Book Review: How Laziness Saved My Life ||10 Important Business Tips

Book: How Laziness Saved My Life

Author: Okechukwu Ofili

Cover Design: Okechukwu Ofili

Illustrations: Okechukwu Ofili

Publication Date: 2012

Genre: Business & Finance

Pages: 168

Price: Check here

The person who coined ‘Never Judge a Book by its Cover’ was definitely referring to How Laziness Saved My Life by Okechukwu Ofili.

From the title, one might form a misguided impression as it leaves you wondering and curious at the same time.

This book is basically about the author sharing business lessons from his experience at different jobs, with friends and life generally.

Okechukwu Ofili (writer, illustrator, trained engineer and founder of okadabooks) best describes his book as – A collection of radical business ideas for tired, overworked and frustrated people looking for an easier way to get stuff done.

It opens with an interesting introduction about ‘The Laziest Jumper Alive’ (Thanks to this book, I can tell a short story about ‘Dick Forsbury’ without thinking hard) and he rebuffs the theory that discourages workers to do their jobs through the easy way.

In his words, each chapter is unique and simplifies business by offering creative analogies that drive home the point. I agree.

The first four chapters got me laughing so hard, yet I learnt really interesting pointers as the author shared personal stories about facing the fear of being laid off at work, being overworked (without extra pay) and falling ill, being too confident, his job as an ‘underwear washer’, his experience with customer service generally, decluttering, incessant meetings, digital marketing, leadership and a lot more.

Generally, the book encourages a system where goals should be achieved through simpler methods. There were lessons to learn from stories about Barrack Obama, Donald Trump, William Kamkwamba e.t.c

It holds practicable tips for management and business.

My Opinion

I like that the author refers to this book as an accidental business book that contains endearing business lessons.

My first impression about it was more like – how is laziness supposed to save my life?

I was lucky to have received this book as a gift, so it saved me the stress of deciding if it will be a good buy or not. It has hidden treasures in each chapter and this just made me eager to read more paper back books.

How Laziness Saved My Life stood out for me because I could relate with a lot of the author’s personal experiences. As a young lady working a 9 – 5 job (more like 8am till meeting ends), I have had my bit of feeling overworked, attending incessant meetings and even bad customer service experience. For every chapter, I put myself in his shoes and found myself nodding in agreement.

I have also had to deal with distractions on social media, over bearing colleagues and shoving off toxic relationships. I may not have had the opportunity to start up a business but the salient tips coated in relatable stories are worth It. The content of this book is already being applied in my daily activities and when I finally have a start up, it will be a perfect guide.

It is safe to say that ‘How Laziness Saved My Life’ is a suitable read for workers, leaders, followers, small and large business owners and even students. It is written in really simple words, easy to understand and you will not need to grab a dictionary.

Something else that endeared me to this book were the illustrations and quotes. As a creative who struggles with reading paper back books, the illustrations made the read less boring and I had a good time laughing and learning as well.

How Laziness Saved My Life was published at a time when social media was all about Twitter and Facebook. However, reading this book seven years after, I realised that the social media marketing actually started a long time ago as the tips shared are still viable. The difference is, social media marketing has become more popular and with the likes of Instagram, a lot of businesses and individuals have embraced the need to put out quality content.

While reading any book, the catch for me is being able to relate with a character or story and I am happy this book made me realise how a lot of people actually share similar experiences but handle them in different ways.

Recommendation

As funny (or not funny) as the title seem, this book is packed with very useful business tips for start ups or already existing businesses.

This was a good read, very enlightening and relatable. Just so you know how much I enjoyed reading it, here are 10 of the tips that stood out for me. You should definitely read this book to find more helpful tips:

1. Never underestimate your competition. Always stay on your toes and seek to improve your business.
2. When entering a business as a new competitor, remember to look out for a single knock out idea not a series of ideas.
3. The business world is evolving at an unprecedented rate. Degrees are becoming less of a factor and real life experience is becoming more sought after. Improve your craft.
4. Actual experience thrumps theoretical understanding.
5. Ironically, in a lot of cases, poor customer service originates from the customer not respecting what the employee is doing.
6. Attainment of a degree should not be the sole judge of intelligence or ability, either for yourself or for others.
7. Leadership takes a strong and motivated group of followers to get things accomplished.
8. Make a conscious effort to see people outside the definition of what you expect and begin to see them for who they really are.
9. Set up your business in a way that it meets the expectation of all kinds of client.
10. Keep adapting and evolving. The lack of willingness to evolve causes businesses to work a lot harder when really simple methods can be used. In the end, everyone suffers – employees, family and the business.

These tips are probably things you know or have heard before but it is important to have a refresher once in a while.

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How much business knowledge do you need before running a start up business?

Do you prefer a 9 – 5 job?

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