Survival Is Not Enough: Why Smart Companies Abandon Worry and Embrace Change [Paperback]

Seth Godin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 26, 2002

You can't embrace change any faster...can't make time for the synergy training workshop...can't deal with one more change management seminar. So stop changing. Evolve.

Evolution can be unleashed in your organization, effortlessly and gradually changing everything in its path. By teaching your company to "zoom" -- embrace change without pain -- you'll have a company that evolves and ultimately attracts people who drive it to evolve even faster.

In up or down markets, for companies in any industry, embrace the organic approach detailed in Survival Is Not Enough and you will always outperform the competition.

Here's practical advice on how to make the chaos we all must deal with an asset, not a threat.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Tom Peters Seth Godin, one of the world's most original thinkers, offers us a manifesto for change and growth. A landmark effort, equally valuable for individuals and enterprises.

About the Author

Seth Godin, Vice-President, Direct Marketing, Yahoo! Inc., is responsible for Yahoo!'s direct marketing, permission marketing and Internet promotions. Godin joined Yahoo! in 1998 from Yoyodyne, where he served as president and CEO. Yahoo! acquired Yoyodyne, a recognized leader in Internet-based interactive direct marketing, last year.

Recognized as the pioneer of Permission Marketing, Godin is a sought-after speaker on the conference circuit, having presented at the Direct Marketing Association's annual conference, Jupiter events, and ICE, as well as international marketing forums. Last year, Godin was one of the highest ranked speakers, among 403 presenters at Internet World. He is a featured speaker at Fall, Spring and Summer I-Worlds. Godin is also the recipient of the 1998 Momentum Award, honoring outstanding Internet industry accomplishments.

Godin received an M.B.A. from Stanford Business School in 1984. Prior to graduating from Tufts University in 1982 with a degree in both Computer Science and Philosophy, Godin co-founded and ran one of the largest student-run businesses in the coutnry. From 1983 to 1986 he worked as a brand manager at Spinnaker Software, where he led the team that developed the first generation of multimedia products, working with such forward-thinkers as Arthur C. Clarke and Michael Crichton. He managed 40 engineers and introduced more than 60 software and video products to the marketplace.

Godin is the author and co-author of a number of top-selling business books, including E-Marketing, the first book ever published on how to do business online; The Guerilla Marketing Handbook, part of the best-selling Guerilla Marketing series; The Information Please Business Almanacm, a ground-breaking business reference book; and Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Freinds, and Friends into Customers.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (November 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743233387
• ISBN-13: 978-0743233385
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,082,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Seth Godin is the author of fourteen international bestsellers that have been translated into over 35 languages, and have changed the way people think about marketing and work. His Unleashing the Ideavirus was the most popular ebook ever published, and Purple Cow is the bestselling marketing book of the decade.

His book, Tribes, was a nationwide bestseller, appearing on the Amazon, New York Times, BusinessWeek and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. It's about the most powerful form of marketing--leadership--and how anyone can now become a leader, creating movements that matter.

His book Linchpin, and was the fastest selling book of his career. Linchpin challenges you to stand up, do work that matters and race to the top instead of the bottom. More than that, though, the book outlines a massive change in our economy, a fundamental shift in what it means to have a job.

Since Linchpin, Godin has published two more books, Poke the Box and We Are All Weird, through his Domino Project.

In addition to his writing and speaking, Seth is founder and CEO of Squidoo.com, a fast growing recommendation website. His blog (find it by typing "seth" into Google) is the most popular marketing blog in the world. Before his work as a writer and blogger, Godin was Vice President of Direct Marketing at Yahoo!, a job he got after selling them his pioneering 1990s online startup, Yoyodyne.

You can find every single possible detail that anyone could ever want to know at squidoo.com/seth.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another wheel turner..., August 29, 2006

By 

Stephen M. Liberati (Newark, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Survival Is Not Enough: Why Smart Companies Abandon Worry and Embrace Change (Paperback)

Like all of Seth Godin's books, "Survival Is Not Enough" does a great job at helping his readers think outside the box (sounds cliche but its very true!). Much of the advice is practical and can be applied to your own business or job. Any motivational speaker or business author can easily recommend for you to embrace change or innovate or do this or do that. But Seth has a special way to tell a story (or in this case) present a theory that cuts to the bone and leaves you with a mouth watering idea that you can take with you and apply to your business or company. You might even wonder later how you survived all along without reading this book (And That's just it....you simply survived all this time, rather than evolve aka "zoom" and gain major marketshare in your respective industry or field.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Change evangelist, January 1, 2008

By 

Lars Dahle (Norway) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Survival Is Not Enough: Why Smart Companies Abandon Worry and Embrace Change (Paperback)

Very precise description of where most busienesses find themselves today. Seth pinpoints the gap between schoolbook-management and the realities of running a successful business today. Most of us managers probably need to forget most of the stuff we learned in business school 10+ years back and take in the perspectives in this book. BUT the Evolutionary comparison can be stretched a little too far from time to time..

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ZOOM!!, August 8, 2006

By 

Longmontlady "Carol Blaha" (Warner Robins GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Survival Is Not Enough: Why Smart Companies Abandon Worry and Embrace Change (Paperback)

As another reviewer indicated, this is Godin's most thought provoking book. His relates to businesses to Darwin's evolution theory, from their birth to possible extinction. Like the species, we evolve, or ignore necessary changes. That can lead to missed trends, anxiety and possible extinction. Its amazingly simple, and I have mulled this book over several times in the past few days.

Seth's feedback loops are crucial to understanding what and where the company needs to evolve. In Holland, in companies of 50 or more, a work council is required by law. It is loosely translated as our unions. I am a student of Dynamic Governance (DG), a way of managing as it provides equivalence in decision making. It also provides double linking-- which I'd equate to feedback loops. Two representatives from the level below is in the group above. One is the person accountable for the group's goals, the other, elected by the group. They buy in because they are represented, and when a decision is handed down-- implementation feedback gets to the top. It is so powerful that in Holland if a company adopts DG-- a work council is not required. Imagine in the US, the Auto Workers Union deciding they are so "heard" that they feel comfortable disbanding. Another DG premise is almost right out of Seth's mouth-- the engagement of all available intelligence within a group is used. I think combining this book and DG would give a company the power to ZOOM!