Finding great business brain food to feed you ideas

I love everything about Seth Godin – what he says, what he stands for, and most importantly, what he ships. He feeds my thoughts and galvanises me into action. He has a history of great projects and ChangeThis came from one of his ideas for a Summer Internship program in 2004.

It was the Medium of its time. Where authors and idea creators shared their Manifestos. There was an art to writing a good one and everyone with a point of view wanted a Manifesto published there. It was and still is, wonderful bite-sized business and personal growth brain food.

As the world moved on it seemed to lose its way a little. Porchlight Books took it into the fold in 2019 as part of its Blog. It is a worthy home for ideas coming into the world to sit. This online Bookstore is a useful resource to see and buy the new business books arriving into the world each week. Their annual awards also provide valuable insights into what might make it onto your reading list.

Well, as a fan, I am glad to say, ChangeThis seems to be having a bit of a renaissance with some brilliant new Manifestos. Including this one ‘Redefining Career Development’ by Julie Winkle Giulioni. These are bite-sized books – especially useful if you struggle to read business books because these are not summaries – they are ideas worth exploring and they will expand your thinking. Recent Manifestos include ‘Simple Truths of Leadership’, ‘Dear Awesome Human’ amd. ‘Performing while Transforming’.

There are 113 pages of Manifestos on the Blog! I tell you that deliberately – work your way backwards or even start at page 113.

Why? – because some ideas are timeless, the history lesson is invaluable and some of the great authors of our time are here – sharing their thoughts for free. Including Malcolm Gladwell, Scott Berkun, Guy Kawasaki, Tom Peters, Michael Bungay Stanier, Seth and many more. There are some beautiful ideas to explore from 2004 onwards. Not all travel well into the present day, some are dated but they still make you think. There are a few ‘duds’ too, but hey , you get that everywhere in life!

More encouragement for you to go back in time – ‘Dear Bosses’ seems very topical now (Aug 2007), Seth has his famous ‘Bootstrappers Bible’ (Nov 2004) and Tom Peters has ‘100 Ways to Help You Succeed/ Make Money’ (Feb 2005). Then there is Hugh MacLeod’s ‘How to be Creative’ and ‘The Hugh Train’ – two of the all time ChangeThis Manifesto favourites (2004 & 2005). Yes, it is a long time ago but if you are seeking to hone your point of view somewhere fresh like this is a valid starting point.

Go take a peek – worth a read, for the great brain food in the last couple of months alone.

Before I go – Seth’s latest project is a CAUSE worth supporting. He has been volunteering to help write and publish the ‘Carbon Almanac: It’s Not Too Late’ that comes out in June 22 – definetely worth a look.