I haven't been reading many business books - if you look back over my "books" category, you'll see a lot of history, and very little else. However, I recently received a pre-release copy of Michael Port's "Beyond Booked Solid" - so I sat down and read it. It's a quick read, and it lays out a fairly easy to follow set of ideas for moving a business (primarily a service business) beyond the scope of what you can do yourself.

There's not a lot new in the book that you can't find elsewhere, but Port does keep it breezy and easy to follow. That's valuable all by itself, because even obvious messages are often overlooked. For instance: in a short section on hiring, he points out that you should keep attitude in mind when you hire. The right skills are important, but - keep in mind that you can train much, much more easily than you can change demeanor. Nothing earth shattering, but it did make me pause and look back over interview processes I've been involved in over the course of my career.

Another useful point made in that section, which far too few people pay attention to: Don't get caught up in the idea that "no one can do what you do". If you can delegate, and hire smart people to handle things, you'll leave yourself time to get into more of what you really want and need to do.

Overall, it's a nice fast read - I finished it in a couple of hours. That makes it a decent business read, because you don't need to slog through a lot of extraneous explanation to get to what Port is selling. Mostly, he's selling the idea that you need to figure out what you really want to do, and then map out systematically how you intend to get there. Obvious advice, perhaps, but - based on a lot of business situations I find myself in - advice that could stand to be passed around.

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