Book Briefs
A standing feature in LTEN Focus on Training magazine, Book Briefs lets members share tips and takeaways from their favorite business books. Reading a training-compatible book that you’d like to share with your LTEN colleagues? Complete our simple submission form.
The Obstacle Is the Way
Author: Ryan Holiday
Book briefed by Shaun McMahon
Few careers unfold exactly as planned. Priorities shift. Budgets tighten. Teams reorganize. Projects stall. Even the best-designed learning strategy can encounter resistance, competing demands or circumstances beyond our control.
In The Obstacle Is the Way, author Ryan Holiday offers a different way to think about those moments. Drawing on the ancient philosophy of Stoicism and lessons from figures throughout history, Holiday explores how people can respond to difficulty with greater clarity, discipline and resolve.
For life sciences learning professionals, that perspective feels especially relevant. Our work often requires us to navigate change while helping others do the same.
Whether adapting a program, influencing stakeholders, supporting a team through uncertainty or simply figuring out what to do when Plan A no longer works, The Obstacle Is the Way offers a useful reminder: Progress does not require a perfectly clear path.
At its core, The Obstacle Is the Way argues that obstacles are not simply barriers to overcome — they can become the path forward. Drawing on Stoic philosophy, Holiday reminds readers that while we cannot always control the challenges we face, we can control how we perceive and respond to them.
That shift in perspective can determine whether difficulty stops our progress or becomes an opportunity for growth. Rather than waiting for circumstances to improve, the book encourages readers to focus on what they can control and use adversity as a catalyst for moving forward.
The Obstacle Is the Way offers something for anyone navigating change, uncertainty or unexpected challenges. Trainers, managers, senior leaders, field teams and professionals at any career stage can benefit from its practical perspective on responding to circumstances beyond their control.
For learning professionals in particular, its lessons can help strengthen resilience, adaptability and the ability to move forward when plans inevitably change.
The Obstacle Is the Way provides a practical framework for responding to adversity with purpose rather than frustration. Built around three principles — Perception, Action and Will — the book challenges readers to focus less on what happens to them and more on how they choose to respond.
Key takeaways include:
Recognizing that perception is a choice and reframing challenges can change how we respond to them.
Taking purposeful action rather than allowing uncertainty or frustration to create inaction.
Building the resilience to persist when circumstances cannot be changed.
Looking for opportunities to learn, grow and make progress within difficult situations.
We don’t get to choose the obstacles we encounter, but we do choose how we perceive them. We can view them as barriers or as opportunities for growth. As the Stoics teach, it is often not the events themselves that upset us, but our opinions about those events.
Of course, perception alone isn’t enough. We must also choose to act. To me, that is where the book becomes especially powerful. The obstacle only becomes “the way” when we choose to move forward with purpose. That shift in mindset transforms challenges into opportunities for growth, learning and progress while helping us continue when the path is difficult.
In The Obstacle Is the Way, Holiday draws on Stoic philosophy, historical examples and timeless lessons to explore how people have turned adversity into progress. Rather than treating difficulty as something to avoid, he presents obstacles as opportunities to develop greater clarity, persistence and strength.
The book is organized around three principles: Perception, Action and Will. Perception focuses on how we interpret the circumstances we face. Action challenges us to move forward with purpose rather than allowing difficulties to stop us. Will provides the resilience to endure what cannot be changed and continue moving ahead.
Together, those principles offer a practical approach to navigating setbacks in both work and life. The circumstances we encounter may be beyond our control, but our response to them is not. The obstacle itself doesn’t change. We do.
I’m currently reading Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl and Hidden Value by Keith Keating. While the books approach growth from very different perspectives, both explore how the way we think can shape our response to challenges and opportunities. I’m enjoying the contrast between Frankl’s psychological framework and Keating’s perspective on learning, growth and uncovering value that is often overlooked.
Together with The Obstacle Is the Way, the books offer different lenses on a common idea: How we respond to circumstances can shape what we learn, how we grow and what we do next.
Shaun McMahon is president of Illuminate and a member of the LTEN Board of Directors. Connect through shaunmcmahon@illuminate.net or linkedin.com/in/shaun-mcmahon-86a7aa3.