The Circle of Innovation

Rating:
Summary: Good and original
Review: "The Circle" was recommended to me by a colleauge just a few short weeks ago and I must say it has changed my life in a way I would not have thought possible. It has changed the way I look at my job, my customers, people in other service industries and life in general. I firmly believe that you would be hard pressed to not find some sort of nugget in this book that would make each and every one of you say "WOW!!! I never thought of this like that!?!?!" It is an awesome guide to business and to life, the only warning I have is to be careful if you decide to pick it up because it holds the power to forever change the way you do business or live life and if you aren't ready for the changes that will come they could be mindboggling. To all who choose to grab this and embrace it - I wish you Good Luck and hope it affects you in the same ways it has me.

Rating:
Summary: The Thinker's Book
Review: Another excellent work by Tom. This book goes beyond details and throws out wild and spontaneous thoughts for the success-hungry business person to devour!It's not a book for the average individual who wants to read to absorb information, and agree or disagree with the concepts. It's an impetus of thought provoking ideas that is meant to kick start the reader. This is to stimulate excitement and thinking of how to put the ideas to work for yourself. He does not show you in little details how to do it, but gives you the topic and lets you write the essay. He wants you to THINK, be imaginative, and set your own wheels into motion. If you are not an innovative thinker looking to succeed by letting your ambitions take off, then this book will probably scare you.

Rating:
Summary: Wow! Innovate the Tom Peters Way
Review: Be warned that if you like unusual formats, you'll find this book refreshing. If you hate anything unusual, you may not like this book.

The Circle of Innovation is written in slide book form. This is the form that consultants use for seminars. Each exhibit that the seminar attendees will see is included, along with a page of script that covers the content of the exhibit. The result is highly enjoyable, as you vicariously imagine being in the room with Tom Peters, the world's most sought-after business speaker.

The exhibits are wonderfully funny and evocative, and use all kinds of visual tricks to get and keep your attention. I had people all over the plane looking over my shoulder to see them, as I read the book on a recent flight.

Tom Peters also walks his talk, and really lives with passion -- which strongly comes through in this book. His interpretations of the world are almost always tied to quotes from important thinkers and business leaders, which gives the book a relevance and immediacy that a more intellectual book would have lacked.

I found this book to be very satisfying to read. It affected me at a very fundamental level, so I could tell that I was "getting" the message. The result is a most impressive example of a way to communicate through books. The principles seem to be sound in most cases (although not all markets are dominated by women purchasers -- such as boxing gloves, football tickets, Viagra, etc. -- but many are, such as cars), and they should stimulate your thinking to expand the scope of the innovations you think about.

The book could have been improved with a consideration of processes that work better than others for getting the innovation work done. For that assistance, you will have to look elsewhere. In the meantime, do read, think about, enjoy, and apply the lessons of The Circle of Innovation.

Another good book on innovation is Peter Drucker's Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Rating:
Summary: Decent reading
Review: Don't be overwhelmed by the size of this book. You can go through it rather quickly since most of the pages have graphical text - big fonts and just like PPT presentations. If you are not used to or don't like graphics and presentations, you may have a hard time with this book (as you can see from other reviews). But it is kind of a breakthough book in terms of the style.
Most of the ideas are very useful, most of the examples are very genuine in how it relates to the theory.

For those who may be annoyed with the style of this book, my only request is, look beyond the style for the content or the gist.

Rating:
Summary: Michelangelo of biz-speak
Review: I love reading Tom Peters. I plop the covers shut, and jump up feeling pumped, filled with ideas and bubbling over with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, on Monday, I still have to face the work-a-day world.

This book was no different. Indeed, it is one of his best. I love his ideas about decentralization and finding talent in everything work endeavor (Michelangelo's of housekeeping? Props, says the author). Building WOW! projects (any project can be WOW! if we let it), and resume-ing those projects to manage your career as a Professional Service provider. In short, how to brand yourself, how to grow that brand value, and ultimately leverage your talents through that brand.

This book, however, does not stop at the personal Buzz level. It touches on corporate restructuring to flatter, faster entities ... and the fact that the "nerds have won!" Peters points out that grey matter is becoming increasingly more important than lumpy things. For example, examine Nike, Microsoft and Oracle versus Ford. One sells stuff, the others sell ideas. Those industries highest in grey-matter consistently show the highest ROE.

I love this book, though not directly applicable like most excellent business books. In fact, I would caution anyone wanting to manage from Peters' un-tempered ideas.

For example, Peters lauds Nike throughout this book. But, check out how poorly Nike faired in the late 90's, early 2000's. Consumers, unawares to the company's executives, changed fashion trends away from white leather sport shoes and towards causal, brown natural leather shoes. At the same time, the company's lumbering supply chain made its core accounts (the sporting goods stores) very unhappy as they faced constant stock outages. And, when you add the public fervor over its sweat-shops in Asia, well ... Sometimes, it pays to be sober to temper over-exuberance. "A cup of decaf, please."

Everything aside, Peters is one-in-a-million. He continuously points me to the future, and gets my juices flowing. Sort of like a Michelangelo of biz-speak: the reigning king of biz-Chaos.


Rating:
Summary: Didn't Age Well
Review: In 1997, it appears, Tom Peters took a bunch of his PowerPoint slides and made them into a book. More power to him for coming up with another revenue stream.

From the vantage point of late 2001, Peters does not in the volume appear genuinely innovative but rather highly sensitive to trends that were forming at the time. Useful, but a different skill.

For true vision, more content, and more explanation on the process of thinking creatively I recommend Faith Popcorn and Eric Maisel.

Rating:
Summary: Plenty of P. T. Barum pizazz, breaking all book 'rules'.
Review: Peters zeros in on innovation as the touchstone for success, along with a passionate presentation of fifteen other related ideas such as: distance is dead; destruction is cool; we are all Michelangelos; welcome to the white - collar revolution; the intermediary is doomed; and the system is the solution. The book's visual layout model's its theme which is - It is the end of the world as we know it, so whatever made you successful in the past won't in the future. What, then, can you do? The answer is...innovation! This is another WOW book, exuding the excitement and novelty that makes Tom Peters, himself, a living example of what he passionately and entertainingly writes about. Peters delivers content in a form that breaks all book 'rules,' using a plethora of P. T. Barnum pizazz. Among business books, that's innovative! I don't think Peters expects or wants you to read this book, but to experience it. It is a bit more like a roller-coaster than a book, with zigs and zag! s and lots of zip. Still, for all its flare, this is not a ground-breaking work, falling short of Peters' Liberation Management.

Rating:
Summary: READ THE HOTTEST SEMINAR IN THE WORLD TO INNOVATE
Review: THE CIRCLE OF INNOVATION is written in slide book form. This is the form that consultants use for seminars. Each exhibit that the seminar attendees will see is included, along with a page of script that covers the content of the exhibit. The result is highly enjoyable, as you vicariously imagine being in the room with Tom Peters, the world's most sought-after business speaker. The exhibits are wonderfully funny and evocative, and use all kinds of visual tricks to get and keep your attention. I had people all over the plane looking over my shoulder to see them, as I read the book on a recent flight. Tom Peters also walks his talk, and really lives with passion -- which strongly comes through in this book. His interpretations of the world are almost always tied to quotes from important thinkers and business leaders, which gives the book a relevance and immediacy that a more cerebral book would have lacked. I found this book to be very satisfying to read. It affected me at a very fundamental level, so I could tell that I was "getting" the message. The result is a most impressive example of a way to communicate through books. The principles seem to be sound in most cases (although not all markets are dominated by women purchasers -- such as boxing gloves -- but many are such as cars), and they should stimulate your thinking to expand the scope of the innovations you think about. The book could have been improved with a consideration of processes that work better than others for getting the innovation work done. For that assistance, you will have to look elsewhere. In the meantime, do read, think about, enjoy, and apply the lessons of THE CIRCLE OF INNOVATION.

Rating:
Summary: Sure got dated fast
Review: This is a thought provoking book. You get either excited about the way Tom Peters look at the world of business, or you could get anxious or just plain upset and furious.

He talks about no rules, no strategy, no balance, one-man companies, all elements in the value chain are services, the death of the middle-man, no limits pleasing the customer, labels, labels, cv, talent, it's a woman's world, design is the next big thing, etc. In the end he summarizes his best advices and you better listen!

You don't necessarily have to agree with everything he says, cause he will shake your foundations and make you think about if you are doing the right thing; both as an individual and if you are managing a company.

It is the way he delivers his thoughts as well. This is not an ordinary textbook. It's full of pictures and TeXt splattered A-L-L o v e r the PAGES. It refuses to follow any standard structure. He seems to want to make a point or two...

Rating:
Summary: A Frustrating Read
Review: While I am a fan of Tom Peters I found this book to be very frustrating and even annoying to read. It appears to be a collection of presentation materials slapped together to try to create a book. While it might be a good reference to use at one of the seminars it does not stand well on it's own. There is little to tie the buzz words, quotes, and ideas together. I find reading "BIG IDEA!" on every page to be more and more annoying as I read on.

The book does seem to get better as you go on, particularly the second half. Maybe by then you get accustomed to the style. Still probably better as a reference or seminar guide than just reading material.