Why? Because the publication (which immodestly calls itself the "authoritative weekly newspaper focusing on international politics and business news and opinion") gives you the world every week.

(My only complaint: The Economist strictly controls access to its site to subscribers only. So while I can tell you about some compelling content, I can't show it to you.)

That said, a recent issue featured these gems:

A special report on managing information. Did you know that in 2005, mankind created 150 exabytes (billion gigabytes) of data? This year, it will create 1,200 exabytes. "The data deluge is already starting to transform business, government, science and everyday life."

An article on how print-on-demand is changing book publishing. "About 6% of books in America are now printed on toner-based or inkjet machines. . . . Over the next five years, this figure will increas to 15%." The article predicts that print-on-demand will increasingly be a factor, in an industry where there are a few blockbusters and many titles that sell modestly.

A piece on how the recession has affected recruitment firms, and how they're preparing for the anticipated upturn in hiring. Firms like Manpower, Monster and Careerbuilder are increasingly becoming more sophisticated, to better match skilled candidates to available positions.

Finally, a report on a study that demonstrates that afternoon naps make people smarter by allowing the brain to process memories.

Which reminds me: It's siesta time.

It doesn’t take Dr. Freud to analyze why I had the dream. Yesterday, I had a painful encounter with a senior executive who felt his needs weren’t being met, so he was kicking and screaming and making people scramble.

This executive was no Elvis, yet he was just as spoiled. People who reported to him knew to answer every question with “Yes.” No one ever challenged him, pushed back or put him in the time-out chair until he calmed down.

The “never say no” dynamic has serious consequences. People stop sharing bad news with the executive because he doesn’t want to hear it. They don’t raise objections, even when they have legitimate concerns. They rush around trying to anticipate his desires instead of doing their jobs.

As a result, the executive gets what he wants. But he doesn’t get what he (or the organization) needs.

He may not end up like Elvis, but the outcome is sad just the same.

Although there are some interesting concepts in Buying In, ultimately I was disappointed. Mr. Walker takes a journalist’s approach to his topic: He reports on other people’s viewpoints instead of developing his own thesis and using evidence to support it. As a result, halfway through, I grew weary of all the reported stories, and yearned for Mr. Walker to take a definitive stand about why people buy. (Finally, at the end, he reached a not-so-groundbreaking conclusion: People buy things that reinforce their sense of self.)

Despite my disappointment, Buying In did offer several valuable insights, including:

A great definition of branding: “Branding is really a process of attaching an idea to a product. . . If a product is successfully tied to an idea, branding persuades people . . . to consume the idea by consuming the product. Even companies like Apple and Nike, while celebrated for the tangible attributes of their products, work hard to associate themselves with abstract notions of nonconformity or achievement. A potent brand becomes a form of identity in shorthand.”

Two basic conditions must be met for any connection to occur between a consumer and a product. “The first is salience. This simply means we have to know about something, be familiar with it, have it easily accessible in our mind . . . salience matters: You are in no position to desire an iPod if you have no idea what it is. The more you see something, the more familiar it becomes—not as a result of the thing changing, but as a result of your brain changing through repeated exposure.”

The second condition: relevance. “The number of things that are familiar to us obviously goes up each year, but only a small number are relevant. In some circumstances, it’s what’s relevant to us that becomes salient to us: If you’re in the market for a car, you notice care ads; if not, you probably don’t.”

There are better books on consumer behavior; you can skip Buying In.

I agreed with the authors’ premise—planning works best as a collaborative process—so I began with high hopes. And The Little Blue Book does contain many tips on facilitating a planning session.

The most valuable of these provide advice on stimulating participants’ thinking before and during a planning session. The authors suggest three different ways to do so:

Thought-Starters. Questions you pose to participants ahead of time to “get in a good mind-set for the meeting.” Examples include: What’s the most indispensable technological device in your life, and why? What’s the most successful advertising campaign you can think of? What was the biggest innovation in your product category in the past five years?

Warm-ups. Exercises “to get the creative juices flowing.” Warm-ups are “relevant to the task at hand, yet removed enough so there’s no right or wrong response.” Examples include: Who is your favorite superhero and why? If you were stranded on a desert island, what are the three things you’d bring? Which three websites do you find most indispensiable?

Workouts. Facilitation sessions to move the plan forward, and relate directly to what you’re trying to accomplish. For marketing, these could include: What is the most impressive characteristics of a competitor that could apply to your brand? Develop the worst product idea you can imagine for your company, then flip it 180 degrees to make it a great idea.

Although these techniques are designed for marketing planning, they could easily be adapted to any planning session.

However, despite some helpful hints, The Little Blue Book was ultimately disappointing. There’s not much content here: It truly is a little book, with not much substance and too much repetition. And although the book is clever (catchy chapter titles and quotations), I would have appreciated less style and a lot more how-to substance.

Also, I’m puzzled: Why “Little Blue Book”? Made me think of the little red hen, but I’m not sure how she relates to marketing or planning.

That's because we human beings are fascinated by ourselves ("Are you talking to me?") and are equally interested in learning how to make our lives easier and better.

It's also why one of the fastest growing categories of video is "how to."

For example, Howcast, a site that offers original videos on topics ranging from How To Talk To Your Cat to How To Make Jello Shots, is currently streaming 25 million videos a month, and also shows content on YouTube and offers iPhone and PDA apps. (To learn more, read this Tech Crunch blog.

And 5min,a syndication platform for video, has 150,000 videos in categories from food to home to health to pets. The site has more than 30 million unique viewers. (Read this TechCrunch blog for more info.)

Think about you could add how-to video to your communication mix. For instance: "How to conduct a performance appraisal." Or: "How to understand the company strategy." Or: "How to make your workplace safe."

The possibilities are endless . . .

What kind of book is What It Is? Now that’s a tough question. The short answer is that it’s a
non-fiction autobiographical how-to-write comic book.

Confused? Quite frankly, so was I. I found the book after attending a web workshop called Visual Thinking for Writers, produced by VizThink, an organization that promotes visual thinking. The session was facilitated by Austin Kleon, who calls himself “a writer who draws” and who recommended What It Is.

So, I bought it. And, when it arrived, I didn’t know what to make of it, so I left it on the table in my office, occasionally flipping through the pages to browse the funky drawings and comic-strip-looking pages.

Then last week, I decided I would sit with the book until something happened. Somewhat to my surprise, something did. About halfway through, I was completely transfixed. I developed a crush. I fell in love.

Here’s why:

• What It Is is a valuable book for writers, especially if you need inspiration, are trying to get out of the corporate-speak trap, or need to overcome a block. Although the advice is geared toward writing fiction, I’m finding that it applies to any kind of writing.

• Artists would also benefit from the book, especially to understand the interplay between memory and visuals and writing.

• If you need help being creative, What It Is offers practical suggestions for how you can “keep the pen moving” to stimulate ideas.

Are there any negatives? Yes, indeed. The title is terrible (What? It Is?). A contents page and some introductory copy would have been helpful; as it is, you have to plunge into the book without knowing how it works. And if you’re very literal, and expect precise recipes, What It Is will probably not work for you.

For me, despite its weaknesses, the book is a revelation. It not only is helping me with my writing, it's also encouraging me to learn to draw.

Seek inspiration? Consider What It Is.

Huh? I don't know what the title means, but if it was designed to impress me with its erudite sophistication, it's having the opposite effect. I'm appalled that anyone would create such a fractured, convoluted piece of writing, much less an organization that espouses effective communication.

We communicators should take an oath to be clear, concrete and authentic. We need to work hard to stamp out Corporate Speak, words that sound impressive but don't mean anything, and any communication that appeals to MBAs in corner offices but seems false to ordinary cubicle dwellers.

The first time I received an email promoting this workshop, I cringed and hit "delete." This time, I had to do something. So here goes:

Dear Beloved Communication Organization (you know who you are): Let's practice what we preach. Let's avoid the shoemaker's daughter syndrome. Let's take out our powerful red pen and kill Corporate Speak.

It's not always easy, but it's the right thing to do.

So here's an interesting one: People have broadened their definition of "fast food" to mean more than burgers and fries, according to a survey by food service consultancy Techomic, "Fast food" now includes such establishments as Panera Bread and restaurants that offer take-out.

The shift is partly as a result of the weak economy, which has caused restaurants to lower prices and offer more budget-friendly options like take-out.

Other findings:

• Nearly half (49%) of consumers now report eating at fast-food restaurants at least once a week, while 20% say the same about full-service restaurants and 16% about fast casuals.
• Nearly a quarter (24%) report having increased their visits to fast food restaurants in the past year. This was the largest increase reported among restaurant formats.
• 52% say that a traditional "fast food" meal should be delivered within five minutes, but consumers are willing to wait a bit longer for items they consider "food fast."

You are what you eat.

However, I thought it would be appropriate for Carly, a Millennial herself, to give us her take on a book about Millennials. Here's Carly's review:

Keeping the Millennials: Why Companies are Losing Billions in Turnover to This Generation—and What to Do About It discusses the new influx of young people into the workforce and the issues that arise as a result. Millennials, people born between the years 1980 and 1999, are transforming the professional world as they introduce unique qualities into the workplace:

• Culture
  
• Perspective
  
• Language
  
• Work ethic
  
• Relationship with technology

Like generations before them, such as the Gen Xers and the Baby Boomers, Millennials have been viewed as threats to the existing order. Many workers, especially those who are well tenured at a company, may resent the new presence of the Millennials. It can be intimidating not only because of Millennials’ different personalities, but also because of the systematic restructuring that may be necessary to adapt to their presence.

As a Millennial myself, who is about to enter the workforce, I have to admit that the language used in this book was a bit disconcerting at times. For example, the current rush of Millennials into the professional realm is often analogized to an invasion—as if my peers and I are more closely related to insects or aliens than human beings.

Overall, however, the book pains an accurate picture of the different ways that Millennials experience and interact with work. It gives workers and managers, many of whom have been in the game since before we Millennials were even born, a useful prediction of the changes that lie ahead, and tips on how to handle the transformation.

Beware, however, not to put too much stock into the Millennial stereotype. It is true that Millennials bring new practices and challenges into the workforce, but so has every other generation. As much as Sujansky and Ferri-Reed make it seem like my generation represents an unprecedented revolution in the professional realm, the effect probably won’t be all that different from what has already occurred in the past. After all, Millennials, although we have our own ways of doing some things, are really not so different from everyone else.

Thanks, Carly!

Conan, writes Mr. Dumenco, has "suddenly become an unlikely (Harvard-educated, multimillionaire) everyman: the freckled face of American job insecurity, a well-meaning hard worker who spent years paying his dues but has now been declared redundant by the halfwit overlords driving his company into the ground."

Suddenly, it all makes sense.

Want an example? I just visited cnn.com to get the latest update on the Haiti tragedy. As you'd expect, CNN has a full spectrum of coverage, including this amazing update which posts a new item as often as every minute as the story develops.

The definition of "what's current" keeps changing. It's a struggle to keep up, but we need to try.

My resolution is to continue my rapid (and sometimes rabid) reading program. But I’ve set aside my old goal of 50 books in 50 days. (A book a day? What was I on, drugs?) Instead, I am starting fresh, with a goal of reading 110 books this year.

That shouldn’t be too hard, right? About two books a week? Piece of cake, for a recovering English major like me.

To get started, I went back and re-read a favorite, Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. I was inspired to do so for two reasons: 1. To see if the book I loved so much on first reading held up. 2. The Heaths have a new book, Switch, coming out in February, and I want to see how the two books compare. (I have the galley and will be reviewing later this month)

My verdict? Made to Stick is even better than I remembered it. In fact, it’s fabulous—an absolute must for anyone who communicates. Made to Stick will not only help you communicate in a clearer and more compelling way, it also provides evidence for counseling those who prefer communication that is dense, detailed or complex.

The premise is simple. As Dan and Chip explain: “We wrote this book to help you make your ideas stick. By ‘stick,’ we mean that your ideas are understood and remembered, and have a lasting impact—they change your audience’s opinions or behaviors.”

How can you do so? By following Made to Stick’s six principles. These principles may not seem completely new. But the brilliance in Made to Stick is that the Heaths not explain how the principles work (and why), they also provide detailed advice about how to implement them.

You should buy this book right away—or, if you already own it, you should pull it off the shelf and start re-reading. But if that’s not going to happen, as a public service, I offer the following excerpt that captures the essence of Made to Stick. (But really: Read the book. If you only read 10 books in 2010, make sure this is one.)

Made to Stick at a glance

1. Simplicity. “How do we find the essential core of our ideas? To strip an idea down to its core, we must be . . . relentlessly prioritize . . . Proverbs are the ideal. We must create ideas that are both simple and profound.”

2. Unexpectedness. “How do we get our audience to pay attention to our ideas, and how do we maintain their interest when we need time to get the ideas across? . . . We can use surprise—an emotion whose function is to increase alertness and cause focus—to grab people’s attention. But surprise doesn’t last. For our idea to endure, we must generate interest and curiosity.”

3. Concreteness. “How do we make our ideas clear? We must explain our ideas in terms of human actions, in terms of sensory information. Naturally sticky ideas are full of concrete images . . . because our brains are wired to remembered concrete data. In proverbs, abstract truths are often encoded in concrete language: “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” ”

4. Credibility. “How do we make people believe our ideas? Sticky ideas have to carry their own credentials. We need ways to help people test our ideas for themselves—a “try before you buy” philosophy for the world of ideas.”

5. Emotions. “How do we get people to care about our ideas? We make them feel something. Research shows that people are more likely to make a charitable gift to a single needy individual than to an entire impoverished region. We are wired to feel things for people, not for abstractions.”

6. Stories. “How do we get people to act on our ideas? We tell stories. Firefighters naturally swap stories after every fire, and by doing so they multiply their experiences; after years of hearing stories, they have a richer, more complete catalog of critical situations they might confront during a fire and the appropriate response to those situations.”

The company has brought in a new CEO, John Edelman, who starts work today. When he was hired last month, Mr. Edelman visited the company's headquarters in San Francisco. There, he found evidence of the former CEO's "dictatorial" and "extremely mercurial" management style.

Mr. Edelman said he found employees "hand-shy, like a dog that's been hit."

Ouch! And a wonderful description of terrible morale.

Good luck, Mr. Edelman, at turning the company around.

On the list are some you'd expect: Google, Yahoo, Facebook, YouTube, Amazon and Wikipedia.

But also included are some you might not expect: Gawker, Drudge Report, Hulu and NYTimes.com.

Great food for thought.

What I need is inspiration, especially in the dark days of January, when I'll be desperate for ideas, seeking help thinking outside the box.

So if you’re standing in the mall right now, fighting panic and claustrophobia, wondering what to get me, I’m happy to provide you with a few suggestions. (Of course, these would be good gifts for anyone who needs inspiration when the going gets tough.)

What’s more compelling than a personal ad? That’s why I want Man with Farm Seeks Woman with Tractor: The Best and Worst Personal Ads of All Time.

Any kind of advertising is meant to stop you in your tracks. So how about a book about the best ads: Twenty Ads That Shook the World: The Century's Most Groundbreaking Advertising and How It Changed Us All.

And when it comes to advertising, one very effective form is the billboard. So how about: Great American Billboards.

Billboards make me think of postcards, which are all about compelling visuals. So if I need visual inspiration, perhaps this would be a good choice: The Postcard Century.

And one of the most interesting use of postcards is Frank Warren’s web site and series of books called PostSecret, where people mail in theirsecrets anonymously on one side of a postcard. Mr. Warren has a new book Confessions on Life and Death and God.

Wow, that’s a lot of books. I need to take a break and watch a video. I just got a new Val Kilmer DVD (that's a different kind of inspiration). Or how about a collection of television commercials from the 50s and 60s: Retro TV Commercials.

Thanks, Santa! Merry Christmas, everybody!