Hip and Sage: Staying Smart, Cool and Competitive in the Workplace by Lisa Haneberg

This is probably the first "career book" I've recommended. So why, after all the career books I've read, seen and been given over the years, do I recommend this one? Three reasons: because it's written by the very hip and sage Lisa Haneberg (whose books and blog I have recommended before), because it's MORE than a career book and, well, because Lisa told me I am an example of Hip and Sage (I'd settle for one of the two - either one!).

Lisa's point is that folks in the Baby Boomer generation may have the sage part, but might be lacking in the hip category, and she, born at the end of the boomer generation, wants to help.

The book starts with sage and shares some useful thoughts and a model for thinking about the components of "sageness," but the bulk of the book is about hipness. Really, it covers types of technology: defining and exploring some major types, how to use them and more.

Because Lisa is a personal example of diving in and learning and of very effectively using these technologies, she speaks in a sage and believable way about them. Consider this a good primer for you.

With the rapid change in technology and the web, this book will become outdated far too quick. This is one of my few problems with the book, but it isn't really a problem if you read it now! And, because Lisa is smart, she is maintaining a Hip and Sage blog to freshen the ideas and the technologies.

The book opens with a great story about singers Tony Bennett and k.d. lang - a story whose provocative lessons make it worth buying the book in itself.

If you are a Boomer or older Gen Xer who would like to be a bit hipper at work (or with your kids), Lisa's wisdom condensed in this book would be a great place for you to start - not because of the technologies themselves, but because she puts them into context and makes them more relevant to you.

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