See how John Wood came to start Room to Read and writeLeaving Microsoft to Change the Worldin this video clip:high bandwidthorlow bandwidth

Instead of being the antidote to the rat race, that trip convinced John Wood to divert the boundless energy he was devoting to Microsoft into a cause that desperately needed to be addressed. While visiting a remote Nepalese school, Wood learned that the students had few books in their library. When he offered to run a book drive to provide the school with books, his idea was met with polite skepticism. After all, no matter how well-intentioned, why would a successful software executive take valuable time out of his life and gather books for an impoverished school?

Passion for Learning by Chapati

But John Wood did return to that school and with thousands of books bundled on the back of a yak. And at that moment, Wood made the decision to walk away from Microsoft and create Room to Read-an organization that has donated more than 1.2 million books, established more than 2,600 libraries and 200 schools, and sent 1,700 girls to school on scholarship-ultimately touching the lives of 875,000 children with the lifelong gift of education.

Leaving Microsoft to Change the Worldchronicles John Wood's struggle to find a meaningful outlet for his managerial talents and entrepreneurial zeal. For every high-achiever who has ever wondered what life might be like giving back, Wood offers a vivid, emotional, and absorbing tale of how to take the lessons learned at a hard-charging company like Microsoft and apply them to one of the world's most pressing problems: the lack of basic literacy.

If you're one of those people who always has a book in your bag, who snatches moments to read just one more page on the morning commute, and who really can't imagine growing up without a library close at hand ... this book is for you.

John Wood did what most people only dream of- he left a lucrative position in one of the world's top companies to form a non-profit organization whose purpose it is to bring books, computers and a chance at education to children throught South and Southeast Asia.

And then he wrote a book about it. In it, he says that non-profit companies should work, in practical matters, very much like for-profit companies. They should be organized, passionate and focused. Wood takes some time to give readers pointers as to how to achieve this.

The success of the idea for the Room to Read organization has been amazing. I hope the success of the book matches that.

I only have one quibble with this book and that is that at some points, Wood seems almost whiny. There are at least a handful of times in which he is close to tears, and a few more in which he does some real soul-searching. Luckily for us readers, Wood writes more about these instances in his journal than in his book.

The book is passionate, upbeat and interesting- it really will make you want to do your part to make the world a better place.

Amazing Progress in So Little Time by Matt Webster

John Wood made amazing progress with Room to Read going from nothing to four countries and a million donated books in five years. Reading John's story, I felt like a close friend being let in on a personal tale. The downside is that instead of being a business book or a guide for charities (my expectation) _Leaving_Microsoft_ turned out to be a great story about one guy doing lots of good in the world. John's perspective is different from most of us (the ex-VP of Microsoft laments that he can "only rent" in San Francisco while all of his buddies are creating millions in wealth... to be able to rent in and have an office in San Francisco would be wonderful). Would have liked more structure to the stories highlighting what worked and what didn't with less personal reflection. Seems like John is wandering in the desert happening on water not sure why he got there but confident that he will find more (which he always does). Again, great story and a fast read.

My Review

Basically, I keep three different career options in mind. One. Social Entrepreneur, Two. Global Investor, Three. Corporate Ladder Rider. Here in this book, John Wood delivers a fabulous presentation about being a social entrepreneur in a way I sincerely hope to pursue. The sole life fully committed to one's mission no longer lets me stay where I am. His initial chapter of business career started in Microsoft reflects my own image as I work in IBM Korea now.

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It has been long time since I wrote a paragraph ahead. I have tumbled around here and there searching for my long term goal, mission of life and diamond-like dream. The thing is no matter what routes I take, I would like to achieve a vivid image breathing in my heart like an immortal creature which motivates me over and over. I have a dream to deliver commencement ceremony speech at Harvard, introducing an entire course of my life andthe way howI changed the world,transformed the organizationsandcreated new systems and beyond. I have a dream, one day I own a business system which frees from the capital circulation.

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I live with that evident image everyday. I have no concrete idea on how I could accomplish those wonders. But I believe, I can do that. I can be the one. 

Key Excerpts

- I found it hard to imagine a world in which something as random as where you were born could result in lifelong illiteracy.

- Dostoyevsky’s quote ? “if you wish to glimpse inside a human soul and get to know a man…just watch him laugh. If he laughs well, he is a good man.”

- Why not think bigger and start 10? Or 20?

- There is nothing with which every man is so afraid as getting how enormously much he is capable of doing and becoming.

- Mao once said that a single death is a tragedy, but a million deaths is a statistic.

- My travel experiences had taught me that parents around the world are similar at least in one respect; they want their children to have a better life than they have had.

- I kicked myself for not having thought about logistics in more detail.

- But I did not know if one had to be a meditative monk to gain entry to the inner sanctuary.

- Look, there are two ways to remove a Band-Aid: slowly and painfully, or quickly and painfully. Your choice.

- Anyone in a sales career knows that if you’re not getting rejected, you’re not casting your net widely enough.

- If I learned one thing at Microsoft, it’s to think big.

- Passion sells. There is not enough of it in the world, so when people meet a passionate individual, that person really stands out. When I tell donors that I quit a lucrative career in the technology world to devote myself to this cause full-time, and for zero pay, that will resonate.

- A positive reputation is a hard thing to gain, and an easy thing to lose.

- But my bias is not toward dreaming; it’s about doing.

- The Andrew Carnegie of the 21st century will not be a rich white male. It will be a network of concerned global citizens, and we will create it.

- Chinese proverbs: Those who say it cannot be done should not criticize those who are doing it.

- All of these ambitious growth plans would, of course, come to nothing without capital.

- True entrepreneurs are not afraid to declare to the world that they are going to fill a market gap or offer a new product or service, even if they are not yet entirely sure how they are going to do so. They simply take the leap.

- The other important lesson is that once we declared a bold goal, thousands of people rallied around it.

- In retrospect, I believe that the majority of these people were motivated by the fact that we did not yet have a complete strategy or solution for Sri Lanka. In the absence of such, each individual was able to exercise his or her creative muscle and invent his or her own role. Had we been 100 percent buttoned-up, the prospect of volunteering for Room to Read would have been inherently less interesting as it would not have made a demand on people’s creativity.

- Rather than being paralyzed by tragedy, they are catalyzed into action.

- If you ask people to reach deep, to think creatively, and to produce extraordinary results, they usually will. Too often in our modern world, they are simply not asked.

- Don’t let the naysayers get you down.

Click on here->www.roomtoread.org