
- Not everyone can be great, but everyone can be better than they are right now
- The more you get done, the more motivated you are to do things. So you do more things, and you get even more motivated. It’s a self-feeding cycle!
- The way to start is by taking action – even if it’s a small action.
- Too many people who have been around for 30 years don’t really have 30 years’ experience. They have one year’s experience 30 times.
- What sets apart the top 1% is that they cycle throughout the day between periods of concentrated effort and planned recovery.
So, there are many other messages and I think you will certainly enjoy this book. The author covers and uses motivation and engagement topics, teaches elements of the Pareto or 80/20 principle, emphasizes Gladwell’s 10000 hours to become an expert message, covers deliberate practice to get better faster, dives into a 30 day formula to form or break habits, includes the important aspect of properly resting and recovering from 1% progress and finally includes how all this can then be passed on to others and shared again.   If you’ve read a ton of other content in personal development, you will likely not come across anything really new in this but at the very least; it will reinforce many common aspects of becoming a better person. If you’re searched and read some content on personal development and want a book that is easy to read yet packed with useful content and tips, then this book is definitely for you. It is an easy read, fairly short and the story is well written with a good mix of dialogue where Ken learns from the 1% group and narrative writing of his thoughts and actions. There are additional resources at the author’s website if you want more information. I’d love to hear your comments or questions about the book if you have read it or not, as the topics are all worthy of discussion!
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Mike King
August 19th, 2011 at 8:38 PM
Hi Mike:
Ijustcompleted this book in one sitting. Hmmm-it was written, inmy view, for a Grade 8 reader…..the plot was also slightly on the juvenile side…slow, virtually 100% predictabl. Having said all that, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Why? ACTION Steps. The single “wear high heels at home” tip is worth the price of the book. The story lays out the plan AND EACH of the members gives Ken their own priceless gift. The power of “yet” will be added to my “never use BUT” (the literal equivalent of a blackboard eraser) in your face to face communicating. In one year, I am sure, these elegant and simple “action” ideas will remain with me.
I thought your review was actually a bit too forgiving- after all, this was written by a business guru speakingto Fortune 500 big wigs…..yet the book itself appears designed at a much younger audience.
Keep up the great work.
August 19th, 2011 at 11:11 PM
Hi Lawrence, thanks for your feedback on the review and the book. I totally understand your points and I guess I don’t worry too much myself about the audience a book is written for, I’m much more interested in the content. I often find there is more to learn in books for 6 year olds, than their are for adults so I base my reviews a lot more on what they have to offer the reader to learn from and as you say, this book has great actionable items, well worth the read, so in my opinion, easy to recommend. An easy book that you can read through in one sitting has more value to me than a tough complex read you end up perplexed about anyway.
I’ll have to take your feedback though for future reviews and tailor my recommendations to certain demographics, because some people may not care to read a book aimed at a less mature knowledgable audience I guess. Me personally, it doesn’t detract me from the content of the book, which is really why I enjoy fables, as simple as they are or not, since a story is better than non-fiction sequence of steps when it comes to sitting down with a book to read, at least for me. Anyway, I really appreciate your feedback and comments on the book. This will certainly be helpful to other potential readers before picking up a copy, to know what to expect. So, thanks for that!!!
August 20th, 2011 at 8:27 PM
With Lawrence’s review, I think I would love this book. Well, I don’t like to read books that would make me think as if I am an expert in everything. Treat me like and 8th grade reader and I would feel like I am an expert in that grade. 🙂 I’ll look for this once I hit the bookstore.
August 20th, 2011 at 9:49 PM
Laser Removal is one smart Gr8 cookie (get it). This is the first comment I have ever posted to a blog…..I am considering writing up a review of each book I consume, which is approx. 20 per month (gotta luv those audiobooks). In any event, I think I kinda like Mike’s outlook. For me, The Phantom Tollbooth (Norton Juster) and The Little Prince are standard re-reads annually. I guess what I was trying to get at is that someone who has read the book and is offering up their “review” might be well advised to (a)provide fair & objective reporting (b) meta-comment(s) that might be helpful to future readers. I myself would not call this a fable. A fable is intended for a young audience. I have read my share of touted business books that were duds. Perhaps allegory might be a better term. Like the Monk and Ferrari, Kindomality, genre of books. Such works are great….but not too often.
September 27th, 2011 at 6:22 PM
Just read the preview pages in Amazon. Looks interesting. Very different approach indeed. And by the way, the topic of the book is really catchy!
October 4th, 2011 at 11:45 PM
i was wondering if contact solution would work on your breakouts. i have a friend that said she heard it but i wanna know if it works before i go out and buy it.
October 17th, 2011 at 12:58 AM
Striving for something good, even if you’re doing it in small scale have a great impact in your overall well-being. I think this book has a lot more to offer, I will try to find it in Amazon and hopefully get a copy of it.
November 8th, 2011 at 12:07 AM
As I said in a previous comment I love your book reviews Mike. You really take the time to tell us if it is worth our time to check it out. I agree that doing things only one percent better can have drastic changes on your life.
– Robert