I’ve just seen a guy called Alex Bellos on BBC Breakfast talking about his new book: “Alex’s Adventures in Numberland“.

And what a marvelous book it looks. It’s all about the beauty of maths and numbers and I’m chomping at the bit to read it after Alex talked with such passion about numbers, the Golden Ratio (it’s 1.61803399 – google it; it’s mind blowing), the fibonacci sequence, numerate Japanese monkeys..his demonstration of a multiplication sum using a diagram to get the answer was fantastic – I just have to learn this and teach it to my kids.

What really resonated with me was his point about the way in which Maths is taught in schools is uninspiring and puts a huge amount of us off the subject. I know first hand because of the work I had to put in following being relegated to CSE class when I was 13 by a moronic teacher who had written me off mathematically. I went on to GCE success at O and AS Level success and found a lot of inspiring mathematics in my Economics degree.

Maths is really the stuff of life. It holds the key, in my opinion, to the structure of the universe, the Earth and ultimately us. Anything, like Alex’s book, that brings it to life like this should be applauded. I’m off to buy my copy now :-)

Reading this made me cry this morning…

“To laugh often and love much; to win the respect of intelligent persons and the affections of children; to earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to give one’s self; to leave the world a little better whether by a healthy child, a garden path or a redeemed social condition; to have played and laughed with enthusiasm and sung with exaltation; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived..that is to succeed.”

This is credited to Ralph Waldo Emerson by Alexander Waugh in his book “Fathers and Sons”.

‘Nuff said.

How does one review this book?

If you are in business, my message is simply this: take your finger out of your backside, buy this book, read it, implement what you learn as fast as you can.

Drayton is the dog’s bollocks. He’s erudite, funny, brilliant.

David Ogilvy said Drayton knows more about DM than anyone else on Earth.

Ogilvy knew his onions (literally, as he used to peel them for a living in a Parisian Restaurant in the 1930s before he became the “King of Madison Avenue”).

This book is about as definitive as you can get on the subject of direct marketing. You know, the kind of marketing where results and profits are actually measured. The kind of marketing that does not get taught at Universities. The principles of which form the basis of all successful internet marketing.

I first met Drayton when we both spoke at The System Intensive in London in 2008. We met again in 2009 and regularly exchange jokes and advice by email. You can see how good the old goat is here (in fact, that’s my developing bald spot you can see in the foreground):

So, go and get “Commonsense”, then whilst you’re at it, get this as well:

Then follow one of the best blogs on the whole t’internet here:

I’ve had a lovely afternoon having my ego buttered by the international best-selling author of the Kogan Page published, Sunday Times Business Enterprise Series book “Branding Your Business”.

James came to me thanks to a referral from Drayton Bird, and we’ve had a lot of fun today belting through an online strategy to help James get his very powerful message across to entrepreneurs and SME business owners.

Here’s a quick video interview I thought I’d throw up so you can meet the man himself (he’s doing a longer audio one with me later you’ll be able to get from his blog – once we’ve built it!)

At dinner with Ken McCarthy the other week, we got around to talking about our experiences with people we had met in business that had left us, shall we say, a little worse for wear.

We compared notes on certain characters that had charmed their way into our lives and subsequently attempted to rip the guts out of our businesses. It was refreshing to know that I was not the only one who had experienced this kind of thing a number of times, but even better to know that it is such a problem in business that there has been a book written on the subject! It’s called “Snakes in Suits”.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough. If you’ve ever had a business relationship with someone that promises a lot, butters up your ego, manipulates you to such an extent you don’t realise it until it’s too late, brings in their own “people”, undermines you consistently behind your back, steals from you (ideas, money, shares and clients), lies to your friends – you will recognise the characters in this book.

If this has not happened to you, get this book now! It is far better to be forewarned.

The book itself describes itself as “A revealing look at psychopaths in the workplace – how to spot their destructive behaviour and stop them from creating choas”.

It is written by Paul Babiak, PH.D. and Robert D Hare, PH.D and gets right into the detail of how to become aware of the subtle warning signs of psycopathic behaviour – before it’s too late.