My company engages in at least two forms of training per week. We have an established meeting time every Thursday morning in which we train on industry and company issues and topics; and we read a book or watch a movie and conduct a discussion after our weekly staff meeting.
Currently, we are reading a book about communication and crucial conversations with a foreward written by Steven Covey. My first reaction to the book was extremely optimistic and positive–yes, yes I could use some help communicating! I tend to be shy and I’m soft spoken.
I was severely disappointed as soon as I started reading this new book. The foreward not only came off as boring and trite, it ended with the most overused piece of great poetry EVER–The Road Not Taken. This Robert Frost poem has lost so much meaning due to overusage and yet Mr. Covey felt it was appropriate. An innovator, a revolutionary…a regurgitator. I’m not opening my mouth for your chewed up worms Mr. Covey; you’ll have to feed me something different. (true to nature, I was quite a picky eater in my childhood.)
Overall, the book has me underwhelmed. A foreward that reeks of a bad high school valedictory speech, 3 chapters to tell me that my health and career can benefit from besting my natural physiologic responses and being level-headed in high stress conversations. If the book ever tells me specific tactics to implement I may warm up, but right now the woods are lovely, dark, and deep and I just may choose to stop and visit for a bit.
