The Anti-Library Effect

I read every day.

How many books did I finish last year?

Zero.

For years, my unfinished books felt like accusations.

Until I discovered their hidden power: the spaces between them held more wisdom than their endings ever could.

Picture this:

Three unfinished books on my iPad, each a different thread in an unexpected pattern:

• Cialdini's "Influence"
• Campbell's mythology
• A corporate storytelling manual

In their collision, something fascinating emerged.

I noticed how heroes gain followers through small, consistent actions in Campbell's work. I found Cialdini's "consistency principle" — how small initial commitments shape identity. I saw how brands build loyalty through tiny, repeated narratives.

Persuasion isn't about big moments — it's about tiny commitments that compound into identity shifts.

This is the Anti-Library Method. Instead of marching through books cover-to-cover, I learned to:

Follow curiosity across domains.

Hunt for patterns, not completion.

Let ideas collide.

Test connections through conversation.

Now….

Why do we feel compelled to finish every book we start?

Perhaps it's a holdover from industrial-age thinking, where completion equals progress.

But knowledge isn't a production line — it's a web of connections, each thread strengthening the others…

… want to see this web-like thinking in action?

Last week, these colliding ideas sparked something unexpected in a marketing meeting: a YouTube strategy where viewers join "houses" like in Game of Thrones, each with its own journey through storytelling. Small interactions deepen their sense of belonging — exactly what Cialdini described about identity and commitment.

And no, I haven't finished Cialdini's book yet.