Stekke

I read this book for a design class at college. The book is alright.
It explains a lot of the basics and it gives some good examples. It covers pretty much every thing you need to know in order to get your design basics right and it's written at a level everyone could understand.

The write up however, lacks a lot of punch and feels sloppy. The items and examples are connected in a way that makes the book a real drag to read. It's very objective and the level of the writing is at times childish. I feel like it could have been more interesting if other examples were used and the writing was more passionate.

The writer also uses way too much personal information. She constantly refers to her own writings and the Shakespeare scripts she has published (or tries to publish). I'm not a big fan of this, as it feels really like a marketing trick to include this in the book, and it doesn't add any value at all.

Well, this did not meet my expectations. Starting this book I felt like this might be a 5 star, but I quickly noticed it would not be the case.

Pacing is very off in my opinion and characters have little development. Characters are only described in their physical aspects and characters such as Richard and Meridith have little to offer besides being handsome people.

The plot of the book was also very predictable in my opinion. The storyline does not move in ages and suddenly explodes in the 5th chapter.

The ending also left me baffled and wasn't really realistic in my opinion. The last chapter felt really rushed. Disappointed writing this.

A story with a great message about the fragility of men gets lost in a bunch of clichés and sloppy writing. If one had put more hought into writing a coherent plot, instead of describing the beautiful scenery for pages, this book would have been way better.

Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey caught my attention because it spoke to me a student with ADHD. I now wish I left the book at the store. Let me tell you why...

The book is based on a bunch of researches. Most of them aren't explained properly and are just statistics out of context. The actual research is never explained and the headlines of the researches are used as anecdotes. The write up between them is horrible.

Bailey constantly showboats his ability to write a lot of words in small periods of time because of the use of his methods. I can't argue with this, because I don't know the speed at which the book was written.
But in my opinion, it's all about quality and not about quantity. And the book absolutely lacks it.

Chapters aren't exclusive and sentences are often repeated. Sometimes even whole parts and anecdotes are repeated. And even the repeated parts ain't worth repeating. Sentences aren't straight forward. Bailey turns simple tips into 4 page ones, without adding value.

When some tips offer real value and are good, they are lost in a sea of unnecessary cheap talk. Other tips are just plain stupid or don't apply to most of us. Tips like, ‘Hit the gym or the sleeping room at your work'. I don't see most companies offering a sleeping room in their building.
Tips like ‘Put your phone away and unplug your lan cable.' aren't that great working in sales or IT and tips about how meetings are setup and who should be present aren't applied to most of us, because guess what Mr Bailey... Most of us aren't writers and can't get these privileges but listen to their boss.

This is the real pain point of the book. The book is written from a bunch of random researches, patched together by some very personal perspectives. Everything is written from a single perspective. Its written by, and for, people like Bailey. And it seems Bailey loves to hear himself talking. Its all about how he likes a cup of coffee, how he loves this coffee place, his meditation and Ed Sheeran.

For me this book is a definite no go. I read it completely and at the end of the book it said “Invest your time wisely.” and I felt like I hadn't been doing the same. I wouldn't advise anyone to buy it and I wouldn't even advise you to torrent it. The actual value of this book was to me practically non existent. The few good tips in the book don't weigh up against the nonsense the book is patched together with.

Well... This was awful.

Who moved my cheese was one of the books that made me lose interest the minutes I opened it. It only holds a little amount of pages, but it reads like it was 1000 pages long and every page is the same.

The story addresses a group of friends who all have dealt with changes in their life. Imagine a stock picture of a bunch of random people in a coffee shop sitting together. One of them tells a little story about two mice and two mini humans, who all search for cheese. The cheese is moved and everyone acts different. The friends reflect the story on their lives.

The way the book is written makes you feel like it was written by a writer who was fired on several sitcoms and found a way to express his sadness through telling his sad story mixed with some leftovers from the sitcoms. The whole book feels like it was written on a pamphlet you could hand out when you fire somebody; ‘Your cheese has moved, please move along mice'. It even has no shame in addressing that fact. ‘Please buy this books to give it to your employees (you might fire hehe)'; Read between the lines at Page 1.

Let me say first and foremost I am not against people seeking help for changes. I mean, I read this book because of it. But this book is not going to help you one bit. It's just Kubler Ross' change curve personified in four characters, portrayed as a children's's tale written in font-size that will give you epilepsy.

The bottom line of the book is also very depressing and not something I can personally get behind. Here are some things I can get behind. Change is all around and will always occur and monitoring and predicting change may be hard but is worth the effort. Here is the bottom-line of the book, which I don't agree; “Change will happen, find a way with it or be left behind”. Which roughly translates in “Be one of the mice”.

Especially don't take your time to be sad, or have some doubts. You don't need doubts. True business players have no doubts. They never hesitate, let alone not take action on changes. Or if you lose somebody that was very close to you. Just be the action mice. “Get over it, you silly boy!”. Just don't have doubts, changes will always turn out right in the end and life is a maze one day you'll find cheese.

Most of those statements are dated philosophies in my opinion. There isn't a cheese for everybody. Moving on isn't always the easiest and best option and shouldn't be forced. Changes aren't always positive and shouldn't be chosen for you.

You should decide the tempo. Don't let anyone haste you into the process of mourning or choosing the right path. That's for you to find out. It's better to think about it and lose some time, than to take the path you don't want to or are forced upon.

I just picture some corporate leader firing his people, sending them a mail; “Don't worry this book will cheer you up! Change is great ! “, and getting a mail back “Instructions unclear, couldn't feed starving children with book.”. Or somebody who lost his partner to cancer. “Just move on to some other Cheese, society doesn't want you slacking around”.

And that's the bottom line. Society doesn't want you slacking around. It wants you up there, working, being a good model employee and participant. Not feeling or doubting. And if you should feel some aspect of doubt or loss, here is Kubler Ross' change curve portrayed by some mice. This will make you feel better.

This was one of the worst books I've ever read, and I don't advise anyone to read it.
I'm going to leave it at this. You've read enough of my review anyway. Now, stop feeling sorry, get back to work and stop wasting time on the internet. There is cheese waiting somewhere in the running wheel the'll portray as a maze full of opportunities.