Customer Reviews

Thrive: Standing on Your Own Two Feet in a Borderless World

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"Thrive" by Mike Cook is an entertaining, interesting read for anyone who has or will have a place in the workforce. He looks at the changes in the workplace of the past with an excellent personal strategy for preparing for the future. This is stuff for great reflective thought if you are currently in the workplace. If there are young people for whom you care, YOU will need to read this book so you can be a supportive mentor. They will need to read this book so they know what they need cultivate. "Thrive" facilitates the shift from fear to excitement about participating in a global workplace.

Thrive is a book to be savored and its concepts integrated into every day business life. It is thought provoking and agreeably provides tools to shift the current business paradigm. Notice the definitions underlying the concepts presented. Mike's depth of thought and research along with his sense of humor make this a great read. His self-effacing style and knowledge of self give weight and experience to the content. This book takes personal values and transfers them to the business arena suggesting that we ourselves can diminish the sometimes, schizophrenic separation between work and life.

The concepts presented appear to be common sense and straight forward. They are, however, the essence of transforming who and what we are into who and what we need to become to succeed in this global economy. I suggest there are several layers to this book and a reread will uncover additional insights and value.

Within moments of cracking into Mike Cook's wonderful book 'Thrive,' I began making a list of all the beloved friends, family and colleagues to whom I plan to send a copy. This ever-growing list includes my 8- and 10-year old nephews and 13-year old niece, about whose life-long happiness I am quite passionate. Ok, maybe I'll wait a few years before laying 'Thrive' on them, but really, only a VERY few years. The book's cup runneth over with the type of wisdom and actionable ideas you wish someone had shared with you as you began your life's relationship with 'work.' The good news? As Mike points out in a thousand funny and warm ways (all anchored in his years' of organizational development experience and close study of the world's wisest philosophers from Lao Tze to Max DuPree), it's never too late to build a happy life of passionate commitment to work you love and believe is important. If you think your work, life, and heart could be bigger, check out 'Thrive.'

I started reading this book and found that I did not want to put it down.
The book is an easy read, very interesting, entertaining and inspirational.
I think that anyone in the workforce whether entering or already there can benefit from the insightful information about how to determine what you want
And can give to your job to make you and your employer content. I plan to pass it on to my son.

I am a workforce professional, employed at a local level to oversee DOL employment and training programs. I wish I could buy this book for every working American; and I recommend it whenever I get a chance, especially to young people entrying the workforce. The globalization of our economy is little understood by the most Americans. Mr. Cook makes a strong argument that these changes are here to stay but there are ways to more fully engage oneself in this global market. Is there a magic bullet? No, but Mr. Cook gives one the roadmap to participation. He writes with humor and humanity that I found very engaging.

Mike Cook's THRIVE is a great "how-to-do-life" approach. It is must reading for all people whether a chief or cook or bottlewasher. Practical and witty....Wherever you are on your life's journey at any time, you can pick this book up and always get something out of it that is useful and if you choose to look in the mirror and be honest and use the information provided, you will be a better person for what you are trying to achieve in this world.....I have been fortunate to have been coached by Mike in my life and his influence and teachings have guided me to be a better person, leader, friend, coach, and philanthropist.....Read the book....See what you get out of it...."Now whatcha gonna do about it?!"....

I thoroughly enjoyed "Thrive" and learned a lot from reading it. It is so casually written - in a conversational tone and with tender personal stories - that one might be lulled to read it purely for enjoyment. But Mike Cook's striking counter-intuitive declarations and acute observations make the thoughtful stop and think. Sometimes it's like a punch in the face. Other times, I found myself rereading pages to realize I jumped to a conclusion and missed an interesting point. Mr. Cook calls on us to stop thinking from scarcity - as if this job/business is the last opportunity you'll have, take a stand on what you are about (because this *is* the last life you get to live), and either be the change you want to see in your environment, or change it. I've already referred this book to dozens of friends and associates; it is a book I will read again and again.

I read "THRIVE: Standing On Your Own Two Feet in a Borderless World" cover to cover. And if you believe in the good ole fashion work ethic values - treat people with respect, be authentic, be accountable, and take responsibility for your own success you will love this book. Mike shows us that to be responsible and accountable is just good business for both; employee as well as employer. He uses countless examples that you can immediately identify with to make his case. This book is a must read if you want to achieve a greater level of success and continue to be competitive in this borderless world. A truly great read!

The business world has drastically changed in the last few years. This book shows how to develop the inner strength and abilities to survive in the new global marketplace.

For many years, a central component of American business involved the concepts of Commitment and Loyalty. It was a time when a person could expect to spend their entire working career at one company. As long as the employee was willing to give the company the best years of their life, and not even think about going to another company that may be a better fit for the employee (keep dissenting opinions to yourself), the company will be there to take care of the employee. If you haven't already learned, the hard way, that such a way of thinking no longer exists, you will.

The most important thing, in today's world, is to learn to be adaptable, which involves several things. First of all, take personal responsibility for your own financial welfare; no one else will do it for you. Come up with your own personal vision; something more than simply "employment at my previous salary level." Technical competence and reputation are pretty self-explanatory. The last is collaborative competence. It doesn't just involve how well you get along with others at work, but how well you bring value to the workplace. In the myriad of small and large interactions that make up the workplace, how willing are people to interact with you? If you can become something like the "go to" person, upper management will think long and hard before giving you a pink slip.

This book doesn't try to lay blame for globalization, or look at "hot" industries in the coming years, but tries to show a new way of thinking so that a person in any industry can make themselves indispensable at work. It succeeds really well, and is very much worth reading.

I loved this book. It provides some great concepts that will stick with me. It does an especially good job of supporting some instincts I have about the world of business, and portraying them in a way that I am able to understand and adopt as guiding principals. Standing on your own two feet is an obvious one, but "The meek shall inherit the earth", appreciating interdependence and being coachable are also obvious principals to leading a good life. Mike makes those principles easy to relate to my work life.