Book Review: Humanize

I received a copy of Humanize from the authors.  I don’t recall there being a request for me to review the book…but I feel obligated to do so…especially since it is one of the best books on ‘social’ and ‘business’ that I’ve read.

The full title of this book is Humanize – How people-centric organizations succeed in a social world (amazon affiliate link). And…that’s the best description of a book in a title I’ve ever seen.

That also should give you a real good idea what the entire book is like. Jamie Notter and Maddie Grant (and their editorial team) not only created a powerful title – but they delivered on that title. And I mean delivered.

Danny Brown called this book “one of the best social media books you’ll read this year, if not the best“. If you follow the social space at all then you know who Danny is…if you don’t…you should start following him instead of some of the other ‘gurus’.

This is a business book about being social…not a social media book. Its not a ‘do this and your dreams will come true’ book or a ‘get clients now’ book.  Its a book about people.

Its a book that will require you to read. It will require you to comprehend.  It will require you to think.

Unlike other social media books, you won’t lend this one out to your buddies…because if you really read it and ‘get it’…this book will be more valuable to you than a warm coat in the North Pole.

Why is this such a good book?

Simple…it hits you in the face that being ‘social’ is nothing more than being human. This book is about bringing the people back into your organization. Its about treating your employees, your customers and your partners as people rather than resource or a number.

Sure…this book is about social media…but its not a starry-eyed treatise written by a couple of ‘gurus’.   You won’t find a bunch of warm & fuzzy stuff or empty words here.  Instead, in this book, you’ll find a wonderfully written, engaging and thoughful book on how to make your business more human – and thus more social.

Unlike many other books in the space, this book isn’t written by a couple of ‘rock stars’, ‘ninjas’ or ‘gurus’.  This book is written by people who’ve been in the trenches and implemented.  This book is written by people who have been doing rather than talking about doing.

This book is for you.Buy it. Read it. Read it again…and then read it again.  It is that good.