When it comes to qualities such as passion, enthusiasm, energy, and creativity, the majority of the American workforce could be described as "severely lacking." Too many people just go through the motions, viewing work as something they "have "to do rather than something they "love" to do. This translates into lackluster performance, lost opportunities, and a staggering loss of profits. So how does a team leader turn a business-as-usual team into a remarkable" "one? "Remarkable! "is an entertaining and enlightening business parable that has the power to turn any team around. Through the humorous and eye-opening story of Dusty, leaders will discover how to build a culture that inspires team members to bring the best of who they are to the table every day. Addressing the three dimensions of culture--values, beliefs, and behaviors--"Remarkable! "introduces readers to the Four Maxims of Value Creation: creativity, positivity, sustainability, and responsibility. It shows leaders the most effective ways to cultivate these qualities in their team members and how to craft a corporate culture where people can thrive.
There is a sub-genre of business and leadership books which I call 'business fiction.' Books like Who Moved My Cheese?, The One-Minute Manager, The Five Disfunctions of a Team each use a thinly-veiled narrative as a parable to impart managerial advice. The goal is present the books contents in an engaging, storied manner. Some of these books are better than others, but because their purpose is solely didactic, they all tend to break the first law of good fiction: show don't tell. The result may be sound business advice, but it will never win a Pulitzer.
Remarkable: Maximizing Results Through Value Creation by Randy Ross and David Salyers is a business fiction. It tells much more than it shows. The central character, Dusty Harts, is not happy at work. He is an executive at a call center company which despite doing well on all the metrics, has a disengaged workforce. He takes his 1968 Ford Thunderbird into a Classic Car Care repair shop owned by Fred Walters. Dusty discovers that Fred is a Harvard MBA and a successful business man himself and begins to pick his brain about the 'clutch' situation at work--a moment which will determine how much people will engage. The rest of the the 'narrative' is mostly Fred and Dusty sitting in coffee shops and writing equations and diagrams on napkins about how to move a work force for egocentric value extraction to a we-centered value creation. This helps Dusty lead his company to become more engaged (and therefore more profitable), improves Dusty's family life and makes him feel more fulfilled. Everyone lives happily ever after and in the closing chapter, [spoiler] Dusty is now the sage imparting wisdom to a young executive at his own Classic Car Care location.
This is thin fiction. The characters do not live and breath, they are mere mouthpieces for the principles which Ross and Saylers desire to impart. But hey, that is my standing critique of the whole genre. What of the principles themselves? For the most part I think the advice imparted is sound. There are four maxims of value creation: (1) We are designed to create value in life, (2) Authentic positivity is the byproduct of creating true value, (3) to continuously create value, leverage your passion and strengths to solve problems and (4) ownership empowers people to take responsibility for creating value (181). Ross and Saylers approach also advocates bringing value to every endeavor by making relational deposits in people rather than seeking simply to 'extract value' and getting what we can out of people. They make a good case for reflective and thoughtful leadership (thinking about the whys and making the 'superior decision') instead of reactive leadership and business as usual. There are lots of concepts and ideas worth underlining. So I can suggest this book to leaders of companies and organizations. Not because it is riveting fiction, but because it may spark your thinking about the character of your leadership, and because the book is markable. You can mark it up. Maybe more than once. It is re-markable. I give this book three stars
Note: I received this book from Baker Books in exchange for my honest review.
I read this book as a work assignment. There were nuggets of wisdom throughout this book, but the narrative dragged on and wasn't very interesting. I give it a three for enjoyability, but four for business principles.
I honestly wasn't excited to read Remarkable! because it was a work assignment, but I sure did love this book. It's a short read that goes fast and it was very fitting for my current career situation/shift. Highly recommend .
Remarkable! is a easy, yet concise, presentation of the uses of Axiology (the study of values, value constructs, and value creation). It is a simple read, written in the form of a parable. My only complaint on first reading it is in the amount of jargon you must learn to follow the process. Repeat readings of certain areas help!
Axiology is the study of values, but also their impact on a person's thoughts, beliefs, decisions, and performance. Robert S. Hartman, PhD, is considered "the father of modern axiology". He was born in Berlin in 1910 and proved to be a brilliant student, earning his law degree at age 22. As a young man he saw the rise of Adolf Hitler and viewed Hitler as a man who was evil and also able to organize evil. Escaping to England he was haunted by this idea of organizing evil and wondered if it would be possible to organize goodness as well. Hartman's ideas lead to his nomination for the Nobel Prize and he was a mentor to Walt Disney.
This is a great book to introduce the idea of organizing goodness in your personal life and create a values based culture in your business affairs. It is well worth a couple of readings!
A business story told through the discovery that the main character's auto mechanic is in fact a legendary business exec.
The book expounds on four main topics through a collection of maxim's: Maxim of Creativity: We are designed to create value in life. Maxim of Positivity: Authentic positivity is the by-product of creating true value. Maxim of Sustainability: To continuously create value, leverage your passion and strengths to solve problems. Maxim of Responsibility: Ownership empowers people to take responsibility for creating value.
It started out fun, but then felt both too general and too complicated. The formulae used to depict the principles explained did not resonate with me. Though the message is good and proven.
"A company's culture is its greatest competitive advantage and will either multiply a company's efforts, or divide both its performance and its people..."
A few years ago I left a conversation feeling very depleted – under attack, yet not knowing what happened to change the dynamics of a relationship. I processed that conversation again and again in my mind, seeking to take ownership of my errors, and grow as result of the dialogue that had taken place. The dilemma – I still can’t put my finger on what went wrong, where I could have made a different choice to bring about an altered outcome. It was months later that I was invited to hear one of these author’s (David Salyers) speak at an event. He shared with us a quote by Albert Einstein, “Not everything that can be counted counts. Not everything that counts can be counted.” It was if his words spoke validation to me regarding that conversation years back – the person I had been speaking with didn’t value me for what I saw as the value I bring to the table.
When someone doesn’t see our value, it can deflate the passion we once had for the task at hand. We can grow cynical, resentful, even bitter. Our confidence takes a hit, we often stop dreaming big picture, and we definitely don’t feel empowered or supported to even voice some of the ideas that could positively impact our organization going forward. In short – it becomes our stumbling block.
In Remarkable I struggled to be able to grasp (nor even have a desire to read about) the metaphors involved with the mechanics of a clutch as used for the focus of the story line, however, the points made throughout the book are vital reminders of the value placed in each working part of our teams. It reminds us of the “loyalty, passion, and enthusiasm” our team members can bring to the table and how we, as leaders, are entrusted with helping them learn and grow both professionally (such as conflict management), but also personally (such as finances and balancing work and home). In turn, it emphasizes that team members should also be creating value FOR our organization, not just picking up a paycheck. In a “gimme” world with much entitlement, this is such a strong reminder to us as employees as well as to us as leaders in what to expect of ourselves and our team. We should always be evaluating not what am I getting out of this, but hand-in-hand of what am I putting INTO it – where did I add value today?
This value very closely relates with what team member actually hold as values themselves. The authors points out that “how we view things will drive how we do things” which greatly impacts our organizational culture. This culture, according to the authors, then should bring forth a mentality where team members: – Believe the best IN each other – Want the best FOR one another – Expect the best FROM one another
From here the authors dive into the culture influences and such expression of values, beliefs and behaviors of those involved in the organization and how they should align with those OF the organization. As result an employee should bring both “productivity AND positive energy to the environment.” To achieve this task, organizations should be, according to the authors, given time to “think and dream”…to innovate – ON the clock. Providing such time expresses a confidence in your team member and is a display of your value for them. Such value shown in a team member often results in more engagement, a “we” mentality, a renewed energy, a sense of loyalty, and a passion to problem solve. As the authors put it, “success is a by-product of creating value. Happiness is a by-product of creating value. Significance is a by-product of creating value. Fulfillment is a by-product of creating value. Courage and optimism are by-products of creating value.” So it seems pretty obvious to have value as a company is to make a commitment to create value in others.
I returned from this event encouraged that I could continue to make a difference as I knew my value – loving on others, encouraging my team, using my communication skills to positively reflect those I am representing, and applying past experiences and previous education to aide in the creative problem solving within our organization. Although this may not be counted as value to some, I know it’s value to those it touches is priceless. As David Salyers shared, “To be remarkable we must think differently. Usually the reverse of what others think.” Yep, I am different – and THAT is part of my value. That discouraging conversation years ago was actually a blessing in disguise. As result I never want anyone to feel as I did and therefore I intentionally seek out everyone’s remarkable value.
While the principles within the book held great value, I wasn’t a personal fan of the anecdotal story telling. I would have much rather learned the same information in a more structured format. Completely personal opinion, but nonetheless, a lot of great information about fostering culture are to be found in this book.
This is a quick and engaging read but don't let that fool you! The truths found in this little book are transformational. Seek to create value from situations; don't look to extract it. This book not only shows how to do this in your business and personal life but gives a glimpse as to what is possible should you make the superior choice.
Too many business books are written in a narrative/parable style. To me this is very unhelpful and adds length to the book that just isn't needed. There are good takeaways and I underlined quite a bit.
Great book, but it gets to the end of the teaching and then just quickly summarizes the impact. It's a lot of impact so I understand but it almost feels like he cut it short. Otherwise super great content! A must read.
Interesting read about adding values to both one's personal and professional life. The storyline moved the reader through a progression of how to add value to one's organization as a leader.
The fictitious story to explain the leadership concepts is kind of annoying. Get past the story and you will come out with some really good information that can improve your organization.
I was excited about the concept of this book – a leadership book written as a story with tons of analogies along the way. The idea is brilliant. However, I failed to notice that the analogies used were pretty much exclusively male relatable analogies: mostly cars and sports. There were a few parenting analogies, but most of the book focused on cars and sports. There was definitely really wonderful leadership thoughts and advice throughout the book, but I had to work really hard just to understand the analogies.
I understand that a homeschooling, worship-leading, mom of five (who hates cars and sports) is probably not the targeted reader for this book. However, I had no way of knowing that this book was intended for men (or super awesome sports-loving, car-loving women) until I read chapter after chapter about the inner workings of a car and how that applied to leadership.
I did manage to get some wonderful tidbits throughout this book, but I would have very much preferred to spend my reading time on a book that didn’t make me feel grumpy and stupid most of the time. In fact, I would have missed the good stuff altogether if I had known the content ahead of time because I simply wouldn’t have read it.
This would be a wonderful book for any man looking to improve his leading abilities- the content and tips are wonderful – but if you’re a woman looking to improve your leadership skills, you might skip this one.
Assessment, Alignment, Adjustment, Advancement, all woven into what the publishers have called a leadership parable. It’s tale of a chat at a car repair shop that leads the wisdom seeker into change. His business prompted the conversation, but, as with lots of things in life, the advice and instruction he receives goes deeper, but the focus remains on his business questions.
Ross and Salyers parable reads easily, is a bit pedantic to suit me, but gives the patient reader plenty to ponder. Within the four sections listed above illustrations from car repair lead to application elsewhere, as is the way of the parable. The meat comes in the last few chapters. The first half is the ground work. The rewards are to those that read both, even though I nearly set the book aside in that first half.
Summary graphics in the appendix tie it together in a neat package. A glossary of terms is helpful too. Beyond that, they provide a link to the Remarkable Engagement Index to evaluate your own performance in areas covered within the text. Other material is available as well.
I did find the book helpful and do recommend it to you. It does require chewing on the information presented; don’t expect an easy fix is what I am trying to say.
I received this book from the publishers in exchange for a review.
At the core of Remarkable! is the idea that creating a culture of value creation will result in unforetold success. People want to create value and if employers create an environment where strength and passion are harnessed towards solutions then innovation flourishes. It was good to see this very high-level idea brought down to practical decision-making in a corporate and personal environment. The reader is provided several tools with which to engage this transformative process. The proof is in the application and whole-hearted adherence to this corporate-culture shift.
While I enjoyed this book I was a little confused that it was published by Baker Books. Perhaps because the writers are Christian? It doesn't really espouse any Christian perspective or view (and indeed counters it at times) and only offers general 'for the good of humankind' principles of living and working. It takes for granted the current Western capitalistic system and the inherent value of the 'Protestant work ethic' from which many Christians appear to receive their worth and value. I’m not saying it won’t allow people to feel more engaged at work or create more productivity but it doesn’t fit with what I see as the greater calling of Christians in the world.
Thank you to Baker Books for providing this work for review.
Remarkable! Maximizing Results Through Value Creation offers readers plenty of practical insight delivered in a parable-style story. This book by Dr. Randy Ross and David Salyers is straightforward and applicable, and the subject matter could definitely benefit readers in leadership roles and corporate environments. It’s certainly an interesting and worthwhile read.
Thanks to Baker Book Bloggers, I received a copy of Remarkable! and the opportunity to provide an honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own.
I started this book today and I finish at today as well. Lately, I've really struggled to read nonfiction, business books. Part of it is that in every book that I read, there was only one or two nuggets that I could really take away and apply to my life or a particular situation. There seemed to be little benefit for my effort.
In this book, there are some pretty remarkable thoughts and actions that can be applied to all aspects of your life –work life, your home life, parenting, relationship. This Book was certainly worth my time, and it is a book that I'm going to recommend to colleagues and family members.
A fanta-riffic read! Excellent content - many clear pathways exist to apply the material to any organization - whether for profit ( entrepreneurial , corporate ) , non profit ( volunteer/charitable ), school, or governmental.
The book would be a 4 1/2 star -- rounded *up* to 5 stars in this instance due to how many times the highlighter came out and tweets were sent to pay forward the information.
Thought this book matched the title, remarkable. I love reading story format or parables and this book does an excellent job teaching you how to bring value into your life and the lives of those around you, whether it's the workforce or your home life. Anyone working in a team setting I would highly value the information in this book.
I would have enjoyed this book more if I wasn’t familiar with Lencioni’s leadership fables. The storyline felt a bit like a watered down version of one of Lencioni’s works. There were certainly some very intriguing parts of the book and overall I greatly appreciated the perspective and walked away feeling like I extracted value. I would recommend reading it.
An interesting read. It was a quick read. I really enjoyed it. Throughout the book I found myself thinking and reviewing certain parts of the book. The writing was good and the information was detailed. A good read. I would recommend.
I picked up this book after hearing an interview with one of the authors. I like the parable approach, but it still seemed to be a little complicated. Overall, a thought provoking read!