Star Trek: Make It So: Leadership Lessons from Star Trek: The Next Generation [Paperback]

Wess Roberts (Author), Bill Ross (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 1, 1996 | Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation

T he fast-changing business world of today is far different from just a few years ago. Success in today's marketplace requires new leadership techniques, new thinking, and an eye on the future . . . .

In Make It So: Leadership Lessons from Star Trek: The Next Generation®, Wess Roberts and coauthor Bill Ross take their inspiration from today's most striking and most popular vision of the future -- Star Trek -- an unprecedented television, feature film and publishing phenomenon. From the top-rated television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Roberts and Ross find a new symbol for successful leadership: Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

As entertaining as it is useful, Make It So captures the mythos of Star Trek: The Next Generation as it delivers dramatically rich lessons on leadership, including the importance of the ability to focus on a single "mission," effective communication, teamwork, honor . . . and other important concepts. The examples are taken from the on-screen adventures of Captain Picard and the Starship EnterpriseTM, but the lessons and the benefits are real -- and can be applied to everyday situations where the goal is the kind of high-performance organization embodied by the crew of the U.S.S. EnterpriseTM 1701-D.

Sure to appeal to Star Trek enthusiasts and serious students of leadership alike, Make It So is the most exciting business book on the shelves -- the one book that shows the future of modern leadership while giving managers the tools they need for success today!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Using Capt. Picard as the role model for effective leading, this book uses Star Trek: The Next Generation as a springboard for advice on successful business management.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

T he fast-changing business world of today is far different from just a few years ago. Success in today's marketplace requires new leadership techniques, new thinking, and an eye on the future . . . .

In Make It So: Leadership Lessons from Star Trek: The Next Generation^®, Wess Roberts and coauthor Bill Ross take their inspiration from today's most striking and most popular vision of the future -- Star Trek -- an unprecedented television, feature film and publishing phenomenon. From the top-rated television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Roberts and Ross find a new symbol for successful leadership: Captain Jean-Luc Picard.

As entertaining as it is useful, Make It So captures the mythos of Star Trek: The Next Generation as it delivers dramatically rich lessons on leadership, including the importance of the ability to focus on a single "mission," effective communication, teamwork, honor . . . and other important concepts. The examples are taken from the on-screen adventures of Captain Picard and the Starship Enterprise^TM, but the lessons and the benefits are real -- and can be applied to everyday situations where the goal is the kind of high-performance organization embodied by the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise^TM 1701-D.

Sure to appeal to Star Trek enthusiasts and serious students of leadership alike, Make It So is the most exciting business book on the shelves -- the one book that shows the future of modern leadership while giving managers the tools they need for success today!

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books; Reprint edition (August 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671520989
• ISBN-13: 978-0671520984
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.6 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,929 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Good for the bookshelf, but not a great book October 8, 2001

By Schrade

Format:Paperback

I was excited to see this book about one of the most skilled leaders (albeit fictional) I've ever observed. Each episode of Star Trek TNG it seems has extremely valuable lessons in leadership. Over the years, these lessons have added up to a huge knowledgebase of situational leadership. However, this book did not really capture the essence of Picard's leadership skills, nor even provide an entertaining read. It is written in the first person-- which is just plain odd to read -- as Picard makes entries in his personal log explaining why he is the leader he is. I think Picard explaining his leadership philosophy is what really kills this book. I suggest just watching the TV series in re-runs and drawing your own conclusions about the leadership lessons of Picard. This book is fun for the bookshelf, but it won't unlock any key insights into the art of leadership.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Unnecessary May 19, 2000

By Timothy Walker VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Maybe it's just me, but I found the "leadership lessons" in this book painfully obvious... one does not need to be a born leader to understand, for example, that "if one fails to listen to what another is saying, one will often fail to properly respond to what has been said".

Additionally, I found the Star Trek metaphor used rather clumsily, from the continual references to "the Starfleet" (which got on my Trek nerd nerves) to the ending of each entry with "Make it so". I would have preferred more insight into leadership and less attempts to sound like Picard.

While this book was pleasant to read, I simply do not find it that useful. One would be advised to look for leadership lessons in the past (perhaps from Confucius or Sun Tzu), rather than in a fictitious 24th century.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars more of an episode summary than leadership insight April 28, 2004

By Mark Brown

Format:Paperback

I bought this book based on how much I love Star Trek. Big mistake. It's not at all insightfull, or true to the spirit of Star Trek.

Each chapter is mostly a summary of a particular episode, written from the perspective of Captain Picard. Disapointingly, the account doesn't sound at all like Picard, and doesn't add anything that we didn't see in the episode.

At the end of each chapter 'Picard' gives a few dot points on leadership. But these sound like generic managerial 'rah rah'...

Really bad book.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy, fun and practical reading February 13, 2002

By Simon Mireles Jr

Format:Paperback

This was an entertaining book, combining my love of ST:TNG and my professional career. As an IT project manager, I'm always seeking new ways to understand my job and my people. There are valid business lessons to be gleaned from the stories. It is an easy read, fun to see how the basic concept is wrapped around the context of a particular episode.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Dismissed! February 26, 2005

By Das Büchernörgel

Format:Paperback

The idea to create a series of essays on the topic of leadership "written" by the fictional character of Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the USS Enterprise, in itself is quite original. Alas, the execution is awful. You get a series of episode summaries, some rather vague thoughts on what lessons can be learnt from these - and then, at the end of each chapter, a collection of pretty much "plain vanilla" leadership principles. I don't think the captain would have tolerated this kind of sloppy work on his bridge. Dismissed!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice Book For A Trekkie/Business Major February 15, 2012

By golfcart34

Format:Paperback

I actually found this book to be a great balance between two subjects I really love - Star Trek: The Next Generation and leadership. I've watched Star Trek since I was a kid and when I started writing leadership articles on my own I picked this book up as research material. Business doesn't always have to be dry and this book shows that you can inject some fun into an otherwise boring topic. If you're a Trekkie who is also a business major, this book may be right up your alley.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Dumb premise April 25, 2009

By Clifford J. Walk

Format:Hardcover

My daughter, who works at the local library, rescued this from the trash bin since she knows what a Star Trek nerd I am. I sure wish I had read this book before the time my boss was kidnapped by a rival company and tortured to reveal our business secrets. We launched a daring and ultimately successful rescue attempt. He eventually recovered, but he was kind of weird around the office for a few months afterward.

Seriously, this is a dumb idea for a business leadership book. It was kind of fun to read the recaps of 9 Star Trek:TNG episodes, especially since I read this book just now, many years since TNG went off the air. By really, business leadership lessons?

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Huge Potential, Very Poor Execution August 4, 2000

By "jkarp"

Format:Paperback

When I read that this bookm was coming out, I was extremely excited. I have always thought that the Picard character was a wonderful model of a leader. I also have received much from other management books using metaphor.

When I purchased the book I was very disappointed. The topics were obvious at best. I was expecting the author to draw conclusions based on many episodes. Instead, only a handfull of episodes were covered.