Customer Reviews

Survival Is Not Enough

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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.

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..

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!

Seth Godin is the guy that think outside the box, think without the box, kicked of the box, why that box? This was the first Seth's book I read, but I follow Seth trough his blog for a time, and he point his words with precision to targets. Direct or indirectly his words come and growing answering my business, social, marketing, economics oriented mind.

Just three words resume "Survival is not enough" : mDNA, meme and zoom. Simple like that! Along the book, this three words growing and come to make meaning. Seth develop a analogy trough a evolution (Darwin's evolution) and company evolution, on the company evolution DNA was replaced by mDNA that changes faster than DNA. Don't be astonished if you read that the best sex you must do is with your boss. On that book, sex goes the meaning of natural selection, its fine, believe me.

Finally, make zoom, do it all the time, don't be worry about changes, doing the same think all the time is the more efficient way to fail your company. Don't believe on championship strategies, "feel" your customers, and let your business grow from botton to top, or from the boundaries to core.

While this is a good book, it lacks the original memorable concept that is really stressed in his other writings.

He wants us to understand that change is a necissary part of life and success requires it. Many of the concepts of the new economy are exposed, such as fast feedback loops and using the internet in new creative ways.

Here is the catch: We invest so much of our lives into who we are at that point in time that it is nearly impossible to change. If you are unhappy at your work, and it is not sending you where you need to be, then why are you there?

I think this is a solid Godin book. His insight is always beneficial to me. The insight on Corporate evolution is very interesting. I recommend.

Seth is a tsunami of self-promotion. Which is a good thing for him, because he writes rubbish, and he will need all his skills if people ever start seeing how much of their time he is wasting.

This infantile book, using a silly word he has re-defined (zooming) in an attempt to make him as famous as Charles Darwin, merely serves to provoke an interesting question. Is he, at some level, having a good laugh at everyone who buys his books? Or is he a self-absorbed dope?

"My goal in writing this book is to explain the paradigm and sell you ...". (P.3) I exited right there.