Rating: 
Summary: Terrible again !!!!
Review: Absolutely Terrible !!! Take his pevious books, cut and paste alot and viola - you have this book !!! Peters is just not relavant anymore, no matter how hard he tries. I thought maybe this book would be different - not so. Its unfocused, difficult to read, difficult to understand and offers NOTHING new!!! Tom,
you've made enough money selling this exact same thing over and over. Enough already !!
Rating: 
Summary: Imagine schizophrenia
Review: This book's value lies primarily as an experiment in alternative print layout and idea presentation. Mr. Peter's fails to engage the reader by bouncing around a small number of ideas and illustrations in a schizophrenic manner that quickly tires the reader before establishing a foundational argument.Much of this book's 343 pages of text are filled with self-indulgent ramblings as if John Madden had suddenly become a business guru and decided to write the next "Cluetrain Manifesto" with the help of a statistician bent on shock and a clip art disk. While many valid points may be gained by a gestalt reading of this book, they are obscured by both poor writing and poor layout (whether intentional or not). If the author had spend a bit of time "re-imagining" usability, this would be an entirely different review!
Rating: 
Summary: Magnum Opus? You bet!
Review: Okay, so there's not much new here; it's a lot of vintage Tom albeit expanded, revised, refuted, and re-packaged in an awesome (and mold-breaking) design. Worth the price of admission? Absolutely. Even though Tom's been making some of these points for decades, there's clearly a need for reiteration and re-amplification. Tom's ample side commentaries together with the new design transform this material into a kick-your-ass experience. On a BOS to ATL flight, I jotted a dozen pages of notes and ideas even though I'd read/seen/heard Tom present all of these topics a dozen or more times in twenty years. Still, Tom only hints at what I'd hoped he'd turn his prodigious talent to exploring, namely, the nobility of work that's possible if you let it happen. You sense that undergirding all these ideas is a unifying call to purpose, meaning, and (of course) excellence ... "work that matters". It's right there, but somehow Tom never quite brings it to the surface. Perhaps it's the civil engineer in him. Rarely do bridges or tunnels reveal the engineering separating us from a watery grave. So, there remain even greater questions for Tom to help us explore next time. Thanks again, Tom.
Rating:
Summary: Well...DUH!
Review: Peters's brilliant "new" idea about "re-inventing" business? Technology! Specifically, using the web and wireless communications to speed things along, eliminate middle men, and sift through unneccessary bureaucratic clutter. To say this isn't necessarily a new idea would be understating the situation, but what is really frustrating is that Peters seems intent on reiterating this non-revolutionary ideal, over and over and over and over and over, ad-nauseum, throughout the tedious 256 pages that comprise this book. Additionally cumbersome is the flipped-out way the book is designed. Much style over substance here, and it seems as if the publishers of this book might be taking some sadistic pleasure in making it as difficult to read as possible. While I enjoy most DK books (travel guides, reference, etc...), the subject matter here is an ill-fit for their style of publication. I was terrifically disappointed with this book and would advise anyone I know who wanted to learn more about the world of modern business to look elsewhere for substancial information.
Rating:
Summary: the greatest business book of the year (no really!)
Review: As a budding entrepreneur I've read a lot of business books in the past 4 years. So I can't quite understand how it is that I've never read a tompeters! book until now.
From other reviews I've seen here, it would appear that some of the material is an updated version of stuff that's been said/written/blogged before - but really, so what? This is an absolutely fantastic book that covers so much ground.
Design, boomers, marketing to women, sales, Talent, branding and of course the future. This is not only crammed full of content it is an absolute pleasure to read. The design of this book is wonderful - not at all what you'd expect for a 'business' book.
Colour & loads of it, sidebars on every page linked to the main text, images that complement & stories galore. I normally read with a highlighter, you know 'just the important stuff' to aid re-reading & wisdom-retention. That's the only bad thing about this book - you can't shorten it, summarise it or give the highlights. There's just so much on every page. Examples, stories, links to books or people or web pages. The future is going to be vastly different than most of us have been preparing for - there aren't many better guides than tom peters (seth godin, dan sullivan & ricardo semlar would be my pick alongside tp) Read this book. Please! And then read lovemarks.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but hard on the arm muscles
Review: This is a wild collection of Tom Peters thoughts culled from his portfolio of Powerpoint slides. I particularly liked the Chapter on Education - both the current workforce & the future workforce. For all the boasting he made about his new partnership with Dorling Kindersley, I found the book too heavy, and the key "Contrast" Summary tables at the end of each Chapter were printed White feint on a bright Red background - very hard to read - DK should know better.
Rating:
Summary: Sermon on the Valley: A Review of RE-IMAGINE! by Tom Peters
Review: What strikes one at the first look at 'Re-imagine!' is its looks. Tom Peters chose Dorling Kindersley, known for their atlases, as publisher for his book. 'Design: The 'Soul' of New Enterprise' is the title of Chapter 10. Design is very much at the core of the book too as Tom Peters makes a case for companies to redesign themselves.
'Re-imagine!' opens with the metaphor of New War, using 9/11. Just as 'a tiny band of fundamentalists humbled the world's only super power', big enterprises too are vulnerable at the hands of disruptive upstarts. Perpetuity is nonsense. Jim Collins (of 'Built to last') got it wrong. It is survival of the fittest, not the fattest. There is dire need for organizations to transform themselves.
'Re-imagine!' essentially addresses the American audience although there are many chapters that could interest non American readers too. Just as there has been 98.5% reduction in the blue-collar manpower requirement, white-collar jobs too are under trouble. According to Jeff Immelt, the CEO of GE, 75% of jobs in GE will disappear in 3 years. A bureaucrat is an expensive microchip. Embrace the model of the PSF (Professional Services Firm) such as McKinsey. Tom Peters laments that there are hardly any books on PSFs except a few including one by him.
The section titled 'new bus!ness new brand', easily the most interesting part of the book, deals with experience, dream business, design, beautiful systems and the heart of branding. Over the years, services have come to dominate the business. Tom Peters draws attention to how product companies like IBM, AT&T, Ericsson and GE Power Systems have progressed 'from Product Provider to Solutions Impresario' and aim at giving great experience to their customers. Quoting a friend, Tom Peters describes various levels in the value chain, viz.. 'The raw-materials economy', 'The goods economy', 'The service economy' and 'The experience economy'. The 'experience bit' adds the major chunk of the revenue. What Harley-Davidson sells is 'the ability for a 43-year-old accountant to dress in black leather, ride through small towns, and have people be afraid of him'. Lest it may sound undermining products, Tom Peters adds that the integrated solutions stuff 'makes sense if the original product (that is, the 'price of entry') ...is great. Not good, but great'. Also you can focus either on creating major revolutions in products or providing integrated solutions, not both.
What is the next level above experience? It is 'embracing the dream business'. Ferrari is a dream product while Hyundai is a common product. Marketing of dreams is called 'dreamketing' by Longinotti-Buitoni, former Ferrari North America CEO. While it is exciting to read this chapter, one doesn't agree with Tom Peters here as it is rather over simplified. Just as one can infuse emotion into common products, one can also innovate by stripping the emotional appeal and offer a functional product. Anita Roddick's (whom even Tom Peters extols repeatedly) Body Shop is a cosmetics company that reduced the price by doing away with glamour and fancy packaging, emphasizing the use of natural ingredients and healthy living.
How can an individual (read American, although others too may need this in the near future) survive and succeed in the present times? By taking wow projects that make a difference. And rate each project on a scale of 10, where 10 is for aiming to change the world. What if one doesn't have the power or rank? Getting things done doesn't have anything to do with power or rank. What one needs are passion, imagination and persistence.
What about the boss? How can he change the status quo? Ordering systematic change is a waste of time. In stead the boss must wander around, discover heroes and show their work as demos to prove that such things are doable within the company. And tell stories to fire the heroes in the making. Also hang out with weird to think weird.
'Re-imagine!' worships Steve Jobs and companies like Netscape. Silicon Valley is the model. Change the world like Netscape and die fast. While Netscape did change the world, its death was premature. In stead of celebrating its end, one will expect to know from the book the strategy to avoid it (such as staying below Microsoft's radar). Companies like GE, IBM and Dell are also repeatedly mentioned but there is no in-depth analysis of their success.
'Re-imagine!' is a collage of exciting, weird, outrageous and subversive ideas. It excites and even shocks one by its audacity, which can help in forcing one to think in the process. The book makes a case for action as against strategy and planning. This could be to correct the excessive reliance on strategy and planning over the years but it can lead to another danger of acting without any business strategy which is crucial to achieve innovation. Tom Peters often sounds like a missionary. While the book is by and large inspiring, it may ward off some readers who will find it flashy and not offering solutions to business problems. 'Re-imagine!' essentially addresses those who ride their Harley Davidsons, carry their iPods and swear by Steve jobs. It does not go beyond reaching those who are already converted, although its portrayal of the contemporary business world could be instructive to a larger audience.
Rating:
Summary: Tom is my favorite - especially when he is mad!
Review: And mad he is. This book is far from academic but is has a good sarcastic and sometimes humoristic tone. I am sure that Tom (if he ever reads this) will deny EVER being humoristic in this book - but I choose to read it like this. I am a light-headed fellow. It has a very disturbing design - it reminds me of early web pages on the Internet. Structure and colour and yet no structure and what are those colours for? Reading it the 3rd time the design makes sense. You will see your favourite quotes pup out from the text and then it gets useful. Tom says the same as he have said for quite some years now. He has become surer of himself as it seems he is often right in many of his predictions. He is a great source of inspiration but don't expect to get respect from your boss if he sees this book on your desk. Either he has read it himself and will make a joke about it - or he will be afraid what changes you will propose to his strategy and management style during the near future. Just for this one reason - go get a copy and learn how Al Qaida can inspire you in how to organize your company (Sorry Tom - I couldn't help it). And more importantly - get yourself brushed off before you fall asleep in your corner office or cubicle.
Rating:
Summary: Not much new under the sun
Review: This book is pretty standard. The design is awful and will give one a headache just attempting to keep up with the graphics and sidebars. I'm a Tom Peters fan, but this book was a disappointment. He states the obvious, retreads old stuff, and makes no compelling case, other that his "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" attitude (which is admirable to a point). Glad I bought this at a deeply discounted price, for I would have returned if purchased for full retail. Not his best work by a long shot.
Rating: 
Summary: Re-imagine as in "Impossible is nothing"
Review: "Nothing is impossible", powerful, inspiring words when you hear them the first time. Sound so cliched now. Seen the Kevin Garnett/Adidas ad, "Impossible is nothing". Same words totally different impact (or IMPACT!! as Tom Peters would've put it).
The point: if you're looking for a deep revelation or a seminal writing DON'T BUY THE BOOK.
If, however, you're looking for a reaffirmation of many things that you believed in or if you are someone whose fire and creativity has been sapped and dulled by the rigid and structured world that we live in, then this is the book for you.
- it's about things that you already know but have now forgotten (or stopped believing in)
- it's about seeing the same things differently
- it's about unleashing the rebel in you that you've tried to supress up until now.
Read this book. It will not change your life but it will make a difference.
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