From the Editor

When it comes to business or self-improvement books, I typically approach them with a healthy dose of skepticism. Maybe it’s the editor in me, or maybe it’s that I don’t believe that any book can lay out a prescription to specifically address whatever ails you or your business. Management by book seldom works, yet that doesn’t prevent managers from approaching a new book and its trendy management theory as the panacea to their business woes.

It’s not that there aren’t ideas to be harvested from these books. I recently read Patrick Lencioni’s fable-based book Death by Meeting — making it from cover to cover on a round-trip flight — and was inspired to apply some of his thinking to my day-to-day work. (Lencioni’s other books include The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and his latest, The Three Signs of a Miserable Job.)

Among the pile of business book galleys, review copies, press releases, and e-mail solicitations I received last month, one that stood out was Mike Robbins’ book, Focus on the Good Stuff: The Power of Appreciation. Robbins is a former professional baseball player and Internet advertising sales executive. But what stood out to me was this sentence in the press release: “This book not only reminds [readers] of the universal power of appreciation and gratitude, but also shows them how to utilize their energy positively on a daily basis.”

There’s another book, DVD, and overall life philosophy making the rounds these days that you’ve probably heard about. Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret espouses a theory similar to Robbins’ that also champions positivity and gratitude. The Secret has been extremely successful — coverage on Oprah hasn’t hurt — and it will be interesting to see if Robbins’ book will continue the trend. Or if this philosophy will go the way of other heavily hyped but unsuccessful ventures like Microsoft’s Zune.

If you’ve read a good business book lately, let us know. Until then, happy travels and good reading.

Michael Buller, Editor

Contributor

Austin-based photographer Al Argueta, who shot this month’s cover feature, is no stranger to Costa Rica, having first visited the country on a 1997 weekend jaunt from Guatemala. His next visit coincided with a four-month internship in San José with an English-language newspaper, The Tico Times, which afforded him the opportunity to see much of the country. This month’s assignment marked his third trip to Tamarindo since 1999, and Argueta tells us he was impressed with all the changes that have taken place. “It’s grown up from a sleepy surfer/backpacker hangout to an international beach destination,” he says. Argueta is optimistic that Tamarindo can remain true to its roots as an ecological paradise and adds that the Tamarindo Preserve holds great promise in this regard. Argueta’s first travel guidebook, Moon Guatemala, is due out this month.