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No matter what your role, marketing and sales are part of your day to day job. "Purple Cow" explains why we (and our organizations) need to be remarkable and "Free Prize Inside" tells you how to achieve it.

I also recommend "The Big Moo" and "Small is the New Big"

I have not read "All Marketer's are Liars" yet but it's on my list.

I also recommend "The Tipping Point" and "Blink", they give a good understanding of how ideas and behavior spread and how impressions/conclusions are formulated.

-Ken

Mark's picture
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I agree - both good and entertaining writers.

FYI - Seth Godin is writing for marketing in the VERY modern world...there are some places where some of his stuff will sound VERY foreign.

And I love Gladwell... but many companies are mistakenly trying to harness The Tipping Point with all kinds of stupid tactics. His books have been bought into business...but that doesn't mean they translate easily all the time.

The Rule of 150, though (in Blink)...that's a rare gem indeed.

Mark

davefleet's picture

I enjoyed both 'Blink' and 'The Tipping Point' but I completely agree, Mark, that they are difficult to apply in the business world.

Upon finishing 'The Tipping Point' I purchased '[i]The Anatomy of Buzz[/i]' by Emanuel Rosen, which is a useful read from a more business-oriented perspective.

It's not rocket science, but then again, as MT proves, things don't have to be complicated to be effective.

Dave

JoeFuture's picture

I suggest reading "Blink", especially if your manager has also read it. My manager "blinked" me into a bad review once due to a complete misunderstanding of a circumstance - you know, one of those "perfect storms" situations where multiple points occured at once, each with a perfectly valid reason, but taken out of context I was made out to look like I had really failed. He was so hung up on being able to "blink" that he refused to even listen to my side of the story. Generally this manager is wide open to feedback and considers multiple points better than most I've known, but in this particular case, he found "blinking" to be too enticing.

cwatine's picture
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[quote="mahorstman"]
FYI - Seth Godin is writing for marketing in the VERY modern world...there are some places where some of his stuff will sound VERY foreign.
[/quote]

Mark,

I agree, some of his ideas in "survival is not enough" very dangerous to apply in a company !

Some of them make sense : I found some parallels between the concept of "fast feed back loops" he exposes and your "one on one"/"feed-back" concepts.

Another good concept is "very frequent tests" against "big and long projects". It keeps people interested in changes and adaptation to the market. And it is much fun with low risk !

Cédric.

cwcollin's picture

...you can get archives of his articles in the New Yorker at his website.

http://www.gladwell.com/

They are very good reads in my opinion

cwcollin's picture

...and I think that the lesson is very applicable to the business environment. How often do we talk about folks getting caught up in "analysis paralysis" when trying to make decisions. I think the driving idea behind [i]Blink[/i] enforces what lies at the base of alot of the MT teachings. That is that action is often the best remedy for complex problems whose variables will change by the time you sift through them all.

TomW's picture
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[quote="cwcollin"]...and I think that the lesson is very applicable to the business environment. How often do we talk about folks getting caught up in "analysis paralysis" when trying to make decisions. [/quote]

I think that varies with a person's DISC profile. Probably as many people get caught in analysis paralysis as leap without looking and end up making major mistakes.

Neither extreme is effective. I would not base a $1 million decision on a snap judgment any more than I would spend an hour at the deli deciding what kind of sandwich I wanted.

[quote]I think the driving idea behind [i]Blink[/i] enforces what lies at the base of a lot of the MT teachings. That is that action is often the best remedy for complex problems whose variables will change by the time you sift through them all.[/quote]

I disagree. I see the base of the MT teachings as [b][i]effective[/i][/b] action, not just action.

cwcollin's picture

.....or are you just saying you think my statements are too general?

Given that someone is a professional and a perceived expert at what they do, would their day to day first instincts really be "snap" judgements?

I agree with you that MT preaches [i]effective[/i] action but I don't agree that always rules out an experts initial reaction to a problem.

TomW's picture
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Before I start, I have to say that I enjoy a good book debate once in a while :-)

[quote="cwcollin"].....or are you just saying you think my statements are too general?[/quote]
OK, that might be :-) I think people do have "instincts" (that I really prefer over "blink") that can help them out from time to time and that they should not gain false security just because of an instinct. They could be wrong if the person in question does not have enough experience or has experiences that work against them.
[quote]Given that someone is a professional and a perceived expert at what they do, would their day to day first instincts really be "snap" judgements? [/quote]
I had to think about this one a little. I don't believe that experts necessarily can make important decisions faster just because of their expertise. I think it's a possibility and that it depends on the situation.

If a person is in sales and trying to close a deal, they absolutely must make fast decisions while in the sales meeting. They don't have a luxury of time and have to rely on the instincts they have gained from their experience.

If a person is a systems analyst, their gut instinct that a system may or may not be effective in the long run is less relevant. Whether they are right or wrong, they still need to work up the numbers (and probably many many pages of data and reports) to prove it one way or the other.
[quote]I agree with you that MT preaches [i]effective[/i] action but I don't agree that always rules out an experts initial reaction to a problem.[/quote]
I guess my point is that there are times where the gut instinct can work and we have to be careful to make sure we're using it in the appropriate situations.