Yesterday, April 12th, was "National Drop Everything and Read Day" here in the US, and I used the day as a perfect excuse to… drop everything and read. As noted earlier, Branson’s new book, Screw It, Let’s Do It, is available next week, and the good folks at Virgin Books were kind enough to send a review copy. Admittedly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from a book about Sir Richard’s general life philosophies or how much it would differ from his earlier book, Losing My Virginity, which covers the history and background of Branson’s life and adventures very well. This new book, however, is much shorter and an easy read even for younger audiences or "emergent adult readers," and presents chapters focused on Branson’s core principles — be bold, challenge yourself, live in the moment, value family and friends, have respect, etc.

In the end, the stories are of course the strength of this book, and of almost any book that Richard Branson writes. Succeeding in business his own way while mostly ignoring the staid old-school rules that others take as non-negotiable, Branson is the only global business leader who could write a book about everything from growing Christmas trees (and shooting rabbits)… to diving out of an off-course balloon into the ocean… to pretending to buy an island when you can’t afford to stay there (and later buying it for 6% of the asking price)… In one story, Branson hires a fishing boat on holiday in Mexico, then gets caught in a storm and swims two miles back to shore. "After the storm cleared, they searched [for the fishing boat] for two days, but found nothing." You’ll have to read the book to see how he works this into his chapter on Living in the Moment, or to later see his up-front, un-varnished explanation of how he landed himself in jail in the ’70s. Best of all, even some of his "business" stories are re-told here from a personal angle… When building the original Virgin Records recording studio, for example, Branson found a great manor house to buy and took out loans… but still needed £7,500 more to reach the needed £30,000…  

So I went to lunch with my dear Auntie Joyce. She was the aunt who had bet me ten shillings I wouldn’t learn to swim [over one summer during his childhood]. Dad had called her as promised. She knew all about my dreams for the Manor. She offered to lend me the money, to be paid back with interest when I could afford it. I started to babble my thanks. She stopped me. "Look, Ricky, I wouldn’t lend you the money if I didn’t want to. What’s money for, anyway? It’s to make things happen. Besides," she said with a smile, "I know you stick at things. You won that ten shillings, fair and square."

I could still hear her words in my head when I went to pick up the huge key to the Manor. Money was for making things happen. I believed it then and I believe it now. I also knew that without my family I would not have been holding that big old iron key in my hand. What I didn’t know was that Auntie Joyce didn’t have the £7,500 to spare. She had such faith in me that she had borrowed by taking out a mortgage on her own house.

Sure, Branson’s supportive family, his incredible luck in narrowly escaping death (multiple times), and his innate drive and strategic vision aren’t things that can be replicated by others after reading a book. If Branson is the exception that proves the rule, is it wise to offer stories of dropping out of high school to younger audiences seeking a role model? But that’s just it— this isn’t a book for straight-A students… Pre-teens might not be the best audience for references to drinking and dropping out of school, while high school honor roll students will find the reading level too simple. Instead, whether Branson and his publishers planned this intentionally or not, this book is an amazing gift to high school guidance counselors everywhere. The straight-A students don’t need Branson’s inspiration to get into good colleges, but for every straight-A student, there are ten (or 20… or 100) other students struggling to stay in school, on the verge of dropping out, unable to conform to the standard mold which doesn’t fit them, and lacking the confidence to try to succeed in their own style. In the US, these are the students least likely to have heard of Richard Branson, and yet they’re the most likely to be inspired by his example. And since these students often having difficulty reading, the simple wording and easy-to-read style of this book makes it the perfect book for that audience. "Do Some Good," Branson writes, as the topic of this book’s last chapter. Take these students and transform their frustration into inspiration, and you’ll set in motion a chain of events that could do a whole lot of good in the world. All in all, this is a book whose real promise is not "preaching to the choir" of long-time Branson fans, but rather, providing a role model to those who need it most.