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The Zigzag Principle: The Goal Setting Strategy that will Revolutionize Your Business and Your Life [Hardcover]

Rich Christiansen
4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)

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Book Description

September 13, 2011

Zigzag Your Way to Success!

Have you ever set your sights on the top of a mountain and then started your ascent by heading straight through the trees and up the sheer cliffs? Or driven in your car to the other side of town—as the crow flies? Of course not! Because you instinctively know that, just as a river has to wend its way around obstacles, the best route is never actually a straight line!

In The Zigzag Principle, Rich Christiansen applies a foundational law of nature to business management, entrepreneurship, goal-setting, and life in general as he explores why zigzagging toward our intended outcomes is more effective than trying to bulldoze our way through whatever stands between us and our objectives.

Christiansen helps you get started, make your way over the big hill to initial profitability, and minimize risks along the way. A s the head of well-established corporations and as the brains behind numerous start-ups, Christiansen has been through it all, and he’s charted all the zigs and zags you’ll encounter. In The Zigzag Principle, he documents everything he has learned, including how to:

  • Identify your destination
  • Create a defined set of values to help you as your business finds its way
  • Add resources and hire the right people, as you turn the cash you have into fuel for more
  • Replicate your successes to bring your product to the masses
  • Protect your resources, your family, and your sanity

The simplicity of a straight line can be seductive. But it’s not a realistic way to go about achieving your goals, because you will always come upon unexpected obstacles in the road. Zigzagging requires you to be nimble and flexible, to “bootstrap,” and to be able to take advantage of multiple opportunities. What it delivers is success—in business and in life—far beyond your initial plans and dreams.

Use The Zigzag Principle to assess your resources, use them to their fullest, and keep yourself and your team motivated—all while living a life of balance.

Praise for The Zigzag Principle

“Rock-solid principles so simple that you will read this book wondering how you could have missed seeing truths that are so obvious.”
—Stephen R. Covey, bestselling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

“Our economy will be saved and grow again through the industry of focused entrepreneurs who will hire thousands of employees to meet the needs of customers. This thoughtful and inspired book will guide creative and energized business men and women to accomplish their loftiest dreams and restore America’s prosperity once again.”
—Alan E. Hall, entrepreneur, angel investor, venture capitalist, cofounder of Mercato Partners

The Zigzag Principle is the new way of doing business. It will increase your chances of success by 90 percent and eliminate so much of the stress that business owners face.”
—Garrett Gunderson, New York Times bestselling author of Killing Sacred Cows

The Zigzag Principle has revolutionized the way I run my business. It works, it measures, it performs. Every business should know and implement this principle!”
—Curtis Blair, cofounder and general manager, Froghair

“Rich Christiansen is one of the most insightful, practical, and cost-conscious entrepreneurs in the world today. Listen to Rich. He won’t steer you wrong.”
—Roy H. Williams, author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling Wizard of Ads trilogy

”I don't believe entrepreneurship is something you can truly learn from a book. Everyone has to make their own mistakes. Nevertheless, if you've already made some mistakes then you'll find The Zig Zag Principle to be a no b.s. guide to starting, nurturing and succeeding at entrepreneurship.”
—Jeffrey Eisenberg, author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal marketing bestsellers Call to Action and Waiting For Your Cat To Bark?

“Entrepreneurs, you need not fear failure anymore! With The Zigzag Principle in hand, you will have all the tools you need to increase your probability of success the instant you apply the concepts in this book.”
—Rick Sapio, founder and CEO of Mutual Capital Alliance, Inc, Dallas, Texas

The Zigzag Principle isn’t feel-good fluff—it is a logical and practical formula that you can put your hands on, and it will increase the rate of success of any business you apply it to.”
—Moe Abdou, Principal and founder, 33 Voices

The Zigzag Principle is more powerful than the ‘release and iterate’ mentality which is so prevalent today. I have adjusted my planning to incorporate this principle in our product launches. Properly executed, The Zigzag Principl will keep folks like me out of financial hot water.”
—David McInnis, founder of PRWeb.com and founder and CEO of Cranberry LLC, Venture Partners

“Most entrepreneurs find it complicated and difficult to build their businesses. Rich has done a masterful job with The Zigzag Principle to make complex things simple and the difficult easy—and it works! It will help you get where you want to be with more confidence and certainty.”
—Murray Smith, New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Answer and CEO of MainStreetMentor.com

“Whether you are a parent, an entrepreneur, a factory worker, or a middle manger, The Zigzag Principle will provide you with a framework and a formula that will empower you to make changes in your world you had never felt were possible.”
—Joseph Grenny, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Influencer: The Power to Change Anything

"The Zigzag Principle delivers the epiphany of the decade for business owners. These strategies are non-intuitive, but proven to be solid and dependable, which is why this is such an important work. Not only will you profit faster than you thought possible, you'll also enjoy greater balance and fulfillment in the process."
—Leslie Householder, Award-winning bestselling author of The Jackrabbit Factor: Portal to Genius

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rich Christiansen spent the first half of his career as an executive, running the PC division of Mitsubishi Electronics, working at Novell, and becoming general manager of About.com. Today, he is in high demand as a mentor and small business consultant. Christiansen is coauthor of Bootstrap Business: A Step-by-Step Business Survival Guide.


Product Details

  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (September 13, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0071774580
  • ISBN-13: 978-0071774581
  • Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 0.7 x 9.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #148,726 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rich Christiansen has founded or co-founded 32 businesses, each with less than $10K. Of those, 11 were complete failures, but 11 have become multimillion-dollar companies. He describes himself as "a technology executive turned entrepreneur" from his time at Mitsubishi Electric, About.com, and Novell. Rich loves building businesses with his 5 sons, and is an avid mountain trekker.

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars
(14)
4.9 out of 5 stars
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A Unique Perspective September 23, 2011
Format:Hardcover
There is certainly no shortage of books teaching how to set and achieve goals. In The ZigZag Principle, Rich Christiansen, the author brings a unique perspective to the process. Most books on the subject teach the direct approach. Figure out where you want to go and charge full steam ahead toward your goal.

If you have been in the business world even for a short time period, you have probably met someone who was hard charging, running over anyone and anything that got in their way. While this approach produces short terms results, the long term effects are crash and burn. As Mr. Christiansen points out, that approach is not sustainable. In fact it is normally quite destructive. There is a better way - The Zigzag Principles.

The book starts with a little story about the author and his son on a skiing trip. This was his son's third trip and he was still in the beginner's stage. Somehow they made a wrong turn and ended up on a very steep, black diamond run. Instead of heading straight down hill to a certain wipe out, Rich told his son to zigzag safely down the hill.

The same principles apply in business and life. Instead of trying to go head on at or through all obstacles, learn to zigzag around them.

While the principles of the book work in both business and life, the book is written primarily for the entrepreneur. The first section of the book deals with foundational issues. You must know your values and where you want to go. Once the foundational issues are solid, it is time to move to the three zigzag principles.

The first principle is to get to cash first. Far too many businesses fail because they do not understand and follow this principle. Focus on making the business profitable.

The second "zag" principle is once you are profitable, then and only then add the additional resources you will need - this is people, equipment and capital. The third "zig" is to scale the business. Many businesses become stuck in the profitable mode and fail to scale because the owner refuses to let go and empower others in the business.

After the three zigzag principles, Rich gives some great advice on boundaries and guardrails - safety measures to make sure you are staying on course. Next he talks about the proper use of rewards. The final chapter deals with the "all or nothing" mindset that trips up so many business owners.

This book gives a refreshing approach to achieving your goals in business and life. It is very conversational and therefore easy to read. Rich uses lots of examples from his own journey as a charge ahead, win at all cost young manager to a more responsible and much more successful entrepreneur.

You will certainly learn and profit from this book. A very easy but profitable read.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Beacon in the Fog . . . September 22, 2011
Format:Hardcover
The Zig Zag Principle is an easy to read book that offers some great ideas on setting goals and starting businesses. It is a practical guide that boils down the basics of business in digestible bites and makes the process simple to implement. It is refreshing to see an entrepreneurship book that focuses on the right things . . . resources, cash, and scaling. It is easy to get caught up in overcomplicated business plans and life plans that are not achievable. This book will show you how to quickly get where you want to go without overextending yourself.

What I Liked:

* The value equation: what mental capital and relationship capital mean for a new business
* "Entrepreneurship is having the courage to wonder in the fog."
* How to set achievable goals that overlap areas of influence and concern
* Building a foundation of values and how to set and mind the guardrails
* The first thing your business should do: Be profitable! This is often lost in business literature and is a point that bears repeating again and again. Rich Christiansen does an excellent job of emphasizing the importance of cash first. Don't focus on your website, SEO, contacts, network, newsletter, business plan, systems plan, or anything else until you are profitable. Focus on the 20% that will get you there.
* Great worksheets throughout the book to encourage the right kind of goal setting

What I Did Not Like:

* The last Zig is the weakest in explanation. Could have used more support on The Four Rules of Scale. However, the decision matrix outlined in this section is a very helpful decision making tool and the principle of scaling is just as important as the first two.

All in all, its a great book on entrepreneurship that is an easy read. I will recommend this in the future, especially to first time entrepreneurs who ask what to focus on. The suggestions are practical, concrete, and achievable. It is not a magic formula for starting a business, but it is a guide that will keep you moving the right direction while minimizing your risk. Recommended.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Zig Zag opened my eyes to see my simple flaws October 5, 2011
Format:Hardcover
My name is Kelsey and I graduated from college with a business degree, thinking I knew what it took to start a small business. Boy was I wrong. When I first got married my husband had a pretty good job, (enough to support our family) so I talked him into letting me start my own small business. I had read business books before, or at least what I could before they got so boring I wanted to throw them through the window.
I thought I had a good idea so off I went into the business world. Two short months later I was back. Broke, bruised and tired.
Enough about me. That was four years ago. I recently picked up a copy of The ZigZag Principle and it has totally changed my perspective on the way to start and handle your own business. There were so many great things I learned in this book but I only want to share two.

'-The first "Zig" (you will learn about zigs and zags) is a drive to profitability.
"This first zig requires sheer grit and determination... Whether you are starting out in life or starting a business-or are broke and stating over-your first zig always needs to take you toward profitability." I loved that. That is exactly how i failed in the first place. I didn't have enough money after the first month to keep up.
'-Failing efficiently.
"What I mean by failing efficiently is that if you can't get to profitability, you need to accept the fact that you have nowhere left to go."
This is great information. The book teaches you to get out before the devastating consequences.

I loved this book. I am planning to put each and everyone of these strategies into my next business.
A great and interesting read!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Key Insights
I read this book as part of the 12 Books online book group during the month of May 2012. I admit that when I first read the title I was a little confused. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Jacob Paulsen
5.0 out of 5 stars The best way to get to a destination is to follow interim, tactical...
You might think that the best way to get to a destination is to set a goal and head toward it.

Yet Rich Christiansen in his excellent book, THE ZIG ZAG PRINCIPLE... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Blaine Greenfield
5.0 out of 5 stars A Roadmap for Success in Business and in Life - a great book on...
A Roadmap for Success in Business and in Life - a great book on Entrepreneurship
After reading the first few pages of the book I started to get concerned about the possibility... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Gerardo
5.0 out of 5 stars Uncertainty Journey Defined
The entrepreneurship is something like journey. That's entrepreneur's journey. You as an entrepreneur create something from nothing. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Dragan
5.0 out of 5 stars Clear cut tactics to achieve success
Rich Christiansen, the author of this wonderful book, is one of those people who would be a great dinner guest. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Nancy Loderick
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't lose your "Zig"!
This business book is so easy to read and understand. You will learn how you can set specific goals and use strategies that will help you be successful in your business. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Michelle Dunn
5.0 out of 5 stars The Zig Zag Principle
Once we learn that life is NOT a straight line, more things fall into place, easier and more effectively. Little kids, know this, they zig and zag all the time. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Sylvia Lafair, Ph.D.
5.0 out of 5 stars Like getting a brand new set of tools for my Entrepreneurial Tool...
How many times have I Zigged when I should have Zagged in my career? Rich Christiansen has come up with a wonderfully effective framework to asses past failures and turn them into... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Roger@iltech
5.0 out of 5 stars Zig Zag is the New Straight Line
Great book. I read the whole thing in one sitting. Within a few pages I started underlining and marking things that apply to my little online business. Read more
Published 19 months ago by JCDC
5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Business Book I Have Read!
I have had the absolute pleasure of reading The Zig Zag Principle even before it has came out to book shelves, for free, and so can you! Read more
Published 20 months ago by Michael
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What is the most challenging part of the lean startup - zig zag principle?
Determining there the use of appropriate channel or way to bring the product to market. I am the author (Rich Christiansen) of Zig Zag Principle and indeed most of my failures or false starts have been due to not properly setting the channel of my product or service up.
Oct 6, 2011 by R. Christiansen |  See all 2 posts
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