What I like about the book:
- Very informative. (The magnitude of time and energy spent writing the book is evident.)
- It has thoughts and ideas which are backed by good industry examples.
- The writing style has attitude!
- The picture selection and quality is good.
- It doesn’t take that much of intellectual effort to read. (That’s a compliment Mr. Peters)
What I dislike about the book:
- The dazzling layout. It includes background images, flashy colors and footnotes on either side. What happened to the KISS Principle when designing the layout?
My favorite Excerpt:
Engineers are such idiots. (I should know … I am one.)
I attended a top management “retreat” for a large aerospace company. The firm was up to its eyeballs in doggy doo-doo. At the end of two days, about a dozen pressing issues had emerged, and it was time to assign responsibility for “ameliorative initiatives.”
The Biggest Cheese, an engineer himself, allowed as how “the fix” should be pretty straightforward. After all, he added nonchalantly, all these problems are “simple communication issues.” (I kid you not.)
“Only an engineer could say that,” I muttered to myself. Well, not quite to myself. The HR Vice President sitting beside me looked at me, and couldn’t suppress a grin.
The Israelis and the Palestinians. “Only a communications issue.” NYC’s Fire Department and Police Department. “Only a communications issue.”
Finance and Marketing. “Only a communications issue.”
Mom and Dad in divorce court. “Only a communications issue.”
The issue is the issue.
