ADD Success Stories: A Guide to Fulfillment for Families with Attention Deficit Disorder — Thom Hartman. 1995.

Three things commend this book: (1) it focuses on success (2) much of the content is composed by Thom Hartmann’s readers who wrote in with their real-life, detailed stories, and (3) it links anecdotes with Hartmann’s "hunter theory" of ADD. For example:
Wilson Harrell, founder of the Formula 409 Corporation and former publisher of Inc. Magazine, enthusiastically and proudly points out that he’s a Hunter. When I asked him how he dealt with procrastination, he said that he’d organized his life so that the things he’d normally procrastinate about — the paperwork and taxes and correspondence — were done by other people.
"That’s why you hire assistants and secretaries," he said. And then he’s free to make his living writing (which he says gives him that high-stim jolt…as it does me), giving speeches (another good source of adrenaline), and, now in his 70’s, flying around the world as a consultant to businesses…"
Thinking about buying this book? Some notes to consider:
ADDexec Relevance:
- Article on "good career settings for ADD adults" (10pp.) of which ~1/2 is directly relevant to ADDexecs.
- Reader stories on workplace success and tips (14 pp.) of which ~1/3 is specifically relevant to ADDexecs.
- A chapter on "defining ’success’ for ourselves’ (7 pp.) which is very relevant to ADDexecs who generally have the privilege to set their own course in work.
- Chapters on dealing with procrastination, criticism and self-criticism (11 pp.) of which ~1/4 is particularly relevant to ADDexecs.
Good:
- The book focuses and success, and the content comes from real-life reader experiences.
- The book is affirming: read it and you’ll know you’re not alone and that success is possible by way of (and not just despite) your ADD.
Not so Good:
- The book is old., Part I — the bibliography and reference materials (e.g., on available drugs) are now 12 years old and thus painfully incomplete and/or incorrect.
- The book is old, Part II — many of the comments refer to technology and working conditions that don’t reflect how we live today (i.e., with the internet on 24/7).
