Putting the Tarot to Work: Creative Problem Solving, Effective Decision Making & Personal Career Planning (Paperback)

by Mark McElroy (Author) "This chapter explores: How business is waking up to the value of creative brainstorming..." (more)
Key Phrases: fundamental factors spread, nonillustrated pips, imagine this card, Card Two, Card Three, Putting the Tarot (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Forego fortune telling for fortune making!
You have your cell phone, your pager, and your palm pilot. But a Tarot deck? Why not? It’s the perfect tool for thinking outside the box.

Business manager and consultant Mark McElroy has worked and thrived in the corporate pressure cooker. Let him show you the secrets of using the cards to boost your creativity, make better decisions, and increase your value as a boss or employee. Apply this versatile tool today to clarify your values, define your goals, and restore meaning to your career. The cards can even help you to plan productive meetings, breathe new life into dull presentations, and improve business relationships.


About the Author
After purchasing his first Tarot deck in 1973, Mark McElroy began terrorizing other neighborhood nine-year-olds with dire and dramatic predictions.Today, he calls Tarot "the ultimate visual brainstorming tool," and shares techniques designed to help others ask better questions, see more options, and achieve their goals.

He is the author of Putting the Tarot to Work, Taking the Tarot to Heart, What's in the Cards for You?, and the new I Ching for Beginners (all Llewellyn). He is also the author of The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Tarot (Que).

Mark holds a B.A. and M.A. in creative writing and composition from the Center for Writers at the University of Southern Mississippi. He has more than two decades of experience as a public speaker and corporate trainer. He has written, produced, and hosted classroom, video, and online training for some of America's biggest companies, including SkyTel, MCI, Office Depot, Staples, and many others.

Mark lives and writes in Mississippi, where he shares a home with his partner, Clyde, and two cats, Tiger and Lilly.

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications (February 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 073870444X
• ISBN-13: 978-0738704449
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #884,338 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tarot Goes Corporate!, January 12, 2004

By	"shamnaar" (Northern California) - See all my reviews

This book presents innovative ways of using the Tarot, and it also accomplishes something better than any Tarot book I have read previously: It explains, and in the language spoken therein, how the Tarot is an overlooked yet invaluable tool for use in the modern corporate world.

I realize that most corporate types simply won't encounter this book because they wouldn't be caught dead browsing the metaphysical section of bookstores, but this is a book that you can hand a friend or family member in the business world and say, "Do me a favor and just read the first five chapters." I postulate that most of them that did so would want to read further, but even if they didn't, those initial chapters would alter their perception of what the Tarot is, and to what practical and concrete ends it can be used.

Most bottom line focused corporate managers will be intrigued by the idea of "seventy-eight full time consultants for $12.95." Skeptical or not, studies show that business is waking up to the value of creative brainstorming, something which McElroy demonstrates can be facilitated by the Tarot with the use of the techniques and approaches he describes.

Chapter Two, "Playing for Keeps," includes a section called "Objections - Overruled!" in which McElroy anticipates and diffuses four common objections against bringing Tarot into the office and the boardroom.

* Objection One: You should be working, not playing cards.
* Objection Two: Religion doesn't belong in the workplace
* Objection Three: What will the boss think?
* Objection Four: Won't people think I'm weird?
* Objection Five: We've gotten this far without Tarot cards!

As McElroy concludes this chapter: "By carefully positioning your work with the cards as serious business, you'll be able to incorporate them into your creative process without raising any objections from others."

Chapter Three, "The Least You Should Know About Tarot," is the most concise introduction to and overview of the Tarot I have ever read, and McElroy covers it in fifteen pages! With an assumption that his readers know absolutely nothing about the Tarot, he debunks some of the common Tarot myths and proceeds to clearly delineate the minimum information new users need to know. He does so in practical language completely devoid of metaphysical and esoteric allusions. He calls his approach "no focus on hocus pocus."

Successive chapters include material on phrasing questions, choosing spreads, performing readings, brainstorming with the cards, using the tarot to explore career options, goal setting with the Tarot, analyzing one's professional network, even how to use the Tarot for the dreaded employee review process, - the latter in a way that produces positive feedback for both employees and employers. The book also contains numerous new spreads as well as unique ideas, many of which are illustrated with the author's personal anecdotes from his considerable professional experience.

My only caveat with this book is that it is almost too "slick." As I read, I felt like I could see McElroy in a boardroom doing a PowerPoint presentation, complete with hand-outs and a laser pointer. The style is unabashedly bulleted top-notch marketing, but it is also the very style that just may be effective in creating some new Tarot buffs out of former skeptics and scoffers. Let's ask the bookstores to stock this book in the business self-help section and watch what happens...

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book Review: Putting the Tarot to Work, January 1, 2005

By	June Kaminski, BellaOnline Editor "June Kaminski" (BC, Canada) - See all my reviews

This amazing book by Business expert, Mark McElroy, brings the magical world of tarot into the organizational milieu. Practical and inspiring, Mark presents innovative ways to combine the tarot's guidance with down-to-earth decision making and planning. Mark focuses on the everyday world of the average 21st century executive, entrepreuner or organizational team player. Career planning, goal setting, networking, performance reviews, corporation presentations - all can be enhanced with the energy of the Tarot.

In a press release from Llewellyn, the book is introduced as: "Business manager and consultant Mark McElroy has worked and thrived in the corporate pressure cooker. Let him show you the secrets of using the cards to boost your creativity, make better decisions, and increase your value as a boss or employee. Apply this versatile tool today to clarify your values, define your goals, and restore meaning to your career. The cards can even help you to plan productive meetings, breathe new life into dull presentations, and improve business relationships."

Mark's book will appeal to both the beginning and more seasoned tarot reader. He presents a basic overview of the deck to help you get your feet wet, then offers chapters of suggestions of making the meaning come to life - in your business life! I found this book to be both interesting and enlightening. Mark has a gift - and he shares it in a very pragmatic and utility-oriented way.

For instance, if you wish to do a reading to find out ways to get along better with your work colleagues, he suggests you do a regular reading but slant your interpretation of the results in a business way.

Say, you drew the Seven of Coins:
The message: "Preseverance will pay off, you will realize long-term success."

or if you are asking about the upcoming fiscal year
and you draw the Ten of Swords:
"We'll have to work smarter."

Mark also offers some unique spreads, specifically designed for particular business purposes. One example is the Goal Setting spread which represents a "crossroads moment" sort of approach, with six selected cards. Each card in this layout is a "sign post" "Instead of spelling out your future, these cards support exploration of your destination" (pg. 112).

Within this Goal Setting Spread, the six cards each represent a different aspect of the process:



Card 1: What Really Matters?

Card 2: What do You need?

Card 3: Your Ideal Destination.

Card 4: Where are You Now?

Card 5: Short-term Goals.

Card 6: Long-term Goals.


The book is full of exercises like the Goal setting one above. Another example is the "Strength and Opportunities" spread, where the cards represent meanings such as "Key Strength" or "Supporting Strengths" and "Balancing Strategy".

You will love this book if you are looking for a very concrete and balanced way to conjoin the Tarot and mystical with the Practical. Even the price is right - Mark is obviously dedicated to sharing his expertise in a practical and affordable way. You can purchase this fine book either directly from Llewellyn or through Amazon (see details below).

ABOUT THE BOOK AUTHOR:


Mark holds a B.A. and M.A. in creative writing and composition from the Center for Writers at the University of Southern Mississippi. He has more than two decades of experience as a public speaker and corporate trainer. He has written, produced, and hosted classroom, video, and online training for some of America's biggest companies, including SkyTel, MCI, Office Depot, Staples, and many others. Today, he works as a writer, voice actor, and creativity consultant; samples of his work are available at www.hiremark.com and www.tarottools.com.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Enlightened" Brainstorming, April 20, 2004

By	Phil Hulst "Phil Atlanta" (Atlanta, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Admittedly, before I had my first Tarot "reading" from Mark McElroy, my familiarity and awareness of Tarot was limited to Sister Cleo on television infomercials and one gypsy-like woman at a street-fair. Therefore, I expected a "Brother Cleotis" type approach to Mark's reading. Imagine my surprise when the reading actually was positive and less "future-telling" than it was discussion and my interpretation of what the cards were saying to my situation. On a second and on a third reading at later times, I found the same: a practical and intuitive look at my life's situation.

I would have been hard-pressed to offer much of an explanation of what made the reading meaningful until I read Mark's Book, Putting the Tarot to Work. No "eye of newt and toe of frog," but rather an in-depth discussion of how the Tarot can be an "enlightened" brainstorming tool in the business setting, the book provided an understanding of why Mark is so successful at Tarot.

In my reading, Mark first asked me what the cards seemed to be saying to me...what I saw in them. He then offered the traditional meaning of the cards and together we explored how that meaning and my interpretation of the cards worked together in a synergistic manner to offer insight into my situation.

So, at an introductory level, the cards serve as an "enlightened" brainstorming tool. And although the Cleos and Cleotises of the Tarot world might have a difficulty with this, it becomes a comfortable and safe way to be introduced to Tarot.

And this is what Mark does in his book: he provides an introduction to the Tarot along with tips, techniques and actual stories of how the Tarot fits into real business situations. His writing is concise and easy-to-understand. I particularly enjoyed the format he uses of telling me what I can expect to find in the current chapter and then reviewing the content of the chapter at its end.

After introductory chapters with basic information about Tarot, Mark's chapter titles are:
Basic Brainstorming with the Tarot; Seventy-Eight Steps to a More Satisfying Career; Reviews Worth Raving Over; Building Better Business Relationships; and Seeing the Future.

As a group facilitator in business, I have often used brainstorming. I now see the value of brainstorming "enlightened" by Tarot and also personally use the cards to help me think outside the box. I look forward to the publication of Mark's business-oriented Tarot deck. It will make the use of Tarot even less "Cleo-like" and more acceptable in a business setting.

I highly recommend Mark's book to everyone-not just those into Tarot, but also those who are looking for ways to be challenged to more creative thinking and problem solving.