Book review: The Business of Belief by Tom Asacker

The Business of Belief
By Tom Asacker
PAGES: 121
PRICE: Rs 295
Westland Ltd

Of the most compelling books that are around, some influence you to the extent that they leave a deep imprint and even change the way you are. And some books can be your companions for life - you can leaf through their pages on a lazy weekend or late on a cold night by just opening up any page to get your fill of assured stimulation. The Business of Belief is of the companion variety - a short book that will stay with you for long.

Defining beliefs as nothing more than working assumptions on the basis of which we make life's most trivial and most meaningful decisions; there is no denying that conceptually 'belief' is an incredibly difficult concept to wrap our heads around. Significantly, beliefs touch every aspect of our lives, from mundane to profound. And that's the fundamental architecture of author Tom Asacker's discourse here. Asacker has written four books earlier, but this one has the potential of being his most impactful work to date. Picking up on 'belief', Asacker establishes it to be the pivot of our thinking, attitude, reactions and actions. This book is about how the world's best marketers, designers, salespeople, coaches, fundraisers, educators, entrepreneurs and other leaders get us to believe. How they practice the business of belief?

This, however, is a book for everyone and not just people in business. The author structures the edifice of his arguments in three clearly defined sections - What They Know, What They Do and What You Can Do. He makes the case that there is a strong possibility of our beliefs becoming fossilised. He goes on to proclaim that such beliefs will continue to seduce us to 'our ways' and that our minds will become protected by layers of fat that we refer to as experience. And we shall land up rationalising our habits of dealing with the world - doing the same things over and over again till we leave everything that we have been doing and open our child-like eyes to the realities of the world. He supports his postulates such as this one and others with quotes from other thought leaders and achievers. The narrative is conversational and the tone is not preachy - which, in the context of the choice of the subject of the book, makes it distinctive and easy reading. Even when Asacker puts forward a strong argument that's suggestive - the tone is subtle though the intention is firm. Such is his own belief! ~

(The reviewer is the founder director of brand consultancy firm BehindTheMoon, and conducts workshops on Optimism. Follow him @HiOnMoon)