The Power of Negative Thinking

An Unconventional Approach to Achieving Positive Results

By: Bob Knight, Bob Hammel

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's Summary

Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking, a classic best seller, has inspired an optimistic perspective for millions of Americans. Now, in an inspirational and entertaining rebuttal, the legendary basketball coach Bob Knight explains why "negative thinking" will actually produce more positive results, in sports and in daily life.

Coach Knight, the second-winningest coach in NCAA history with 902 victories, explains that victory is often attained by the team that makes the fewest mistakes. His coaching philosophy was to instill discipline by "preparing to win" rather than hoping to win. That meant understanding the downside and drilling his teams to prevent the things that could go wrong. And when his teams did win, he made sure they didn’t dwell on their success, but rather looked immediately to the challenges of the next game.

He applies this lesson to business strategy as well.

©2013 Bob Knight (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

The book is much better than the ratings indicate!

Okay, the title is too clever by half. But Bob Knight's philosophy of winning is applicable to more than sports; it is equally applicable to the business world and to our personal lives. It is very sound.

The book was a fun read for me not because I am a fan of Bob Knight, because I am not. I'm a lifelong fan of the UNC Tar Heels, my alma mater. The book was fun because of the light and airy style and because a master of his craft wrote it. And because I love listening to Dick Hill narrate.

If you love college basketball by all means get this excellent book.

Join the Game (Life) Read this Book!

Worth the Read or Listening.

I wanted to read a book with this title and this man. Everyone has no opinion and the rest of us love him or hate him. i was inthe everyone for years, but now i can say i like him

i learned from a friend at Texas Tech, that Bobby Knights assitant coaches gave out to each player books that a. would help them for the team and b. to learn about their coach. i had not changed my mind that he appears to and sounded like a bully. i still think there is a little truth in my observation, but not all the truth.

i learned in this book that the title is there to catch you. Bring you to the counter to buy things. While there are some Basketball terms and game chat, instead it is about what people can say from the negative sometimes that hits home in someone. You know it has taken Bobby Knight for me to realize that 7 of the 10 Commandments start off with the negative.

In this everyone gets a trophy, era. Listening to Bobby Knight ask why a coach is getting paid 600,000 and will get 16,000 if wins 19 games is enlightening. He asks what was the 600,000 for?

A good read for anyone. Coaches might enjoy more then others because of the sports examples. If you are person from anywhere he coached, you will like his stories.

Get this title, read, reread, and respond within your own life a few of 'Knights Nuggets'.

Simplistic

Nothing about Knight's background, what made him who he is. I was looking forward to hearing his thoughts given his success. This is a lot of "Know when to fold 'em", "Know thyself", "Prepare to win", "Sweat is better than hope" trite crap. And, even worse, clearly the publisher tries to aim at the business market, so the book is replete with attempts to draw parallels between "Knight's Nuggets" and the business world - just in case you're too stupid to draw the parallel on your own. Just kind of silly.

Mike Leach's book Swing Your Sword is much better and succeeds not only as being interesting to the football fan but also as being relevant to anyone's goal of leading a group. It was after reading Leach's book I started looking for books by and about coaches. The Landry Lombardi book wasn't as good, and neither is this one. Next up: Summitt's.

Just as Trite as Positive Thinking

What would have made The Power of Negative Thinking better?

Depth. Real insight. Any MSNBC or FOX news commentator could have patched this book together in an afternoon.

Would you ever listen to anything by Bob Knight and Bob Hammel again?

No.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The performance was fine. The book was a waste.

powerful

it's time to be this strong again, coach knight does a great job in helping motivate people. because sometimes you need to be told you screwed up

Knight's Nuggets

The "Knight's Nuggets" are the best takeaway from this book. His theory on basketball is excellent, but a lot of that might be too abstract for those not very familiar with the game.

Narrator

This is an excellent book. The only downside is the narrator sounds like a 200 year old man. It just doesn’t quite fit the narrative or the mental image of Bob Knight.

More impactful than a thrown chair

This book take an honest look at coaching for success instead of hoping for it. It is full of great information and relavent stories. It isn't so overwhelmed by the stories as to lose the point but instead narrates with a balance of hard advice and find memories.

Looking for a book half it's equal

I coach pro athletes and every day students. I own my own coaching academy and this book worked for the coaching athletes side and the business side. Now u search for a book with half the gems this one gave. I gift this book 10x a year.

pleasure to listen too.

would have given five stars if I could have learned more. four stars is typically the highest rating I give overall with rare exception.