A Note From The President

Avil Beckford, President

This month we are focusing on learning. There is so much information out there and we can become overwhelmed just thinking about it. How can we keep pace? Do we know how to learn effectively? This month I am reviewing How to Read A Book, which was originally written in 1940 and updated in 1972.

Over the past year I have been consumed with learning how to learn and improving my memory. Intuitively, it made sense to read several books on the subject. Now that I have read How To Read A Book, I understand what it means to read syntopically and I can now be more effective when I read.

Three years ago while studying the program "Lead The Field," Earl Nightingale stressed the importance of learning and growing. He suggested reading a book a week and learning a word a day. I mastered reading a book a week, but I have had problems learning a word a day. I subscribed to a website that would send me a word every morning, and I purchased vocabulary builder books. I didn't stick to the programs because either the words were so ridiculous that I didn't want to waste time learning them. Or, the system was not easy to use. I purchased the Vocab system on tape, but didn't stick to it because I believed it was too much of a hassle to rewind the tape, and I often didn't remember all the words. This year, I am using the Vocab system with great success. What am I doing differently this time?

Knowledge can be such a wonderful thing. The book Superlearning 2000 suggested that the best way to learn words is to hear them on a tape, while playing 60 beats per minute baroque music in the background. I purchased Hemi Sync's "Baroque Garden for Concentration" and Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons." Rewinding the tape was no longer a hassle because I discovered that if I counted to 15 while I rewound the cassette tape I would be exactly where I needed to be. It's amazing how easy we can find solutions when we are truly inspired and motivated to accomplish our goals.

Even though I wasn't exposed to a lot of classical music while growing up, like most things, the more you are exposed to them, the more comfortable you become with them. Everyday I now play baroque music while I do my work, and I have noticed that it has a calming effect, while heightening my alertness. I was working on a project to summarize a technical white paper, and I played Vivaldi's "The Four Season" in the background. My level of concentration and alertness increased.

Is it important for you to learn and grow? How often do you read a book? What kinds of books do you read? Do you read books that stretch and grow your mind? What would you do if you were offered $5 billion to stay on a deserted island for five years with only some articles and 15 books? You wouldn't have access to any modern day technology such as radio, television, telephone, PDA, iPod - nothing. Which books would you take? Which books would you be willing to read over and over? I haven't made my list yet, but I know one book that I would take.

Book Review

Review of How To Read A Book: The Classic Guide To Intelligent Reading by Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren

How To Read a Book is packed with lots of useful information, and it isn't the type of book you read once. I thought that on my second reading it would be very helpful if I discussed the contents with a group of people, then and only then would I be able to really make use of the wealth of knowledge that it contains.

The stated primary goal of How To Read a Book is to "know how to make books teach us well" if we are open to continuous learning and discovering. Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren define the art of reading as "The process whereby a mind, with nothing to operate on but the symbols of the readable matter, and with no help from outside, elevates itself by the power of its own operations. The mind passes from understanding less to understanding more…"Adler and Van Doren suggest that before reading a book you should decide if you are reading for entertainment, information or for the sake of understanding. Making this kind of distinction determines how you would read the book.

The authors describe four levels of reading in How To Read A Book - Elementary Reading, Inspectional Reading, Analytical Reading and Syntopical Reading. Elementary Reading is the level of reading that you learn in elementary school. There are two types of inspectional reading, (1) systematic skimming or pre-reading and (2) superficial reading. With inspectional reading, the emphasis is on time - getting the most out of a book within a short time frame. Analytical Reading deals with classifying the book, coming to terms with it, determining the book's message, criticizing the book and the author. Analytical reading is a very active type of reading. And finally, syntopical reading or comparative reading, the most complex form of reading, is the reading of multiple books on the same subject and placing them in relation to each other.

If you actively read a book, you should be able to answer the following questions - (1) what is the book about? (2) What is being said in detail, and how? (3) Is the book true, in whole or in part? (4) What of it? If you are able to answer these questions, you truly understand what the author is trying to say.

Adler and Van Doren made an interesting comment. They suggest that if you are reading to become a better reader, or in other words reading for understanding and enlightenment, you cannot read just any article or book. You must read material that stretches and grows your mind.

I recommend this book, but be prepared to read it at least twice to get the most out of it. This extra effort will save you lots of time later when you are using the information to read other books.

February's Book List

How To Read A Book, Mortimer J. Adler & Charles Van Doren
Superlearning 2000, Sheila Ostrander & Lynn Schroeder with Nancy Ostrander
How To Be Twice As Smart, Scott Witt

Survey Results

• The accuracy of the group listening to light classical music for 90 minutes increased by 21.3%
• The accuracy of the group listening to popular radio format improved by 2.4%.
• Those editing in silence was 8.3% less accurate than those working alongside the usual office noise.
  

Source: Campbell, Dan. "The Mozart Effect.", 1997 pages 72 & 75, First Avon Books Printing.

Note: Many more survey results on the benefit of music is documented in this book.

How Did They Do That?

Lillyann Goldstein, B.C.L, L.L.B, CEO and Legal Counsel, @ Wallace Studios, Original Partner and Visionary of the Distillery Historic District http://wallacestudios.com

Challenge: When I first became involved with the purchase of the Gooderham & Worts Historical Property in Toronto, it was shortly after September 11, 2001. The property was deemed "historical", and encompassed 13 acres and 42 buildings, most of which were protected historicalstructures. Many thought we had lost our marbles, to enter into a redevelopment of a historical property of this magnitude (the largest ever undertaken by private investment) would be enough of a challenge, but to turn it into an arts, culture and entertainment district in an off the beaten track of downtown in the aftermath of 9/11...

Solution: We rose to the challenge. I, my husband and our respective companies, with two-thirds ownership of the project, together with our one-third partner, Cityscape Development, re-developed, re-named and opened the site, as "The Distillery District" to the public for the first time in over 170 years in May 2003 - right in the middle of the SARS outbreak.

Lessons Learned:

• We accomplished our goal but not without the support of many. One can only accomplish so much on one's own.
• Everything costs more than originally budgeted, so keep a tight control on expenditures or you may drown before you finish.
• Ensure that your partners/staff actually have the level of expertise they had presented to you.
• Ensure that all legal documents are signed and sealed, trust unfortunately only goes so far when issues develop.
• Would we do it again? Yes, but not without certain safeguards in place. That is for another saga.

What Can Ambeck Do For You:

Ambeck Enterprise provides diverse business research and analysis services to senior level executives, through the relevant distillation of diverse facts and data.

Formula For Success

Lillyann Goldstein

Two sides to this: Remember where you started, who you met along the way, who helped you and who you helped, while not letting success inflate your ego. After all we are all human beings who deserve to be respected. The next step is keeping your human side in check. Make sure that you have undertaken your market research, followed by a good business plan and solid financing before you embark on your venture. With good planning, and solid financial backing you will find that all the time spent being a solid human being will pay back in spades.

If you do not wish to receive this e-Newsletter, please send an e-mail to postmaster@ambeck.com with unsubscribe written in the subject line.