Image courtesy of Cora Daniels

I actually read this book a couple months ago, but I am only posting about it now. I was a little anxious about buying this book because there are so many new books nowadays that are just pure junk. They put a catchy title on the cover with a great image, but the content never matches your initial thought. This book is not one of those books. I’ll let Ms. Daniels web site do the talking about what the book is about:

How often have you used, heard, thought, snickered, whispered (under your breath), shouted (at the radio): “That’s so ghetto”? We live in a society where shows like Pimp My Ride top cable ratings, babymama has become a family term, pimp and ho Halloween costumes are sold in toddler sizes on the internet, and even Martha Stewart proudly boasts to television viewers that she “can get ghetto when she needs to.”

These days, ghetto no longer refers to where you live, but to how you live. It is a mindset. And a mindset is not limited to a class or a race.

Ghetto is found in the heart of the nation’s inner cities as well as the heart of the nation’s most cherished suburbs; among those too young to understand (we hope) and those old enough to know better; in little white houses, and all the way to the White House; in corporate corridors, Ivy League havens, and, of course, Hollywood. More devastating, ghetto is also packaged in the form of music, TV, books, and movies, and then sold around the world. Bottom line: ghetto is contagious, and no one is immune, no matter how much we like to shake our heads at what we think is only happening someplace else more . . .

The book was short but well thought out. And for a topic that seemed almost impossible to research, I liked that Daniels actually did some pretty decent research. The issues she discusses really apply to anyone. Not just people who live in cities or urban areas. It is a quick read, and I hope that this topic finds it way into more books and articles.

I’m in the middle of The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki, and I’m very intrigued by the point he makes about how decision-making groups in this country are so focused on a consensus instead of making the right decisions. From his book:

You do not need a consensus in order, for instance, to tap into the wisdom of a crowd, and the search for consensus encourages tepid, lowest-common denominator solutions which offend no one rather than exciting everyone. Instead of fostering the free exchange of conflicting views, consensus-driven groups – especially when the members are familiar with each other – tend to trade in the familiar and squelch provocative debate.

I can think of instances in my own life where this is true, so I can only imagine how many big decisions in government and corporate America have been made in this very same way. Everyone is afraid to speak up or go against the grain because they do not want any responsibility or they do not want to sound stupid, so the “easy” solution is chosen instead of trying to figure out the best solution. Something to keep in mind the next time you are in a meeting that seems to be going nowhere.