Rookie Smarts audiobook

As someone who is struggling through a career field change, I picked this book (unabridged audio) on a long drive across the Southern Plains. I hoped that it would tell me that my struggles would soon settle and that my career would take off. Was I disappointed. I the news I received, not the book. Ms. Wiseman tells me that my struggle and my "newness" (or re-newness, in my case) to my current industry is my strength. She tells me that I'm experiencing exactly what I should hope to experience at every level of advancement throughout my career: the motivating fear of having to learn quickly combined with the freshness of see many things for the first time. In fact, she contends that it is at the point of comfort that we should seek out such new challenges outside our domains that will reignite those rookie juices. The book is well-researched and comfortably written. The only contentious factual point I recall is a note about the "10,000-hour rule" based on research by Dave Burkus at Oral Roberts which seems to contradict work done by Malcolm Gladwell. I highly recommend this book for leaders, those new to the workforce, and, especially, to those who feel as if they are languishing. Perhaps as case of "rookie-ness" will reignite your visionary fire...and the visionary fire of your organization.

So many gems for me in my leadership journey and so many to take back to my organization. Excellent read!

Not knowing perceived limits enables rookies to score more often, and it also allows them to score bigger gains ― Liz WisemanI started running in 1998. I use that term loosely as it involved a lot of walking and did not necessarily look like running to people passing by…walking their cats and pushing strollers. But I digress. I ran regularly and participated in at least one race each year. For years…I had the simple goal of running a whole race and keeping the pace around 10 min per mile. That is…until one day something changed. My watch died before a long run on a path I had never used. So, I started the timer on my phone and ran. And when I finished and stopped the timer…something happened. The time was faster than I had ever run. Faster than I believed was possible.If you’ve read Multipliers or Impact Players you may be familiar with the writings of Liz Wiseman. A former vice president at Oracle, she leads the Wiseman Group working with companies like Apple, AT&T, Disney, Google, Nike, and Salesforce. In her 2014 book, Rookie Smarts, she shares her research regarding the value rookies bring to the workplace. The subtitle of the book is really the message: Why Learning Beats Knowing in the New Game of Work. Wiseman shares her experiences as well as others when being the new person that was willing to learn really paid off. Throughout her book she shares many examples of newcomers or rookies that made a huge impact. Some were in sports, like Magic Johnson, and others like Sara Blakely are in business. In all cases, she describes people that are in a position to make change because they are in a position to learn.Perhaps the most exciting part of this book is not that it describes all the rooks that have succeeded but rather that Wiseman outlines how we can all maintain a rookie mindset that opens us to the possibility of looking for new options, answers, and solutions. We can choose to become perpetual rookies – not people that never stick to one job…but people that remain willing to learn and not just rely on the tried and true. Rookie Smart also outlines how we can build organizations committed to maintaining the rookie advantage…hungry and willing to learn and do what’s needed. Why not start 2022 that sameway? If we’ve learned anything over the last 24 months it’s that we don’t have all the answers. We didn’t have all the answers regarding a pandemic. We didn’t have all the answers about operating our businesses while protecting our employees. And we certainly did not envision all of the new businesses and opportunities that would arise from these challenges. We can’t possibly know all that 2022 will bring our way, but we can choose to foster a rookie mindset. We can say that we don’t have all the answers…but we’re willing to find them and we’re willing to do what it takes!When the world is changing quickly, experience can become a curse, trapping us in old ways of doing and knowing, while inexperience can be a blessing, freeing us to improvise and adapt quickly to changing circumstances ― Liz Wiseman

This is an excellent book if you will experience anything new in your professional life, whether it be a new assignment, new project, new duties, a new position with a new company or even a new career. Some of it seemed redundant, but it became much clearer in the second half of the book. The different Rookie & Veteran "Modes" helped make it clearer what you'd like to be and what you'd NOT like to be in order to stay ahead of the game and always be marketable.

Great business book. Deftly woven with anecdotes, examples, and facts to illustrate that 'fresh eyes' are good. Just read the appendixes if you are looking for a 'how-to', but if you do that you would be missing out on a great read. As good a business book as I have read in a long time.

I had the opportunity to hear Liz Wiseman deliver a brilliant closing keynote at the 2016 Healthcare Analytics Conference. I'm always a bit leery of business gurus and the books they write, but I left her talk wanting to hear more. The premise of rookie smarts is a familiar concept in Zen Buddhism. Suzuki Roshi famously wrote Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: Informal Talks on Zen Meditation and Practice where he taught "in the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few."In her introductory section, Wiseman makes a very strong case for why this rookie mindset is so important. "As work shifts from the physical to the knowledge realm, what are the implications for mastery? While physical virtuosity requires practice, might brilliance in the world of ideas demand mental agility? When there is too much to know, having the right question may be more important than having a ready answer." "A study in 2005 estimates that knowledge becomes obsolete at a rate of 15% per year. Another recent study reports that the annual rate of decay in high tech is 30%."A piece of data she presented in her presentation that I found very interesting related our level of challenge at work to our level of satisfaction. "We found a strong correlation between challenge level at work and satisfaction level at work. In other words, as the challenge level goes up, so does satisfaction." I think it's worth qualifying this though by saying that challenge here doesn't mean being crushed by busy-work. It means that the work itself is actually challenging and requires thought and problem-solving to complete. As she says, the cure for burnout isn't less work, it's harder work. But still be wary that when we overreach and create a knowledge or skill gap that is too great, we can break. In that situation we need to break the gap into smaller pieces. She calls out a great Viktor Frankl quote that perfectly sums up the whole concept: "What man actually needs is not some tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him."Wiseman also included some excellent advice to managers and companies regarding how they can bring out these qualities in their people. One that I wholeheartedly agree with is her suggestion: "instead of hiring for experience, hire for learning ability". I also found the results of this study important for all managers to remember: "In general, we found that after receiving a challenging assignment, people: have figured out their role within three months; are ready for the next big challenge within just three months; are ready for a new role within one year; begin to feel stale within two years."One consideration Ms. Wiseman doesn't fully address is that not all true rookies will be prone to behave with rookie smarts as she defines them. In my experience, sometimes rookies are the least likely to exemplify those "rookie" characteristics. In the extroverts-only, who-talks-loudest-wins business culture that Susan Cain has uncovered, those very traits could be perceived as weaknesses. Just as common is that a rookie will assume a fake-it-till-you-make-it attitude, and act the role of an expert (with all its flaws) simply out of fear or self-preservation. To act with rookie smarts requires a degree of humility that typically comes with experience; the experience to know that you're actually not as smart as you once thought you were.

I really liked this book and its premise. I was afraid it would only be geared toward newer employees in the workplace, but it wasn't like that. Being a "rookie" isn't about age; it's about mindset. So I thought Liz did a great job of making this book accessible to people in all generations and in all stages of their career. We held a book club to discuss this book, and we had many different generations there. We all enjoyed it. To me, the takeaway from the book is to keep challenging yourself. Learning should be the goal, not getting to a certain spot or knowing a certain thing. As cliche as it sounds, the real adventure is the journey itself, not the destination.

The book is written to inspire readers to continuously learn and try new things. In my experience, not all rookies follow the pattern, but idea is good - use others to help leverage collective knowledge and learn quickly. The author mentions multiple times that the best rookies are people in new roles (not necessarily young and fresh out of school) and often have to learn fast and ask questions. I don't agree that experience/knowledge are not as valuable, but agree to the principle about keeping an open mind and continuously grow.

I love this book! It was encouraging to me who, at 48 yrs old, am certainly not a rookie in terms of age, but I definitely am a rookie in multiple areas where I know I need to learn and grow. The author uses multiple real life stories and uses helpful illustrations to help solidify the ideas. Very practical and inspiring for those who have been in the workforce for many years, and I believe it would be very encouraging for rookies just entering their careers.

I love the idea of leveraging all the resources and the wisdom around you to learn and grow, reporting progress regularly (open communication), and having no other agenda apart from doing great work. This book is a good reminder to professionals at any stage of their career to, "Draw on the power of learning rather than falling back on old ways" and harness collective intelligence to deliver wins.

Super enjoyed this motivational book. Every manager will benefit from this and especially those of us who are in our final years in the professional world. Concepts that allow us the freedom and flexibility to feel and act like a rookie. I loved all of the success examples and ideas and concepts about being a rookie and the need to gain knowledge.

Awesome book It covers all the bases with theoretical and true life stories that enhances what today's new leadership styles are about. Life goals are about failing up and stretching your talents past your own limitations with help from your supervisors. I highly recommend this book.

Great BookLove learning growing changing developing - Rookie SmartsVery interesting, very worthy read, it hit the leadership spot- don’t get stuck

We all are rookies; being a rookie is not being a beginner; being a rookie is a transition from our comfort zone to exciting challenges.It is up to you!

Very insightful! For any young business owner or entrepreneur I highly recommend all of Wiseman's books!