Reams of practical advice for and from business leaders, most—thankfully—with a human, caring touch.
New York Times business reporter Bryant (The Corner Office: Indispensable and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs on How to Lead and Succeed, 2011) collects advice from CEOs on how to build a business culture that attracts and encourages the best employees.
How do you keep that old magic of successful startup businesses? Maintaining the initial soul, passion and nimbleness of those first days is the author’s aim in this chatty, anecdotally rich series of interviews with more than 200 CEOs, a stew of experience from which Bryant tries to spear the nuggets of wisdom. Culture is the key, writes the author: “[I]nnovation is the byproduct of an effective culture.” Of course, that’s not as easy as it sounds, for it requires much of the CEO: a free flow of ideas, a tempering of the ego and the encouragement of the development of new skills to keep things fresh. CEOs must live by and be responsible to the values of the business, be dependable and caring, keep meetings to the point and small in size so people can participate, develop a culture of respect, solicit input by talking directly with the person involved. With so many business professionals weighing in, there is bound to be some static: One CEO extols giving employees “space and rope,” then emphasizes teamwork. There are also plenty of bromides—“A successful culture is like a greenhouse where people and ideas can flourish”—and some less-than-helpful tidbits, but the majority of the tips are useful. Some of the more notable contributors include the CEOs of Zappos, eBay, Stetson, Atlantic Records Group, Accenture, Tesco, ING Direct, United Entertainment Group, Saks, Hilton Worldwide and The Container Store.
Reams of practical advice for and from business leaders, most—thankfully—with a human, caring touch.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9701-6
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Times/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
A think piece about personal choices that unearths more round holes for square pegs.
One of America’s most influential pollsters carves the present into bite-sized pieces in an attempt to reveal future trends.
Penn gained fame as an advisor to Bill Clinton during his 1996 campaign by identifying blocks of constituents like “Soccer Moms” as potential voters. Here, he and co-author Zalesne expand their trend-spotting to identify 75 burgeoning patterns that they argue are both reflecting and changing our modern world. Each chapter examines a discrete subdivision with themes ranging among politics, lifestyle, religion, money, education, etc. These easily digestible nuggets of scrutiny are fairly straightforward and primarily serve as a kind of pie chart of the human race, dividing Earth’s citizens (primarily Americans, although a single chapter is devoted to international issues) into the cliques and tribes to which they subscribe. Among the emerging classes, the authors find “Cougars” (women who pursue younger men), “New Luddites” (technophobes) and “Car-Buying Soccer Moms,” among dozens of other sub-surface dwellers. The book’s generalizations are sound and cleverly written, despite their brevity, and will undoubtedly appeal to marketing analysts and armchair sociologists, as well as fans of Megatrends and Malcolm Gladwell. Yet the book stands on an unbalanced argument. “Microtrends reflects the human drive toward individuality, while conventional wisdom often seeks to drive society towards the lowest common denominator,” Penn writes in a conclusion, explaining why such movements are important. But by dividing and isolating people into popcorn-sized kernels of experience, their innate individuality is lost in many little crowds instead of one big one. Another troubling factor is that few of the book’s observations feel new. How often have superficial features about stay-at-home workers, caffeine addicts or shy millionaires been recycled on the evening news, let alone the Internet and other mediums? Penn tries to spin the gravity of these ripples. “Movements get started by small groups of dedicated, intensely interested people,” he says. But his observation could apply to anything from the Third Reich to MySpace. More cynical readers may feel like a number.
A think piece about personal choices that unearths more round holes for square pegs.Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-446-58096-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Twelve
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2007
Almost as funny as it is infuriating, this is an impressive collection of pieces about the impact of advertising on American society. Savan, the advertising columnist for the Village Voice (where most of these pieces originally appeared) aims to illuminate the mechanics and psychological ploys routinely used by advertisers to manipulate the public into buying anything and everything. Whether ads are hocking hair products, dog food, or luxury sedans, the goal is the same—to recreate the viewer ``in the ad's image.'' To this end, advertisers invest billions of dollars in market research designed to plumb consumers' psyches. Guilt and fear are particularly effective in targeting women, who are still the primary purchasers and users of household cleaners; kids respond well to images of anti-authoritarianism and nonconformity; and everyone falls for flattery, including the too-hip-and-wise-to-be- fooled Generation Xers (just make sure the ad is ironic and cynical enough to let them know that you know they can't be fooled). Savan illustrates how little ads have to do with reality (e.g., the link they imply between self-image and soda or cigarette brands). Not satisfied with merely getting us to purchase products, Madison Avenue strives to control the very beliefs and desires that make us human. Nothing is sacrosanct: Historical moments such as the dismantling of the Berlin Wall are incorporated into lightbulb commercials; and even the one force that traditionally has battled materialism—religion, often of the New Age variety, symbolized by images of sky and clouds—is co-opted into convincing consumers that buying certain products will exorcise their guilty consciences. As a counterbalance, Savan offers advice on how to read the true messages of ads (follow the flattery, calculate style-to-information ratio, etc.). Though inevitably such a collection is sometimes redundant, this is an indispensable guide for anyone who wants to better understand how advertising presses our buttons while convincing us that we are in control. (Photos, not seen)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1994
ISBN: 1-56639-244-6
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Temple Univ. Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1994
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