Its Not How Good You Are, Its How Good You Want to Be


Read about our pricing and services

List Price: $9.94

PriceQuantity
$7.951-24
$6.9625-99
$6.46100-499
$6.26500+

Bulk discounts are non-returnable.

Customize It


Paperback
128 pages
ISBN 9780714843377 Published June 2003
Phaidon Press
See all formats


It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be
By Paul Arden 

Related Blog Posts
Paul Arden Passed Away at 67
Posted April 7, 2008 4:44 a.m. by kate
In Misc. - 800 CEO Read Blog

Paul Arden, famous for his 14 years of creativity at Saatchi & Saatchi, passed away last week.

He shared his passion and made his impression on the book world with two titles:

A telling profile of the bestselling author from Creativity-Online:

"Paul Arden was one of the most exceptional creative directors I've known, with an individualism and passion for perfection that resulted in some of the best advertising of the 80s and 90s," said Anthony Simonds Gooding, chairman of U.K. awards show D&AD, in a statement. "His idiosyncrasies made him unforgettable and his generosity and encouragement to students and young creatives is an example to all."

Mr. Arden was such a perfectionist that he was often maddeningly over budget, insisting that the smallest details be perfect, such as searching for a certain pair of wildly expensive spectacles to achieve just the right look on a face that would be seen briefly in passing in a TV spot.

His public appearances were talked about for years. In one industry talk, he stood silently next to a woman playing the cello. Another time he gave a speech with a naked man on stage, demonstrating that a person is a blank canvas. And he once hired an actor to babble onstage while Mr. Arden displayed meaningless charts. His point was that although no one in the audience knew what was going on, they would never forget it.



It's All About The/Your Design
Posted July 14, 2006 3:51 a.m. by todd-sattersten
In Publishing Industry - 800 CEO Read Blog

Last month, Fast Company ran an article called Design Lite which talked about the proliferation of business "picture books". We have written about most of the books in the article included Unstuck, Change The Way You See Everything, and It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be (we generally like them).

The book I was not familiar with was Design Your Self by designer Karim Rashid. You will find him behind the design of everything from external hard drives to soap containers to restaurants. His book is his guide to living life. I am not sure this is a business book, but there is a whole section on Work. Here are some his pearls of wisdom:

  • Enrich your life with goals and anticipation. Look forward to everything. Look at every experience as a new one--even if it is a repeated event.

  • If you do not like your job, quit! If you are unhappy with your job, remember there are others. You have the option to leave and find something you like better or that is more suited to you. You may not be able to do it tomorrow, but you know you will not regret trying. Even if it takes time, think of it as a journey and map it out. Do you need to take a training course, learn a language, or talk to a specialized headhunter? Find out what it takes and get on with it. Take the necessary steps. Never limit yourself. Investigate your options.

  • Keep your desk neat, clean, and empty. This means you are staying on top of everything. Remove all the clutter. Designate a place for everything and store as much information as possible on the computer--not with Post-its all over the computer! Train yourself to write notes in the computer directly--even digital Post-it notes if you feel that makes the transition easier. All new addresses you receive should go straight into your address book or database. If you learn to do this consistently, you will never wonder where you put that card, wrote that number, or stuck that darn Post-it.

  • Use your proper name for your e-mail address. It's efficient and logical. Don't bother with business cards; just tell people your e-mail address. Once you have theirs, e-ail them any other contact information they may need and have them do the same. That way you both have the data digitally and can copy it to your address book or PDA without fear of losing it or getting numbers wrong.



Brand Autopsy's Worthy and -less Reviews
Posted June 2004 7:08 a.m. by todd-sattersten
In Marketing - 800 CEO Read Blog

Today, our friend John at Brand Autopsy posted Worthy Reads and Worthless Reads II.

His books include:




More on this book