Five Stars by Carmine Gallo

I often read business books and think about how they could apply in a school setting. One that seems an excellent match – for teachers and for students – is the recent FIVE STARS by Carmine Gallo, bestselling author of Talk Like TED. Here, Gallo stresses “presentation literacy” and emphasizes the importance of communication, saying, “Mastering the art of persuasion – combining words and ideas to move people to action – is no longer a ‘soft’ skill. It is the fundamental skill to get from good to great in the age of ideas.”  Gallo splits the book into three main section, one that explains why great communicators are essential, another that profiles scientists, (e.g., Neil deGrasse Tyson) plus a variety of entrepreneurs and other professionals who excel at communication and finally, an outline of how to get from good to great. It’s in that last section where Gallo devotes chapters to topics like The Pathos Principle, Three Act Storytelling Structure (situation, complication, resolution), The Big Picture, Smart Words and so on; similar points are often emphasized by our English teachers, especially.  I found FIVE STARS to be an inspirational and useful guide which has potential as a One School, One Book type read. For example, as Junior Themes become more issue oriented, wouldn’t it be interesting to encourage students to explore developing and sharing data with sites mentioned by Gallo like Kaggle? As we continue to develop critical thinking, creativity, and empathy amongst our students, FIVE STARS will be a valuable tool.

With some data here and some data there ….

I been reviewing two new books which deal with the collection and application of data. The first is THE AISLES HAVE EYES by Joseph Turow, University of Pennsylvania professor and associate dean.  Turow is pursuing a very interesting topic as his discussion of the reshaping of retail explores the tension between Americans being willing to give up personal data in favor of discounts OR being “resigned to the idea of surveillance.”  

Turow’s subtitle is “How Retailers Track Your Shopping, Strip Your Privacy, and Define Your Power” and he provides numerous examples in a retailing context, although it was sometimes difficult to stay engaged with his argument. At one point, I thought of the way parents used to avoid giving actual birthdates to restaurant chains like Farrell’s Ice Cream when those records were ultimately used by the government to pursue registrants for the selective service draft. The current potential for social discrimination and other misuse is noted as well as the ways in which our preferences are recorded and tracked by smartphones, fitbits and tablets. Turow compares the seeming unconcern with increased observation to a frog eventually boiling as water temperature is very slowly increased. He explains that tracking through other wearables and facial recognition (Face-Six, Emotient, FaceFirst are some of the companies involved) are coming quickly. Turow suggests a few actions, but seems more intent on raising an alarm rather than proposing detailed solutions. THE AISLES HAVE EYES has an index and extensive notes although a full bibliography would be helpful, too. 

THE UNDERGROUND CULINARY TOUR by Damian Mogavero with Joseph D'Agnese is subtitled “How the New Metrics of Today's Top Restaurants Are Transforming How America Eats” so again, we are learning about data applications and their impact on consumers. Here, the authors draw on extensive experience in the restaurant industry. Mogavero concentrates on financial analyses and human resource efforts (training a waitress to open a bottle of wine) in order to show the impact on often fragile bottom lines in the hospitality sector.  A couple of chapters do provide highlights from the annual real-life Underground Culinary Tour which Mogavero conducts; otherwise, this book is best matched with those who have a specialized interest in restaurants or similar businesses where Mogavero’s ideas could be applied. 

A Field Guide to Lies and more ....

A Field Guide to Lies by Daniel Levitin is subtitled “Critical Thinking in the Information Age” and I loved the author’s many, many references to our inclination to believe inaccurate and distorted information.  I am sure that I can use those examples with students and I look forward to hearing Daniel Levitin speak about transforming education.  He will be at our Cornog Auditorium (Northfield Campus) on Thursday, September 8^th beginning at 7:00 pm.  Contact FAN (Family Action Network) or The Book Stall for more information.

Levitin writes that, “Statistics are not facts. They are interpretations.” In A Field Guide to Lies he explains the scientific method and encourages students to ask questions like: What is the source of this data or quote? Are the experts credible? Has the graph been distorted? What alternative relationships or explanations exist?  These are exactly the types of questions that we, as librarians and teachers, are constantly modeling for students. Levitin raises these issues in an engaging and entertaining way and is a popular author with students, several of whom read his This is Your Brain on Music each year as part of a non-fiction assignment.  

Here are a few recent articles that we could tie to the concepts in A Field Guide to Lies (on order for the new library): 

• “Recidivism Watch” from The Washington Post (8/29/16)
• “The Fix” (8/24/16) also from The Washington Post
• “13 Tips for Reading General Election Polls like a Pro” (9/2/16) on Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight
• If you have more to add, please let us know. 

Also, see a separate review for Good Charts by Harvard’s Scott Berinato which does an excellent job of discussing data visualization.

Another new and related book is called Head in the Cloud by William Poundstone. This title, too, deals with information, although the focus is more on the value (or not) of general knowledge when students can just Google everything.  Well-known author Poundstone relies on a number of surveys (Levitin would ask: What were those sample sizes? Was this a representative sample? How were the questions worded?) in order to illustrate the inability of respondents to accurately identify country names on a map, for example. 

Overall, the instances that Poundstone shares are interesting and provide a great selection for trivia enthusiasts, but serious concerns arise, too, when one realizes that the least knowledgeable respondents (Where is Ukraine?  When did that dinosaur live?) also often hold the strongest (and uninformed!) opinions on important issues like immigration and global warming. I have ordered a copy of Head in the Cloud for the new library since it could certainly serve as a starting point for some very stimulating arguments.