It's Venntastic I

I am unabashedly stealing from Jessica Hagy, so see go her site, Indexed...

That said, Venn diagrams are a great visual communication tool, so I sat down a couple of weeks ago and exercised my brain by creating some.

I love the saying, "Every villain is the hero of their own story", so that is a natural my first Venn diagram.

I'll post more over the next few months.

Book Review: The Adventures of Johnny Bunko

Daniel H. Pink's A Whole New Mind is one of my favorite books. He's an engaging writer and he picks interesting and important topics.

I drove straight to the bookstore when I heard that his new book, The Adventures of Johnny Bunko - a career guide done in manga (Japanese comics) style - was released.

I've read a few manga - Shirow Masamune's Ghost in the Shell holds a prominent spot on my bookshelf. enjoy the manga, the anime movies and the video series... I've even got a Major Kusanagi action figure on my bookshelf - but I'm not what you'd call a hardcore manga fan.

Major Motoko Kusanagi
Ghost in the Shell's Heroine protects my books

Still, you'd have to be blind not to see that visual communication is the next big wave in learning, and manga is a leading edge of that wave.
Hence, my interest in Johnny Bunko. I bought it and read it in one sitting.

Title: "The Adventures of Johnny Bunko"
Author: Daniel H. Pink
Genre: Manga, Business, Careers
Summary: to quote the book's subtitle, "The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need"

Favorite Quote: I have two - "There is no plan" and "Make excellent mistakes".

Strengths: Well, I applaud Mr. Pink for innovating. It's not without risk to write a non-fiction book in manga format. On the other hand, his audience - new college graduates - is ready for this. And the message is right on target. I don't have any major disagreements with the content.
Weaknesses: All the learning in this book could have fit in a manifesto (manifestos rock!!).
This, essentially, is an article, not a book.

Ghost in the Shell proved that a manga doesn't have to be simple or dumb.
In fact, I guarantee that you'll learn more and think more during a reading of Ghost in the Shell than you will in Johnny Bunko.

Conclusion: Maybe Johnny Bunko is the baby step we need to launch the next visual learning wave - but if you're interested in riding that wave, I'd suggest you pick up one of these:

• Ghost in the Shell - the science fiction manga that inspired "The Matrix"
• Understanding Comics - Scott McCloud's overview of comics as a visual language is proof you can learn through pictures.
• Flight Volume 2 - This anthology of 'sequential art' - as Will Eisner termed it - is inspired and inspiring. If you wonder what the medium is capable of - look here.

Post-it Flags: 1 flag
* 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.

Am I a Geek? Are You a Geek?

Yesterday, Barry Posner signed my 1st edition copy of The Leadership Challenge. 

Believe it or not, before I met him, I had to decide which edition I was going to ask him to sign - yes, I have all four editions...

In the afternoon, I stopped at the Recycle Bookstore in San Jose, and bought four more books to add to my reading pile.

• Riding The Waves of Culture by Trompenaars
• Managers As Facilitators by Weaver & Farrell
• The Cycle of Leadership by Noel M. Tichy
• Passion at Work by Lawler Kang

Based on these two data points, I realize that if someone wanted to convict me of being a geek,  they could find some pretty strong evidence.

1. I have an engineering degree.
2. I read for fun.
3. I don't just read, I collect books.
4. I have three computers on my desk (powered up and ready to go)
5. I like anime.
6. I enjoy the occasional graphic novel, manga, or sequential art.
7. I enjoy documentaries and foreign films.
8. I have a large catalogued collection of dvds.
9. I have a large catalogued collection of cds.
10. I own a couple of action figures (Musashi Miyamoto and "Ghost in the Shell's" Major Motoko Kusanagi)
11. I love maps.
12. I love libraries.
13. I have a sand (yes... sand) collection.
14. I can program in BASIC and HTML.
15. I've had a website since 1998.

Curious, I googled, "Are you a geek?" and "Are you a nerd?"

I took the GeekTest and scored at only 10.45365% (love the accuracy there).

Turns out I'm not even close. The lack of anti-social and fantasy attributes (no role playing games in my past, sorry) holds me back from reaching true geekdom.

How about you? Where do you score?