Amazon.com: Customer reviews: The Fred Factor: How Passion in Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary

Top positive review

A pretty good book, but short.

Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2007

This is a very short book: something like 113 pages with not a lot of page surface for words. It's one of those books that should really have been longer (to get your money's worth) but couldn't really be without distorting the clarity of the message.

It is a quick and enjoyable read, and it has a lot of real life examples and ideas. Most of it is commonsense, but that doesn't mean it isn't useful. It is all about the excellent service that a mail carrier provides over his career, and why he chooses to go "above and beyond" all the time with his dedication.

It reminds me a lot of another book called "Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results". We read both books for our workplace book-club and enjoyed both. Both were written by motivational speakers, and both try to work their way into a whole teaching program with awards and special terms and the like. Personally, I don't care for this type of commercialization, and I'm not about to go out calling people "Freds" or hand out "Fred" pins, but I darn well am going to look at the message of the book seriously and take it to heart.

I recommend this as a book that will appeal to a lot of people because it is not intimidating (especially to non-readers) and because it is written in an easy conversational style. (I think it is a good book for reading clubs.)

And finally, as one of my favorite lines in the book said (spoken by Abraham Lincoln) "Whatever you are, be a good one."

5 people found this helpful

Top critical review

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William Spencer

Pretty Trite Parable

Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2022

I get what he is saying; however, it smacks of very rich people telling regular people that others are entitled to them doing more for free. I believe in servant leadership. I believe in excellence. What I don’t believe in is being taken advantage of or the smoothing of the complexities of the story to sell a book.

One person found this helpful

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From the United States

Tiffany M

Cloying & Completely Unbelievable

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2015

Verified Purchase

I purchased this for a leadership class my husband was taking. It was unreadable to me. I made it through a couple of chapters before I just had to stop. Drivel. At first I found the whole Fred the mailman a little creepy, mainly because in our city, you just don't bond with your mailperson like this. Mark must live in Mayberry. Then the more I skipped through this book, the more made up I thought it might be. I have nothing against trying to be good at your job, but I saw a Youtube review of this book where the guy talked about what a Goody Goody preachy type book this was. Having not read the whole thing, I can't be sure, but I think Mark's real name might be Pollyanna. If you are given a list of books to choose from because I cannot imagine this as an advance your career type book, more like love your job, enjoy being a slave and being grateful for whatever they pay you (because no one, especially the government, like Fred works for) is going to recognize your hard work with more pay unless you ask.

7 people found this helpful

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Andrew

If your boss asks you to read this book I'd do yourself a favor and look for a new job

Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2017

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My boss assigned me this book to read after being at the company for a few months. It has had the opposite effect on me than the writer, and I'm sure my boss, intended. To me, it seems that this book was written for simple minded people to feel good about working a menial job for little pay and no recognition. The only positive I was able to get out of this book is a greater understanding of how my boss sees his employees.

If people want good work from employees you need to provide a decent wage, a fair amount of time off, and good working conditions. You get what you pay for and your employees are not going to treat your customers better than you as an employer treat them. I never read in this book that you should reward employees with increased salaries or additional time off and I believe this, more than anything will lead to happy and loyal employees.

20 people found this helpful

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Livwell

Wish I hadn't read it!

Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2013

Verified Purchase

This book didn't motivate me. It left me empty. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. As a matter of fact, I didn't even donate it. I just threw it away.

3 people found this helpful

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D. Ante

A ridiculous symptom of modern economics

Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2011

This book accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do: give you the privileged perspective of a businessman/motivational speaker that assumes a little too much about his mailman. They way I encountered this book speaks a lot about the book's faults. My fiancee was working for a company. She started off as an office assistant, but in a matter of months, was given many, if not all, the duties of the office manager. (This was a small office, only her and the official office manager worked there and supported staff elsewhere. However, the office manager began to take duties at other offices, shifting the burden to my fiancee). She had a lot more work to do. She was, nevertheless, not given a raise. She continued earning 10$ an hour for a 9-5 managerial job.

The justification? The head boss, the CEO of the company, explained: "People won't work any harder for more money, so why pay more?" (So, we can pay someone a dollar an hour because 10 dollars won't make them work any harder? This is a symptom of a big problem in the United States, CEO entitlement. They should have everything and know everything but the bottom tiers are just drones). Where he might have extrapolated this wonderful opinion? One of his favorite books, The Fred Factor. Her boss had, during the time she was transitioning in duties, but not title or pay, from office assistant to office manager, given her the Fred Factor, explaining how she should be more like Fred and that assures a successful company. And what wisdom does Fred have to teach us? Like what you are doing and you'll be a great leader. Well, thanks, that's a very nuanced pursuit to socioeconomic success and happiness.

This begs the immediate problem: who IS Fred? We don't know. We only know from the eyes of a man who makes a big pay check scamming others into taking his broad advice that can't be applied to every situation. We don't know about the intricacies of Fred's life, his home life, his social life. We don't know if he's just medicated. Maybe that's why he's so happy? We don't know about his job benefits, about his pay. We don't know how these factors relate to every other job, such as my fiancee's. It's not as simple as "He's happy, that's how you are successful." WHY is he happy? What does he have that others don't have? Is his happiness completely job related. Well, no. Of course not. We don't have any other information than a postal worker that seems happy. So, does that mean everyone should be happy about their jobs? No. Does that even make Fred a leader? No.

My problem with this book is that it takes an incredibly "top down" approach. It places the entire burden of a company on those that often make the least amount of money and receive the least appreciation. This is why my fiancee's boss liked it so much. He can continue to justify his own counterproductive managerial abilities by placing the onus on his workers, workers that make, for the most part, 1/10 or less of his yearly salary.

What does Fred, as the symbol of a productive workforce, tell us? Absolutely nothing. This is completely anecdotal evidence, and we can't extrapolate because we don't know exactly who he is. It's easy for the CEO of a company or a motivational speaker to tell you just to be happy, like Fred. It's easy for them because they ARE happy about their economic stability. They are happy with the thousand sand thousands of dollars that they scam out of gullible individuals and the government. They are happy, why aren't you happy with your 9-5 job that continuously adds new duties but doesn't offer more pay?

Ultimately, this book is a vapid representation of the simplicity of modern America. "Be happy and everything will come to you! Think positive!" If only it were that simple, but it's not. I'm not Fred. Who knows if Fred is even Fred. This book isn't about transforming your life from ordinary to extraordinary. It's about making you work a little harder, for a little longer, with a little less pay, while you smile and hand more and more profit to your corporate overlords.

49 people found this helpful

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dont know about product it is late

Reviewed in the United States on August 16, 2012

Verified Purchase

I am concerned about this order because the person I sent it to has not received it and tracking information leaves me wondering what is going on and why it has not been received?

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Scott Nichols

One Star

Reviewed in the United States on September 24, 2015

Verified Purchase

book started on page 33.

One person found this helpful

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orbit

I'm in the wrong business if this is what passes for motivational writing these days.

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2015

10 pages in and I can see why upper management in the corporate world is salivating over this book. The message is essentially 'work harder even if you aren't compensated or respected' and that somehow doing so will change humanity from being 'takers' (we're all 'takers' and anyone who claims otherwise is being dishonest) into "Freds". By the way I'd wager real money that Fred doesn't exist. Selflessness in one's personal life, in service and for family is admirable. Being a low-level peon who gives his all at work will simply get you burnt out and used up. I speak from experience as someone who tried the "Fred" method for years and only found success when I mirrored the ethics and attitudes of those who are already successful in my company...guess what, none of them are "Freds". No CEO or President got there by sacrificing himself over others and you won't either. Mindless corporate drones never get anywhere in corporate America but CEOs and management sure loves workers who give their all and expect nothing in return. In this era of wealth gaps and income inequality this book is several decades behind the times. Maybe the author could have broken up Occupy Wall Street by airdropping copies of this book on the crowd?

Imagine if this book was called "The Mary Factor" and was the story about a loyal housewife who always took care of others before herself. Imagine the outrage that would cause.

Oh, I'd be remiss not to mention the 8th grade-level writing. Perhaps it was intentional, but the pedantic, elementary style was insulting; especially given that the audience is presumably adults in the corporate workforce. I've seriously lost respect for the manager that insisted we read this. Everyone else in my dept. thinks the book is a joke and that Fred is creepy. I'm convinced Fred doesn't exist.

Before the inevitable ad homenim from Sanborn or his ilk let me say that before you call me unhappy and unmotivated know that I work for one of the biggest companies in the world as a business analyst after working myself up from an entry level position. I am well compensated and have no complaints about my job, we have a great environment and team here. That's why I found it so unusual that this book was given out as mandatory reading. We all work hard, provide excellent service and I've never heard a single person in 6 years complain about the company.

16 people found this helpful

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Jem

Boo

Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2022

This book sucks.

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Plume

One more book to help corporate America

Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2006

Oh my, one more motivational speaker, one more book about helping corporate America pad its pockets while its workers are supposed to ignore the core greed and put a smile on their faces and be Freds while the big shots benefit. Sorry, this just doesn't resonate with workers today who see their "profit centers" being sucked dry by the big home office and they are supposed to chin up and be a Fred regardless of the way the big boys (and ladies) are destroying the company they work for. Let's hope Fred is still practicing the Fred Factor when he shows up at WalMart or Dollar General looking for a job because his work has been outsourced, his branch consolidated or his job merged with three others.

Sorry, but if managers and CEOs want more Freds in their workforce, they need to set an example first. If there aren't any Freds in your trenches, it probably because you don't have any in your corporate offices, either.

37 people found this helpful

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K. Puryear

What a tool! My child could write this

Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2012

Had the misfortune to sit through this authors canned motivational speech recently. He is a total throwback to the eighties, dress, mannerisms, material. From a beginning that was insulting to me as a member of a political party other than his, to the middle which was insulting to me as a teacher, to the end, back to politics again, he gave 6 trivial points of advice and mostly plugged this "book"and his other efforts. Save your money and find another book by an author who has made the leap to the new economy and the "new normal"

12 people found this helpful

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