Rating: 
Summary: If an irrational populist ran a non-profit agency
Review:
This book is neither about Aristotle nor General Motors. Do not be fooled into believing it is in any way an application of Aristotelian ethics in modern business; it is not. Morris consistently contradicts Aristotle throughout the book.
An example is Morris' proselytizing conclusion that leadership requires humility. To make his point Morris quotes ancient Hasidic verse and the Tao Te Ching to establish that we are all worms. Nobility, Morris suggests, is lowness.
Did Aristotle ever say this? No. Could Aristotelian writing lead us to these conclusions? No again. Is Taoism consistent with Aristotelian reason and logic? No, no, no. Is Hasidic verse? Definitely not. So what is going on? Did Morris forget to read Aristotle?
Aristotle understood Man as a rational being with happiness as the moral purpose of his life. Morris does not. This book does not.
Morris peppers his book with quotes at the furious rate of no less than one or two per page. He quotes every thing from fortune cookies to Einstein. Ironically with all this mad quoting he never once, ever, (I checked) quotes Aristotle - never.
This book could better be titled, "If an irrational populist ran a non-profit organization."
The prefaces of basic economic texts usually contain better discussions of the practical intersection of business and philosophy.
Rating: 
Summary: If Aristotle Ran General Motors...
Review: ....his first move would be to hire Tom Morris as a consultant! Morris, who has a PhD from Yale and taught Philosophy at Notre Dame for 15 years, is adept at demonstrating the practical incentives of applying ancient wisdom and philosophy to modern life. Specifically, Morris teaches us about business ethics, or, as his subtitle states, "The New Soul of Business." But his teachings transcend the business world (or perhaps Morris would say the business world transcends business places). Anyone who is interested in success and happiness - whether on an individual, community, corporate, or global level - will benefit from reading this insightful and interesting book!
Rating:
Summary: Not a One-Time Read; but a Continuing Source of Reference
Review: Browsing over my peer reviewers' comments, for the most part-they are good at capturing the spirit of Tom's book. I would add that the book is a constant reference for me in my daily business dealings and relationships. I often refer to the words of Tom Morris, who in turn refers to the words of past thinkers, when I am perplexed about business decisions. I keep it on my desk, right there next to the dictionary. Incredible book, he deserves a candy bar (read the book).
Rating:
Summary: Genuinely non-Aristotelian look at Business Leadership...
Review: Despite a provocative and promising title, Tom Morris delivers neither a new nor a true approach to the art of business leadership. While the book is occasionally clever and sometimes humorous, the vast majority of this book is mostly just a hodgepodge of relativism only somewhat related to the art of management and leadership. In short, the content of the book leads the reader miles away from what might result from the title scenario. Morris falls short perhaps because he is simply a mediocre scholar of Aristotle, perhaps because he was a professor of philosophy at a Catholic university, or perhaps because he is simply just a below-average writer. Regardless, the author comes up lacking in both the style and substance of a book premise that could be truly great in more capable hands. As to style, the book is replete with anecdotes that sometimes illustrate points quite well and sometimes are clearly inserted only because the author had them at his disposal. Likewise, the book is peppered with quotations that interrupt the flow of the narrative and only rarely have anything more than a tangential relevance to the text surrounding it. One such quote, from the author himself, neatly summarizes my view of this production: "Obscurity is not a mark of profundity, however many confused writers have hoped to bully us into believing otherwise." How true, how true indeed: I wonder how many of his students felt the same way after one of his philosophy lectures. As to substance, the book is almost a complete loss. I say almost because, to be fair, Morris does come close to painting an Aristotelian view of life when he delves into the meaning of life. The author frames up his answer beautifully but then promptly undermines it in his attempts at clarification. To be more specific, Morris claims that the meaning of life is to be found in "creative love" (or, more accurately, in the love of creativity). While this sounds at first blush to be both logical and promising, not unlike the true motive power behind human innovation, Morris explains his surmise so ineptly that it becomes readily apparent to the reader that any proximity to the truth was merely an accident. Far from leading the reader closer to any meaningful answers, Morris abandons the audience as if in mid-thought, convincing them that his conclusions were as much the product of coincidence as of rational thought. This is just one example of the sort of philosophical inconsistency that exists throughout this book. In nearly every chapter, Morris makes sweeping, unsubstantiated statements and then proceeds as if these statements were self-evident truths. This might be passable if the author were able to consistently proceed from these sweeping statements in a logical progression. However, the reader frequently gets no more than one or two steps away from an assertion masquerading as immutable law when the author creates transparent straw man arguments to bolster his tenuous premises. Even if the reader can forgive (and accept as true) the first premise of the author's progression, the subsequent steps are so disorienting and fallacious that it is hard to move past them. Perhaps the most obvious example of this is how Morris routinely equates rational self-interest with intellectual myopia. For instance, in painting the entire philosophical landscape, he cites only three schools of thought: Nihilism, Relativism, and Absolutism. While he aptly defines the concepts of Nihilism and he readily betrays himself as a Relativist, he casts Absolutism as the province solely of religious zealots. Morris's emphatic use of the relativist's scale on which to measure thought is perhaps the fundamental flaw of his book. It is a small wonder that he finds no thematic consistency when he shows us a different yardstick for the measurement of each new topic. This changing standard sometimes becomes outright silly. For instance, on nearly a half dozen occasions, Morris attempts to weave coherent messages by juxtaposing concepts from the writings of Aristotle next to those of prominent theologians. The result of this sort of conceptual looseness is that better than half of the supposed insights delivered by the book turn out to be little more than fortune cookie proclamations-statements devoid of both context and independently verifiable meaning. All of this should be hardly surprising from someone who openly claims that any "unifying principle of philosophy is a dream." The question that remains for the reader, however, is: Why choose Aristotle if you believe philosophical unification is unachievable? Why co-opt the one Philosopher who may have come closest to philosophical unity than any other? Why not be honest with your readers? Why not entitle the book: If Dale Carnegie Ran General Motors? Even Plato or Immanuel Kant or William James would have been better choices, but that discussion is for another time. Like so many academic philosophers and modern business writers, Morris selects philosophical concepts based on their emotional appeal rather than with regard to any underlying consistency. This book, like virtually every business book on the market (with a few highly worthwhile exceptions) simply promotes the art we witness in greeting cards and long-distance phone commercials on television. From it, we get nothing more than the regurgitation of unthinking, it-takes-a-village drivel that characterizes so much of todays supposed non-fiction writing. Morris' entire effort seems to be very much like a Hollywood production-aiming to tug at heartstrings with nothing more substantive as a goal. In the end, that is all this book is equipped to do: provide us with a feeling...sadly, that feeling is simple, straightforward disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Genuinely non-Aristotelian look at Business Leadership...
Review: Despite a provocative and promising title, Tom Morris delivers neither a new nor a true approach to the art of business leadership. While the book is occasionally clever and sometimes humorous, the vast majority of this book is mostly just a hodgepodge of relativism only somewhat related to the art of management and leadership. In short, the content of the book leads the reader miles away from what might result from the title scenario. Morris falls short perhaps because he is simply a mediocre scholar of Aristotle, perhaps because he was a professor of philosophy at a Catholic university, or perhaps because he is simply just a below-average writer. Regardless, the author comes up lacking in both the style and substance of a book premise that could be truly great in more capable hands. As to style, the book is replete with anecdotes that sometimes illustrate points quite well and sometimes are clearly inserted only because the author had them at his disposal. Likewise, the book is peppered with quotations that interrupt the flow of the narrative and only rarely have anything more than a tangential relevance to the text surrounding it. One such quote, from the author himself, neatly summarizes my view of this production: "Obscurity is not a mark of profundity, however many confused writers have hoped to bully us into believing otherwise." How true, how true indeed: I wonder how many of his students felt the same way after one of his philosophy lectures. As to substance, the book is almost a complete loss. I say almost because, to be fair, Morris does come close to painting an Aristotelian view of life when he delves into the meaning of life. The author frames up his answer beautifully but then promptly undermines it in his attempts at clarification. To be more specific, Morris claims that the meaning of life is to be found in "creative love" (or, more accurately, in the love of creativity). While this sounds at first blush to be both logical and promising, not unlike the true motive power behind human innovation, Morris explains his surmise so ineptly that it becomes readily apparent to the reader that any proximity to the truth was merely an accident. Far from leading the reader closer to any meaningful answers, Morris abandons the audience as if in mid-thought, convincing them that his conclusions were as much the product of coincidence as of rational thought. This is just one example of the sort of philosophical inconsistency that exists throughout this book. In nearly every chapter, Morris makes sweeping, unsubstantiated statements and then proceeds as if these statements were self-evident truths. This might be passable if the author were able to consistently proceed from these sweeping statements in a logical progression. However, the reader frequently gets no more than one or two steps away from an assertion masquerading as immutable law when the author creates transparent straw man arguments to bolster his tenuous premises. Even if the reader can forgive (and accept as true) the first premise of the author's progression, the subsequent steps are so disorienting and fallacious that it is hard to move past them. Perhaps the most obvious example of this is how Morris routinely equates rational self-interest with intellectual myopia. For instance, in painting the entire philosophical landscape, he cites only three schools of thought: Nihilism, Relativism, and Absolutism. While he aptly defines the concepts of Nihilism and he readily betrays himself as a Relativist, he casts Absolutism as the province solely of religious zealots. Morris's emphatic use of the relativist's scale on which to measure thought is perhaps the fundamental flaw of his book. It is a small wonder that he finds no thematic consistency when he shows us a different yardstick for the measurement of each new topic. This changing standard sometimes becomes outright silly. For instance, on nearly a half dozen occasions, Morris attempts to weave coherent messages by juxtaposing concepts from the writings of Aristotle next to those of prominent theologians. The result of this sort of conceptual looseness is that better than half of the supposed insights delivered by the book turn out to be little more than fortune cookie proclamations-statements devoid of both context and independently verifiable meaning. All of this should be hardly surprising from someone who openly claims that any "unifying principle of philosophy is a dream." The question that remains for the reader, however, is: Why choose Aristotle if you believe philosophical unification is unachievable? Why co-opt the one Philosopher who may have come closest to philosophical unity than any other? Why not be honest with your readers? Why not entitle the book: If Dale Carnegie Ran General Motors? Even Plato or Immanuel Kant or William James would have been better choices, but that discussion is for another time. Like so many academic philosophers and modern business writers, Morris selects philosophical concepts based on their emotional appeal rather than with regard to any underlying consistency. This book, like virtually every business book on the market (with a few highly worthwhile exceptions) simply promotes the art we witness in greeting cards and long-distance phone commercials on television. From it, we get nothing more than the regurgitation of unthinking, it-takes-a-village drivel that characterizes so much of todays supposed non-fiction writing. Morris' entire effort seems to be very much like a Hollywood production-aiming to tug at heartstrings with nothing more substantive as a goal. In the end, that is all this book is equipped to do: provide us with a feeling...sadly, that feeling is simple, straightforward disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: makes philosophy come alive
Review: I had never been a philosophy
buff, but reading this book has changed my mind . . . I now
see that the subject can be fun (if you can believe that), as
well as interesting to study . . . Morris takes ancient truths
and effectively relates them to the business world, as well
as to life overall . . . i'm now looking forward to getting his
first effort, TRUE SUCCESS: A NEW PHILOSOPHY
OF EXCELLENCE, which somebody else has
recommended to me. I know i'm really "into" a book if I find myself taking all
sorts of notes on it, not only for my own use--but to share
others . . . the biggest problem I now
face is to edit these down to just a few passages, but let
me try:
If Aristotle ran General Motors, everyone employed there would
think of it as one large partnership, encompassing myriads
of smaller partnerships for the purpose of living well. If he
ran the corner grocery store, he would instill in everyone there
the same mindset. And if he offered you advice, I think that this
would be at its core: Always think of yourself as entering with
other people into partnerships for living well. This highly general
truth about the deep beauty of business can provide us with an
important perspective on many specific decisions we face. We
should always be asking ourselves whether what we contemplate
doing will enhance or diminish this crucial function of the
business within our own domain of influence. Are we building
partnerships for living well? I saw the professor later that day and asked him about it. He
answered with a big smile, "At Hampden-Sydnery, we have a rule
that every student must greet everyone they pass on campus."
I said, Why do you have a rule like that?" And he explained, "At
Hampden-Syndey, we believe that etiquette is where ethics
meet everyday life. . . . If we don't help our students get
it right in the little things, they'll never be in a position to get
it right in the big things. We teach them to be courteous,
hoping that this will help them to be moral." In an office building full of hundreds of Ph.D.s, whenever anyone
faces a personal challenge, has trouble at home, is bothered by
any sort of worry or fear, or just needs a spark or renewed energy,
they easily discovered that the wisest course of action is to seek
out the one man in the building who didn't graduate from high
school, Brother Jeff. He whistles while he works, he sings,
he greets everyone with a big smile and a kind word: "How
are you today, my friend?" An otherwise dour face may
brighten and respond, "Fine, Jeff and how are you?" The
inevitable answer: "Everything's pretty!" A conversation
then may or may not ensure, on almost any topic imaginable.
But if it does, it always ends with a hearty send-off: "You
have yourself a great day, my friend!"
Rating:
Summary: I find myself enjoying this over and over
Review: I purchased the audio version of this book to listen to during my commute, and a year after the original purchase I realized that I've played this tape more than any other. Why? Aristotle's ideas can be like knives cutting through cluttered thinking, but his presentation can be a bit long and dry. Morris does a nice job of presenting Aristotle's virtues of Truth, Goodness, Unity, and Beauty as they can be applied to business while putting a fun and popular face on them. You can find good arguments in many books for being honest in business as well as doing good and creating a sense of unity. Beauty was a surprise, but Morris argues well for it. I felt that the combination of ancient wisdom with modern examples made Morris' message meaningful and more inspirational than many other business books. I've gotten a lot of mileage out of these ideas, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking to find Aristotle's virtues in the workplace.
Rating: 
Summary: Should be mandatory reading for MBA students and all CEO's
Review: I've been working globally on "people issues" for too many years without finding guidance that works in most cultures, at all organization levels, and for any industry. I think I found it in this book.
Rating:
Summary: An ethical vision for leaders
Review: If Aristotle Ran General Motors is a wonderful book. Don't think it only applies to people who work in corporations. It is a book of wisdom that provides a comprehensive view of human life in all its dimensions. I teach a leadership course for freshman leadership scholars at the Univesity of North Carolina at Asheville. I use Morris' book because it provides a way to discuss leadership ethics that is non-utilitarian or materialistic. It is humanistic in the classic, noble sense of ethics being how people work and live together in harmony. This is the kind of perspective that leaders need to have to gain the confidence to act with integrity and success. I've looked for books on ethics to use with students, and this is by far the best. Students love his treatment of the four human dimensions. And starting the course with his text, it provides a context for discussing the varieties of leadership theories that illuminates either their shallowness or their wisdom. I highly recommend this book. I also encourage people to give this book to friends for whatever reason they can imagine. They will thank you for it, and you'll have something powerful to discuss over email or coffee.
Rating:
Summary: An ethical vision for leaders
Review: If Aristotle Ran General Motors is a wonderful book. Don't think it only applies to people who work in corporations. It is a book of wisdom that provides a comprehensive view of human life in all its dimensions. I teach a leadership course for freshman leadership scholars at the Univesity of North Carolina at Asheville. I use Morris' book because it provides a way to discuss leadership ethics that is non-utilitarian or materialistic. It is humanistic in the classic, noble sense of ethics being how people work and live together in harmony. This is the kind of perspective that leaders need to have to gain the confidence to act with integrity and success. I've looked for books on ethics to use with students, and this is by far the best. Students love his treatment of the four human dimensions. And starting the course with his text, it provides a context for discussing the varieties of leadership theories that illuminates either their shallowness or their wisdom. I highly recommend this book. I also encourage people to give this book to friends for whatever reason they can imagine. They will thank you for it, and you'll have something powerful to discuss over email or coffee.
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