You’re absolutely right about most books being fluff. It seems they take common sense and other types of natural information available to everyone, polish it, add some case studies and examples, and simply resell it.

As far as taking things personally, I know throughout all my religious and political debates that oftentimes criticism is viewed as an attack depending on the vested interests one has in his/her beliefs that are being discussed. I think hat translated into the business world as well. When communication becomes nothing but a clash of egos, nothing is accomplished–and we all know there’s plenty of ego to go around in modern society and not enough content or substance!