‘From what?’ you may well ask. If nothing else, from outdated mindsets and management mediocrity. But for some companies, I genuinely believe that the wholehearted adoption of the 3 mindsets outlined in the first few chapters of this book, ‘Meaningfulness, Responsibility and Collaboration’ could make the difference between going under and going global. And for just about any business leader, the contents of this book could make the difference between simply surviving the onslaught of technological changes which are disrupting the traditional marketplace at an astonishing pace – and learning to embrace them, and thrive.
I appreciate that these are bold claims, but then this is, in every respect, a bold book. I must admit that when I saw the title of the book I was more than a little skeptical, thinking ‘you’ve bitten off more than you can chew here guys’ but when I reached the last page of the book I was stumped to think of much that they’d not covered, which is a pretty impressive feat when you consider that the topic in hand is no less than ‘the future’.
From bitcoin to big data, cyber security to genetics, 3D printing to driverless cars, this book not only describes what these disruptive forces are (in detailed, yet digestible language) but also – and most importantly – describes why these technological changes matter to you and your business.
There were numerous times when I was reading this book when I had an ‘Ahhaa!’ moment, when I suddenly realised how something I’d previously seen as a geeky novelty could soon herald a seismic change in my own area of business. As the authors put it ‘The question is not ‘Will it make sense for you to take advantage of this technology?’ but, perhaps, ‘When will it make sense for you to take advantage of this technology?’
I’ve read plenty of good books on preparing your business for the ‘next big thing’ but I don’t think I’ve read anything that comes close to the breadth, depth and genuine, unadulterated passion of this book. This is not another ‘grow your business in 100 days, make your first million’ neither is it a dry academic text book of management theory. Part anecdote, part philosophy, part manifesto, part digital guidebook – it is an altogether epic epistle to businesses, a love letter to leaders present and future and a call to engage with and embrace the tidal wave of change that’s coming.
This is a business book with a mind AND a soul. It’s the antidote to the ‘get rich quick by destroying your competitors and screwing your customers’ start-up philosophy. The whole ethos from start to finish is how to build an agile, ambitious, customer-driven, staff-lead business with a corporate conscience and a sustainable structure. The question the book asks of the reader page after page is not do you want to be a big business or a small business, but do you want be a truly great business or a mediocre business? That’s not to say that the authors don’t care about the bottom line, it’s just that the philosophy advocated in this book is that if you take care of your customers and focus on their needs in an ever changing technological landscape, then the bottom line will take care of it’s self. As they say ‘We hope you make a meaningful difference AND a handsome profit’
The authors have done an excellent job to balance factual information, fascinating theory and practical application – and every time you find yourself wondering about some philosophical tangent that the book has just raised the next paragraph snaps you right back into what really matters – the customer. In a clever bait-and-switch I found myself constantly drawn into a new idea or concept or a new theory on a old idea, and just as I was starting to drift into the abstract realm of pure ideas, the book would bring my swiftly back to earth with a challenge ‘how is this information relevant to your customers? How could you use this knowledge to improve their experiences and improve their lives?’
In terms of style there’s something fresh and dynamic and slightly unsettling about the unique co-narrative of the book which stops you from falling into the usual pacing and rhythms and style of the familiar modern business book. As a result I found myself paying more attention to each chapter, not knowing exactly where it was going to take me (and half the time you get the sense that the authors weren’t quite sure where they would end up when they started the chapter either!) and as a result I didn’t find myself skimming over sections or skipping pages in the way I often do when I feel a book is leading me to a conclusion and is simply filling out the pages with more anecdotes until the end of the chapter. I can’t quite put my finger on how they’ve done it, but I imagine it has a lot to do with the organic, impassioned and unconventional way in which these two authors have brought their unique experiences and large personalities to bare on each topic. Whatever the cause, the effect is that I ended up reading every chapter and paying close attention to the areas which I’m less familiar with, even those areas which are less directly relevant to the business environment in which I work.
This writing style doesn’t always pay off however, and certain decisions, such as blending all of the personal anecdotes into a single identity end up confusing the narrative and obscuring the reader’s ability to really get to know each individual author. Likewise there are times when the informal phrasing ‘invite us in to enjoy some pie with you’ feels out of kilter with the main tone of the book, and there are some sections which could have benefited from a trimming by a less generous editor – but - and it’s a big but – these are relatively small and easily forgivable sins in what is an otherwise fantastically written, frequently amusing, always insightful and invaluably informative book on the most important issue facing every business, how to adapt and thrive in an ever-changing and uncertain future. If every CEO read a copy of this book the world would be a considerably different place and we’d have a lot more stable businesses staffed by genuinely happy workers serving customers who feel understood and valued.
One of my frequent criticisms of the modern business/leadership/popular science book is that they take 2, maybe 3 genuinely interesting ideas and pad them out to fill a whole book, when really all they justified were a few chapters. ‘Futureproof’ takes the exact opposite approach. In writing this book the two authors have collated enough genuinely original and interesting ideas to fill an encyclopedia, and proceeded to squeeze and cram them into every paragraph of the book like metaphorical idea-sardines. If I was a shrewd editor my first piece of advice would have been to split up these ideas and ration them out across a whole series of books – but these guys are just too damn eager to share their knowledge and experience with the world, and so instead of a carefully prepared Michelin starred micro-meal, this book is a ‘invite the whole neighborhood we’ve killed the fattened calf all-you-can-eat BBQ buffet extravaganza (with vegan options)’. Almost every page of this book is bursting with new information (carefully researched and helpfully referenced) fascinating ideas and challenging concepts.
What I loved about this book was the clear sense that Minter Dial and Caleb Storkey are not here to try to ‘sell’ the next big idea or promote a brand or concept, they’re simply here to share their knowledge and experience and help whoever they can in the process (which, I would strongly assert would be just about anyone in the business world who cares to read it). A bit like that awesome sales person who sees your confusion over which product to buy and ditches the sales script, pulling you to one side and saying quietly, ‘look, I’m not supposed to tell you this but..’ and proceeds to give you the inside track and save you a whole lot of money, simply because he wanted to help another a human and not clinch another sale. These guys genuinely care, about their work, about their ideas, about your business and the sort of world we’re creating. Reading this book is like sitting between two leading experts on a long flight and having them explain their fields of expertise with such intense enthusiasm and clear insight that the flight goes by in no time and you get off the plane thinking ‘I’ll never see things in the same way again’.
If you’re up for that, strap in as it’s quite a ride. But if you’re looking for a neat little book which will present you with a couple of carefully packaged ideas in an easily digestible format and won’t challenge your current status quo, then look elsewhere. This book is not a small, neatly polished, tightly set diamond, this is a hulking great big dusty, crusty coal covered diamond in the rough. And it’s absolutely worth the work.
Not only does this book present a staggering range of new ideas, but it also encourages a deep engagement with each of the those ideas, using the ‘P.I.E’ model to challenge the reader to apply each new concept to the three spheres of the personal the internal and the external. If you were hoping the book would do all the work for you, you’re in for a rude awakening. Reading the book is more like spending a week at bootcamp than sitting in a comfortable seat at a conference sipping a latte and tweeting insightful wisdom-nuggets.
Between them Minter Dial and Caleb Storkey bring experience, wisdom, passion, humour, and perhaps most importantly of all, integrity born from personal (often painful) experience to this work, which is one of the qualities that sets it apart from other similar books in this arena. This isn’t just another business book, this is an indispensable field-guide to surviving and thriving in the age of almost daily disruption. I hope that this book rightly becomes a classic, and I’m looking forward to the second edition, which, given the changing pace of technology is about due now!
Scarica l'app Kindle gratuita e inizia a leggere immediatamente i libri Kindle sul tuo smartphone, tablet o computer, senza bisogno di un dispositivo Kindle. Maggiori informazioni
Leggi immediatamente sul browser con Kindle per il Web.
Con la fotocamera del cellulare scansiona il codice di seguito e scarica l'app Kindle.
Passa al retro Passa al fronte
Segui gli autori
Si è verificato un errore. Riprova a effettuare la richiesta più tardi.
 |
Le recensioni migliori da altri paesi
Tom
This book could save your business..
Recensito nel Regno Unito 🇬🇧 il 9 settembre 2017Alex Luff
Get your business ready for the next disruption - must read!
Recensito nel Regno Unito 🇬🇧 il 15 maggio 2018
Bernie
This is a solid jumping off point for owners of ...
Recensito nel Regno Unito 🇬🇧 il 9 gennaio 2018
Pierre Balloffet
Un ouvrage éclairant ... et un guide pragmatique !
Recensito in Canada 🇨🇦 il 23 agosto 2018
Pierre Balloffet
Recensito in Canada 🇨🇦 il 23 agosto 2018
Immagini presenti nella recensione
