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

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Survival Is Not Enough, former Yahoo executive and author of Permission Marketing Seth Godin turns his attention to the predominant issue facing all business today: change. Godin takes the perspective of an evolutionary biologist, borrowing ideas from the likes of Richard Dawkins, Jared Diamond, and Matt Ridley to formulate his own prescription for business survival, a concept he calls "zooming," which he defines as "stretching your limits without threatening your foundation." The result is a wide-ranging and eclectic menu of useful ideas that just about anyone looking to enhance their career, job satisfaction, and their company's prospects would do well to consider. --Harry C. Edwards --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

In his follow-up to the popular e-book Unleashing the Ideavirus, marketing guru Seth Godin uses Darwin's theory of evolution as an extended metaphor for how companies have to constantly change in order to adapt to unstable economic environments. Survival Is Not Enough: Zooming Evolution, and the Future of Your Company maintains that in these uncertain times, business owners have to constantly tinker with their marketing, products, and personnel, even if they've already discovered some successful strategies. While he lays the metaphors on a little thick, Godin's otherwise clear, crackling prose and real-life examples make the book an engaging read.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (December 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743233387
• ISBN-13: 978-0743233385
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #165,852 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, Repetitive, Some Good Ideas but Flawed, February 3, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Survival Is Not Enough: Zooming, Evolution, and the Future of Your Company (Hardcover)

I was intrigued by the author's idea of comparing the evolution of ideas and businesses, to the science of evolution.

I'm pretty sure that Seth Godin has never read any of the excellent essays or books by Stephen Jay Gould whose words have helped educate me about evolution. Godin seems to have learned about evolution not from scientists, but from Star Trek (which assumes that 'evolution' has a fixed agenda, and that 'evolution' is the term used for a single-generation transformation of a species from humanoid to transcendant being).

Even when Godin has the right ideas about evolution, his analogy of "genes" and "DNA" to "memes" and "mDNA" often fails through carelessness: he often confuses his own terms and concepts.

The real thesis of "Survival is Not Enough" is that companies need to "zoom" by trying new ideas, by experimenting, by accepting that when their business environment changes, they must transform themselves or fail.

Godin is certainly not wrong: every business needs to adapt and experiment. No company can survive the transformation of its environment unless the company transforms itself. Every company should try new things, different things, even bizarre "gonzo" ideas, in order to learn what works and what does not. Yes, "zooming" is a good idea, but Godin doesn't seem to accept that there are limits: company staff, budgets, and attention.

Godin's notion of launching many experiments, including launching multiple projects that bet against each other, is intriguing but clearly unaffordable to most companies. Yes, companies must experiment, and try new ideas and new projects, and we must accept that failing is better than not trying -- but Godin provides no guidance on how to choose which experiments to try, which risks to accept, and which to reject.

There are some good ideas in Godin's book, but I think most of them could have been captured in a dozen pages.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Godin Book - Another winner!, January 14, 2002

By	Dan E. Ross "Dan Ross" (Frisco, Tx USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Survival Is Not Enough: Zooming, Evolution, and the Future of Your Company (Hardcover)

I gave this book 4 stars because, while it was refreshing to read and I definitely learned quite a bit, it wasn't a paradigm-shifting book, which is what I am increasingly moving towards for my 5 star books.

I warn folks that don't like buzzwords that this book has TONS of them. Frankly, there were more than I care for and I normally don't mind them!

Mr. Godin consistently picks a topic of business conversation/interest and then provides readers with his insights. In Permission Marketing he spoke about the rampant increase in e-mail marketing campaigns and what made them effective vs. ineffective and the impact it would have on consumer/business relations. In Unleashing the Ideavirus Mr. Godin spoke about the power of word of mouth advertising and how companies could utilize the Internet as an enabling device to cost effectively communicate with customers and generate excitement in a product/service.

Survival is Not Enough, by Seth Godin, is another bestseller in the works. For some reason Mr. Godin seems to get the "big picture" better than most. More importantly, the manner in which he conveys the information / subject manner is normally easier to understand than other books on comparable subject matter. With his new book Mr. Godin tackles the subject of rapid change and its impact on business. Using the metaphor of Darwin's Law of Evolution Mr. Godin compares a corporation's evolution to any animal.

The entire book can be summed up in a very simple manner. Evolve (change) or die. The fittest company will win at the end of the day such as the fiercest Lion will end up passing on his genes to other lions.

Rather than spell out each chapter I would say that Mr. Godin hits on several key things within the book that really make it worth reading

1) Why it is better to make small changes than big changes to survive (EVOLVE vs. massive restructuring).

2) How can a company accelerate changes so it doesn't become static and die?

3) Why you need to make sure you have the right people on board.

4) How do people deal with fear and change? What are some of the artificial barriers we as humans put up to avoid change? I found some of the insights to be interesting.

5) Are all companies capable of change? Obviously a lot don't (they become extinct via bankruptcy) but did they miss along the way which hurt the company (examples are provided.)

Mr. Godin's last chapter gives a long list of important questions that deal with change. Through asking them and honestly answering them you may find some insightful things about your companies' culture and the implications for your career development, as well as their future success. In general I found the book to be very insightful but much tougher than his previous books to read. This is heady stuff, relative to his prior books, especially when you have to compare the entire book to Darwin and Evolution!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good Ideas but No Practical How-To, March 7, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Survival is Not Enough: Zooming, Evolution, and the Future of Your Company (Audio CD)

Most marketing types I've worked with are great at coming up wild ideas but they have no idea how to get them done. This book (written by a marketer) is exactly that - good ideas in theory, but no practical advice is given for how to implement them in the REAL WORLD of day-to-day business.

The basic premise of the book (which I do not argue with, by the way) is that companies must be constantly adapting, changing and evolving or they will become extinct. The author is touting his own brand of buzzwords like "zooming" and "The Red Queen" to describe what he sees as the way to get this done. Namely, find ways to make lots of little, cheap changes in what you do every day and test them to see what works, fail a lot and keep adapting.

This is great advice but how exactly one gets this done in a company that has a make-no-mistakes-or-die culture is not explained. The authors best advice is that if you work for a company like this just go get another job. If people in the company don't get onboard with the concept or try to block your efforts to change the culture -- just fire them. Such easy answers to life's problems can only come from the mind of someone from marketing!

This book reads like a brainstorming session with lots of quick ideas churned out in rapid fire but very little "meat" on how to implement them. I found myself reading through and saying to myself, "OK, that's an interesting idea, but how would you get it done in a company that isn't already doing it?" I'd turn the page and instead of the how-to part he'd be off on another concept.

The author spends too much time comparing his theory to the theory of evolution as if he can give his concepts more credence by shrouding them in the guise of science. I would rather that he spent more time explaining how to put his ideas into play; especially for those who do not have dictatorial powers at work.

If you have a job that does not require you to actually implement what you come up with (like a CEO or someone who works in marketing) then this book may give you some good grist for the old idea mill. Otherwise, there will be a diminishing rate of return for those who have to deal with reality more often than not.