Customer Reviews

Awakening the Entrepreneur Within CD

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Most "How to" business books are forgettable. You buy them at the airport, try to read them during the flight, get bored and annoyed, and leave them when the plane has landed in the seat pocket in front of you, together with the in-flight magazine and the puke bag.

This unfortunate new how-to business book by Michael Gerber is especially vain and self-important, repetitive and shallow, hokey and badly written, and without a shred of humor or irony to temper the often messiah-like pronouncement. But it is also revealing.

Vain and self-important: The book begins with 13 ½ pages of praise for the genius of Michael Gerber, mostly by other gurus, and in large part for an earlier book, "E-Myth Revisited." Chapter headings are embellished with eclectic quotes from famous people, who would presumably cringe at the thought of being recruited for this commercial enterprise: You'll find John Lennon and Richard Wagner, e.e. cummings and Ernest Hemmingway, Paul Klee and even James Joyce. Speaking of putting perfume on a pig! On page 4 in the weird opening chapter allegedly reporting a conversation between the 69 year old Michael and his Mom, who's in her nineties, Mom has this to add to the first 13 ½ pages of fake testimony: "You are a remarkable man, Michael ...; even if I weren't your mother, you are a remarkable man." As Michael confesses to feeling foolish and afraid and without a purpose, she calms him down the way a mother will console even the runt of her litter: "You are one of the most imaginative people I know." And then: "I feel your pain. I do."

Repetitive and shallow: Up to page 126, the book is nothing but a historical rehash of the method guiding Gerber's company E-Myth Worldwide. It retells the shopworn story of how he, already forty years old, turned his life of a so-so salesman (among other trials-and-errors) into a career of a ... successful salesman. He had found the ideal product to sell: Himself. And that's what he retells on the next one-hundred pages: About the 10 Pillars of a successful small business, the 7 Centers of Management Attention, and the mantra that the "system is the solution." In fairness it must be said that decades ago, with the book "E-Myth - Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It" and its updated sequel "E-Myth Revisited," Gerber had a well-deserved bestseller. Starting from the observation that most companies are started by specialists, whom Gerber calls technicians, he diagnosed that the high failure rate of about 80% was due to the fact that technicians only work "within the business, not on the business." Their drive to start a business is nothing but an "entrepreneurial seizure." The remedy, according to Gerber, is to "systematize" the business, to create turnkey processes that are as repeatable as the routines in franchises such as McDonald's. There is something to this. The "entrepreneurial seizure" phrase is eminently marketable, and doesn't it sound right? Yes, superficially. But, while being a specialist does not guarantee business success, most companies start with people who know their domain, have specific skills, broad expertise and deep knowledge. And surveys have shown that it is lack of planning, lack of management skills, and lack of sufficient start-up financing, among other things, that trip up small businesses. No scientific (or otherwise) survey has ever pinpointed Gerber's diagnosis as a root cause for business failure. And, after all, in the 30 years of Gerber's E-Myth methodology, the failure rate for small businesses has not measurably dropped.

Hokey and badly written: What's the "Dreaming Room" where the "Awakening" takes place? Listen to this paradox dressed as wisdom: The book promotes "Dreaming Rooms" where Gerber as the guru wants to "inspire people to dream by awakening the entrepreneur." So what's a great dream? "A great Dream (capital D) is a great idea for a business that blows people's minds." Well, o.k., that is very confused blustery language, but tell me more. The "more" finally appears on page 130. And the "more" will cost you $5,000. That's what a ticket to the Dreaming Room costs. Now the cat's out. What do you get for five big ones? (1) You get 2 ½ "intense, creative days" with the "Chief Dreamer, Michael E. Gerber." (2) You get unspecified help forming your own Dreaming Room. (3) You get unspecified help from the global network of fellow dreamers. (4) You can re-enter the Gerber Dreaming Room, but only if you bring a new dream-candidate carrying $5,000. So that's it: He's selling himself again. "Call us. Enroll today. Come dream with me."

Humor: Towards the end, Gerber turns it up. What he offers is a "sacred moment." He poses a rhetorical question: "Is this spiritual work? Yes and no ..." He philosophizes: "We are what we think ... `I am', said the one. I am, I say to you ..." This is all a funny (or ridiculous) mix of "The Secret" and Deepak Chopra.

Revealing: The McDonald's success of selling billions of burgers, all interchangeably bad for you, in thousands of franchises staffed with minimal pay novice workers, is in fact the source of the idea Gerber implemented in his own business consulting company E-Myth. Modeled after the burger giant, he has created a turnkey consulting system "so we could hire novices, turn them into experts, and deliver our services ... at no more than the cost of a minimal wage employee." (Page 65). And that is indeed what E-Myth does. Inexperienced people, paid around $40,000 a year, memorize the system (10 Pillars, 7 Centers, etc.), and, for a few thousand dollars, repeat it back to you - on the phone! They won't see your company, they are not hands-on, they don't know you or anybody, anything about your company. The Dreaming Room is just another trap for the same "system," now embroidered with spiritual mush and the promise that closing your eyes will make you see the truth. Beware, small business man and woman. In times of danger - and small businesses are often in danger, like fast moving cars - it is better to keep your eyes wide open and your minds sharp. (Disclaimer: I am a business consultant working with start-ups and mid-size businesses in Silicon Valley and San Francisco. I have seen Gerber in action. He is a terrific salesman. But he is not a saint and not a genius. He wants your money. That comes with the territory.)

After reading everything that there is by Michael Gerber and being somewhat in awe of the simple yet amazing results that have been achieved through his organisation and his books I was somewhat mystefied by this book.

While it contains a few secret gems I saw it as extremel self indulgent and in many parts irrelevant to the reader. The use of Sarah at All about Pies in the orginal E-myth revisited clearly put the reader in a position of really knowing the feelings of a business owner. The use of Manny Espisota was perplexing!

This and the blatant blowing of a personal trumpert and direct selling of his services half way through and comletely out of context has left me disappointed.

Sometimes you just have to know when the time is right to get out on top...unfortunately Mr Gerber did not!

It isn't easy writing a review of someone who long ago wrote one of the seminal business books, one that schooled millions on taking a systematic approach to building a small to medium size business. I respect Gerber immensely for his contribution to business thought leadership. As a result, I wanted to like this book especially after being somewhat bored by some of his more recent books that seemed to just be twisting the E-Myth routine.

This book really engaged me. Gerber's focus on the role of vision and passionate purpose in business success matched my own observations over 25+ years of consulting to companies of all size. The best systems in the world will not make a "me-to" business a raging success. On the other hand, vision without implementation and process building also makes for a flawed business.

I especially liked Gerber's treatment of the four dimensions of the Entrepreneurial Personality. I really related to his construct that success requires one to be skilled in, or acquire talent in, dreaming, thinking, storytelling, and leading. Every day, I become more aware of the power of storytelling, both as to the stories we tell ourselves (see Debbie Ford, Joe Caruso et al) and the stories we tell employees and customers. I was delighted to see Gerber's elevation of this skill to top ranking.

Covering a model of business success in a single book is no easy task. I would give this book a five star for readers looking for a sound introduction to small business success in a single book. For avid readers of Gerber's earlier books, I believe you will find some fresh thinking that warrants a four star rating. Any avid readers looking for Gerber to abandon his past thesis and offer up something 100% new will undoubtedly be disappointed.

I expect that many serious students of the art of writing will be somewhat put-off by the first and last chapters which, for me, felt out of synch with the rest of the book. If you believe that good books must, at minimum, start strong and end strong, these two chapters took away from my appreciation of the book as a serious business guide. Hence, my four star rating.

Astute readers and philosophers will detect, in the aforementioned first and last chapters, a man who has made important contributions to the business world nevertheless seemingly still in search for real meaning in his own life. If that is actually the case, kudos to Gerber for having the guts to share that with us. But, how sad that at this stage of his life (70) he is still searching for meaning. Here is hoping that the author soon finds his life purpose and the peace that goes with such discovery, and that his next book is a departure from the E-Myth line and instead shares his insights on "man's search for meaning."

I bought this book because of the E-Myth. But this book is basically a promotion of Michael Gerber's new Project "The Dreaming Room" among many has gems like this: "Only $5,000 and you are ready to fly"... "call us, enroll today, come dream with me." Michael Gerber wants us pay for receiving a sales pitch, at least it should be free, it's a total disrespect to the reader. My bad I didn't read the reviews before, specially the excellent one from Dr. Toad (Goofy Guru), at least I will saved some Money.

This book was OK. Maybe I liked it because it was so simple? Maybe I liked it because it concerned entrepreneurship, which is a subject close to my heart? But it had its problems, too. This book is about the following terms and how they interrelate:

1. Dream: A succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep
2. Vision: A vivid imaginative conception
3. Purpose: The reason for which something exists or is done
4. Business model: Describes how a business makes money, a profit.
5. Business Plan: Action item list that describes how to create a fully functioning business model that maximizes profit
6. Leadership Ability: The ability to influence others and make things happen
7. Mission: An assignment given to a person or group

The 5th term actually wasn't discussed in the book, but should have been. Failure to plan is a plan to fail. And this book is all about NOT failing. So I assumed "Business Plan" was part of the subject matter in this book.

This is a book about shaping one's idea for a business into a business. This is a book about how one can make their dreams come alive and become reality. This is a book about how to be successful as an entrepreneur and not fail. The content in this book, if understood, is priceless.

Of course, overall I thought this book was just OK. It could have been written better. It could have had fewer chapters. It could have included some talk about business plans. It could have cut to the chase more often than not and gotten to its points quicker. And it didn't need to mention the word "extraordinary" in its title. It's little things like this that annoyed me with this book.

I would have liked the book better if the first 14 pages, yes, 14 pages, of the book had not included testimonials about the book. Talk about hype! If the book is good, then let is stand on its own two feet!

I particularly liked Chapter 15 entitled "Coming to Grips with the Business Model." In my humble opinion, it was the best chapter in the book. So many books for entrepreneurs ignore or forget the importance of a business model. And this author didn't in this book. 3.5 stars!

This is an important book, and I suggest you read it. Whether you think you have the life of the entrepreneur all figured out or not, the truth is, none of us do. Michael brings his 30 years of experience to the table, not to tell us how to find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but how to clarify our vision to produce an amazing result for the customers of our creation.

As you wander through this book, the cynical part of you will want to tell Michael that he is full of it - and that he should just get to the point already and stop wasting your time with the fundamentals. But the other part of you, the true entrepreneur in you, who does not rush and does not close his mind for even a second, will appreciate how important it all is. Even very successful, experienced entrepreneurs can miss the true opportunity their company possesses to be great because they are too busy to stop and look at what it is, and what it should be. This book is a great reminder of the clarity we all need to pull off the impossible. If you truly keep your mind open and listen to the message, this book can do remarkable things for you! Awakening the Entrepreneur Within is a simple, yet profound way to approach building the next great company.

Corey Kossack, President, Club E Network, Inc.

Being a fan of Tony Robbins books when I saw this is I immediately thought of "Awaken the giant within" written 20 years ago and this was a positive motivation to try this book. I have almost all the books on Entrepreneurship having written my own book on the topic "So You Want To Be An Entrepreneur: How to decide if starting a business is really for you" and so it has to be a great book to get me excited.

At first look this book looked like a new and interesting spin on the topic so I bought it and I did enjoy other titles by Michael E. Gerber so all started well. Indeed, the first few chapters really resonated with me and were really original and useful to me as a mentor of new entrepreneurs and I found them passionate and motivating.

In summary, the core message early in the book is a great deal about the Authors early life and the need to dream big dreams and take action even if you don't have a clear path to your goal, as Michael did when he started his career in small business coaching.

I recall early in my career the elation and excitement that came from "inventing a new life out of nothing other than the most delightful, most remarkable, most miraculous thing of all...your imagination" - I look back and think that is makes perfect sense that you can create a business but back then it all seemed very incredible and it still does to new entrepreneurs today.

The thing I liked the most and thought was really "spot on" came in chapter 2 where Michael states the "5 realities of the entrepreneur". These are a detailed and useful definition of what an entrepreneur is, and while reading these it reminded me how far off the mark the "one minute entrepreneur" I reviewed recently really was! What's good about this is it clearly shows that an entrepreneur is NOT just a small business person, it's something way more than that...

In summary:

-A entrepreneur is an inventor, although few entrepreneurs are inventors. In essence the entrepreneur is creating something of value or filling a missing need from the market. She is inventing a business that is unique that stands out.

-Entrepreneurs do not buy business opportunities they create them. Again building on the idea that you need to create and invent something new and then to go on and develop that idea.

-Invention is contagious. This develops the idea that entrepreneurs are highly motivated to please their audience, the customer and also to show that the more significant the invention that greater the success.

-To an entrepreneur, the success of the invention - the business - is measured by growth. Again we are showing the difference between just starting a small business and the need for growth. A good business will grow and often rapidly after early customer adoption, if it stalls or is a poor idea then kill it and move on.

-Everyone possesses the ability to be an entrepreneur. This echoes my own thoughts that you are not born an entrepreneur but you can master and practice some of the skills but in every case you need to have the passion and the innovation and that can come to anyone, young or old, rich or poor, educated or not.

So these basic "realities" help frame what an entrepreneur is and then Michael goes on to discuss the 4 "dimensions" of the character of an entrepreneur. Again I find these useful.

-The Dreamer. This is where I start in my own book. A practical dreamer is a good summary of part of the entrepreneurs mentality. Without the big dream, the idea, the new invention there would be no unique spark for the other areas of the entrepreneur persona.

-The Thinker. Turning the dream into a reality takes strategy and thought. This is where the entrepreneur decides "how" execute the idea. This is very important, this is where the rubber meets the road and an idea is scoped out.

-The Storyteller. Again this is an essential part of the entrepreneur. It's critical you can convey and enthuse others about your ideas. You need to be able to motivate and drive others to make your dream a reality from employees to investors to customers.

-The Leader. This is the "driver" behind the idea, making it happen, pushing the idea though its stages to final success bringing all the other parts of the entrepreneur persona together. Everything finally rests on the leaders ability to execute the idea.

So these early pages are very useful to give you an idea if you are made of the right stuff to be an entrepreneur and articulate that very well.

The bad news is that after this great start there is far too much of Michael and his life in this book for me. A quick look shows almost half the book goes the a lot of small talk about him and his dream rather than being focused on the reader and their needs! I found most of this unhelpful and some of it rather egotistical.

The basic ideas are good:

-The Awakening - The aha moment
-The Realization - Now you see the basis of the idea
-The Negative Reaction - Then you start to see the holes and problems with the idea and you have to hold on to the dream
-The Personal Dream - The explains the difference between a personal goal and something bigger, the entrepreneurial dream
-The Impersonal Dream - The goes on to explain you need to focus on the customer and not yourself
-The Sudden Shock - This is where you see the dream as a solid reality and start to build the passion around the dream
-The Dream is Born - This is where you define the idea and get your dream down on paper and start

These are the basic ideas that make up the first 2 parts of the book. Michael then goes on to flesh out the ideas of your dream and vision and this is again useful if a little bloated for me.

I found chapter 15 good, here he again states a key point for the new entrepreneur: DREAM BIG DREAMS or don't bother. In other words, make sure that what you plan to do is a stretch, is amazing and will be transformational in a meaningful way. If you don't "shoot for the moon" then you will probably find that what you create will not be worth the huge effort, pain and sacrifice that will be required!

After this point I started to lose interest, the book gets bogged down in my view with Michaels own project and a story that I didn't find that useful about a fictional Mr. Espinosa. Here the author tries the "one minute manager" story approach but doesn't carry it off.

I skip through most of the rest of the book and end up rather unsatisfied after a great start.

So in summary, the first part of the book I think is very useful and valuable and is well worth reading, the second half is useful in parts but doesn't really have the same impact or relevance.

In general I think the book is worth buying for the above early chapters and useful parts and some of the reminders about his other works in the E-Myth series but I would skip a great deal of the bloat towards the end.

I can't believe how much money I wasted on this dreck! I bought the unabridged audio book. It was bad enough, that I stopped listening to it after 2 CDs, and listened to another book. Today, I put in CD #3, just to give it another chance thinking maybe I was in the wrong frame of mind.

Nope. This book is utter nonsense. First, it offers no benificial information for an entrepreneur like me. Second, it frequently is disjointed in thought, and you get the idea that the author is rambling on and on in order to up his page count maybe to fulfill some contractual obligation with his publisher. Third, the book is self serving. He seems to constantly be promoting his own business.

Life is too short. Don't waste your time on this book. There are soooo many better business books out there.

This book is tired, requiring a struggle to connect with what the author is trying to say. We do not recommend this book.

A total waste of money. I paid for a "how to" book and got a promotional brochure for his course. This was my first Gerber book and he has put me totally off any of his other books.