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Book reviews by Raphael Badagliacca
Paper Paging - Through History
By Mark Kurlansky (Published by W.W. Norton & Company, 2016).
In this electronic age, you might not expect a book about paper to contain so many insights about technology. Primary among them is what the author calls “the technological fallacy.” In his words, “the idea that technology changes society. It is exactly the reverse. Society develops technology to address the changes within it.”
The work that introduced this author to me was Salt: A World History. Why read a book about something as mundane as salt? The answer is in the subtitle. From that book, I learned that salt was the oil of its time, that workers were paid in salt, that the word "salary" derives from salt, and that a phrase like to be "worth one's salt" once had an actual rather than a metaphorical meaning. In a very real sense if you understood the role of salt in time, you would understand more about history.
Associations and other non-profits, like books that go deep on a single subject, strive to be the primary source of information in their core focus. As a by-product, they offer a lens through which to see the wider world.
This takes us back to technology. By going deep on Paper, the author reveals truths about technology, like the fallacy that new technologies will make old ones disappear. Electronic media does not mean less paper is being used. Or that denouncing technological advances makes any sense, when the societal changes that make their popular adoption possible have already happened.
We constantly try to understand the role of technology in our professional and personal lives. Since technology is the primary way associations and other non-profits engage their constituents – members, donors and prospects – leaders of associations would do well to consider that when a new technology takes hold it means that the society has already made a shift. What is the shift?
Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive Self
by Manoush Zomorodi (Published by St. Martin’s Press, 2017).
This book is about the value of looking away -- or looking at nothing -- since most of our waking day – both work and what we call pleasure – has become so consumed by looking into a screen. This is not an anti-technology book, but it does support the thesis that downtime has an important role in increasing creativity and productivity, certainly something worth understanding by leaders of non-profit organizations.
There is the story about an efficiency expert who reported to Henry Ford that during his tours of the plant there was one man who seemed to always have his feet on the desk. The expert recommended firing him. Ford responded that the man had come up with an idea that had brought the company a million dollars (worth considerably more in 1910 than today) and that when he got that idea he had his feet on the desk.
Manoush Zomorodi is the host of WNYC’s “Note to Self” program and podcast, which she describes as “the tech show about being human.” The Bored and Brilliant project, the source of the content in this book, was conducted among listeners.
The author’s thesis supported by studies and facts is that we need reflective time not only in order to have balance, but to be more productive. Those who spend time daydreaming actually have greater attention spans. How often has the solution to a problem or a new creative idea come together for you while you were performing a repetitive task like folding laundry or taking a shower? This is because looking away from the usual apparatus of work gives time to let ideas percolate and thoughts come together. Loosening the grip can give you a better hold of things.
In a sense, this is a workbook and guide and how to achieve more satisfying results by taking a break from doing. Every workplace could benefit.