The Art of Community

Written by an Ubuntu guy:

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@mrjn - Out of curiosity, how fast do you read ? Say how long will it take you to finish this 576 pager (I know it depends a lot on author’s writing style and content, but the avg. ) ?

I’m a relatively slow reader. So, if the book is interesting and I’m engaged, for, e.g., The Decision Maker, or Good to Great, etc., I’ve done those in a week. We also can dedicate our Fridays to reading (apart from meetings which we also aim for Fridays only) – so that helps set up the pace.

Other books which I felt weren’t my style; I have struggled to put my focus on, even for a couple of weeks. And just gave up at some point. Generally, in an hour or so, I can get a good sense of whether the book is going somewhere, has practical tips to implement or just too philosophical for my taste, etc.

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I think being able to drop a book after an hour is great! I’d be happy if I could drop book without feeling bad about it :stuck_out_tongue: . I’m embroiled in a fair share of philosophical pieces that I need to let go of. The latest is Godin’s Icarus Deception. It started with a beautiful premise - perils of aiming low - and now I have no clue what I’m even reading about. I’ve read The Dip (80 pages of awesome!) so it feels pretty uncharacteristic of Godin.

Being able to drop a book is something I’m learning as well – I think of it as watching a movie. If it’s obviously bad, would you still continue to watch it, just because you already started. Probably not. It helps to put books in that context. On the contrary, books which are good, I try to re-read them once in a while.

Honestly, my reading only increased once we started having Reading Fridays. Before that, it was more on and off and wishful thinking.

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Agreed! Yeah that analogy helps.

You guys have Reading Fridays as a team exercise? Sounds brilliant :smiley:. Inspired by the 20% project ?

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