Love Business and People Like You Mean It.

TITLE: Love is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends
AUTHOR: Tim Sanders
$13.00USD, 213 Pages

BIG IDEA

Tim Sanders profiles his journey from an unhappy ad exec to Chief Solutions Officer of Yahoo; and explains the system for sharing intangibles and connecting people that made him successful.

WHAT YOU CAN USE NOW

Work and partner with people who "ed" versus "ing." That is, putting people in your network that say things like "We discussed that," "We planned that," and "We executed that." Versus "We're discussing that," "We are planning that," the latter don't execute.

WHAT WE THINK

In Love is the Killer App, Sanders argues that no longer are people and organizations valued because they can capitalize on scarce resources. Instead, they are evaluated on their network and the ability to have their ideas adopted within a marketplace (think YouTube, it’s successful because it is pervasive). Therefore, if you want to be successful, Sanders states you have to gain knowledge, connect people, and care about others’ success just as much as your own.

To achieve these goals, Sanders advocates that you become a “Lovecat.” Someone who uses compassion to connect people and ideas and create value for everyone involved. It's about not brokering relationships and trying to get "a piece of the action." Instead, it’s loving the people in your life and helping them be successful by building and connecting your network to create value. In this light, Sanders also broaches the often-taboo topic of showing affection to colleagues through physical and emotional contact. He argues that Western countries are way too touch-phobic, and that we're scared to show affection because we might be embarrassed by a rebuttal, or worse, won't be taken seriously. I personally agree with Sanders, and hug my closest associates and tell them I love them and want to see them become successful because this is exactly how I feel. To counter the often-used argument that “business is not about making friends," Sanders offers this question: have you ever heard about someone losing business because they were overly nice to their contact? How about companies losing their clients because they viewed them with contempt and disrespect? The results speak for themselves. However, being nice does not mean that people walk all over you, it means you treat people with respect and honesty, and create value in every situation you can. However, this is a point Sanders doesn't make forcefully enough. Someone who brings loves to their work is tune with their emotions and those of others. They take chances on people and try to connect people in their network as best they can. What Lovecats should not do is let people use them for their connections. I believe that by stressing the idea of being a Lovecat so much Sanders doesn’t spell out this distinction well enough.

I think people also rebuff the idea of spreading some love in business because they all know Big Joe. You know that guy that saunters down the cubicle lane spouting nicknames, giving "the guns" and always calling you "Big Suzie!" even though your name is Cheryl and you're 5'2”? That's Big Joe, he's happy to see and you, the hope is he wants the best for you, but he provides absolutely no value to anyone because it's always the same empty shtick. So what Sanders suggests is to have Big Joe's attitude of openness and friendless (tone it down on the nicknames though), but back it up with a base of knowledge to create value for yourself and those around you. How is this done? Sanders suggests to start reading, a lot. Anything you can get your hands and you believe will add depth to your knowledge of business and the world. He even includes a list of titles at the back of the book. However, Sanders argues that reading alone is not enough. To be successful, you have to read intelligently. This is also where Sanders' greatest insights comes in. The first he calls "cliffing"; as you read you underline important quotes, terms or passages and make note of them on a full blank page at the back or front of the book (here are my cliff notes for Love is the Killer App written on the inside hardcover). When you want to refer to a specific passage or refresh yourself you can look at your notes. He also reminds readers to always stop at the end of a section, especially if it was tough, and mull it over. This is especially useful advice for when you are slogging through something dry like David Landes' The Wealth and Poverty of Nations.

In her 2004 book Confidence, Rosabeth Moss Kanter states, "It is readers who bring a book's ideas to life – literally – by using what they've read to gain insights, see new possibilities, and take action." I can think of no better way to describe what must be done with the advice given in Tim Sanders’ Love is the Killer App: How to Win Business and Influence Friends. Life isn't some high school English exam, the only test your going to have is real world application, so you might as well get it right. Sanders posits that to become successful you should be a human amusement park. You want to "Take people places they have never been before, show them books they have never heard of, [and] introduce them to people they dreamed they would meet," couldn't have said it better myself.

The B Cubed Crew