Ignore Everybody Book Review

July 18th, 2009

by John R. Sedivy

During my article “The Accidental Billionaires Book Review” I had discussed how my purchase of that book was an impulse buy. “Ignore Everybody” was even more so. At least with “The Accidental Billionaires” I had received a coupon in the mail and set out to the Barnes and Noble to purchase that book. While in the store the cover of “Ignore Everybody” caught my eye, but I had never heard of the book or the author. I opened the book and read a few pages – I liked what I saw and made the purchase. Besides – how can you pass up a book with such a catchy title?

One Of A Kind
“Ignore Everybody” by Hugh MacLeod is a truly unique experience. The concept is simple – the author provides 40 keys to creativity and a short description for each. Scattered throughout the book are samples of the author’s creativity – business cards with doodles and funny captions. The 40 tips are interesting in that they are geared specifically towards enhancing your creativity.

This book is also not for the feint of heart. The text (and business cards) throughout are a bit racy at times. So, if you are easily offended this book may not be for you. However if you have thick skin, and have a desire to tap or strengthen your creative self – then this book is definitely for you.

What I enjoyed most about this book is that more than a few of the authors “keys to creativity” I had become aware of since transitioning to creative work. Reading about these aspects reinforced my understanding of the creative path. Furthermore, there were many other aspects that I have yet to learn, this had provided me with additional insight. Here are my favorite three “keys to creativity” as presented in “Ignore Everybody”:

1. Ignore everybody.
2. The idea doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be yours.
3. Put the hours in.

These just happen to be the first three in the book, but they are my favorite as I have found them to be the most relevant at this point in my life. I did find great insight from the other 37 as well, and it was tough to pick just three for this article. There are a few points that I don’t necessarily agree with, however the author makes some great points and there is something here for everyone.

Gaping Void
Given how much this book had resonated with me, I had taken some time to look into the author’s other work, particularly his blog called “gapingvoid”. His blog is similar to the style of his book – in fact, “Ignore Everybody” is actually based upon original content from his blog. His business cards – although simply doodles, have some pretty cool sayings. One of my favorite so far, which is presented in the book, is “The price of being a sheep is boredom. The price of being a wold is loneliness. Choose one or the other with care.”

I highly recommend “Ignore Everybody” to those who are, or aspire to be creative. In addition, there is just some plain old good advice that is applicable across the board. The book is a quick, easy read you can probably knock out within a few hours – but the value received is much more. Once in a great while a truly unique, valuable book comes along – this is one of those rare instances – check it out!

Once you finish this book – I recommend reading “Re-Imagine” by Tom Peters. That book is more complicated than “Ignore Everything” however, it has the same thought-provoking creativity involved.

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding