When We Recommend

I was walking into the city feeling pretty sorry for myself. I’d just missed out on a job I wanted and I really wasn’t sure what to do next. Then I got a text, “loving Altucher”. It was from a friend I had recommended James Altucher’s material to. In that moment, I felt grateful that I’d provided my friend something of value, and my friend was grateful for the value I had provided them. It was a win-win and it got me thinking about the power of recommendation.

What we recommend to others says a lot about who we are, or sometimes who we want others to think we are. Remember recommending a band to a girl/boy when you were a teen? See, I’m cool, I like these guys! It provides social proof of both who we are and what we think is important.

When I look back at some of the recommendations I’ve received, it makes me think about the people who made them and the impact they’ve had on my life. Books, albums and people, they are all things that have helped shape my world view over the years.

One the aims of Imageneralist.com is to provide recommendations with a view to equipping budding generalists with the tools to take on the rapidly changing work environment we now inhabit.

So, I’m going to run a competition. The prize is collection of books I find myself recommending repeatedly. The purpose of this is two-fold, firstly to give a collection of great books to someone, and secondly to get more subscribers. The idea is that when you enter, you also suggest the competition to others. Keep an eye out for it and please enter, it’s a great prize.

There’s also a third reason for this, and that is to provide some social proof. Remember recommendations are a view in to someone else’s world, a measuring stick of who and what they’re about. Hopefully, these books will give some insight into what we’re trying to do here.

Back to bit about me not getting the job. I did figure out what to do. I got another job and it might even be a better one – I’ll let you know. Want to know how I found out about it? A friend recommended it!

Cheers @generalistalan