Book Review - The Plenitude by Rich Gold

Being on vacation means catching up on my reading list. I brought 10 books with me to NJ, and I've finished four.

This week I read "The Plenitude" by Rich Gold. I discovered it at the Stanford Bookstore last week after having lunch with David Woodward, the Assistant Director of the Management Communication Program at the Graduate School of Business. David is a smart and funny man I met last year at a storytelling class in San Francisco, but that's a post for another day.

Title: "The Plenitude"
Author: Rich Gold
Genre(s): Design, Business, Life
Summary: "The Plenitude" is what Gold terms the mass of man-made stuff that fills our world. He explores who makes it - scientists, artists, designers, and engineers. He then outlines the 'seven patterns of innovation'. He discusses why there is plenitude (because it's fun to make it!), why that might be a problem, and some possible solutions.
The book is meant to provoke thought, rather than to drive action and it does this admirably.

Favorite Quote: "For an artist user-testing is a joke. For a designer it's fundamental."

Strengths: I liked his distinction between artists/scientists (they work for truth and self, while being paid by patrons) and designers/engineers (who work for and are paid by clients and users).
I also found his Seven Patterns to be useful and interesting.
Weaknesses: None, really. It's very short, which I like. But some might find it superficial.

If you'd like to get a flavor of Gold's writing, go to Scribd.com and search for 'plenitude'. You'll find a presentation that appears to be the 'lost chapters' of the book.

Conclusion: If you're interested in design and creation (of anything). I recommend you read 'The Plenitude'.
Post-it Flags: 14 flags
* Each time I find an interesting quote, model, image, or idea in a book, I mark it with a Post-it flag. The more flags, the more value I found in the book.