Bought a beat-up copy of 'The Guns of August' for $2 and it blew my mind

I picked this old paperback at a library sale last Saturday just because it was cheap. Reading about how World War I kicked off because of a bunch of really bad decisions made me rethink how I handle my own screw-ups at work. Has anyone else found a random book that completely shifted how you see things?

3 comments

3 Comments

murray.drew7d ago

The timing thing in that book is scary - good leaders make call after call while bad ones just freeze.

paulmitchell5d ago

Picked up a copy of "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius at a garage sale for a quarter. I'm not some philosophy guy, but that little book made me stop panicking about things I can't control. Realized most of my stress at work comes from worrying about stuff that's already done or hasn't happened yet. Started applying that to how I deal with customers who call back complaining about a leak. Can't change the fact they're mad, just fix the roof and move on. That book probably saved me a few gray hairs and a lot of wasted energy.

mila_murphy217d ago

My buddy found "The Art of Racing in the Rain" at a bus stop once. He said it made him stop yelling at his dog for barking at the mailman because the dog was just trying to tell him something was up. Ended up training the dog to ring a bell when he needed to go out, all because of that book.