# Skimming through a business/management/self help book - what do you look for?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skimming-through-a-business-management-self-help-book-what-do-you-look-for/947172>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [July 24, 2021, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skimming-through-a-business-management-self-help-book-what-do-you-look-for/947172 "2021-07-24T02:50:18Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![blabbermeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9a140/32.png) [@blabbermeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blabbermeister)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skimming-through-a-business-management-self-help-book-what-do-you-look-for/947172/1 "2021-07-24T02:50:18Z")

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Suppose you just have a minute to decide whether you want to buy the book, so you skim through the pages really fast. Maybe there’s a whole shelf full of these books at an airport bookstore and you’re passing time. What are you looking for/not looking for?

For example, do you love stories about actual people? Are you making sure there are graphs and charts? Or do you hate graphs and charts and just want some practical bullet points? Do you like when the stories are about CEO’s, and if the story is about some friend of the author’s you lose interest?

Thank you.

P.S. According to this website, my topic is similar to this other one so I’m including a link for your convenience.

> [@Flip-flops for thin feet](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flip-flops-for-thin-feet/452441):
>
> I recently started wearing flip-flops (thongs?) and have a tough time finding ones that fit. I wear a men’s size 12, but my feet are thin. I have a pair of Nike [Cruiser](http://www.soccer.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=1&Section_Id=1019&pcount=&Product_Id=277308) thongs that are discontinued, and these fit great (I ordered a second pair). However, I was hoping to get a more “rugged” sandal, like the Columbia [Tango](http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp;jsessionid=DOAAUDYZHM2MVLAQBBLCCONMCAEFAIWE?id=0032512822952a&type=product&cmCat=froogle&cm_ven=data_feed&cm_cat=froogle&cm_pla=0210901&cm_ite=0032512822952a&_requestid=21457) thong, but these are too wide/big, causing them to slip off when I walk. By “rugged” I am looking for one with a shaped foot-bed, an arch, and more support than the basic f…

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**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2021, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/skimming-through-a-business-management-self-help-book-what-do-you-look-for/947172/2 "2021-07-24T16:20:25Z")

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I don’t read them very often at all, the only time I did was when I had a manager that ate that stuff up and I stayed on his good side by mentioning a few of them and giving a brief spiel during boring team meetings.

The first thing I’d check for is to check to see if there’s a religious connection, a lot of them are tied to pop Christianity. Those are a definite no, I’m an Episcopalian but the Joel Osteen or Norman Vincent Peale stuff makes me ill