Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Business Motivation on Steroids

ME, Inc. – Build and Army of One, Unleash Your Inner Rock God, Win in Life and Business – Gene Simmons – (Dey Street Books)

Like most kids who came of age in the 1970s, I was became a fan of the band Kiss…granted not a Kiss Army level fan, but did wear out a vinyl copy of Kiss Alive. Later a became a fan of the band’s bassist, Gene Simmons; he of the un-naturally long tongue and fire breathing fame. It wasn’t Simmons musical ability that drew me to him, but line from and interview where he spoke about all the musicians that came along when he did wanting to be “like the Beatles” while he wanted to be like McDonalds…billions served.

As far as business side of things here was a guy who clearly got it. So I was surprised to see Simmons finally after decades of success land in the business section of the book store. In ME, Inc. – Build and Army of One, Unleash Your Inner Rock God, Win in Life and Business, Simmons espouse his thoughts on business and entrepreneurialism in a wide range of ventures.


I had to remind myself that the book is broken down into two distinct sections; the ME Section in which Simmons piles on the tales of his life, his successes and his multitude of business ventures. Clearly no one could accuse this guy of not having a high opinion of himself; some might say he’s cocky, but as he points out later in the book, self-confidence can go along way when you’re starting a business venture.

It is in the second half of the book, the YOU section that this book really hits its stride. While Simmons certainly doesn’t offer up any earth shattering, new secrets to business success; what he does do is offer a clear headed approach to both life and business with a palpable sense of urgency.

It’s easy to see why Simmons has become a favorite with the cable business and conservative news networks. Don’t expect a Harvard Business Review white paper; this is common sense based, pretty straight forward and at times hard hitting advice on business and success.

Simmons isn’t shy about stirring the pot when offers up his take on success and the impact of marriage and children. He dovetails a chapter on honing the ability to tell your own story and the impact that can have on your business success with a chapter on the importance of speaking English. I doubt Simmons would sit still very long a phone menu that includes; “Press one for English.” The case he makes is absolutely on target; English is the language of success.

While the ME section can wear a little thin as it runs on; I found the YOU section to be a real shot in the arm, its business and life motivation on steroids.   

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Works for Google, but…

How Google Works – Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg (Grand Central Publishing)

Google Executive Chairman and ex-CEO Eric Schmidt and former Senior Vice President of Products Jonathan Rosenberg offer up an insider’s view of what is not only one of the world’s most successful tech companies, but clearly one of the world’s most successful companies, period; in their new book How Google Works.

While Schmidt and Rosenberg offer up a veritable gold mine of Google’s often different world view on business topics ranging from culture to strategy and innovation to talent hiring, the question I am left with is while clearly this is a “business” book, are these insights and strategies transferable to the “real world.”


Start ups and the tech sector can clearly learn from principles espoused by these Google leaders, but in long established businesses were change, if it comes, it occurs at glacial pace and is often accompanied with a heavy dose of pain; I’m not so sure these principles are transferable.

Certainly this isn’t to say that more traditional business models can’t learn from How Google Works. The sections on problems being information related and communications can teach even the stodgiest of businesses how to operate in a more open and inclusive manner when it comes to sharing information both internally and externally.