The No Complaining Rule – Jon Gordon – Book Review

Having read the book, The Carpenter by the same author, I picked up this book as well. I had some idea of what to expect. Jon Gordon’s books are quick reads and you can literally breeze through them as the concepts that he propounds are neither new nor heavy. But he gives practical advice in the form of a story. I quickly recognized the pattern which is quite predictable. It goes like this:

The protagonist is in some problem both at professional and personal front. She/He meets a mentor who gives valuable advice. The protagonist applies the same in his life and work and miracles happen.

In this book, the protagonist is Hope, the HR Head of a computer software firm. She has been divorced recently and having issues with raising 2 teen age children. Again, there are issues at work – negativity, bad culture and some pestering colleagues. To top it all, she also has some medical issues.

Amidst all these, she meets a nurse who helps her with the No Complaining Rule. She uses this in her office, at board rooms, in workshops and everything, including her personal life is sorted out.

Some of the good lessons from this book are – 

The complaining fast - This is a concept where the author says that we just go through 1 day without any complains. Then extend it by a week.

The 3 No Complaining Tools –

1.       The But … Positive technique –

This is a simple tool to covert complains into positive thoughts. E.g: I don’t like driving in traffic BUT I am thankful that I can drive and that I have a job!

2.       Focus on ‘Get To’ instead of ‘Have To’ –

Instead of saying ‘I have to do this’ say ‘I get to do this’. Focus on what you get to do. Focus on feeling blessed instead of stressed. Focus on gratitude.

3.       Turn Complains into solutions –

Every complaint represents an opportunity to turn a negative into a positive.

Five Things to Do Instead of Complain

1.       Practice Gratitude

2.       Praise Others

3.       Focus on Success

4.       Let Go

5.       Pray and Meditate

Now comes the critical part of my review. The book is well structured and the story is well told, with its suspense, dénouement and ending, and the core principle propagated is based on ‘The Success’ i.e you attract to yourself what you project to the world. However, having worked in a corporate environment for more than 17 years, I felt that the ideas and methods from this book cannot be used in a corporate environment. These principles and rules are more personal in nature and usage. If someone tries to really implement them in the corporate world, they would quickly become the butt of all jokes. I feel, todays’ organizations are not ready to espouse this.

My verdict: You can read this book if you get for free as you can complete it in a day. But not worth buying it to read.