Hoof it! 7 Key Lessons on Your Journey of Success
Hoof it! 7 Key Lessons on Your Journey of Success
Article Type: Bookshelf From: Industrial and Commercial Training, Volume 43, Issue 2
Richard Norris,Ecademy Press,St Albans,2010,ISBN: 978-1905823-83-3,£12.99
Storytelling has long been an outlet for sharing thoughts, influencing others, and communicating culture and behavior ever since our ancestors sat around campfires. With the advent of neurological research we have learned that stories weave their way through our neurons thus making the stories more accessible and therefore more influential. Learning facts is all very well, but if they are to be of any use we must be able to easily retrieve them from our memory. The problem with isolated facts is that unless they have a strong meaning for us, and are ideally linked to other elements, they will just lie dormant in the deeper recesses of our brains and be of little benefit.
A number of stories/allegories have found success within the genre of management and self-development literature, one of the most well known being“Who stole my cheese” which was largely about encouraging change. Hoof it! by Richard Norris has a greater potential audience in that the themes are larger and more universal than “Who stole my cheese.”
The book is charmingly written by Richard Norris who has had a varied career as a vet, army officer and business coach. The storyline of Hoof it! is built around a young wildebeest called Vic who grows and develops as he follows the annual migration across the Serengeti and beyond. A recurring theme throughout the book is the power of natural rhythms such as the cycle of life and that of the seasons. As Vic matures he takes on more responsibilities and makes decisions that help guide the herd of wildebeest to navigate numerous dangers on their journey. The seven key lessons which Vic and the reader are encouraged to learn are: build a vision, have passion, make a commitment, change and learn, be decisive, take action, and have fun.
The aim of the book is for the reader to build an action plan based on exercises that are to be found at the end of each chapter. The exercises encourage the reader to rate themselves on the strength to which they measure against the seven key success factors. If the score is not an eight the reader is requested to write down three things that they need to do to raise this score to at least an eight.
This book has the potential to be read individually and the lessons that are learned related to the specific aspects that a person may be addressing in their personal or professional lives. Alternatively, it might be used as part of a book club or exercise by a training department for a group of existing or trainee managers. The benefits of reading this book will possibly be more strongly reinforced if it is discussed as a group and related to the issues that the group face individually and collectively. The book would also be a motivating read for young people.
Many years ago an experienced trainer recounted how many of the best trainers were storytellers, and that some of the best training session she had attended were ones where people shared stories. Hoof it! has the potential to encourage learning among many varied groups of people and the writing of many successful personal stories.
John P. WilsonUniversity of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
