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Rating:  - An outstanding symptom based book that helps interpersonal communications
Riding on his SMART concept/system (style, message, arena, receiver and timing), the author had delivered an oustanding symptom based (please refer to the table of content) book that helps interpersonal communications. Despite the many minor drawbacks as already raised by other reviewers, the book is highly enjoyable and helpful as a whole. In particular I like the many examples of how to demonstrate 1) main point, breadth, depth, height, sight 2) problem, cause, consequence, solution, action even in short messages. In short, a well thought through book and did "tell me (a serious reader) something I dont know" as promised explicity in the Introduction. Recommended!
Below please find some of my favorite passages for your reference:-
When people talk about "executive presence," they are talking about the credibility factor we call composure. Composure is a measure of how well you have things under control. When you have composure the people who are looking to you for that quality of control experience significantly less stress. pg 49
Ask your colleagues. "What do you do on weekends?" It's a lot more invitating than, "Tell me about yourself." pg 112
Your colleagues and most certainly your seniors like to see you with a passion for the job, a fire in the belly......No one looks at exactly what we're doing when we come in early.... It simply says, "I like to get started early." It shows passion for work. And staying later to make up for coming in late doesnt help that much. pg 124
Rating: - Great information; however...
First of all, let me say that I come to this book from the perspective of an Information Technology (IT) professional. In other words, I come from a large pool of people who are often seen as So Smart But... I firmly believe that this book will be of exceptional value to those of us in the IT community. While there are issues with the book (is any book perfect?) that I point out in this review, this should not detract from the tremendous benefit that it will bring to your career and life as a person working in any technical specialty (legal, health care, engineering, computer technoloty, etc.).
The author of So Smart But... does a phenomenal job of pointing out the need for better communication skills through credibility and what I call "entire communications" - it's more than just your words, tone and body language that we hear about so often. I have to disagree with the reviewer who said that the figure on page 20 seems unrelated to the text. It is very obviously related to the text; however, the review may mean to suggest that a lot is left to the reader in the way of interperting the meaning of the numbers in the image. I think the author is attempting to say that these various "breadth" factors are worth a certain amount in the decision process. To be sure, we would need clarification from the author. Indeed, this is one of my "howevers".
The other "however" is that the author starts by setting the bar VERY high and then proceeds to almost reach it or maybe even reach it. The problem is that, when I set the bar high, I have to leap over the bar in a big way or many will think I've failed. I'm sure the author understands this, but the book seems to have reached the bar only.
This bar is set in the Introduction when the author states, "So Smart But... intends to be the answer to your demand, 'Tell me something I don't know!' I would not be pleased if you, the reader, reacted to So Smart But... by saying, 'It's common sense.' Believe me, everything here should make sense, but it shouldn't be common sense." Here is the mistake: "everything here... shouldn't be common sense." Most readers will interpret that as, "I am about to read ALL new information." The problem for the author is that most of his readers will not be people who need the book... it will be people who read these types of books because they are self-improvement junkies. It it near impossible to surprise us self-improvement addicts.
That said, there were many places where the book made me say, "Hmmm...". One area was an insight of opposition. In other words, the author tells the story of a training attendee who mocked his use of the phrase "he goes" instead of "he says" or "he said". The author says he stated:
"I told the man that he should speak with more energy, and he goes, 'It was...'"
To this attendee, I go, "Perfect grammar does NOT make a good communicator. In fact, it usually leads to VERY poor communications. You must communicate in a way that connects to your audience. I'm sure most of the people that day were not only fine with it, but enjoyed the casual style of speaking." I've learned, after more than 1200 days of training, that you can't please every one, so on "I go".
In addition to this insight, there were MANY amazingly good tips and techniques throughout the book. My measure of a communication skills book is based on whether the author quotes the false information that only 7% of your message comes from your words. This is thrown around in a lot of communication skills books and is a legend based on shoddy investigation of thorough research (the original research was thorough and the investigation of that research by most modern authors is shoddy). Albert would not be happy to know that people have now twisted his research so. Thankfully, this book does NOT misrepresent, or even use, this statistic. In fact, pages 94 and 95 show a very proper respect for language.
Overall, the book definitely taught me some things I didn't already know. That's a positive, in my book, since I've read at least fifty book on communications skills over the years. Good job Mr. Weiner. In your next book (paperback version?), you might consider taming down the promise in the introduction; however, I hope your readers can overcome this issue because the book is actually very well worth reading.
Rating:  - A bit let down
I bought this book because it touted that I will get to improve my communication skills. The minute I reached home, I sat down eagerly to digest the content. Unfortunately, within an hour odd, I encountered a few "weakness/mistakes" (?) and frankly it left me feeling a bit disappointed considering that it is a book about communication and there's some blatant mistakes and text that are quite hard to relate. The author even admitted several times to his inability to communicate his intended message to his client, his son!? That does not increase my confidence in the messages/techniques the book is trying to bring across.
Page 20, Figure 2.3 Second Paragraph. I believe there's some mistakes in that paragraph or Figure 2.3 as the text does not relate to the figure. The first point is about faster and better product(figure is point 3), Point Three, it will save us a lot of money, revenue upside but the figure is point 1. That paragraph took me a while to relate as I cannot associate with the points in the diagram. Secondly, I seriously doubt if these points are relevant to anyone who is not in the IT product industry.
Page 67, In the first paragraph, the sentence is "I think we need to revise our position when it comes to reimbursement POLICY" but in the paragraphs that followed, the word policy is missing from the examples.
Page 68, the anecodote / story for the point "take offs and landing"
is just that.. a story. The concluding point is just a 3 liner and it does not have anything concrete to fall back on. It also does not provide any good tips or techniques for the reader to improve. We all know that most amateur speakers have the brain drool problem. We want to know how to eradicate that. That is why we bought the book. Telling us "roll them down the runway, have an uplifting takeoff, and then land them with confidence" will not do much to help us.
All in all, I find that the book is "So Smart BUT .....".
Rating: - Respectful Dialogue in the Workplace
So Smart But . . . by Allen Weiner provides a detailed plan for bringing back respectful dialogue in the workplace. The credibility factor is defined and resources provided for how not to lose your credibility and how to regain it when a communication has gone awry. The author assists the reader to understand the significance of not relying on technical expertise or formal education alone, and the critical requirement of respectful behavior for delivering success at all levels of an organization. The Problem, Solution/Diagram and Speak with Logic flow chart are two examples of the quality resources provided to the reader.
One addition for a future revision will be to add an index. This will result in more efficient access to specific resources.
The elements incorporated in this valuable book transition to home, church, volunteer opportunities, and all other roles in the lives we lead. While the book suggests a focus on Executive level intervention, it provides a path to success that will be helpful to any individual committed to changing and enhancing their personal leadership style and demonstrating credibility and integrity as part of their interpersonal interactions.
Rating:  - So Smart But . . .
Bought it, read it and really enjoyed it. I am an attorney in LA and work a great deal in the employment area. I found it to be both insightful and helpful. I plan to give copies to a few of my clients.
Steve Albright
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