Book Recommendation – The Messy Middle By Scott Belsky

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( Recommended by Glen Barry)
“Starting a new venture is like jumping off a cliff and sewing a parachute on the way down. This book is the parachute.” —Joe Gebbia, Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer, Airbnb
 
“This is required reading for founders. Experienced entrepreneurs all know this period Scott refers to as ‘the messy middle’ and a few of us have worked our way out of it, but this is the first time I’ve seen an expert—both as a founder and as an investor—break down in such detail just how to endure, optimize, and make it through.” —Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Initialized Capital and Reddit
 
“Scott Belsky is a master of generous work worth doing. The Messy Middle will help you see that you have more control than you dare to admit, and the ability to make a difference if you care enough.” —Seth Godin, author of Linchpin
 
“Having been through the ups and downs of the messy middle many times, it’s critical to understand the challenges ahead. This insightful book empowers you to approach them head-on. Belsky’s powerful toolkit, based on hard earned experiences, is an essential guide to building a compelling product, revolutionizing an organization or growing your leadership abilities.” —Tony Fadell, inventor of the iPod, co-inventor of the iPhone, founder and former CEO of Nest, Principal at Future Shape

“Building a lasting business is 1% idea and 99% resilience. The Messy Middle details the unglamorous but essential lessons every founder needs to learn.” —Jennifer Hyman, Co-Founder & CEO, Rent The Runway

“The Messy Middle is one of my favorite business books of the last decade. It’s humble, smart, vulnerable, and precise. If you do complex work (don’t we all?), this book will show you how to navigate the most difficult part of any endeavor.” —Todd Henry, author of Herding Tigers

“With The Messy Middle, Belsky delivers a brilliant book that goes past dogma and slogans into key tactics and ideas. … Small business teams and evolving start up teams will find The Messy Middle useful for refining every aspect of their game.”— Small Business Trends

Listen with Compassion

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“Deep listening, compassionate listening is not listening with the purpose of analyzing or even uncovering what has happened in the past. You listen first of all in order to give the other person relief, a chance to speak out, to feel that someone finally understands him or her. Deep listening is the kind of listening that helps us to keep compassion alive while the other speaks, which may be for half an hour or forty-five minutes. Continue reading →

We effect change by engaging in robust conversations with ourselves, our colleagues, our customers, our family, the world

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We must answer the big questions. What are the questions that need posing? Philosophers, theologians, scientists, and great teachers have debated this for ages:

  • What is real?
  • What is honest?
  • What is quality?
  • What has value?

Whether you are governing a country, running an organization, or participating in a committed personal relationship, your ability to effect change will increase as you become more responsive to your world and to the individuals who are central to your happiness and success.”

– Fierce conversations by Susan Scott Continue reading →

Learning to fight without the Ego

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There is a Sufi story: It happened in the life of Omar, a great Mohammedan Caliph. He was fighting with an enemy for thirty years. The enemy was very strong and the fight continued – a lifetime of war. In the end, it happened one day that the opportunity came. The enemy fell off his horse and Omar jumped on him with his spear. In just one second the spear would have pierced the heart of the man and everything would have been finished. But in that small gap the enemy did one thing: he spat on Omar’s face – and the spear stopped. Omar touched his face, got up and told the enemy, ‘Tomorrow we start again.’ The enemy was puzzled. He said, ‘What is the matter? I have been waiting for this for thirty years, and you have been waiting for this for thirty years.

I have been waiting, hoping that someday or other I would be on your chest with my spear and the thing would be finished. That opportunity never came to me, but it came your way. You could have finished me in a single moment. What is the matter with you?’

In the eyes of the ego, self-esteem and humility are contradictory. In truth, they are one and the same Picture Quote #1 Continue reading →

Insights rather than Principles

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The real master never gives you principles he only gives insights. He gives you understanding, not commandments. He simply makes you more aware so that whatsoever the situation is you can always respond to it on your own; you do not need to follow a certain fixed principle. He makes you more fluid , more flexible because life goes on changing and if you’re very very inflexible you will suffer.

Osho