Know Can Do!: Put Your Know-How Into Action
by Ken Blanchard, Paul J. Meyer, and Dick Ruhe

Here’s another of the marvelous “mini-books” (112 pages) on the shelves today aimed at inspiring readers to greater achievement via a business fable offering wisdom, strategies, and tools. This one comes to us from a trio of well-known authors who have each made a name for himself in his own right … Ken Blanchard (author or co-author of more than 40 books), Paul Meyer (founder of Success Motivation Institute), and Dick Ruhe (popular motivational speaker, consultant and trainer).

This book addresses an issue that seems to be getting a lot of attention in this day of economic crisis, global competition, and the dire need for enhanced performance. We’ve focused on this very concern a great deal in our blog as well as our seminars and keynotes. The co-authors focus on the often obvious “knowing-doing gap” and how it can affect your staff and organization.

The co-authors use the fable format to focus on the gap between what people know: all the good advice they’ve digested intellectually from books, seminars, and training courses and what they actually do.

The story focuses on a well-known author who is troubled by this “knowing-doing gap” and searches for a solution to this growing challenge. During his journey he meets a legendary businessman who has discovered the secrets of putting knowledge into action. The businessman teaches the author the three reasons people don’t make the leap from knowing to doing and the key to overcoming these roadblocks.

You’ll immediately recognize the roadblocks:

• Information overload … which increases annually. Learn the “Less-More Philosophy.”
• Negative Filtering … solved by Listening with a Positive Mindset and utilizing Green Light Thinking.
• Lack of Follow-Up … the toughest hurdle of all. The solution here, while simplistic, will amaze you.

This book lays out a straightforward method for learning more, learning better, and making sure you actually use what you learn. As simplistic as that may sound, closing the “knowing-doing gap” is an endless source of frustration for individuals and organizations as well. At last, here’s an answer to the question, “Why don’t I do what I know I should do?”

Know Can Do! teaches people at all levels how to apply life-changing techniques to reach their fullest potential.

I’m giving serious consideration to making Know Can Do! required reading for all of our future seminars in the hope that we can close that challenging and ever-growing “knowing-doing gap.”

(This book review was originally published in 2008 as one of the Top 10 Books – Edition 18.)