Just a reminder that tomorrow is the last day to get the AOV (pdf only) at the special price of $5. After August 31, 2011, the price goes back to $8.
To purchase, please go to this link:
http://philiphii.com/purchase/pdf_only/
If you have already purchased it, many thanks!
So there I was again, in the heart of Borneo, browsing through another bookstore, this time in Sibu, my old hometown, when my eyes fell upon another book.
Encrusted in dust, this book looked like it’s been sitting there for the past three decades too, waiting for me to pick it up.
I really don’t know why it attracted my attention, certainly not because of the title, ‘How to Overcome Competition.’ But picked it up I did, and I started reading through it, and I was hooked. I loved the direct style of writing, it’s something I’ve been trying to cultivate so I bought the book.
Once home, I decided to google the author’s name, Herbert Casson, and what I found got me even more excited. A Canadian who lived mostly in England at the turn of the twentieth century, he started out as a minister and ended up an authority on business practices.
But that wasn’t what got me excited. It was his focus on the subject of efficiency. In fact, he started a journal named after that very subject and published a number of books on it.
Efficiency, of course, is a pet subject of mine. It is an integral part of virtuosity; much of virtuosity has to do with streamlining your task, refining it and making it as efficient as possible.
But what got me really excited was another book of his, entitled ‘Lectures on Efficiency’ which I found in digital format here:
http://ia700304.us.archive.org/15/items/lecturesoneffici00cassrich/lecturesoneffici00cassrich.pdf
On page 4, he divides work into two parts, details and principles. Here’s an excerpt of the text:
Here are the details and here are the principles. If a man learns the job himself and does not read books, or travel, or listen to lectures, he only knows the details. He does not know the principles at all. You learn details by what you do yourself; I could not teach you details. There are no two jobs alike, and so you must learn your own details.
But there is something else besides details in every Works, that is, GENERAL PRINCIPLES, which you cannot learn yourself, because it is a very different thing. There are the two halves of a circle. A Works is like an umbrella, the ribs are the principles, the cloth is the detail; it takes them both. If a man only knows details, he sees his job at the small end; if he only knows principles, he is a theorist and a dreamer, and he cannot do anything at all.
Well, you get the general idea.
But this explanation of principles is something right after my own heart. It’s practically the theme song of my life.
Ever since I was young, I’d always understood that there’re principles and there’re techniques. And principles have always been of more importance to me than techniques because they give rise to the latter.
When I saw a fast athlete run, I wanted to know the principles behind his speed. When I watched a small kungfu master beat a hulking boxing champ in a sparring match, I wanted to know what were the principles behind his strength too.
To me, it’s all about principles. because once you understand the principles, you can create any details (techniques) you want.
And the AOV is essentially a compilation of all the principles I discovered. To me, these principles are so fundamental, so crucial to good technique, I still wonder why nobody had ever thought of putting them together before.
What I read in the ‘Lectures’ by Herbert Casson was a complete validation of the rationale and purpose of the AOV.
So the next day, I went back to the bookstore again to see if there were other books by him. I did find another book, equally encrusted in dust and so old, it literally fell apart as I opened it. I bought it too, although I doubt I would be applying the principles in that book anytime soon. It’s called, ‘Window Display.’
When I first started out to write the book in 2003, I envisioned a simple manual, listing the key principles of virtuosity.
As I’ve written on this blog, principles are everything.
If you know the principles, you can create any technique you want.
But if you focus too much on details, on ‘method,’ you get stuck with rigid dogmatic ideas that put you into a box and eventually hinder your growth.
Over the years, my focus for the book shifted a few times, each time manifesting itself in a different approach. All this time, however, the principles, the core of the book remained unchanged.
But last year, just as I was about to go to press, I decided I would go back to my original format.
And that’s what I’ve done these past few months, completely reworked the book to make it reflect my original vision.
For a limited time only, I’m offering the pdf_only ebook at a special rate of $5. After August 31, it will revert back to $8 for the pdf only.
And I’m extending the 30 day money back guarantee to 60 days (the maximum period for payal refunds). If you do not find the book useful in any way, I’ll be happy to refund your full purchase price.
The price of $20 for the pdf + hard copy (when it’s published) still stands.
Check it out here:
If you’ve already purchased the AOV, you can download the new version here:
http://philiphii.com/cgi-bin/dl_file.cgi?file=aov.pdf