Customer Reviews

Flip: How to Turn Everything You Know on Its Head--and Succeed Beyond Your Wildest Imaginings

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

 

 

Sheahan covers some well trod territory: price is about customer value, not just a low balled number; the great ideas come from the fringe of the herd, not the middle; once expectations are met the bar is automatically raised higher. Good stuff. But the Harry Beckwith series covers it better. Why a four then? The book's first section talks about a simple yet profound formula: action brings clarity. You need to be in the game, as imperfect as your game may be. If not ,you don't get the info you need to be better, to find out what works, what does not., and to see ambiguity as a friend, not an enemy. I have not seen it quite expressed this way and makes the book a worthwhile addition to your business books.

I read this book when it first came out in the spring. I enjoyed the book then but didn't think it quite worthy of a review (I am a voracious reader but only post reviews on books I rate a four or five star.). Close call, but I passed on writing a review.

Yesterday the book jumped off my library shelf and I re-read. Wow...is this a fine book for the times that have evolved since the book was published!

We have entered turbulent times, or as I refer to them with my consulting clients, "whitewater times." All assumptions must be re-examined, and quickly. Few, if any, of the old ways of doing business will be right for prospering in tough times. Author Peter Sheahan's six prescriptions are suddenly even more valuable.

His core concept that action creates clarity ("to move forward you must act in spite of ambiguity") will be key to surviving in whitewater times. This mantra creates a much needed bias toward action at a time when many are likely to be frozen in fear.

Until the arrival of the flood of books that can be expected on prospering in tough times, this book's fundamentals will be helpful in creating a strategy for businesses to cope with these tough times.

There was only one really useful thing in this book. That was the statement of:

"Action creates clarity"

The rest of the book was a rehash of all other management books. I can only imagine that he is a good speaker and he gives away his books to get the sales rankings.

My husband told me that it's been a long time since I raved about a business book this much. As a, um, somewhat older business woman, I have a lot of knowledge about how business has been over the last 30 years. There are the basics that I absolutely believe in, like planning and measuring results against the plan.

What this book showed me was a new way of looking at things that brings in the attitudes of people my sons' age. I'd heard some of the concepts before, because I've was in technology most of my career. I participated in one of the early InnovationJams that occured in IBM which is mentioned in this book. I confess, that I didn't totally "get it" at the time. But put in the context of this book, I understand it more.

The best aspect of this book is it's readability. It's not so dense that you need to "wade through" it. It's not so light that you feel you haven't gotten your money's worth. In fact, I got my copy from the library. However, I know I will be getting my own copy soon, if only to ponder some of the exercises included in the book.

In case you had read more than five business books on how to cope with the ever faster speed of doing business nowadays you hardly can find any new or intriguing ideas in this book. Nevertheless, I do appreciate the good writing and b case picking skills of the author who successfully put great concepts into memorable and ear catching phrases. Highly readable and quotable. In short, recommended!

p.s. Below please find some of my favorite passages for your reference.

"How are you going to deal with the crisis?" "We are going to innovate through it" an Apple Regional CEO replied in Sept2008, with unmistakable conviction. pgvii-viii

Counterintuitively the clarity i was so desperately trying to find before I started writing came only after I started writing....At some point you have to stop thinking, stop planning and just do something, anything! pg31

Think AND, not OR, that Action Creates Clarity, and that confusion management is now an inevitable cost of doing business. pg37

Ask yourself: What do I think? You will come up with new answers pg65

Fast, good, cheap: pick three - then add something extra (funnier, greener, easier.....) pg75

Customers feel a product is cheap at the price, not when they pay the lowest possible price, but when they feel they received great value and a good deal on all measures, including price. pg80

Three teams of designers for women's, men's, children's lines generate 40k or more designs a year, and about 10k of these make into actual production of five to seven sizes and five to six colors per garment. That means Zara's supply chain managment must smoothly handle 300k of new stock keeping unit SKUs per year.The final flip - Zara produces each garment in very limited quantity....Customers know that if they see something they like at Zara, they'd better buy it right then and there. pg87

Current trends do not spell the end of the movie and television companies but the end of the movie and TV companies controlling when and where we watch what we watch. pg241

Tap into the brilliance that individuals who dont work for you have, whether they be customers, bored scientists in academia or teenage kids with an idea about how to advertise your product better. pg273

Just because you havent figured out a way to make an idea work doesnt mean somone else cant. pg275

While this book may cover many of the same principles as other marketing books, it puts them into a contemporary context which is very thought-provoking. As a small business owner, I found myself motivated to complete the actions at the end of the chapters since it put the actions into comprehensible, non-threatening messages. I had some powerful insights which I will be putting into action.

Nothing original in this book, it's just a rehash of existing business commonsense, dressed up in different words.
For example:
- treat your customers well
- a successful business has a differentiator
- don't procrastinate too much with too much planning just jump in and deal with what comes up.

The book itself seems to be a 200+ page marketing brochure for the author's consulting practice.
Lots of name dropping of business leaders he's met (good to set the scene for his consulting practice to be seen rubbing shoulders with leaders in business)
Lots of name dropping of business leaders whom I'm guessing he wants as his clients; I mean, hey if an author goes to the trouble of blowing smoke up your arse in a book, you'd want to at least meet him right?

Luckily I borrowed this book from the library.

Another business book on how to distinguish yourself from the competition and thrive during tough economic times and rapid change. This book isn't that different from others - it is easy to read with six major "flips" on how to succeed beyond your wildest imaginings.

There are numerous examples of big and small flipstar companies, and the Australian bias adds greater relevance to a New Zealand audience. Although some examples, such as Toyota's enviable reputation for product quality, are showing their age, I think this just reinforces the need for businesses not to become complacent.

The emphasis on thinking about global rather than local consumers also provides a good refresher. "Although people will always prefer to do business with people they know, like, and trust, they expect those people to deliver at a global standard of excellence, not a local one." p.14.

Change is like a wave, you either ride it or get pummeled by it! I may be paraphrasing a quote from Peter Sheahan, but I thought the idea was very poignant and important to business people today. Mr. Sheahan has done an amazing job of presenting how businesses MUST change to be competitive in today's marketplace. Flip is an excellent read for anyone looking to gain an edge on their competition, enter new markets or just plain, SHINE.

I have read many management books, some of which offer success and deliver it. I feel that this book is little more than a simplistic list of some pretty obvious observations dressed up as a original thought. It lacks structure, it rambles and it concludes nothing of consequence other than the author's egotistic tendencies.