Humans of Social Media

Books have a way of transporting you to places and experiences through an author’s words. Reading an author’s review copy of wise guy by Guy Kawasaki reminded me of the wildly popular photo-essay series ‘Humans of New York’. Thought the books is organized like others – chapters and paragraphs – reading it doesn’t feel like the book filled with chapters and paragraphs, a story or plot. Instead, it feels like  Guy sitting down across the table from me, a glass of his favorite beverage in his hand and a dram of Whisky in mine.  And chatting!

The book took me through a journey through Guy’s childhood, teenage obsessions at college, the ‘tours of duty’ at Apple and his flirtatious yet committed interactions with the startup communities. Guy shares some of his aphorisms and opinions frequently on social media where millions read, some interact, some follow or retweet and many converse. He isn’t afraid of taking sides or sharing his opinion and seems to have adopted the ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ very well.  He admits his career limiting mistakes and wealth reducing missteps that still turned out to his advantage. I suppose when you are doing right by others, your karm do come back to reward you.
Though the book is peppered with hundreds of pieces of guidance, I highlighted a few and do intend to return to them often. I’m nearly certain to revisit

Don’t let people get to you, whether they are insulting you or not
Learn to like yourself, or change yourself until you can like yourself
The day after you start a job, nobody cares about your connections, history, and credentials—or lack thereof. You either deliver results, or you don’t
Changing your mind is a sign of intelligence
Learn to tell a story — Stories are better than adjectives because they are more comprehensible, memorable, and emotive
Do the right thing….. A formal contract with a dishonorable person is worth less than an informal contract with an honorable one

Imagine a book filled with stories about why the above sentences made a difference in creating Guy Kawasaki.
Needless to stay, like Guy’s other books like “Art of the Start” or “APE”, this book is a great first-read cover to cover and then a well-bookmarked reference. I have resisted loaning my “Guy” books because I am more afraid of losing my bookmarks than the physical book.