Customer Reviews

Working Together: Why Great Partnerships Succeed

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

In Working Together, Michael Eisner uses the stories of several successful partnerships (including his own) to find commonalities and perhaps offer the reader a formula for identifying or creating the same.

The stories are great and every reader will find a different partnership that he or she identifies most with, but the overriding lesson is that the best two person teams have partners who have very different personalities and skill sets, but shared values, beliefs, ethics, and ultimately goals.

As an investor, I particularly liked the chapters on Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger and John Angelo and Michael Gordon, which remind us that most great partnerships have at least one optimist and one skeptic. The trust that Warren and Charlie have developed in one another was a key feature of several other partnerships including Joe Torre and Don Zimmer of the New York Yankees who also discovered that trust fostered loyalty and an ability for partners to benefit from each other's strengths, without feeling compromised by their own vulnerabilities.

Several notable stories emerged from Eisner's interviews like Bernie Marcus asking Arthur Blank to just keep bumping the revenue projections up on the first Home Depot store until the projections showed profitability. While this obviously worked out for them, I imagine there are more than a few entrepreneurs where that wasn't the case. I also enjoyed learning about Brian Grazer's networking techniques at Warner Brothers which ultimately led him to his partner, Ron Howard.

Ultimately, Eisner draws a set of conclusions about successful partnerships that lead to the whole being greater than the sum of the parts which can be measured in both financial and emotional terms. Eisner's book is a relatively quick read with enjoyable stories and relevant lessons for anyone interested in how to identify or create the next great partnership.

Picked it for my self and my partner. This book is truly motivating as it highlights the need of good, reliable partners to succeed in today complex business environment.

Some interesting insights into partnerships through some people magazine-like (LIGHT AND FLUFFY) profiles. Not a lot of new information but as the cover design suggests, it's mostly about EISNER and how great he (thinks) he was.

My father told me many years ago that there are two things that are the most difficult things to find in life. One is a good wife or a husband, and the other is a good partner/friend that's with you for the rest of your life. But once you find them you better hold on to them forever. This books shares with you several stories that validate the importance of finding a partner who learn how to work together and accept each other's strengths and weaknesses.

Michael Eisner describes in a very lively way the strengths of personal partnerships in business. The book is fun to read and full of anectodes that make good top managers even better ones, but recognizing the power that lies in real trustful partnerships.

I was very interested in reading this book. I don't want to trash Eisner. I think if it were not for he and Frank Wells there might not be a Walt Disney Company today. I thought this was a real opportunity for him to more fully explore what worked between he and Frank. In the end, I found little more than his conversation about the relationship in his autobiography. That was a disappointment.

He goes on to explore other successful partnerships. Some are from Hollywood, like Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, which I found interesting. Some were outside Hollywood like Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. Also interesting. But then he goes on to talk about Valentino and Giancarlo Giammetti. If that were a marriage, we would call it dysfunctional or co-dependent. But I wouldn't call it a great partnership. That was a disappointment.

Eisner then goes on to highlight Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager. They founded Studio 54. This is the best we can produce in a great partnership? Really? Why didn't he highlight Bonnie and Clyde? I found no inspiration from that story. That was a disappointment.

What was really missing was a study of the greatest Hollywood pair, past and present. Here Eisner headed Disney, but it's absent of any real conversation about Walt and Roy. Was there any more successful pair, not just in Tinseltown, but in corporate America? And then there's the best modern day example of all--John Lasseter and Ed Catmull. They not only made Pixar what it is today, they've had to go back and pick up the pieces left by the Eisner era. That was a big disappointment.

In short, while the book has few merits, and in fact, is a disappointment.

Jeff Kober-DisneyatWork.com

I checked out this book from my local library as I worked for the Disney Company for 19 years & was curious about Eisner's new book. Mr. Eisner continues his ego trip with claims of having ethics & trust in his business affairs? Seriously? The facts have shown otherwise from everyone that ever worked or had to deal with the man who hired 'Yes' people only.

I've seen Mr. Eisner several times in person, and he cared not about people, but only the bottom line. When you have to hire body guards to surround & protect you when you visit your own company people, something is terribly wrong. I saw on a daily basis that Mr. Eisner only cared about quantity, not quality in the Disney Company.

If you want to study an ego-maniac profile, then you may enjoy this book. Beware though it's a bore & may make you nauseous in the process.

a few interesting insights are peppered through the book, which might be helpful for me to adopt. i'm always fascinated to read about warren buffett and enjoyed that section.

on the other hand, many of the vignettes were sidetracked by describing the life paths of these interesting people, instead of focusing on the mechanics of the partnerships.

This book highlights several business partnerships that were very successful. I picked it up and found it very enlightening. It read like a book of short stories and I found it hard to put down. I highly recommend it.

Great questions from Eisner made great answers from extremely interesting partners. A great read!(I even bought the book for my two grown children!)