HYDERABAD: We all think of ways in which we can become better versions of ourselves. However, when it comes to the grind, we fall prey to a number of problems, the biggest being procrastination. The best time to change for the better is now, but we have it in mind that tomorrow will be a better day. When tomorrow comes, all it becomes is writing on the wall. The first thing that needs to change is this mentality of putting things off. Without this specific change, other bigger changes will always be out of reach.
Chandramouli Venkatesan, a corporate veteran with 28 years of combined experience in HR, sales, marketing, and other business roles, has penned down a book that stresses on this point. The focus, however, is on how we see our problem-solving skills. Do we look for the answer? Do we look for how we got the answer? Or are we satisfied with not knowing any answers?
‘Get Better at Getting Better’ tells us that getting better is not about knowing the answer, which will only help you succeed in certain scenarios. It’s about knowing the method to get to the answer, which is much more effective because knowing the method means the ability to apply it to any scenario and arrive at a logical conclusion. For this, the author, from experience, suggests a Get Better Model (GBM) and talks us through recognizing your model and improving it.
The first thing that stands out in this book is how the author is friendly in talking to the reader. He does not talk down the reader and unlike many other self-help books, is far from being preachy. The author, at the very beginning, says that if something works for you, stick to it, and not to let him throw a spanner in your works. And this makes it such a refreshing, engaging, and informative read!
The author’s mantra is pretty simple: no sugarcoating and no insulting the people the book is trying to cater to. He touches some sore spots that you’ll want to ignore, but in the end, you’ll have to admit, he does speak the truth.
There are grounded, sane rebuttals to issues that pull down our productivity, like procrastination and negativity. To help us improve ourselves, he asks us to evaluate things that went wrong and then think of what we could have done better to avoid all the wrongs. He tells us to be inquisitive about the past, learn how we got there, and think of solutions that could be used in the future if those instances were to happen again.
The only thing that is a little jarring in this entire book is the recurrence of the phrase, “You have to improve your learning model, nothing else,” and its variations. It could probably be useful in retaining the message the book is trying to give out. But it does become annoyingly repetitive after a while.‘Get Better at Getting Better’ is targeted at people with jobs, entrepreneurs, self-employed professionals, and students. But there are a lot of concepts that anyone can implement to become better.All in all, this book is what self-help publications should be like: friendly, easygoing, and accommodating. Highly recommended!
Publisher: Penguin Portfolio
Price: Rs 299