Boo!

Introduction

            Whilst on a trip to America a few years ago to do some public talks about my last book – Who Owns the Future? - a friend recommended a book to me called The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. *

            Having heard my talk in New York City, my friend recommended that I get hold of a copy of The Tipping Point.  So, off I went to Barnes and Noble to find a copy.

            When I got there I decided to browse first rather than simply ask at the Information Desk for a copy.  In this, if you pardon the pun, I was clearly the author of my own misfortune for not being sufficiently focused in my search, and what that then caused.  Be warned, such lack of focus could cause similar things to happen to you!

            Eventually I ended up in the self-help / personal development section, and this seemed to be the biggest section of the whole store.  There seemed to be books on any and every aspect of self improvement imaginable, from Feng Shui for Animals to Tantric Sex Yoga, from Astrological Chakra Balancing to Cosmic Ordering for Vegans, to Finding Your Inner Alien and everything and anything in between!

            As I browsed through this kaleidoscopic potpourri of promised enlightenment, a sense of claustrophobia began to manifest in me.  How ironic that this could be caused by a sea of self help books, I thought.

            When finally, via the help of the maps section, I managed to escape this plethora of mind numbing mentoring and life coaching self improvement, I made my way gingerly to the Help desk and asked the clerk to help me find the book I had come to buy. 

            So I bought the book and headed for Central Park to quietly sit on a park bench and read my new book.   

            Afterwards I reflected on my experience in the bookstore and wondered whether it was unique to me.  After all, the self help / self improvement genre is one of the biggest and, of course, most profitable niche markets within the book industry.

            Perhaps this is simply because there is so much wrong with how people live their lives that they therefore need continual help in order to get some kind of grip on who they are and how to get to where they want to go?

            However, I did not sense that this was the case, but rather that there was something deeper at play that needed researching.

            For the feeling I had was one of increasing confusion rather than greater clarity.  With so many options available on sale, where was a person to start in treating the many maladies from which they we