Book Review From Rick's Library: ADRIFT by Scott Galloway

Hi, I’m Rick Barron, your host, and welcome to That’s Life, I Swear 

I have real passion for reading books. My interest runs across various topics from history, novels, biographies and more. Think my last count was I have about 600 books in my home office. Last year I challenged myself to read 52 books in one year but only hit 47. I thought that during Season 2, I’d share a book review on some of the books I’ve read. Hope some of the books will pique your interest. Let’s kick this off with a recently-read book titled Adrift, by Scott Calloway, someone who’s been labeled as the Howard Stern of the Business World.

Let’s jump into this 

ADRIFT book cover. Courtesy of: Amazon

Ok, let’s talk about the book. I’ve read several of Scott Galloways books over time, but his new book, Adrift, provides a vivid picture by taking the United States under the microscope showing us the direction of the future of this country, and how we got to where we are today.

As we continue climbing out of the COVID-19 nightmare, we’re only beginning to deal with our post-pandemic future. One only looks around and you can see several balls in the air that presents a very complex picture. What do I mean? 

Our country is dealing with political extremism that continues to fester, a workforce going through the great resignation impacting businesses everywhere, and the ongoing supply chain issues affecting economies not just in the US but worldwide. 

Don’t get me started with the Ukraine war, the state of inflation in the US and around the world, tech companies now dealing with heavy layoffs. We’d be here all day.

Scott says that as a nation we’re asking ourselves about the state of our democracy. Over the past couple of years, we realize just how fragile it is. Who would ‘ve thought. Technology moves at such a fast clip, that our heads spin. No sooner do we get adjusted to something like G4 technology that we’re now introduced to G5. Change is good, but at what cost? 

Having job security was once thought of as a sure bet…not anymore.  As the years go by, but more so the months, the United States is going through a massive change. More so a tsunami that will alter, and in some respects, distort the mechanism of our economy and jolt the financial backbone of this country: the middle class. 

In Scott’s book, he puts a stake in the ground beginning in 1945 to the present day. With this timeline, Scott tells a very compelling story, via 100 charts, which are very simplistic but drives the point home, accompanied by his ‘tough love’ narrative that brings the charts to life.

Scott tells us that, as a nation, we need to come to grips with what we are facing, and not accept a defeatist attitude, but to stand up and tackle what's in front of us. He provides his take on where we’re headed and who we’ll become. History showed us that between 1945 and 1980, America was a nation at a crossroads. Suffice to say, here we go again. 

So, who is Scott Galloway? 

Scott Galloway. Courtesy of: VOX

Scott was born on November 3, 1964. He’s a clinical professor of marketing at the New York University Stern School of Business. 

Besides walking the halls of academia, Scott is public speaker, author, podcast host [which you can find on my website], and entrepreneur. 

A very busy man indeed.

He grew up in Los Angeles, California. His father was a Scottish immigrant to the United States who worked as a sales executive. His mother, an immigrant too, worked as a secretary. 

Galloway attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 1987, and the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, graduating with an MBA in 1992. 

He was elected to the World Economic Forum's "Global Leaders of Tomorrow," which recognizes 100 individuals under the age of 40 whose accomplishments have impacted on a global level. Needless to say, Scott is an accomplished academic and is well versed in understating the business environment and economics.

Galloway also teaches brand management and digital marketing to second-year MBA students. 

What drew me to reading this book?

I’ve been a follower of Scott’s books for several years now, not to mention his podcasts. He doesn’t mix words and has a unique way of cutting through the fluff and providing clear and crisp information. There’s no ambiguity with this guy. He can be harsh, but he speaks in a simplistic and ‘the truth hurts’ manner.

PIVOT Podcast on Spotify. Courtesy of: Spotify

As mentioned at the beginning, His new book, Adrift, walks you through 100 charts covering decades of data and hypotheses of what the graphs mean, and why the United States is in the state it’s in today. Scott sees the nation experiencing a crisis, divided by inequity, economic decline, partisan anger and rising extremism that’s getting worse by the day.

                  Galloway Chart sample. Courtesy of: New York Times

You may disagree with his assessment, but he has the data to back up his claims. 

What can we learn from this story?  What’s the take away?

The truth is in the pudding, they say. Scott’s book is a bullhorn telling this country to get a grip and wake up to reality. His commentary for each chapter, provides a practical and serious eye opener to how our country got stuck in the mud. As you get towards the end of the book, Scott provides some insight on how we get back on our feet again. As I said earlier, Scott gives us tough love, and right now, we need it.  

Adrift is a read that will affect your thinking about where we are as a nation today, but also give insight that there is a way out, only if we want to.

Well, there you go. That's life, I swear.

For further information regarding the material covered in this episode, I invite you to visit my website, which you can find on either Apple Podcasts/iTunes or Google Podcasts, for show notes calling out key pieces of content mentioned and the episode transcript.

As always, I thank you for listening. 

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