Josh Linkner

This book was pushed down to many of us in a certain department who's flavour of the month is now "innovation"...yes, the sarcastic quotes are intentional.

Anyway, this isn't a bad book, but it's one that will leave you feeling hungry an hour or so later. There's lots of fun stories of those who have innovated and succeeded...and very few about those who innovated and failed.

There's lots of passages designed to build you up and stoke your fires, and there's a lot of high level--and I mean show more edge of the atmosphere high level--information on what to consider.

But if you want something that goes into specifics? Or something that gives you more than a flash card plan or sound byte wisdom? Look elsewhere. show less

An engaging look at reinvention and how you can leverage it in your work and your life.

This book starts from the premise that one of the primary reasons companies fail is the tendency to rest on their laurels and not consistently revise and reinvent who they are and what they do.

After laying the groundwork and argument for the value and need for reinvention, the book explores a number of different approaches to reinvention in the following chapters:

Cannibalize Your Own Products
Retool Your show more Operations
Create Vivid Experiences
Tell A Memorable Story
Overhaul Your Culture
Reimagine Your Customer
Transform Your Career
Forge Your Legacy

Each chapter includes case studies and stories about how companies in various industries have used the each approach to reinvention to stay competitive and succeed. Each chapter also provides questions and exercises to help readers apply what they've read to the real world. The result is a book that deftly combines real-world case studies, theory, and application. This combination of theory and real-world case studies/application is something that's missing in far too many business books, in my view, and was one of my favorite parts of the book.

In addition, the author shares discusses how each of the various approaches to reinvention apply (or could be applied) to the reinvention of the city of Detroit, Michigan, the author's home town. These sections serve as additional examples and provide even more real-world application of the ideas in this book.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in business books in general, and more specifically, to those interested in learning more about how to consistently improve what they do and who they are.

Note: I won a free electronic copy of this book from the "12 Books" group as part of its monthly book discussion program. show less

Disruption and Reinvention

I heard Linkner speak at a conference several weeks ago, and decided to pick up this book. As I was reading it I enjoyed his suggestions...his "method," on how to positively disrupt your business. As a management consultant I found myself agreeing with many of his ideas, and recommended this book to several of my clients. It's worth a read for that.

I really have no complaints about the book, but found myself a little less interested in the last portion of the book show more where he transitions to personal change. Yes, I agree with him that this is a logical discussion, and is at the core of all change...it only takes a spark, eh? But this sort of stuff is covered...everywhere...and has the book ending a little weak for me.

Also, the method of the book...a Detroit example at the end of every chapter becomes a little worn and repetitive after the first few chapters...same story over and over.

Regardless, the book can be useful for those interested in the topic of disruption and acceleration. show less

Excellent book. I heard the author speak at Brand Camp and this is the first book I received at the event that I read.
Every Marketing professional should read this book and also print posters and post it notes of the main ideas and post them everywhere to remind us to think creatively about everything -- big and small!