Dream Big: Make The Impossible Possible

How many times have you gone past a job centre? Almost always located in a office building with a drab exterior, how many people do you think it inspires? Ah! But the Manchester Bidwell , a jobs training centre and a community arts program, is different. Located in a building designed by an architect, this centre inspires hundreds to come out of their fractured and hopeless present to a wonderful future. But nothing about this building and the programs that runs within that building is more inspiring than the CEO of Manchester Bidwell himself - Bill Strickland.

Born and brought up in a ghetto, this man established a jobs centre that many consider to be the best in the world. When Bill was young, Pittsburgh ghetto was like any other forgotten backyard in the USA. Drugs, crime and what have you. Mother's courage and a gifted craft teacher showed ill that there is more to life beyond the ordinary. And it all started with a chance visit to a pottery class. Under the able guidance of a teacher who knew, and the desire to break out, Bill Strickland found a new meaning to life.

He established a jobs centre called the Machester Craftmen's Guild. To this was added the Bidwell Training Centre. Going against the grain, Bill housed the Manchester Bidwell in a beautiful building, furnished it beautifully with rich carpets, designer tiles, stained glass and a fountain in the courtyard. Some job centre this! The idea was to give the poor, the neglected and the hopeless a place where they could learn how to create and build a future for themselves, a place where they could hope.

Today the Manchester Craftsmen's Guid offers programs in ceramics, photography and painting to hundreds of under-privileged kids. The Bidwell Training Centre offers training on culinary arts, phamacology and horticultural technology. They have a Jazz Centre that has produced Grammy winning music. And all this was made possible only because of one man's dream to break out, to make impossible possible.

Style: Autobiographical. Well written. Though the style flips between formal and casual, it does not irritate.

Knowledge content: You get to know that networking is as important as dreams and desires. You also get to know how to run a small enterprise.

Applicability: Yes! Yes! and another Yes! Domains may differ; the desire to succeed will remain the same. The book manages to convey the essentials of success without the mumbo-jumbo of The Secret.

Recommendation: Inspiring. Read it. I asked my 12-year old son to read it too. And he likes it.