A Review of The Noticer

I just finished reading The Noticer by Andy Andrews and published by Thomas Nelson. The fictional account centers around an older and "wiser" character named Jones. He refuses to go by Mr. Jones, rather just Jones. The story begins with a fascinating account of Jones and what is supposedly the author of the book as a young man. Through several meetings Jones is able to help this young man transform his life into one of meaning.

The book is full of wisdom and short sayings as this "noticer," Jones, enters in and out of people's lives. Each time he encounters people he notices something in them that has potential for growth. Through some intriquing conversations he is able to notice enough about thier lives and living patterns to be able to offer relevant and insightful direction. He does this in away that only Jones can. Over the first few chapters the reader begins to really connect with Jones. it makes the reader wish that they had a Jones relationship in thier life. it also makes one think about how they can be more like Jones in the life of someone they know.

There were a couple of things that I drew out of this book. The first is how important it is to put things in perspective. When you see life through the eyes of someone else it becomes much easier to see that tings are not always as good or as bad as they may first appear. Another is that life is made up in the small things. A lot has been said about ignoring the little things. But it is the little things that separate the good from the best. People who excel in areas pay attention even to the little things.

I did find that many of the encounters Jones had with people were summations of other leadership principles found in other books. For instance Jones finds himself doing some marriage counseling with a couple in a beach restaurant. So much of what Jones counsels the young couple to do are the same principles found in the 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman. While these are great topics for conversation they are in no way unique to this book.

Overall Andrews has taken some important principles and summarised them into an easy reading format that will help those who take even just a few of them and apply them to their lives.

If you get a chance I would give this short book a read. You can knock it out in a couple of hours and the nuggets of insight and wisdom make it worth the time.