How Do You Like That Book?
The question that changed everything
Bob walked into the crowded coffee shop fifteen minutes early. He knew the place would be packed at this hour, and finding a table would be a challenge. He had even suggested that finding an alternative meeting location might be a good idea, but his boss didn’t take the bait. He had his haunts, and this was one of them.
He grabbed a coffee and looked across the turbulent ocean of people-filled tables, hoping to find a place to sit. The hustle and bustle of the shop was indeed exciting. People were having meetings, some serious, some not so. Others were glued to laptops and seemingly camped out for the day. Then he spied a table near the corner. It was next to a young lady reading a book.
“Excuse me, ma’am, is anyone sitting here?”
“It’s all yours, buddy,” she said, never letting her eyes drift from the page she was on.
Bob sat down. Despite having his backpack, he didn’t feel like getting his laptop out. Besides, his boss would be there in a few minutes anyway. So he just decided to sit there, sipping his coffee and do a little people-watching. Yet, something about the young lady sitting beside him kept his eye wandering back. It wasn’t her exactly, but something familiar he couldn’t quite place. Then he recognized what it was. It was a book on entrepreneurship she was reading. The very same book he had read last year which had kicked off a slew of startup ideas and dreams he hoped to one day fulfill.
Bob had always dreamed of running a startup. The grit and determination it takes to start something entirely from scratch intrigued him. Certainly much more than his current job, that’s for sure. Bob works in sales for a boss that, let’s just say, isn’t too inspiring. In fact, he’s kind of an ass.
Seeing that he could get stuck in this hamster wheel of a job for the foreseeable future, Bob started to dream about finding a way out - carving his own path, starting his own thing, and being his own boss. You know, the stuff dreams are made of when you are stuck working for “The Man.”
Up to that point, it was all fantasy.
He had read the book with great interest. Underlined some of the key passages and even made notes in the margins - something he hadn’t done since college. Then he put the book on a shelf at his apartment and never looked at it again until today. Sitting in the hands of the woman next to him, he felt a rush of excitement and potential wash over him in a way he couldn’t quite explain.
Why was she reading this exact book? Did she dream of starting her own business too? Maybe she was looking for an escape plan from her job too. Maybe she was already an entrepreneur and brushing up on the super power skills it takes to be successful!
He suddenly had so many questions.
He watched her with great interest for a few minutes. She was consuming the book like no one else he’d ever seen. She would read a passage, underline, dog-ear the page, and then in a journal, she would make detailed notes. He wanted to know very much what she was writing in those notes.
She was so lost in the book that she didn’t even notice this stranger watching her with great interest. That was until he said something.
“Excuse me, I don’t mean to bother you, but I just have to ask, how do you like that book?” Bob asked.
She looked up, somewhat startled, but her puzzled look quickly gave way to a warm, welcoming smile. “This?” she turned the cover to show him, “Oh, it’s fantastic!”
“I know,” Bob said. “I read it last year. Really inspired me.”
“Are you an entrepreneur?” she asked.
Bob laughed. “Maybe someday. But not right now. What about you?”
She chuckled, almost as if she were listening to a private joke only she knew, “I am working on it. I have a startup idea but don’t know the first thing about how to build it into a business. Well, that’s not entirely true. I have the idea, I don’t know how to sell it.”
Bob replied, “Well, I’m not sure if you’d feel comfortable sharing what your idea is, but sales is my specialty. Maybe I could give you some ideas.”
Bob completely forgot that he was there to meet with his boss. You know, the one he works for and that he excelled at selling for. That’s when his phone buzzed on the table. It was a text. It said, Sorry. Won’t be able to meet after all. His boss was standing him up - typical! Ordinarily, this would have upset Bob but not today. Today, he was precisely where he needed to be, sitting next to the person with whom he really needed to be meeting.
His text back read, No worries.
And there were no worries. He was meeting with the woman who would become his partner and co-founder.
Ripple Points To Ponder:
Refine your power of observation. It’s a skill set that will serve you well.
Don’t be afraid to engage someone with a question, even if they seem engaged in a book.
Sometimes life puts you exactly where you need to be and exactly with the people you need to be there with.
If you want a different life or career, it won’t happen without you taking proactive steps to make it happen.
Sometimes being stood up works out.