Thursday Edition

dispatches from the new world of work

Stickin' My Neck (Way) Out!

January 7. Time for my "Book of the Year2005" picks!
Am I nuts?
Doubtless.
But if nuts, at least determined & passionate!

The Art of Business: Make All Your Work a Work of Art, by Stan Davis and David McIntosh. Stan, the lead author, is an old pal. (And, like me, not so young a man. But ... very young at heart ... which is all that matters!) Most interesting, Stan was a "tough-minded" "strategy guy" when I first met him. Now ... ART? Yup! The authors persuasively argue that we are entering an economy which will value—insist upon!—a new way of looking at value creation. They call it moving from an emphasis on "economic flow" (input-output) to "artistic flow." The altered nature of enterprise, the "four elements" of new business thinking: "See yourself as an artist." "See your work as a work of art." "See your customers as an audience." "See your competition as teachers." Another (very) hardnosed guy, economist and current Harvard President Larry Summers blurbed the book this way: "The Art of Business is a good antidote to all the business-as-war books." Amen! Nice job, Stan (& David)! (Incidentally—incidentally??—the pocket-sized book is but 202 pages long.) (Interesting how all these "gurus of hard"—e.g. Stan Davis, Gary Hamel, David Maister—come to put People & Passion first as they age. Hmmm.)

Rules of the Red Rubber Ball, by Kevin Carroll, is a gorgeous, gorgeously designed, pocket-sized 100-page book. I heard that Southwest Airlines founder Herb Kelleher bought copies of Who Moved My Cheese? for each of his 25,000+ employees. If I were running a 25,000-person company today, I'd surely buy Rules for all my employees! (And, hey, thanks Jack Covert, CEO of 800-CEO-Read, for sending the book along.) Kevin followed his dreams from a broken family to, eventually, a senior position at Nike where his job is to inspire ... he says some call him Nike's "sports evangelist." (Only at Nike, eh? Love it!) At any rate this book—so brilliantly executed that I plan to take it on the road as a personal Talisman—is arranged around 8 rules: "Commit to it." "Seek out encouragers." "Work out your creative muscle." "Prepare to shine." "Speak up." "Expect the unexpected." "Maximize the day." Nice! (PS: You're gonna have to buy the book to discover the guiding RRB metaphor.) (NB: The glory of this book's design cements my already strong sense that I'll never publish ... ANYTHING ... 10 words or 10,000 ... that is not driven by design as much as content. In an Age of Aesthetics, Design Is Content! Okay, okay ... so McLuhan got there first.)

The Virtuoso: Face to Face With 40 Extraordinary Talents, by Ken Carbone with photos by Howard Schatz. My pal Robyn Waters, Target's original "guru of cool" who now runs her own show (RW Trend LLC), gave Susan & me this breathtaking book as a gift. Wow! The photography is as awe-inspiring as are the interviews with a variety of folks from comedian Robin Williams to explorer Sylvia Earle to stock picker Peter Lynch. (If the book weren't so darned big, I'd also carry it with me as co-Talisman.)

Crossing the Unknown Sea: Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity, by David Whyte. This 2001 book (no mind, it's new to me—embarrassingly) is authored by an oxymoron: Whyte is a poet who spends his days working with corporations—to great acclaim. Like my other choices, Crossing aims to set us on a course toward Work That Matters (& Dignifies & Inspires & Aspires to Excellence). (Thanks in this case to my friend Roxanne Davis for insisting that I belatedly discover D. Whyte.) This inspiring tome begins with a wonderful, poetic (obviously) epigraph:

"You have set sail on another ocean
"without star or compass
"going where the argument leads
"shattering the certainties of centuries."

Janet Kalven, "Respectable Outlaw"

I can't, in good faith, promise you that I won't find other stars-of-print this year. I can, however, promise you that if you read & absorb & bask in these four books you will up the odds of 2005 being a Remarkable Year ... dramatically. So, c'mon ... let's get on with Shattering the Certainties of Centuries!

Tom Peters posted this on 01/07/05.

Comments

Tried to order Rules Of The Red Rubber Ball from my local (Annapolis, MD) Borders and Barnes and Noble. No hits at either one! What's up?

Posted by Earl at January 7, 2005 2:48 PM

I couldn't find Rules at online booksellers, either. The book is available from its publishers:
   dreamBIG!
   PMB341
   9220 SW Barbur Blvd, #119
   Portland, OR 97219
Sorry. If I find another way to get it, I'll give the details here.

Posted by cathy at January 7, 2005 3:57 PM

Rules: http://www.totalinformation.com/results.asp?isbnkey=0975333100

Posted by Stephen at January 7, 2005 5:38 PM

Talking about books, I got the Daily Drucker for X Mas. Needless to say, brilliant. But this time, it is an action book. Though the years I dreamt to collect them (PFD books)all; here came the opportunity.
Enjoy.

//that would have been my choice for my people

Posted by la4eHe at January 8, 2005 9:07 AM

Thanks, Stephen!

Posted by tom peters at January 8, 2005 11:01 AM

The Art of Business and Dan Pink's new book A Whole New Mind are nice bookends offering complementary messages that together form a more complete sense of the transformation happening in business and society.

Posted by Jeffrey at January 8, 2005 11:42 AM

You are quite welcome Mr. Peters. Thank you for continuing to inspire and motiviate me each and every day.

Stephen

Posted by Stephen at January 10, 2005 12:38 AM

Is it just me or is this linkbaton.com thing not working?

Posted by Paul Davidson at January 10, 2005 12:53 AM

For Rules Of The Red Rubber Ball you should also try CEOREAD at http://www.1800ceoread.com

They're the ones who turned us on to it in the first place (Thanks, Jack Covert! It's a beautiful little book).

Posted by Steve Farber at January 10, 2005 12:25 PM

Steve, you're right, that's how to get the book, and here's the link:
http://www.1800ceoread.com/details.asp?productid=0975333100

Posted by cathy at January 10, 2005 12:42 PM

Does anyone know the reason for not selling this book via Amazon or BN?

Posted by Jana at January 11, 2005 4:49 AM

Hi Tom, Absolutely right again. The masters of hard go soft! The harder they come the harder they fall! I've been talking a little with your friend Jennifer Rice about this very thing. I've done a few years of research on this exact divide and how it's healing--a few conclusions up at: www.ebencarlson.com if you're interested. Up currently is a post about spiritual competition. Which is what I believe businesses will be (are) entering into. Goodwill being love and all. ---ATB, Eben

Posted by Eben Carlson at January 12, 2005 3:34 PM

Jana - the reason you can't find Rules on Amazon or BN is because it is a self-published book. The author hasn't done alot with distribution on the book.

Posted by Todd at January 12, 2005 6:03 PM

The rub is simple. I like to touch and see a book before I buy it. Maybe a lot of other people do, too. Borders will order it for me (for free), gives me a 20% corporate discount, and has it waiting for me at the parking lot entrance. CEO Reads sounds great, but I can do without the $5.00 ding for shipping. Its not easy for self-published authors to get any distribution at all, so its great that the author has it out as much as he does. Why not at least distribute it initially in Nike outlets?

Posted by Earl at January 13, 2005 12:15 PM

tom! thanks so much for your comments about my book! it was very kind gesture from the folks at 800ceoread.com to share it w/you. some quick answers to some blog qs: its my 1st book ever! the book IS self-published(not for a lack of trying to gain interest from publishing houses - man, that was a lesson learned!). dreamBIG! publishing is a completely fictitious name! the book has enjoyed amazing success via "word-of-mouth" marketing & has become this "gift" book of choice by many. just recently, a publishing deal has been agreed upon in principle w/espn(who knew?!) and it will allow for much greater availability for folks later this year. so, at the moment, that's why you can ONLY find it at the total information & 800ceoread sites.
i'd love an opportunity to chat about the book and my new adventures since leaving nike last summer.
thanks again, i look forward to hearing from you & all the best in '05! peace...

kc
katalyst

Posted by kevin carroll at January 23, 2005 2:50 PM