1. You need enough paper to create an object with a noticeable mass that takes time to work all the way through. Too small or short and it doesn't feel worth it. Make it short enough and people could read it in the book store.
2. People are bad at applying a crystalized abstraction in day-to-day life. They are better at learning narratives and fitting the current situation to the closest learned narrative, and then acting out the part of the protagonist. Instead of explaining a statistic or explicit rule of thumb, it would be more effective to give a bunch of examples where someone successfully applies the rule and is rewarded. Those examples can take up many pages.
People felt 5-10 minutes isn't enough time for something as serious as insurance.. but 25-30 is so long it turns people away... And then 5%, maybe even 10% savings isn't enough to go through the effort, but 25% seems unrealistic....
You need a document long enough to seem informative and authoritative without being too extreme in any way... Then you can slap a price on it and call it a book!
Reading a 3 minute summary, once, I will easily forget the knowledge. But reading about the idea with different stories and other auxiliary information help me retain the principles much faster.
Reading a book is not just “downloading a knowledge into your brain”.
Reading is more like executing a program and seeing dofferent result in dofferent people. People will reflect in a different way and come out with different takes, emphasize points, lessons, and takeaways
"Focus on value creation. Execution beats ideas. Leadership and culture matter."
So maybe your idea has a future...
Despite constant complaints about the padding in many non-fiction books (not just business) there's clearly a silent majority who feel like "If I'm going to bother, ugh, opening a book then I want it to be as thick as possible".
For that matter, you see a similar dynamic on the fiction side too with novellas and short stories bring far distant in popularity to novels. (Even though those same people have zero issues watching 22 minute TV episodes.)
Then there was the delightful Bluffer's Guides series.
I like shorter novels and short stories myself, especially in SF where ideas matter.
I don't know you but there's a good chance that you're not doing all of those things. There's also a good chance that you will agree with the above advice. There's a small chance that simply hearing those condensed words will change your behavior.
To change how we think and act we need good stories. This is what books are, including these business books. Good stories that take a simple idea and wrap it in anecdotes, justification, shock value, and entertainment so that they stick in your head and perhaps convince you to act in a certain way, at least sometimes.
> There's also a good chance that you will agree with the above advice.
I just want to note that I do not agree with the above advice. Tobacco and alcohol in moderation are key parts of a healthy life. Abstention is neurotic and thus unhealthy.
So, you know, these ideas are out there.
But all of those will improve the quality of one’s life, and thus improve one mental health.
There was some evidence that pointed to some benefits to occasional minimal alcohol consumption, but in more recent years, the scientific opinion is that there are no safe amounts of alcohol consumption.
Alcohol has a side benefit that it generally encourages socializing, and being among people DOES have big health benefits. However, if you can have meaningful relationships and socialize WITHOUT consuming alcohol, that is even better.
I'm willing to bet that me stating that did not convince you in the slightest. However, if you read a book or two, were presented with evidence, written in more elegant prose, there is a bigger chance that you might be willing to start believing it.
Just stating things does very little, and that is why books are valuable.
That is incorrect. For it to be true, a single drink in one’s life would be an unsafe amount — and that is clearly nonsense.
Alcohol and tobacco have positive and negative mental, physical and spiritual effects. Abused, they are terrible. Employed properly, they are key factors in a balanced, pleasant, meaningful and rewarding life — a healthy life.
I do acknowledge that the balance may be much less than folks commonly use. I hope that weekly use of alcohol and tobacco is safe enough, but fear that daily use may not be. I will not accept that yearly use is negative.
This extends beyond the paragraph. You can get very far by reading the table of contents, the introduction and the conclusion of a scientific book. Dive in only if you need details or quotes ;)
EDIT : Something related but slightly less wasteful of your time :
Carmen by Stromae :
> He later earned his MBA from Harvard Business School. Covey was the starting quarterback on BYU's football team during the 1987 and 1988 seasons, where he led his team to two bowl games
> Covey worked at Deloitte and Touche consulting in Boston, followed by Trammel Crow Ventures in Dallas.
Stephen junior:
> He received an MBA from Harvard Business School
> He is the father of NFL wide receiver and return specialist Britain Covey.
It's the same for business books. A 30-page book won't sell, but a 250 one is a best seller.
The first set is supposed to be the "good" ones, but a lot of people will add books from the second set there too.
I find it extremely annoying in books, but I don’t mind it at all with audiobooks, it drives the point home and makes you think about the idea and how you could apply it in your own life while you are going for a walk or doing the dishes.
I tried Blinkist (audio book summary service), but after listening to 20 summaries, I think I would have learnt more by just reading 1 book in full.
I really felt like I was fluffing up a book when I went through a publisher. For the second edition I felt it was a bit better as I trimmed some stuff and added a dedicated chapter with a legal co-worker. But it's downside to working through a publisher. Probably won't do it again and have self-published other shorter works.
What is seen as window dressing, is often essential tapestry that provides context.
Kindness, democracy, business, performance in sport, scientific method etc.
I don't know one good idea that can't be communicated in a page or less.
Of course it is hard work to distill something complex, but I have some naive intuition that it would actually be possible.
“The Iliad” is basically “Achilles gets insulted and sits out the battle, while everyone else tries to win everlasting glory through bravery until Achilles finally has had enough and kills Hector.” But nobody is going to be reading that summary for 2500 years.