Anonymous

Snuck up on me and I loved it

Reviewed: 06-03-15

What a great book. Very well read. At first I thought it might turn out to be too juvenile, but it sucks you in. Immersive, funny, tense... Future, nostalgia. What's not to love?

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This book affected me deeply. And is awesome.

Reviewed: 11-01-13

Would you listen to David and Goliath again? Why?

Absolutely will listen to this book again. The stories are well articulated and support deep ideas that change the way I'm looking at disadvantages. Honestly, apart from the content, I felt like Gladwell took his story-telling ability to another level in this book - another learning apart from the content itself.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book put me in a deeply thoughtful state each time I listened to another part. It spurred several really meaningful conversations with friends and family about real, gritty life realities.

Any additional comments?

If you like Gladwell's past work, you'll love this one. I imagine some folks will dislike the religious undertones, but don't let it take away from the stellar content and ideas that are captured in this work.

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Not good as an audio book.

Reviewed: 11-01-13

What disappointed you about Beyond the Idea?

The content reads as academic work by people who've consulted on business but never lived and died by it. As an audio book, it's next to worthless - 30% is just the reader describing tables that are impossible to track in your head.

They talk about their intentionality in keeping it short and digestible so even an executive would have time to read it, but I don't think I could get anyone to finish it - the content is really dry. It desperately needs an accompanying .pdf to articulate the visuals.

What could Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Adding an accompanying .pdf would make the audio version infinitely more useful.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

It offers a framework for evaluating innovation in a large organization, which is useful for continuing a healthy conversation about how to do it better.

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3 people found this helpful

Great Book - mainly motivational

Reviewed: 03-26-12

I love 37signals and a lot of what they stand for. This book is consistent with their brand and positioning... and I appreciate that. It's a motivational huzzah for being reasonable in how you work. It's confirmation that you CAN just make a great product and do good business and be profitable. It speaks plainly and cuts through a lot of the crap in our start up environment today.

It's absolutely worth a listen, but you might not come out on the other end having experienced some sort of cathartic epiphany about work either.

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3 people found this helpful

This book switched the light on.

Reviewed: 12-25-11

I'm a graphic designer, marketer and brand specialist - this book made me realize how far behind I've been in my thinking. Even though it's a few years old, Pink is way out there ahead of the pack. I don't agree with all of his points, and it's very specifically applicable for people living in developed or developing nations, but overall it deeply challenges the way I approach work, life and the way I think about my future. Great read...

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This book actually changed my mind.

Reviewed: 11-11-11

It's not often that I read a book in novel form such as this and come away really thinking differently. I would put this book in the same category as "The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team" - but the story itself is really interesting in and of itself. The principles within are solidified through it - it has a parable-like impact. Great listen.

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1 person found this helpful

Seemed like the rough draft for Linchpin.

Reviewed: 11-11-11

I love Seth Godin and his work but in my opinion this book seemed like the under developed step little brother to Linchpin. I would highly recommend reading Linchpin instead - it encompasses a lot of the same ideas with more compelling content in my opinion.

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Read if you don't know what Crowdsourcing means

Reviewed: 11-16-10

If you don't know what crowd sourcing means, by all means pick up this book- it's a great introduction with some fantastic examples. That said, I can't stand this authors repeated marvel at the power of crowd sourcing. He all but says sourcing the masses will solve the world's problems, but fails to realize that a crowdsourcing model can only exist over the framework of gainful employment. All of the passionate members of the "crowd" couldn't set up their own home shops with the meager earnings the receive from participating in this type of work. Interesting listen at first but hard to make it all the way through.

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2 people found this helpful

Fantastic Marriage of Science and Sense

Reviewed: 09-02-10

This book was really eye opening for me in understanding how people think. Wasn't a huge fan of the reader, however.

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Great Case Studies and Examples

Reviewed: 07-01-10

This book is a great introduction to a new era in marketing with value. It was a timely read for me, and I used several of the case studies from this as ammunition at work, so that was fantastic.

I enjoyed Reizen's reading as well-

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1 person found this helpful