Tag Archives: Inc.
New Work Rules Book Crashes into Best-Seller List
Just eleven days ago, as of this writing, Crown Books released The New Rules of Work: The Modern Playbook for Navigating Your Career. It is already in the top 100 books in two Amazon.com best-selling sub categories, and today, hit # 5 on the Wall Street Journal business best-seller list (April 29-30, p. C10).
We will watch the progress of this book on the best-seller lists, and continue to monitor critical reviews of the book before making a decision to present it at the First Friday Book Synopsis. However, the strong start that it has certainly has us already giving it very strong consideration for presentation.
The authors are Alexandra Cavoulacos and Kathryn Minshew. According to Amazon.com,
Cavoulacos is the Founder and COO of The Muse.com, where she leads the 
Product and Operations teams, creating and launching new features weekly. Prior to founding The Muse, Alex was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company’s New York office. She graduated from Yale University and is an alumna of Y Combinator in Silicon Valley.
Minshew is the CEO and Founder of The Muse.com, a career platform and community helping 50+ million Millennials find inspiring careers at innovative companies. She was named to INC’s 35 Under 35 and Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for two years in a row.
These are the rules that the book presents:
The New Rules for finding the right path: Sift through, and narrow today’s ever-growing menu of job and career options, using the simple step-by-step Muse Method.
The New Rules for landing the perfect job: Build your personal brand, and communicate exactly how you can contribute and why your experience is valuable in a way that is sure to get the attention of your dream employer. Then ace every step of the interview process, from getting a foot in the door to negotiating your offer.
The New Rules for growing and advancing in your career: Mastering first impressions, the art of communication, networking, managing up and other “soft” skills – and make it obvious that whatever level you’re at, you’re ready to get ahead.
Continue to monitor our blog and website for any future decisions regarding whether we will present this book. As of this writing, I have fair optimism about that.
I’m Not a #, Nor a Girl, Nor a Boss, But Amoruso’s Path Wouldn’t Work For Me Anyway
This week, I finished reading #GIRLBOSS (New York: Portfolio, 2014) by Sophia Amoruso, the founder and CEO of Nasty Gal. It remains a blockbuster business best-seller, with more than two months on all the major lists. Even today, it is # 7 on the Wall Street Journal hardcover business best-seller list, and #37 on the Amazon.com all-book types best-seller list.
I’m not a #, nor a girl, nor a boss, but I wouldn’t want to follow this anyway. I found it to be a tired rags-to-riches story, and the book is unprofessional, laced with vulgarity and profanity, even in chapter titles.
I am unimpressed with a story about someone who bucked authority while young, ate food out of dumpsters, ran away with and from weird boyfriends, refused to take prescription medicine for treatment, shoplifted strategically, among a host of other maladies in her background.
I am glad this all worked out for her, but it is hardly a model I would want anyone else to follow. I assume that by now, people buy this out of curiosity, as she has been the topic of many magazine articles, such as Inc., and Marie Claire, and the darling of numerous internet features and interviews. As a result of this type of coverage, the book has received much publicity.
The book does not offend me. But, I choose to be offended. It’s a free country. People can write what they want, and read what they want, and form their own views as they choose.
But, if this is how you get ahead, I want no part of it. It seems to me there are unique and even radical paths to success that don’t do it this way. Contrast this book with other radical approaches, such as Rules for Renegades. You quickly learn that you can be different without being offensive.
I doubt if I am alone. I perceived an astonished, rather than an appreciative or even understanding audience following its presentation at the First Friday Book Synopsis in Dallas on July 11. When so many people asked me, “how did you select this book,” I got the sense that there was quite a bit of offense, even from an edited presentation.
The winner took the book home, but I would not have been surprised had she left it on our give-away table. And, I understand this post may sell a few more copies. Comments like these always inspire curiosity. But, if you buy it, and read it, ask yourself if this is really how you would like your daughter to be successful? And, would you trade less success in favor of a different path to get there?
Our Crash Courses are the Way to Go
One of our unique services at Creative Communication Network is our ability to offer training on important topics based upon the information that we derive from books that we present at the First Friday Book Synopsis.
We call these Crash Courses, and you can look for the first offering, focusing upon Change and Innovation very soon. Don’t miss the opportunity to register for this first course. We will send an e-mail to you that announces the date, time, location, and method for registraiton.
In these Crash Courses, we take principles from several best-sellers on a particular topic and transform these into skill-based activities, facilitated discussions, assessments, and self-reflection. You won’t find anything else like them anywhere. We are putting the final touches on this first course right now.
We have two major components in our first course on Change and Innovation, with these objectives:
Part One: Creative Thinking
Objective 1: Identify strategies to actively seek out and hire people with diverse backgrounds and thinking styles
Objective 2: Explore steps to effectively manage resistance to novel or experimental proposals
Part Two: Demonstrate how to develop processes, products, and services.
Objective 1: Describe how to evaluate new opportunities unconstrained by existing paradigms but keeping an eye towards organizational goals
Objective 2: Identify and describe steps to maintain the organization’s competitive edge with breakthrough solutions and disciplined risks.
In this Change and Innovation course, we draw upon principles from these books that we have presented at the First Friday Book Synopsis, and others:
Kelley, T., Littman, J., & Peters, T. (2001). The art of innovation (lessons in creativity from IDEO, America’s leading design firm). New York: Doubleday.
Kelley, T., & Littman, J. (2005). The ten faces of innovation : IDEO’s strategies for defeating the devil’s advocate and driving creativity throughout your organization. New York: Currency/Doubleday.
Mauzy, J., & Harriman, R. A. (2003). Creativity Inc.: Building an inventive organization. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Sutton, R. I. (2002). Weird ideas that work: 11-1/2 practices for promoting, managing, and sustaining innovation. New York: Free Press.
Tharp, T. (2003). The creative habit: Learn it and use it for life. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Look for information about this course really soon!
We hope you make plans to join us.
