Interesting but not the most invigorating book, from other reviews I was expecting a little bit more. Reads a little bit like a novel but not the grabbing literacy I was expecting.

Don't be fooled by the fact that this is a quick and easy read. Crammed into these pages is a powerful problem solving tool that will help you across all aspects of your life, whether you're like the protagonist and struggling with difficult employees or you have other problems you need to deal with, like annoying neighbours.

Told in fable form, I found the writing style to be a little pretentious and self conscious instead of relaxing and letting the story flow. However, that didn't take away from the important message contained therein - if you find yourself wrestling pigs, you're dealing with the wrong problem, so you need to step back and figure out what exactly you should be focusing on instead.

One of those books you'll need to read a few times to glean all the wisdom from - and then read and reread again just to remind yourself of how simple things can really be if you only approach them in the right manner.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

Really enjoyed reading this- I did dip in and out of it. It’s a book that youas a reader will take so much from.
Thank you to both NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK for my eARC of this book. This is in exchange for my honest unbiased review

I like the premise of this book in that it presents a way of addressing a problem via a fable. The central character being the Young Manager who works in an old power station now containing many start-ups and small businesses known as The Collective. The Young Manager has a problem and is sent around various people in The Collective to be given advice.

The Young Manager receives advice from several individuals and is helped to remember them by a pictorial mnemonic involving a pig pen, containing a huge pig with it’s neck sticking through a picture frame. Nearby are a red plastic bucket filled with soapy water and a sponge and a tin feeding trough as well as other weirdly placed objects. And so the picture builds up to help remember the stages involved in needing to solve a problem. The reader is introduced to some psychology ideas such as ‘premature evaluation’, ‘reframing’, ‘confirmation bias’, ‘the fundamental attribution error ‘and ‘capability assessment error’.

I found it a quick read but nothing particularly earth shattering. I’m writing this a week after finishing it and am struggling to remember any of the advice despite the quirky pictorial mnemonic. I do remain open minded though as to how useful it is and will plan on rereading it when I encounter a problem I need help on. Although I suspect that next time I encounter someone getting involved in my problem that shouldn’t be they won’t be overly impressed by my telling them "that isn't your pig to wrestle" as recommended by the authors. My usual response to such people (in a community environment) is “why don’t you volunteer and help do this job?” This is quite effective if they are whinging as such people usually are the last to help in any way.

I really enjoyed reading this book, it was very inspiring and will be a useful future reference book for problem solving. I particularly like the way it was written in the way of a story where a young manager who is experiencing issues in his teams goes on a journey, meeting various people. His journey starts with an old barista who introduces him to the concept of pig wrestling and there is much to be learnt in the processes explained. It's a short read and all the more powerful for it. I think it would make a great present for anyone in management though the problem solving concept can indeed be applied to any issue! Highly recommended!!

This book is great - a “quick read” (1-2hrs) that packs a real punch in its pages and delivers a few lightbulb moments along the way. Short & snappy, in the vain of “Who Moved My Cheese” and books like that.
I love how the authors have brought the principles of Pig Wrestling to life with this well written, easy to remember parable.
The story is based on a Young Manager’s struggle with a work issue, but the framework and skills you learn through the story can be applied to changes or issues in either work or personal life.
There are handy summaries throughout the book to consolidate your learning and the characters stick with you so much better than if the same information was simply presented as dry facts.
I’ve personally taken a lot from reading the book - “none of us have unlimited time or energy, so what matters is how wisely we put to use the time and energy that we do have” & “the questions that we ask define our reality” were key takeaways.
I actually want to see this story filmed and shown in my company meeting (!) and am recommending the book to my sister and good friend, both of whom are managers in fast moving industries.
Thank you authors for giving me the skills to clean my dirty thinking - I’m looking forward to life outside the pig pen!

Here we have a supposed ‘everyman’, known only by the patronizing moniker of the ‘young manager’ (YM), being passed from pillar to post, or from one condescending guru to another, through various stages of enlightenment designed to enable him to avoid the ‘pig wrestling’ dogging his professional existence. Up until this point he’s been banging his head against the proverbial ‘wall’, trying to sort out people problems within and between the teams he is trying to manage. It’s at this point he providentially happens upon the potential way out of his nightmare, in the form of a friendly barista, taking the place of the traditional bar tender as the repository of all wisdom.

The barista is the owner of the Courtyard Coffee Shack on the ground floor of a converted former power station, now given over to a group of small business enterprises known as the ‘Collective’. Each of these appears to be run by one of the gurus, the barista being merely the first of such. Hearing his tale of woe, the barista offers, in time-honoured fashion, to tell the YM a fable, which promises to bring him illumination regarding his problem. And so begins the YM’s journey towards enlightenment guided by a series of appropriately enlightened beings.

So far so good: the advice provided by these luminaries is an assortment cherry-picked from the welter of self-help/mind-body-spirit/business/management stuff stocking the shelves of most modern book stores. Thus we have a variety of techniques each of which are ‘clothed’ in the form of elements of a graphic metaphor; the ‘wrestling ring’, in which the eponymous pig is wallowing in mud, with his head stuck through several picture frames, and surrounded by various other curious items, designed to be memorable images related to different stages in the problem ‘cleaning’ process. Chuck in a sprinkling of NLP and a mention of Gregory Bateson and Milton Erikson and there you have it!

So, there is some good stuff in there, which, those for whom it might be new, may well benefit. Unfortunately, the ‘fable’ vehicle through which it's delivered, in addition to being patronizing, is clunky, cheesy and peopled with stock cardboard characters too good to be true, who can’t stop themselves, ‘winking’ and ‘beaming’; stopping just short of patting him on the head when the hapless YM gets it right!

A solid three stars, then, but no more!

Pig Wrestling promises a powerful approach to problem solving delivered via a 'fable'. The fable is in fact a not-very-interesting and over-long story about a man known only as the Young Manager, who, at the behest of the Santa-like Barista in his company's building, wanders round various departments getting lectures from colleagues (they get names for some reason). The advice is based on ideas that will be familiar to anyone who has read a few pop psychology books - confirmation bias, reframing, that thing about the flies etched into urinals to make men piss more tidily.

At the end, the authors suggest, apparently without irony, ways in which you can apply your learning in your own work. If a colleague is taking too much interest in a problem that doesn't concern them, you should say, "That isn't your pig to wrestle". If nothing else, this book offers a worthy addition to your next team meeting's buzzword bingo.

The ideas and concepts were portrayed brilliantly in this short and inspiring book.
The use of a fable (with a few anecdotes included) and mnemonics made for an enjoyable read where the inherent knowledge was shared through an engaging cause of discovery.

Having read the kindly edition I’ll definitely try and get a graphic I can print out and use for future reference. It would also be enjoyable re-reading the book within the context of my own problem I might be struggling with.

Anyway, great read!

I’m a big fan of personal development books so when I came across PIG WRESTING by Pete Lindsay and Mark Bawden, I was intrigued to say the least. Described as a “simple story with a powerful message”, I wasn’t really sure what to expect when reading the synopsis but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Presented in a short, easy-to-read format, PIG WRESTLING promises to help you tackle any type of sticky situation in work or in under an hour. The authors steer away from extensive chapters about their background and research, diving straight into the key principles and strategy (hurrah) which you can use pretty much straight away.

What makes PIG WRESTLING different from other ‘change’ inspiring books on the market is the way in which it is presented. It reads like a short story in which a stressed Young Manager, whose teams are at each other’s throats, shares his frustrations with his local barista. Throughout the course of the book, the Manager is taught how to reframe his particular problem, allowing him to see it from a different perspective and therefore consider different solutions.

In the introduction, the authors claim that by presenting the framework in this way, you are more likely to recall and remember the key elements and I can confirm this is true. By the end of the book, I was able to name the key elements involved in the process and have even found myself thinking about how I could use the tools to inspire change in different parts of my life.

If you are reading the book to try and resolve a particular complex or messy problem, I would suggest making notes as you go along (just like the Young Manager did in the story) to ensure you fully understand the principles and can apply them to your own scenario as you go along. This is also one of those books that you can read time and time again as you’ll pick up something different every time.