Nice idea! Don't write a whole, long business book but instead write the CliffsNotes version

That's Gary Hamel's idea and I like it. As he says at a Wall Street Journal blog:

Truth is, the average business book is just a Harvard Business Review article with extra examples, and the average HBR article is a good PowerPoint presentation with extra prose. So I figured I could cut to the chase and just give you the CliffsNotes version of my never-to-be-published book.

Hamel them goes on to present the CliffsNotes of his never-to-be-written book. I can think of several books I have read this year for which I wish I had the CliffsNotes instead. And, on the other hand, I savored the pages of a few business books.

What was the difference? A small number of writers are very good at their craft, almost like poets or novelists. Most important for me, they tell compelling and illustrative stories about real people. What makes you appreciate a business book? And what makes you long for CliffsNotes?

Comments

[Julie A. Fleming]

I think the most valuable thing in business books are the specific suggestions and real-life examples. When you cut business books down to a CliffsNotes version, I think they all start to sound exactly the same.