Micro Mention "Capital Gaines"

 

My favorite chapter of "Capital Gaines" by Chip Gaines is Team of Rivals—I really appreciate its sentiment and the clear reference to one of my favorite American Presidents, Lincoln.

With a little distance from my full review of this book, I still find myself thinking about it from time to time. I appreciate the messaging of this book, being willing to be open to new experiences while staying true to closely held values. I still don't think I see the world quite like Chip Gaines does, but that's fine; understanding and accepting others and their way of life doesn't require agreement.

I think somewhere along the line, we often forget that truth. We insist everyone, everyone, must agree with us, which just leads to directionless screaming matches.

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Author's Website: https://magnolia.com/

"Capital Gaines" by Chip Gaines--Nonfiction Review

Today Obscurists, we’re fixing to read a book by one of the—Ok, I just realized how corny this sentence is now, and I’m going to abort. Today we’re talking about “Capital Gaines” by Chip Gaines.

What I love about this book:

This is the second book I’ve read written by Chip Gaines, the first being “The Magnolia Story,” which he wrote with his wife, Joanna. What surprises me—and continuously surprises me about these books and the Gaines family themselves is how much I genuinely enjoy them. Chip and Joanna’s main claim to fame is their show “Fixer Upper,” which typically isn’t the sort of show that should work for me. I loathe home repair or renovation—really anything that requires me to pick up a hammer or use a drill or saw. But I love their show which is all about exactly that.

What won me over about the show is that the two of them are incredibly charming people, and their dynamic together is sweet to watch. It’s really them as people that got me to love their show, and that’s what this book and the previous book are really about. While “The Magnolia Story” focused more on their early years as a family and business people who eventually got a show showcasing their talents flipping houses, “Capital Gaines” is more about Chip’s early story.

When he talks about his childhood and his baseball dreams, that story resonated with me because it wonderfully encapsulates that sometimes life just doesn’t go the way you thought. It doesn’t mean the pursuit was a waste of time—just an early, if painful, step that led to his next thing in life. It led him to become an entrepreneur where a lot of skills of perseverance and practice translated. There were some pitfalls—like his doomed trip to Mexico—but ultimately, he made it work with the woman who would become his wife, and they formed a family with an incredibly successful business. There’s no way you can argue that it all hasn’t turned out incredibly well.

What I don’t love about this book:

This book isn’t so different from “The Magnolia Story” that it couldn’t have all been combined into one longer book. The focus I get is more on Chip’s journey through life, but a big part of that life is Joanna, so it isn’t like she isn’t featured—a lot—which is good. Don’t get me wrong, I like her just as much as Chip. What I’m getting at is that when I moved on to this book after reading that first one, I felt like I was reading the same book. Part of this is unavoidable—reading a memoir written by the same person, of course, both sound the same because they’re written by the same person.

Chip puts himself into many physically perilous situations for little to no reason other than to see if he can pull something off or for a bet. Maybe it’s my inherent cautious nature, but often I find myself thinking—buddy, what are you doing? This goes for the show and the book, by the way. I’ve seen him eat a cockroach for fifty bucks. Champ, you’re a millionaire—and cockroaches’ exoskeletons can be home to fun things like Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus, which could present as strep throat or necrotizing fasciitis, aka FLESH EATING BACTERIA. One would think that after surviving bashing his face into the ground from an ATV accident would lead to a more sober, cautious appraisal on mortality and the chances of bodily harm, but I guess not.

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as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Author's Website: https://magnolia.com/

Parting thoughts:

There is something compelling about watching someone incredibly good at something be incredibly good at that thing. While it’s true that I personally am not particularly handy at any activity that requires me to use my anemic skills in that regard, I can appreciate results. Some of the things Chip and Joanna have pulled off are beyond impressive. Aesthetically they can create some beautiful homes, and there is an artistry to that which demands respect.

Coincidentally, I spent a lot of my time listening to this book while installing a self-adhering vinyl floor in a basement—and I hated every single moment of the exercise. I kept thinking to myself, I bet Chip could have done this in an afternoon while snapping yet another piece by accident. But even I have to admit after finally finishing the main room with it, that it did indeed look good. So I can understand why some people like this kind of work with their hands sort of life. Even if it would drive me insane.

This leads me to my concluding thought, and really just another thing that I loved about this book—I know I already did that section, but the balance must be observed. There is a section of this book where Chip talks about digging a hypothetical ditch with a stranger who is very different from himself. It’s my favorite part of the book because he imagines not agreeing with everything this stranger has to say or even completely understanding their worldview. Yet, they share a meal together and depart as friends. There is power in that because of the empathy it shows. I’ve said before in earlier posts that intelligence, while I value it greatly, isn’t the primary thing utilized to build the modern world. We are cohered into massive societies with numbers of people beyond what we can numerically understand because of a leap forward in empathy.

Hatred is incapable of building anything. It only tears down.

"The Pumpkin Plan," by Mike Michalowicz--Nonfiction Review

Now I know what you’re thinking—it’s Kevin, you’re reviewing a self-help book? Isn’t that outside of your bailiwick? Listen, for a man who lives in an imaginary dome, in an imaginary desert, constantly under siege by imaginary sandworms; I need all the help I can get. No, no, it isn’t. So let’s talk about “The Pumpkin Plan” by Mike Michalowicz and feel the entrepreneurial spirit together. But before we do, I should be upfront that I bought my copy of this book in 2016, and Michalowicz has since updated it—so you might not be reading the exact same copy of this book as I am, but I’m sure the gist is the same.

What I love about this book:

The book immediately jumps off with Michalowicz explaining the metaphor of his book’s title “The Pumpkin Plan.” He describes how the same techniques used to grow the massive gourds can be used to drive a business to greatness. I appreciate this bit because, well, it’s pristinely clear what the rest of the book is about.

Throughout the book, I love the practical advice Michalowicz gives you, drawn from personal experience. Early on, Michalowicz describes his struggles to grow his own business and the advice he got from his mentor about where he was going wrong. Like with most wisdom, when initially heard, he didn’t appreciate it—at first.

Overall Michalowicz, keeps a positive tone throughout the book and can be humorous at times. It’s easy to follow him as he breaks down step-by-step how his method works. Then at the end of each chapter, he sets up a hypothetical business, each in a different sector and industry within the economy, and describes how he might apply his method. At the very least, they’re interesting thought experiments.   

What I don’t love about this book:

Some of his descriptors he uses to get across his point can be a little distracting. His fear of becoming “one nut guy”—precisely what it sounds like—springs to mind. Also, at times, his writing can become a bit manic—it’s especially evident in the audiobook version, which he narrates. 

I get that this is a book about what hard work, creative flexibility, and insight can do for your business, and all those positive things, but I also feel it doesn’t do enough to address the things entirely out of the blue that can torch a business. Advising on how your business can cope with a catastrophe isn’t really discussed in this book about advice for business, which should be evident in today’s climate is incredibly necessary. Now I’m not trying to go too hard on Michalowicz for not being prophetic and anticipating the pandemic of 2020—but massive economic downturn should always be somewhere in business owner’s lists of contingencies to prepare for if they happen.

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as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Author's Website: https://mikemichalowicz.com/

Parting thoughts:

Even if you’re not an entrepreneur, books like this can be worth reading anyway. My reason is that authors such as Michalowicz can offer real insight into problem-solving and creative thinking that can be used in other dimensions of one’s life. These skills are valuable to enrich any life, even one not directly pursuing profit. He talks about the importance of focus, playing to one’s strengths, communal cooperation with others—but I’m not going to lie to you, this isn’t really how the book is intended to be used and is an exercise in the abstract. My point is, information is inherently valuable, and how it is applied is primarily up to the recipient. 

More-and-more I find myself more likely to be aligned with the left politically, a position I feel I’ve been pushed toward by the GOP from my typically centrist tendencies. Why I bring this up is for the same reason I talked about ideological purity in an earlier review. There are those on the left, politically, that wouldn’t see the value of this book, and would be pretty annoyed by me for choosing to review it because it is a book extolling the virtues of capitalism. The people always going on about late-stage capitalism spring to mind.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not proselytizing the greatness of pure and unfettered capitalism stripped of all government regulation. The days of Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller weren’t great times for anyone other than the few that had made their way to the top. The problem with that time in American history where capitalism reigned supreme is: that once at the top, with all that wealth and power, great capitalists stopped being positive forces for society. They became preoccupied with entrenching their “legacy” and destroying any and all competition from rivaling them—all at the expense of, and while exploiting the poor. When anyone tells me about how pure capitalism is the greatest boon to society, they always sound naïve to me and like they just don’t know their history.

The same goes for anyone describing to me their belief in a socialist utopia. Again, it’s a failure to appreciate history. Smart people, educated and well-meaning people—like Christopher Hitchens for one—believed in worker’s paradises before now and were disillusioned because it’s never worked out. In the positive pursuit of enriching the masses, equitably, pure socialism and communism fail to take into account the potential for corruption. The strong man—the autocrat—always seems to rise from such environments. Don’t believe me? Take a good hard look at China, Russia, and Eastern Europe. 

Which brings me back to my theme—purity—is inherently a bad thing. It’s terrible in genetics, and it’s just as bad in economics. I don’t have any grand solutions here, other than to say I have heard good capitalistic ideas and good socialistic ideas. I believe it’s the balancing of the two extremes, that endless competition between ideals is what keeps society healthy.