I was suffering from insomnia on Christmas morning this year.  I woke up at three am, and lay wide awake in bed for the next two hours.  Personally I blame the fact that I have no idea what a sugarplum looks like.  My imagination turns sugarplums into a cross between Audrey II and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.  When you’re dreaming of those things, of course you’re not going to be able to sleep.

At five o’clock I finally got up and went downstairs to read.  Patrick Lencioni’s latest book, Getting Naked, had been sitting in my to read pile for awhile.  Two and a half hours later the mice still weren’t stirring, but I had read the book cover to cover.  Why was I able to finish the book so quickly?  No, not because it was a picture book of people getting naked.  It’s structured as a first-person narrative, or as the author calls his works – fables.

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I received Seth Godin’s latest book, Linchpin, as a gift from my dear friend, Clay Hebert, with the following inscription.

“Paul,

You’re a true linchpin, so for you this book is an award, not a manual.  You taught me a lot of this long before Seth did.  Knowing you has permanently and immeasurably changed the arc of my life, and for that I can never thank you enough.

Butch & Sundance
Simmons & Gladwell
Pettengill & Hebert

You’re my hero, Paul.

Love Always,
Clay”

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