General Description(from Publisher’s Weekly)
Short on pages but long on repetition, this newest book by Godin (Purple Cow) argues that lasting and substantive change can be best effected by a tribe: a group of people connected to each other, to a leader and to an idea. Smart innovators find or assemble a movement of similarly minded individuals and get the tribe excited by a new product, service or message, often via the Internet (consider, for example, the popularity of the Obama campaign, Facebook or Twitter). Tribes, Godin says, can be within or outside a corporation, and almost everyone can be a leader; most are kept from realizing their potential by fear of criticism and fear of being wrong. The book’s helpful nuggets are buried beneath esoteric case studies and multiple reiterations: we can be leaders if we want, tribes are the way of the future and change is good. On that last note, the advice found in this book should be used with caution. Change isn’t made by asking permission, Godin says. Change is made by asking forgiveness, later. That may be true, but in this economy and in certain corporations, it may also be a good way to lose a job.
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Why the President Should Read This Book
It’s short, and it’s got some good stuff in it. That said, it’s not mind blowing, earth shattering, or new. It’s mostly stuff everyone–with the exception of those working in our government and perhaps some of our nation’s 16-year olds–has already heard or already intuitively knows. But people have to learn it somewhere, sometime, right? So at the risk of recommending a book that doesn’t contain anything new, I recommend it because it may be new to someone. I think it would be new to most of Congress. And hey, you can read it in an hour or two, because it is really quite short.