Pick a Fight: How Great Teams Find a Purpose Worth Rallying Around by David Burkus

2020, book #19: “The underdog fight is the fight to prove naysayers wrong and the fight to prove criticism unwarranted and is the fight to go up against the leaders and win.” — David Burkus

Finished on March 19, 2020

I forget where I first connected with David Burkus but we’ve had a handful of great exchanges together. He’s someone whose perspective I always respect. Not only does he always have something worth saying, he spends extensive time understanding a subject before speaking on it — which makes me respect him even more. I was on his email list here and actually was able to check out this audiobook pretty much as soon as it came out. We went back and forth a few times on email about my takeaways. The book was great, succinct, actionable, and informative.

Talk about a strong message. We spend so much time and energy as people reacting angrily or competitively. Yet, the real fights don’t source from those types of rivalries. The real fights — the right fights — reinforce sacred values. It’s not about which car has the better color, but rather which car is more innovative or efficient — whatever it is that the sacred value…