{"id":3357,"date":"2023-12-14T11:34:13","date_gmt":"2023-12-14T11:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpressagency.london\/sc\/?p=3357"},"modified":"2023-12-28T14:30:52","modified_gmt":"2023-12-28T14:30:52","slug":"book-review-the-road-less-stupid-by-keith-cunningham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpressagency.london\/sc\/book-review-the-road-less-stupid-by-keith-cunningham\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Road Less Stupid by Keith Cunningham"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This book had been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years and I never really had the urgency to read it. Perhaps it\u2019s because it isn\u2019t a regularly recommended book in all those \u201ctop business books to read\u201d lists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those lists clearly just regurgitate the same books and the writers don\u2019t actually read the books they recommend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But a friend was raving about the book and said that I\u2019d really like it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first thing that hit me was his use of language. The road \u201cless stupid\u201d is about calling decisions stupid! He\u2019s very frank and NO BULLSH*T! So, it was right up my street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found myself screaming YES and nodding all the way through. It was like this guy was getting into my head and writing my thoughts down on paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know what you\u2019re thinking\u2026 confirmation bias. Perhaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I also learned a HUGE amount from the book and it\u2019s going to help me not make the same mistakes in this next business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Book Overview<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Keith Cunningham is a business strategist that takes readers on a journey through what it\u2019s like running a business, of all sizes. He calls upon his own experience and interactions with successful entrepreneurs and assembles lessons from their and his experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book is like a mentor, guiding you away from the costly or \u201cstupid\u201d mistakes, helping you make better business decisions while offering practical wisdom and strategic insights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I loved the tone of the book as it mixes humour and candour, making it the perfect No Bullsh*t business book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Topics Covered<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Thinking Time<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The main focus of this book is actually that if you spent more time thinking and less time doing, then you would probably make fewer mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keith includes \u201cthinking time\u201d at the end of each chapter and poses questions for you to think about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explains that he carves out thinking time dedicated to solving these problems and it helps him make better decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hiring A-Players<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I loved about this book is that it\u2019s quite old-school when it comes to hiring. These days, it\u2019s all about letting the employee have as much freedom as they want and offering all these fancy benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keith talks about hiring A-players \u2013 those who just know how to do the job well and get it done without any moaning or excuses. You don\u2019t have to dangle rewards or provide incentives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also buy into the thinking culture, share the value of continuous learning and the vision of the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capital Preservation\/Allocation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Financial problems is a common reason for businesses to fail. Keith explores this in depth and explains the concept of preserving capital as a crucial element for long-term success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book delves into the critical skill of capital allocation, provides strategies for avoiding unnecessary financial losses, guides us on how to wisely deploy resources for maximum impact and protect what\u2019s necessary for business growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Takeaways<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Thinking Toolkit<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if you just took the questions from this book, you would have a huge resource on your hands for analysing your business and being able to think more strategically. We are encouraged to develop our own personal \u201cthinking toolkit\u201d to enhance decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questioning Assumptions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entrepreneurship is filled with advice, much of which isn\u2019t that great. Keith encourages us to challenge the status quo and conventional wisdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, it\u2019s all about asking the right <\/em>questions, and we will be able to get the answers we need to explore innovative alternatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re all stupid<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even the smartest entrepreneurs in the world have made some stupid decisions. Keith highlights a ton of the ones he did but has still come out very successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He offers strategies for identifying and avoiding these pitfalls, allowing you to make better decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ll Love This If You Love\u2026<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Good to Great \u2013 Jim Collins<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Profit First \u2013 Mike Michalowicz Originals \u2013 Adam Grant<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This book had been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years and I never really had the urgency to read it. Perhaps it\u2019s because it isn\u2019t a regularly recommended book in all those \u201ctop business books to read\u201d lists. Those lists clearly just regurgitate the same books and the writers don\u2019t actually read […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpressagency.london\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpressagency.london\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpressagency.london\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpressagency.london\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpressagency.london\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3357"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wordpressagency.london\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3472,"href":"https:\/\/wordpressagency.london\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3357\/revisions\/3472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpressagency.london\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpressagency.london\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpressagency.london\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpressagency.london\/sc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}