Top Shelf Reading Picks:

My last few posts were about political books, so I figured, what better time than the present to bring up some books that tackle the topic of religion? Seems many of our politicians can’t separate themselves from their religious backgrounds/beliefs, so it kind of goes hand in hand these days.

What do books about politics and religion have to do with entrepreneurship? Technically, nothing. But one thing I’ve found is that most of my best inspirations and ideas have not come out of books that teach “entrepreneurship.� Why is that? Because, being an entrepreneur is about thinking differently.

If all you do is follow the checklists set forth by others in entrepreneurial books, then are you really being entrepreneurial? Or are you going along with the crowd? Not to knock those books, as they are helpful for many reasons. But, often you need to come at your ideas from a different angle. And this month, for some reason, I’ve been reading two books that have a bit to do with religion–one angle I rarely consider but, needless to say, it got me thinking … Here’s the first book.

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
The other morning my son came into the kitchen and announced, “Mom, you have a really bad book.â€? Oh, dear, I thought. Did I leave Anais Nin or Colette lying around again? But then I quickly realized that his reading skills weren’t quite at that level, so I knew that he had to be referring to Christopher Hitchens’ God is Not Great. Now, I had this book on my reading wish list since the day it was published, as I like any book that questions the status quo (especially the religious one). Unfortunately, I find Christopher Hitchens at times incomprehensible (as in this case) and not very amusing. (Hence an earlier post about “Why Christopher Hitchens isn’t funny.â€?)

So, I love the concept of the book, but found it torturous to read and admittedly gave up after a few chapters. (Life is too short to read books that don’t grab me and suck me in!) However, I enjoyed the conversation with my son about how it’s OK to question the idea of God. And this book in particular focused on how people use the concept of God for their own purposes or to be exclusive of others and, in those situations, God is not great.

Then somehow we got onto the topic of the Pilgrims fleeing England in search of religious freedom, and I noted to myself (not to him) the contrast with today, where certain groups want to impose their religious beliefs on the rest of us. Add to this the fact that we were founded as the United States of America, under a very different governmental structure than ever before (how entrepreneurial of them!), yet now we’ve gotten back to the government proposing the equivalent of a “thought-crime� bill that would enable it to prosecute anyone criticizing it. (Thanks to my friend George over at “I’ve BeenMugged� for bringing that to my attention.)

Which brings me right back to my theory: Once the rebels become the ruling class, then they’re no longer rebels. Hence, the best entrepreneurs cannot simply follow an entrepreneurial handbook, because once they do that, then they are no longer innovating. And this is why I tend to look elsewhere for inspiration and ideas.

The Top Shelf Bottom Line: Great concept (challenging the status quo); poor delivery (Hitchens is not my messenger of choice here).

Book Two coming later this week: Eat, Pray, Love.

While I’m on the topic of politics (must be that it’s November), I figured I’d mention my thoughts on one book by a political candidate that was compelling enough for me to pick up. I was very glad that I read Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama before tackling the Audacity of Hope (I later listened to the Audacity of Hope on CD and it didn’t have the same impact).

One might argue that Obama might have been contemplating a run for the presidency back when he wrote Dreams from My Father. (Surely we all know that many of our presidential candidates started contemplating their future the day they were pulled out of the womb.) However, this book does not seem calculated in any respect. What it does do is introduce us to an individual who has had quite an unusual life, and how he’s faced race and poverty issues both in the U.S. and abroad. His description of life in Hawaii and Indonesia are as compelling as the details of the work he tried to do in the slums of Chicago. And, of course, I have a fondness for any son raised by a single mom who turns out better than OK. Whatever your politics, it’s important to get to know the people who may be leading your country, so if there are books authored by them, it may help you form your own opinion on them.

The Top Shelf Bottom Line: No matter what your politics, we all should know a little bit about the individuals who may sit in the Oval Office. While I’ve only read/listened to the two Obama books, I intend to pick up most of the rest as the candidates are narrowed down.

• Barack Obama - Dreams From My Father; Audacity of Hope
• Rudy Giuliani - Leadership

• John Edwards - Four Trials

• John McCain - Faith of My Fathers

• Hillary Clinton - Living History; It Takes a Village

• Mitt Romney - Turnaround: Crises, Leadership, and the Olympic Games

In the meantime, if any of you have read any of the above, please give us your review below!

Life’s a Campaign: What Politics Has Taught Me about Friendship, Rivalry, Reputation, and Success by Chris Matthews was one book I expected to be trashing on this blog. At first glance, I found the idea of applying political campaign strategies to your life a tad bit Machiavellian, and figured it was meant to spawn another generation of Richard Hatch-like “survivors� (minus the naked dance).

So why read it? Because politics and business are interconnected. The most successful entrepreneurs have benefitted from political alliances, so perhaps there was something to be learned here. Moreover, it’s hard to avoid politics in any work environment. This was best described in one of my favorite quotes from Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist:The New Rules for Success.

Here is a message for people who say they can’t stomach office politics: you will die a slow, painful career death. That’s because there’s no getting around office politics, and mastering it is essential to being able to steer your own career because the out-of-office corollary to office politics is networking.

Despite my original misgivings, I really enjoyed Life’s a Campaign. Perhaps because it’s similar to my last political pick, JFK on Leadership, which took lessons from a presidential campaign and applied them to business. This book, expands on that theme by having lots of lessons from lots of political figures with a little bit of Chris Matthews’ background thrown in. (By the end of the book, I have to admit I was starting to really like the guy. His life’s anecdotes were often as interesting, or more interesting, than the Presidential examples.)

Here are a few of the highlights that all entrepreneurs could use:

• From Bill Clinton – “He survived because he learned early how to take a punch.â€? He didn’t let what people said define him. He had an innate ability to accept that people will both like and dislike him. Clinton embodied the idea that not everyone was going to like him, and he didn’t waste efforts on those who would never like him.

• From Tip O’Neill – People don’t mind being used, they mind being discarded. Matthews’ inclusion of a favorite poem of Tip’s was schmaltzy but it worked.

• From Joe Biden – Keep good company. Early on, Biden successfully used his associations with some high ranking politicians to convince people that he belonged there.

• From Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama – People want to hear upbeat information and messages of hope.

The Bottom Line: As I read the book, I was focused on how these lessons would be applied to business or local politics where competition comes with the territory. It’s up to the reader to decide if they should apply these to their non-work life. But I’d like to think one would focus more on fun and enjoying the ride and tone down the campaigning when not focused on business.

*****

Bonus books: Want to have some fun with politics? Here are a few White House stories (notably with a chick lit twist), I’ve read over the past year. While novels, they do offer insights into the political process, so you can actually learn a few things.

• The Washingtonienne by Jessica Cutler. Based on the blog that rocked Washington, the concept and the story (and subsequent lawsuits) may be more interesting than the book itself.

• Sammy’s Hill by Kristin Gore. Liked this first effort at political chick lit.

• Boomsday by Christopher Buckley. I LOVED this book, which at times was laugh out loud funny.

• Sammy’s House by Kristin Gore. Just started, not digging it so much, but maybe because Boomsday just blew it away.

Just finished Marci Alboher’s One Person/Multiple Careers: How “The Slash Effect� Can Work For You, and finally feeling like someone actually “gets� me. You see, according to Alboher, I have a “slash career,� meaning I’m a writer/entrepreneur/speaker. While I’ve always seen the interconnection between the three (the outside slashes feed the inside one – literally and figuratively), sometimes others don’t get that and think I should pick one or go back to having a “real job.� 

I’ll be honest; I wondered how much could be said about this topic. However, I found out there was quite a bit, because having a slash career permeates way beyond what’s on your business card.  Here are a few highlights/tidbits from the book:

While my piles of books to review keeps growing, I realized that a certain group was moving quickly to the bottom. Now I wouldn’t normally write about the books that I don’t review, but what struck me was that I noticed they all shared a similar theme. So, I’m sitting here wondering why I can’t bring myself to read books on leadership.

First off, I have to admit that most of them are bit “textbook-like” and I’ll be honest, I like a little pizzazz in my books on work trends. But, there are other “textbooks” that remain in my “to be reviewed” pile. So, maybe it’s that as an entrepreneur, I don’t focus on being a leader, as I’m too busy trying to keep day to day operations running and staying on top of trends that may affect my business plan. So books that deal with marketing, economic/cultural trends, and technology are more helpful at the moment.

But, perhaps there’s something more here? Maybe some of us have become so disenfranchised with the individuals who are identified in the media as “leaders,” that I’m not so sure it’s enticing to be one anymore. Anyone have any thoughts on whether interest in “leadership” might be waning? Tom Friedman touched on this topic somewhat last week, when he discussed Generation Y’s reluctance to protest and become activists.

But, I realize leadership is still an important topic. So, while I may not be reading books about leadership at the moment, here’s my classic pick for the best one I’ve read to date: John F. Kennedy On Leadership: The Lessons And Legacy Of A President

I always like learning a little history along with some business skills, and since JFK did pre-date me, it was interesting to learn more about our former president. The book takes us through the Kennedy years and shows how JFK changed the rules of campaigning, challenged tradition, turned weaknesses into strengths, worked positively with the media, wrote speeches that reached his audience, and crafted a particular image.

Each chapter is focused on a different aspect of leadership.

1. Vision
2. Breaking the rules
3. Resilience
4. Charisma
5. Communication
6. Speechwriting
7. Commitment to learning
8. Team building
9. Decision-making
10. Miscalculation and mis-judgments
11. Crises management
12. Faults and failings

At the end of each chapter is a summary of lessons to be learned if you want to do the same. Of note is that one of the Amazon reviewers stated that this was not a book on leadership, but rather on marketing. He may have a point, but then again, that might have been why I liked it. Perhaps the key to being a good leader is to be a good marketer.

The Bottom Line: Great book for anyone doing anything entrepreneurial, political and otherwise high-profile, and may want to build a following.

As I can’t possibly read enough new books to keep this going, I like to get outside input from the very same authors whose books I review.  Today’s recommedations come from Christine Comaford-Lynch, author of the book, Rules for Renegades: How to Make More Money, Rock Your Career, and Revel in Your Individuality which I reviewed last month.  Click here to read my review, but see below for some of her recommended reading for entrepreneurs.

She recommends:

Thanks Christine!

For those of you who have a blog (for your business), or are considering launching one for your company, Debbie Weil’s book “The Corporate Blogging Book” is a great introduction and guide as to how, why and who your audience would be. I thought she covered a lot of basics in easy to understand language, and had some really terrific examples of how a company can benefit. It was very interesting as to what types of blogs “caught on.” Usually it’s not the one that’s expected.     

I also loved the section where she quoted the response from an executive who was asked how he found time to blog. His answer? “It’s no more time-consuming than sending emails to my friends.” Also useful is the chapter on how to write for a blog, including the importance of links, writing for search engines and being conversational. This section of the book alone is worth the cover price and should definitely be read before launching your own blog! 

One blog writing tip that I would add is to read everything you write out loud, and if that’s how you’d say it, then write it that way. (Provided you speak in fairly proper English, or whatever language you might be blogging in.) A really cool example of how effective “writing like you speak” can be is not from a blog, but from Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s. If you’re a major fan of the film, and like me can quote all the dialogue from the movie, pick up the book. You’ll be amazed how much of his dialogue they used verbatim in the movie. The interesting part is that often different characters in the book (as opposed to the movie) are saying the same exact lines.

As for whether a blog is worth the effort. It depends on your business, time and talents. Last year, I pulled our original DWC Scoop blog (a blog of announcements for Downtown Women’s Club members), out of our website where it was embedded, and renamed it www.womensDISH.com. We added more content relevant to women and business (in addition to press releases and the news for members) and doubled our web traffic to our main site (www.DowntownWomensClub.com) in the first month. For us, the blog was a stand-alone marketing piece.

The bonus was that most of that traffic came from technical types who understood the value of our online networking/marketing services and therefore they were easier to convert to paid members than our existing “in-person” members, who only attend our networking meetings (and have little interest in online opportunities).  We also use blogging technology to run our resource and partners pages which need continuous updating. It saves us time and money not to have to outsource those functions.

As for the time issue, I opted to bring in guest bloggers, so it’s more of a group blog, and the pressure is off of me. However, I enjoy writing, and do it for a living so blogging is probably easier for me than most. But, even if you don’t blog yourself, you can network and meet people through blogs by writing comments to the authors. (Note to readers - bloggers love to read comments!)

The Bottom Line: If you’re thinking of starting a blog, or wondering how you can give your company blog a boost, it’s a good overview.

Rules for Renegades:  How to Make More Money, Rock Your Career, and Revel in Your Individuality by Christine Comaford-Lynch makes my Top Shelf reading picks not because it’s a great book, but because it raises a bunch of issues worth discussing. As I mentioned to a commenter who wanted me to stick just to reviewing the text, that’s not the point of this blog. Call me a “renegade� but I consider this blog more of a book group or discussion about issues that may be relevant to entrepreneurs. So, now that the disclaimers are in place, here are some interesting discussion points that this book raised for me.

When to judge a book by the cover. Despite the use of the word “renegade,� I didn’t like the title because the whole point of being a renegade is to not have rules. And while we’re on the title, I found it interesting that the subtitle in the UK version is: How to Storm the Boardroom, Build Power, Harness Your Individuality and Get Stuff Done!  So, it’s just the Yanks who care about “money?� And, actually, I like the UK cover much better (the Geisha on the motorbike is definitely an attention-getter).

PR can sometimes derail a project. When I was first contacted about the Rules, even though I’d never heard anything about it or the author, I loved the idea of a book by a rebellious female entrepreneur. But, when the PR team then tried to dictate to me exactly when my review should appear so as to coincide with other PR they had planned, I pulled it out of the stack and put it at the bottom of the pile. The only thing that brought it back to the top was that I put it under the stack of leadership books that had been piling up. For some reason, I can’t bring myself to crack one because they all seem to be written by Boomers advocating the command and control style which just doesn’t work with the business models I care about. (But, more about that in future weeks).

PR can sometimes overcome mediocrity. So, I started reading the book. And, I really, really wanted to like it. And it did have some good parts. I liked whenever she described her interactions with powerful individuals. That is when Comaford-Lynch is at her strongest. Her description of her dates with Bill Gates and Larry Ellison, and conversations with Hillary Clinton, and even her conversations with some of the management at Microsoft left us with insights into how these individuals operate, and ideas about interacting with them. Unfortunately, the rest of the book was name dropping (yes, you mention Steve Jobs, Jane Fonda, etc. but why not tell us about your meetings with them?) 

Despite those highlights, overall there was not much new and the lack of coherent organization and weak writing were distracting. So, that brought me to the Amazon reviews of the book. And while I know all authors prod friends and family to write a few nice reviews on the site, these seemed a bit excessive. Especially the ones who salivated about how “well-written� it was. Yet, it seems I was not the only one to notice the disconnect as some of the reviewers had interesting opinions and comments about the role of “professional reviewers.�  

What is a bestseller? As an author, I know that we personally care about book rankings (see this great posting from Anita Bruzzeze about that). And, I know that I can influence my rankings by buying 25 of my own books in one day from Amazon.  Imagine if I could afford to buy more? I mention this because it struck me as odd that a book I had never heard of, by an individual I have never heard of, could, at the time I first checked, be ranked #2 in business books on Amazon, sandwiched between books by Alan Greenspan and Bill Clinton. Today I checked and it’s at #85 (and Greenspan and Clinton are still up there at #1 and #4). No judgments here — it’s just one of those things that struck me as odd, and made me curious as to what’s really behind anyone’s book rankings.

Getting away from the marketing and back to the book. I think there are some great lessons in there for someone who is not already a renegade and who needs to hear that the important lessons for entrepreneurs are getting stuff done, asking for help, taking risks, and learning from failure. Unfortunately for me, this wasn’t anything new. And, perhaps, if you don’t mind “new agey� stuff, you wouldn’t tune out of those parts like I did, nor would it bother you that a book recommends watching the movie The Secret again. My loyal readers know how I feel about The Secret. I’m also not fond of the push for more materials on her website at the end of every chapter. Once in a while is fine. But, if there’s so much more there, why not include it in the book?

Good chapter on networking. As the author of two networking books, I applaud her because she has the right attitude, energy and some great anecdotes. So, this is where I disagree with the critics who claim she is shallow in her networking. Perhaps she should have expanded this with more examples. I also liked her chapter on leadership. Definitely fits the new collaborative approach. And, again, her detailed interactions with people are the strongest part of the book. Her chapters on getting funding were also helpful. VC is not for everyone and she details some great alternatives with real candor.

The Bottom Line. I wish the author would’ve taken the second half of the book (networking, leadership, funding) and expanded on that. Then, she could’ve taken the first half of the book and handed it over to a chick lit author. Perhaps my favorite, Jennifer Crusie? Crusie does a great job with rebellious women. Besides, chick lit needs a heroine who does not work in PR, event planning, or the publishing industry. Why not a sexy, ballsy entrepreneur who can program her own computer? Nothing’s wrong with a few chick lit lovers learning some business lessons along the way. And, bring back the Geisha on the motorbike!

The Long Tail is one of my classic picks, but based on “concept” rather than “I just love this book that changed my life.” Last year, I waited and waited for this book to come in to the library, as I found myself frequently referring to it’s theory in business and felt that I had actually better read the book.

For those who don’t know about “The Long Tail,” it’s an economic theory that believes that due to the internet, cable TV and other changes in technology, consumers are no longer force fed a few choices, and therefore we have market opportunities for “niche” industries and content. Well, if you understand that, then perhaps there is no real need to read the book, unless you either don’t know how music and books are sold online or are fascinated with little details about how eBay and other online retailers work.

That being said, perhaps because I have a business focused on a “niche” market which saves huge amounts of $$$ distributing services and products via the web, I might be too well-versed to appreciate the details. However, it’s like The World is Flat by Tom Friedman. One theory - and lots of chapters of examples. Some are interesting and compelling, others, not so much. YET, if you don’t know what I’m talking about in this review … then get thee to an online retailer, and order your copy of The Long Tail, because this tail does have a good point. At least I like to think so.

The Bottom Line:  Recommended for a quick skim.

Additional Reading/Thoughts:  I caught this article questioning whether the Pareto Principle (a/k/a the 80/20 rule) still applies to the internet.

Made to Stick by Dan and Chip Heath is one of my classic picks for best business books. As you can probably tell, I’m fond of business books that tell stories through anecdotes (case in point, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell). I’m even more fond of books that make me sit down and rewrite my business plan.

By the first chapter, which focused on Simplicity, I was already thinking how to refine my business plan to make it more “sticky.”  After years of struggling with what makes the Downtown Women’s Club different from other women’s business groups, I needed only half a chapter to suddenly turn off the CD (I listen to most business books in my car), and announce to no one in particular — we make networking fun and accessible for everyone. Bingo. CD goes back on and I’m off focusing on how the other chapters apply.

 The six principles that they discuss are:

1. Simplicity
2. Unexpectedness
3. Concreteness
4. Credibility
5. Emotions
6. Stories

Yes, they spell “SUCCESS.” One anecdote that stuck with me had to do with a local newspaper that had a 110% success rate (certain households bought more than one copy). In an era where print is dying (see Lena West’s post in the Tech Forward Entrepreneur blog), the idea that someone could sell more than 100% of their newspapers is incredible. How did they do this? They listed as many names as possible in the paper. Everyone bought it to see if they were in it. In lieu of indepth stories, they opted for names, names and more names.

Now, I just gave up my subscription to the large daily paper because they were piling up at my door and I was getting most of my info online before I could walk downstairs to get it. Yet, I still read my local town paper cover to cover. Partly for the names, partly to see what’s happening (i.e. the fate of the pet snake that escaped from the local library), and yes, I love the police blotter. No drug busts or armed robberies, instead we get “the inebriated gentleman trying to enter the neighbor’s house has been returned to his wife.â€? Or, “suspicious car has left, but it was a Monte Carlo and clearly didn’t belong here.â€?

But, think about it - imagine if, like that newspaper owner, you could find the one simple thing, that was unexpected, yet concrete enough to give you credibility because it stirred people’s emotions enough to tell stories. Now that would be a business plan worth funding.

The Bottom Line: What makes ideas “sticky” are not their complexity or “newness,” but their ability to reach people and make a lasting impact.

This is my final post on Nine Shift – a book that outlines nine major changes in society that will reshape the world as we know it. See earlier post for the list. I promise to move in a totally different direction later this week. Sorry for the overload, but since part of my day job is giving talks on this and related subjects, I have a lot to say on the topic. To recap my earlier posts on the book:

1. We’re currently undergoing an enormous number of changes in society due to our move out of the Industrial Age into the Innovation Age, paralleled only by what happened 100 years ago when we moved from an agrarian society to one that centered on factories. Back then, the invention of the automobile changed the world; today it’s the Internet.

2. Several trends like working at home are going to result in the demise of corporate America and suburbia as we know it.

Which brings me to my third and final takeaway from the book: Those who are struggling most with the changes are men and Boomers.

The authors convey the message that women do well in times of great change. They point to the last great period of change (1900-1920), and note that women were granted the right to vote in the US in 1920. Other accomplishments from this time period:

• 1916 Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first American woman elected to the United States Congress.
• 1921 Margaret Sanger founds the American Birth Control League, the precursor to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
• 1928, women earn 39% of the college degrees, up from 19% in 1900.

Similar changes are happening now that will also directly benefit women, one of the most telling is that women graduate college in greater numbers than men. See recent NYTimes article about young women in certain urban areas outearning men. Moreover, the authors argue that women stand to benefit the most from the work at home trend.

While the authors didn’t survey “whether stay at home moms would take telecommuting, part-time work, if available;� they guessed the answer would be yes. I agree. Anecdotally, I live in a very small “Stepford-like� town (hopefully to be improved by the changes discussed in my last post), but at least half of the “stay at home moms� I know seem to work (catering, tutoring, real estate, consulting, photography, jewelry).  I also know four stay at home dads (some work part-time/some don’t), so times they are a-changing.

Ironically, our school systems are still on hours from the Agrarian age where kids had to work in the fields in the afternoon/summer.

Unfortunately, when one group makes strides, it changes things, and those who were comfortable with the way it used to be have more trouble adjusting. In this case, the authors argue it’s the men. They illustrate this by discussing Homer Simpson’s lasting appeal – he is the “everyman.â€? And it’s not just in the U.S. Here’s a global perspective:

What’s the appeal? Homer is, after all, basically stupid and indolent. This is how the daily newspaper Clarín in Buenos Aires put it when it sponsored a nationwide “Argentine Homer” contest: “Are you lazy, do you hate your job, are you jealous of your neighbor’s success, are you clumsy, are you funny in spite of yourself, are you forgetful, but most of all, a guy with a big heart? Write us!”

That seems to be it: When push comes to shove, Homer proves himself to be a devoted husband and father.

“Homer resembles so many men,” Mexican columnist Guadalupe Loaeza said. “I see my husband, who, by the way does not miss an episode, and how he resembles Homer Simpson in his insecurities, self criticism, his clumsiness - but all in a loving way.”

Homer is also a character who is not likely to jump on the Innovation bandwagon, yet it’s a character with whom many men seem to identify. However, the book notes that young men are actually leading the Innovation age, so they should have less difficulty transitioning. Yet, I’m starting to wonder if that group also feels threatened, what with the huge amounts of hateful and threatening blog comments against women who voice an opinion online.

Which brings us to the Boomers. Earlier this year, I mentioned in a newsletter that I was reading Boomsday by Christopher Buckley, I received a handful of angry emails from Boomers for recommending the book. This was not surprising as, according to the authors, Boomers are the most vocal about their opposition to telecommuting and other technological changes being brought into the workplace. (Ironically, the last set of angry e-mails I received were from men who were upset that I critcized the premise of the book Why Men Earn More by Warren Farrell.)

But, this is clearly to be expected. Boomers helped create a workaholic culture which depends on hierarchies and facetime. In addition, they are, after all, a generation whose first introduction to the computer was HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey.  A bit hard to get over the “computer is a threat to all humans� mindset. In stark contrast, Generation Y embraces the computer as a link to other humans. HUGE difference of opinions.

As for the authors’ prediction that there will be a shift to more dense communities? Also bad for Boomers, as there will be limited interest in taking the McMansions they built off their hands. But I’ll leave that to the Finding Foreclosures blog to discuss.

The Bottom Line: The world is changing and some people are going to benefit, while others will protest the changes and probably go down swinging. The entrepreneurs who are going to benefit are those who, rather than fight the changes, adapt and find solutions to the chaos being created during this time of change.

I’m still talking about Nine Shift: Work, Life and Education in the 21st Centrury by William A. Draves and Julie Coates this week because it brings up some very important trends and concepts we need to consider as business owners.

As discussed in my last post, during the industrial age, we all left the farm and went to the cities. When we became successful, we moved to the suburbs and commuted to the cities. And, here is where the next chapter in American history begins.

According to the authors, by the year 2020 many of us will be working at home and this will bring about the demise of the company as we know it, and also suburbia. What happens when people work at home? The company intranet replaces the office. It also affects the traditional hierarchical pyramid structure because employees will now collaborate online via networks, making “what� you know almost as important as “who� you know.

We’re starting to see this with Gen Y hitting the workplace. They don’t defer to seniority in meetings; they come with “ubernetworks� where they can source information with a few clicks of a button; and they can’t comprehend why open-source software makes those of us with legal degrees cringe at the thought. Personally, I think most of these are good things as it leads to innovation and performance-based rewards.

While there was a lot of interesting discussion about this in the book, my favorite part was the list of 10 things people will say in a company when its pyramid is collapsing. Maybe that’s because I heard many of them at my last company (which shortly thereafter was sold to a competitor), including:

• I can’t make that decision.
• We’ve always done it that way.
• That’s not in my job description.
• They won’t give us the staff to do that.

So what does all this have to do with suburbia? It will likely be much improved. The authors point out that in suburbia today, everyone has their McMansions which are designed so that you never have to interact with neighbors. Gone are the front porches and sidewalks that were common in earlier decades. Also gone are the car ports and street parking. All of these were aspects of suburban life that allowed for interaction with neighbors. Now, many suburbanites simply go from their kitchen/mudroom to their attached 3-car garage to hop into their SUV and drive to the office.

What’s wrong with this picture? Perhaps it correlates with the fact that community involvement is down. When you don’t have to see your neighbors, then you don’t have to justify that you voted against affordable housing or school improvements. You also don’t feel obligated to clean up the local park or paint the library.

What’s next? As more people work at home, they’ll still seek out communities both locally and online to replace the one they had at the office. Just stop by any Starbucks or library and you can see that people still like to work besides other people. This (and the fact that most Boomer McMansions are well beyond the reach of the next generation) will lead to people seeking more dense communities. In correlation with the authors’ prediction that light rail will replace cars (because you can work on trains, and there’s no solution to traffic congestion), these dense communities will be centered around light rail train stations.

So what does this mean for entrepreneurs? It may be easier to find employees if you run a virtual company. Or, if you want to open that bagel/coffee shop, you might want to skip the office park or downtown location and locate in a neighborhood. From my own business standpoint, I enjoyed the authors’ predictions that associations and both in person and online communities will grow.

Moreover, I had to smile as my “exclusive� suburb is trying to adjust to the light rail that’s going to start running through town next month, as well as the new sidewalks and affordable housing that are being built (my town, along with the other surrounding suburbs had been fighting all of these things for decades – yet, I moved here last year precisely because these changes were coming).

The Bottom Line:  Per the theory of the book, our society is going to undergo more changes in the next decade than we have in 100 years. Are you and your business ready?

Other related reading:  Bowling Alone : The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam

Next post – The Year 2020, Part III – Good news for the girls and Gen Y, bad news for boys and Boomers.