Staying Street Smart in the Internet Age: What Hasn't Changed About the Way We Do Business [Hardcover]

Mark H. McCormack (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 2000

From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School comes a revolutionary guide to mastering the business world in the digital age

In 1960, Mark McCormack revolutionized the sports world when he shook hands with a young golfer named Arnold Palmer. It was that simple handshake, combined with a love of golf, that clinched a deal that would help him to build IMG, the most successful and prestigious sports management agency in the world. In 1984, he shook the business world with his landmark bestseller What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School, a pragmatic manual of real business advice that became the first mega-bestseller of its genre. Now, McCormack returns with the trademark practical, straightforward yet timely wisdom that has established his books as classics in their field.

Staying Street Smart in the Internet Age is a sensible yet revolutionary protocol for doing business in the age of E-mail, fax machines, mobile phones, and voice mail. McCormack's revolutionary message this time is that there hasn't been a revolution, despite the advent of the cyber age. We still have to conduct business face-to-face. Human communication and contact--how you actually run your day, your life, your office; how you treat your employees, and how you deal with clients and competitors--are still the keys creating a successful, profitable, and stable business. The power of the personal touch is what ultimately seals a business deal. The internet is a fact of life, McCormack acknowledges, but it is no replacement for the old-fashioned business lunch. Our experience, judgment, and human contact are the most important "product"we sell in business.

In ninety-one short take chapters Staying Street Smart in the Internet Age outlines the basic business strategies and common sense that will help managers, business people, and anyone in company life master any upheavals in the digital economy.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The head of a huge worldwide sports-marketing organization, McCormick has a very simple answer to the question he poses in his subtitle: the Internet hasn't really changed anything. Oh, sure, he argues, it has made communication faster, but the basics of business are still the same; taking care of customers and employees remains paramount. McCormick, who cheerfully admits to not using a computer, provides these points and others in 91 mini-essays, most of which go on a bit longer than they need to, especially given such illustrative chapter titles as "People Who Count on Luck Rarely Get Lucky"; "Control Your Story Before Others Control It for You" and "A Crisis Doesn't End Until You Learn from It." While his remarks are not always consistent (e.g., in one chapter, he dismisses potential clients who are rude as not worth doing business with, and in another characterizes them as exactly the kind of tightly focused people one wants to work with), McCormick drops enough real-world tipsAfrom noting when people call so as to find out the best time to reach them to recommending that we "unlearn at least one habit a year"Ato more than compensate for the flaws. 100,000 first printing; 6-city author tour.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

McCormack, author of the very popular What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School, recycles much of that work in his latest management title. He is skeptical of Internet hype and believes that the ability to understand, manage, and supervise people is the most important business skill. McCormack divides his lessons into 91 short chapters (of five pages or less) and further subdivides many chapters into easy-to-review lists. Each chapter emphasizes one concept, such as "the best ideas cannot be stolen." Chapters are grouped into nine areas, each focusing on a particular set of situations, for example, office politics, giving yourself a reality check, or acquiring a power base. McCormack is a facile writer who incorporates many examples from his decades running the International Management Group, the world's largest sports management agency. The Internet is hardly mentioned. With lots of commonsense advice in a short, easy-to-read package, this is sure to be popular with management types who read one book a year. Recommended for public libraries or college libraries that don't have any of McCormack's other works.DPatrick J. Brunet, Western Wisconsin Technial Coll., La Crosse
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; 1st edition (August 31, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670893064
• ISBN-13: 978-0670893065
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,778,638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Is Mark McCormack Aware of the Internet Age?, September 1, 2000

By 

Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 110,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Staying Street Smart in the Internet Age: What Hasn't Changed About the Way We Do Business (Hardcover)

I have enjoyed Mr. McCormack's earlier books very much. So I was surprised that I did not find this one very valuable. If you read many of my reviews, you know it is unusual for me to grade a book down to a 3 star rating. Let me explain why I did so in this case.

First, the title suggests that the book will provide lots of perspective on the Internet Age. Wrong! In fact, there is very little discussion of the Internet. And most of that discussion is in the introduction where Mr. McCormack points out that he doesn't even use a computer. He makes several self-revealing comments. "But let's say I'm a reluctant convert to the Internet gospel." "My only problem is that I don't understand what it <the Internet> will grow into." "I have the luxury of being in the sports business which, as far as I can tell, is one 'industry' that's immune to the Internet." In a few other cases he provides anecdotes from his business career about people overusing e-mail rather than talking to each other by telephone or face-to-face. As a result, he misses important questions. How can his agency develop more business by using the Internet in new ways? So, I think the title is very misleading. Anyone who wants to get practical advice for working with the Internet should avoid this book.

The second problem I saw was that I saw no important new material in the book. The principles are all covered in his earlier books. You get 90 principles described here in 2-4 pages. The examples are all from the author's business, so you get little sense of other businesses or perspectives that might be best practices. They also reflect a perspective that many may not share.

Here are some of the subjects:

Giving Yourself a Reality Check

Speed, the Defining Factor

Giving the Workplace a Reality Check

Office Politics

Acquiring a Power Base

Promotions, Demotions, and other Career Hiccups

Rules for Deal Makers

When You Are in Charge

Etiquette for the New Millennium

As you can see, this perspective focuses on the larger organization (the kind that fewer people work for these days) and someone who wants to climb up the organization (something that is less important than self-fulfillment and contribution to many).

The book is at its best when it argues for treating people well, being considerate as though one were dealing with one's neighbor in a small town. That advice is timeless. The book is also excellent in helping to unveil the sources of misconception that cause each of us to overestimate our performance and to misperceive what we need to be doing. I heartily approve of these messages.

If you have read Mark McCormack before, I recommend you skip this book. It will add almost nothing but occasional nuances to what you have learned from him already.

If you have not read him before, I suggest you read one of his earlier books instead. What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School is a classic.

In either case, I suggest you skip this one.

If you insist on reading this book, focus on parts one, three, six, seven and nine. They are the most helpful and appropriate for today.

Ask yourself after you read this book then "Who are the people who can provide relevant perspectives that are relevant for today?" Getting the right advice often means asking the right person.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good, January 1, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Staying Street Smart in the Internet Age: What Hasn't Changed About the Way We Do Business (Hardcover)

The title just uses the buzzword "internet" to get your attention. It could have been called "career and business tips," which is basically what it is. McCormack's writing has gotten better since his earlier books, so I found this one good on that account. His tips have a bit more depth here, too. He mentions how his 2nd wife has helped him learn to "stop and smell the roses," and perhaps that's why this book seems less "combat"-like than some of his past books. Plus, his arrogance, that would bleed between the lines in past books was, thankfully, missing. (For example, in earlier books he said, "I made a lot of money at a young age, so I never resented others who did," not considering that perhaps some readers are young and broke, or old and broke, and might resent HIM. And also he said, "99% of people should work for someone else," which conveniently puts him in the elite 1%, and, never mind that through most of history, until the industrial revolution, most people were self-employed.) Anyway, this book is readable and helpful, with some tips I don't think I would have seen anywhere else. He does reuse anecdotes that he uses in other books, but I didnt' mind. If you want a general career-tips book, this is as good as any recent ones I've read recently.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars CLEVER! UPBEAT! TRENDY! LIFE IN THE FAST LANE!, September 30, 2000

By 

Dorothy Weiss (ORLANDO, FLORIDA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Staying Street Smart in the Internet Age: What Hasn't Changed About the Way We Do Business (Hardcover)

This book is about career management and office politics. It contains a lot of straight-forward, down-to-earth tips for getting along with co-workers, bosses, and clients. This "Arli$$- agent's" clientele includes Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer and Venus and Serena Williams. What he offers is common sense as applied to a plethora of topics like goal setting, picking up the check, managing time, dealing with enemies, managing your work- just doing business in a "smart" way. Thinking of all those Olympic atheletes who will be returning to their respective countries to assimilate back into the work force, or pursue endorsements or dreams of gold in 2004, it seems to me another astute book about self-management is timely, especially coming from the chief executive of a sport and entertainment conglomerate like International Creative Management. It is a step up from his previous book, "What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School". Mr McCormack's book seeks to prepare readers for life in the fast lane, and for success. Interesting! A very interesting presentation.