Is Message Not Received a Departure?

Over the last few weeks, I’ve moved from editing mode to media-whore/marketing mode. This is very much the hard part about books. Truth be told, I prefer the former to the latter, but the fleas come with the dog.

As I recently tweeted:

#Writing is easy. #Marketing is hard.

— Phil Simon (@philsimon) January 31, 2015

Some of my friends and media contacts are a bit surprised about the subject of Message Not Received. Questions have included:

Why such a departure?
Why write a book about business communication as opposed to, say, the Internet of Things?
Wouldn’t that make more sense?
After all, aren’t you a tech and data guy?

These are all valid queries. In fact, I spoke with a publisher about a writing a book on the Internet of Things but the passion wasn’t there. Sure, it’s cool, but it’s a ways off and most organizations are still struggling with many technologies and concepts, some of which are no longer brand-spankin’-new.

Why write this book?

To paraphrase the inimitable Krusty the Clown, let me be blunt:

Organizations usually squander the massive opportunities that data and technology provide because their employees can’t effectively communicate. Period.

I can’t state it any simpler than that.

Simon Says

When viewed against that lens, Message Not Received is anything but a departure from my previous work. Effective communication is usually a necessary—but not sufficient—condition for success these days. Rare is the company that succeeds in spite of itself.

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