Book Review: The Looooooong Game
Congratulations to Dorie Clark, for the launch of her latest book, titled The Looooooong Game: How to be a long-term thinker in a short-term world. Link here for the book.
I was giddy when Dorie asked me to review her book and sent me an early copy for two reasons:
I vehemently agree with the premise of the book. As you can see, I had enough whitespace in my schedule to read and review the book in a matter of days. That's by design.
Dorie is an exceptionally clear communicator - it would be a pleasure to read and would contain valuable advice that I could absorb quickly.
I wasn't let down on either front.
Dorie's key insight, on which the book is based, is that 97% of senior leaders rated strategic thinking - the ability to focus deliberately on long-term priorities - as key to their success, but in a separate study 96% of respondents claimed they don't have enough time to plan for the long-term. The Looooong Game is a three-step solution to attack that disconnect. She provides thoughtful and practical actions that you can take to free up your time, focus on what's important, and achieve long-term goals. (You'll have to read the book for more!).
Throughout the book, Dorie provides examples from her life and the careers of others on how to play the long game. Dorie's bio reads like an onslaught of the most prestigious publications and institutions in the world. And that's all important. The most distinctive element of Dorie's story is her commitment to her own creations in artistic fields, such as her persistence in writing a Broadway musical - an in-progress goal. And her tidbit of advice buried in the middle: Optimize for interesting as opposed to trying to optimize for an outcome. Said another way, it's about the journey, not the destination.
As we come out of Covid, the timing for this book is perfect. The New York Times published an opinion piece today titled "The Future of Work Should Mean Working Less". You can read it here. The author writes that 'We now have space to reimagine how a job fits into a good life'. That should also mean that more people have more time to play the long game.
I hope this piques your interest. I highly recommend The Long Game.