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Pearls from Sand: How Small Encounters Lead to Powerful Lessons

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In an engaging and unpretentious style, Karl Wiegers shares some of the learning from the bits and byways of his life journey. Part memoir and part self-help missive, Pearls from Sand is filled with vignettes of small events that offered large lessons. You will not find spectacular secrets to success or inflated promises of profound fulfillment here. In fact, the reader looking for grand guidance or easy answers will find little here that is new. Most of what Wiegers offers up falls easily under the rubric of common sense, that all too uncommon insight that we mostly acquire the hard way--through our mistakes.

This is a book to be sampled rather than devoured, a buffet rather than a banquet. Perhaps the greatest lesson that the author seems to have learned and has shared with the reader is his admonition to "pay attention." It's about mindfulness, about listening to yourself and to the people you encounter and to the happenstances of your life always ready to learn something of value. It makes sense.

--Larry Constantine, author of Web Games, The Dome, and Bashert

What an inspiring book this turned out to be for me.
Reviewers have done a great job of summarizing Karl Wieger's "Pearls from Sand".
The beautiful cover art drew me to stop and take a look at what this book was all about.
Kudos to the artist.
After reading a few "Pearls", I knew this book would be a keeper.
As the author stated, "At various times in your life you've
no doubt encountered certain teachers, relatives, and friends that have influenced you."
I believe this to be so true.
I am sure anyone who reads this book can find a part of themselves within this journal.
As other reviewers have mentioned, Wiegers has included Personal pearls,
motivational Pearls, professional pearls, and my favorite, Interpersonal Pearls.
In chapter two called "Promises, Promises", the author's "Pearl#2:
"Honoring the commitments you make to others will
develop your reputation as reliable person and a good friend".
Is a great example of making life choices that can benefit yourself and others.
This is a lesson we all need to learn and use in our everyday life guide
"Pearls From Sand" would make a great gift for your family and friends.
"We all do better with a little help from our friends".

In author Karl Wiegers you'll find that older, wiser sibling or parent that you might not have had growing up. With wit and poignancy, Wiegers recounts 37 personal encounters, spanning from childhood through middle age, and the lessons he gleaned from each one. But "Pearls from Sand" is more than a memoir about "lessons learned." Wiegers is careful to offer advice on how to apply these lessons to our own lives, which is what makes this book both enlightening and practical.

While there are several extraordinary stories in this book, I found some of the most useful "pearls of wisdom" in Wiegers' more mundane experiences, such as negotiating with contractors, shopping for quality products, driving safely, and learning how to stay organized. Yet, through many of these everyday encounters Wiegers also reflects on life's bigger decisions; on opportunities taken and missed; and on relationships with friends, family, and coworkers.

Today, many of us crave meaningful, insightful connections with others. "Pearls from Sand" fills that void. It reminds us that the seemingly insignificant paths we tread do matter, and that sharing our lessons -- and our struggles -- is a wonderful and uniquely human gift.

Pearls from Sand: How Small Encounters Lead to Powerful Lessons

By Karl Wiegers

Published by Morgan James Publishing, 2011

Web site = [...]
Review by Robert L. Glass

This book is written by a friend of mine. That's a problem, because I believe a book reviewer should be more faithful to giving an honest review than to solidifying friendship. Fortunately, I liked the book. It's not a software book (that's what I generally review), but it is a fascinating collection of life lessons written by a software person. The lessons are presented as 37 "pearls of wisdom," one per chapter, each supported with one or more anecdotes from the background of the author. The pearls are grouped into interpersonal, personal, motivational, practical, cautionary, and professional, a nice organizational scheme.

Here are some wonderful pithy quotes (I do love pithy quotes!) from the book:

. on exercise - Find a health club a mile or so away. Schedule one-hour session three times a week. Walk/run there and back home. There is no need to enter the club or pay a fee!

. on perfection - "At some point, you just have to declare victory and move on with your life."

. on teaching - "Dealing with three-year-olds is pretty much like dealing with PhD scientists, except you can reason with three-year-olds."

. on opinion - "Everyone is entitled to his opinion, but not his own facts." (this one is borrowed from the late Senator Daniel Moynihan).

. on mistakes - "If it is true that we learn from our mistakes, I must be a genius by now."

. on self-knowledge - "There are some things I'm good at, and many I'm not."

. on a one-person company - "I always win the Employee of the month award."

So, what's the bottom line here? I liked the book. It is entertainingly written, contains some worthwhile life lessons, and was an enjoyable reading experience.



Robert L. Glass
18 View St.
Paddington QLD 4064
Australia

I have purchased all of Karl's requirement management books and they are simply the best. He brings real insight to this field.

"Pearls from Sand" is Karl's first personal book. This is a fantastic read for anyone. "Pearls from Sand" is about how we can learn and grow from the daily encounters and lessons we receive. All we have to do is pay attention, be receptive and learn from the encounters.

The pearls of wisdom in this book can be applied to both our personal and business lives. The 37 life lessons that are discussed in the book are grouped into six categories: interpersonal pearls, personal pearls, inspirational pearls, practical pearls, cautionary pearls, and professional pearls. Reading the book can help with you with everyday decisions and improve relationships with friends, family, and coworkers. "Pearls From Sand" would make a great gift for your family and friends. I recommend this book to anyone, but especially to IT and business analysts who have read Karl's other books. This book provides some real insight into working with people which can be applied to project stakeholders and project team members. From these experiences, you could develop your own "pearls of wisdom" which could help you in your profession.

Pearls from Sand is a delightful and educational read from Karl Wiegers. Karl lets us into his life and mind to share lessons he has learned throughout life from childhood to today. These include lessons growing up, graduate school, life as a corporate employee, and an independent consultant. Readers will easily see how these lessons apply across their lives both personal and professional. In many cases Karl relates how a story from one aspect of his life applies across the different facets. Many stories struck home for me as experiences I have had, lessons I wish to share with others in my life, or new insights that will help me in the future. Every reader will find a story that rings true for them. This book would make a great gift for yourself or others. Each story stands on its own, is short and easy to read. Some of my favorites are:
* The Customer Is Not Always Right
* We're All on the Same Side Here
* Is it Quality or is it Crap?
* Look! Up in the Sky! It's Perfectman!

This book is all about reflection and, like another reviewer said, "paying attention." Karl does a great job of highlighting his own life experiences (the good and the bad with apparent honesty) and finding the pearls or lessons to share with his readers. I have taken away many areas for a little self-improvement as well as had some of the paths I'm on reinforced by this thoughtful book.

-Laura Brandenburg, Author of How to Start a Business Analyst Career: A roadmap to start an IT career in business analysis or find entry -level business analyst jobs and Professional Development for Business Analysts: How to Achieve Your BA Career Goals

This book is written in an informal narrative style. It contains numerous anecdotal stories that you really want to read, composed in a manner that that invites you to read them. This is the rare book that contains life lessons written as if being shared by a friend, which is a refreshing change from the masses of the supposedly inspirational works that come across as "preachy". I agree with the other reviewer in that it invokes the reader to examine their own life's lessons, and inspires a level of wisdom and sensibility in the reader that is so infrequently attained as we get caught in the grind of our daily lives without pause or reflection. Each of the "pearls" of wisdom brings to mind similar experiences that I have encountered, along with the lessons and personal growth that I gained from those experiences.

I've enjoyed reading this book, and have re-read different passages of particular significance and importance to me. Karl Wiegers has a writing style that is so impressive that it makes me dread the end of book as the thickness of the pages held in my right hand becomes less than the left. I suppose that is where the real brilliance of the website applies; Karl has created an entire website that is dedicated to the readers and allows them to submit their own "pearls "and share with others. It rings true of the "pay it forward" concept, which in a way is Karl's lasting "pearl" to society.

This is a wonderful idea, a fantastic book, and an excellent website. But I would have expected nothing less from Karl Wiegers, since everything that I have known him to produce has been more than worth my time and the price of admission. Karl, thank you and please keep your creative talents alive for the rest of us to enjoy and experience!