To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others.

• Author: Lawrence, Alex

by Daniel H. Pink

I often read and hear about the incredible value associated with hiring technical talent. The people that code, design and otherwise create the products used online, in software and as the driver for most modern technology are the focus of many organizational recruiting efforts. This is terrific and I'm glad to see it.

However, I feel like sales, and those that are responsible for sales, are sometimes overlooked as lesser contributors to a technology company's success. This book tackles the perception that selling is somehow dirty and beneath the great majority of us--the domain of used car salesmen and those that simply don't know when to stop pushing stuff on others.

While sometimes true, it often is not.

Selling does have a bad reputation. Pink writes, "To the smart set, sales is an endeavor that requires little intellectual throw weight--a task for slick glad-handers who skate through life on a shoeshine and a smile"--and deception, of course.

But deception was only possible because buyers lacked information or expertise. Now, since buyers have reviews, ratings and comparison-shopping at their fingertips, sellers have more incentives to be fair and honest.

In addition to sales in a company or job, Pink asserts that we humans spend considerable energy each day trying to get others to do what we want...