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Bounce: The Art of Turning Tough Times into Triumph
Why do many people and companies crumble in the face of difficulty, while others use adversity to bounce back even stronger? Here from New York Times bestselling author Keith McFarland is a leadership fable for those wary of fables, a story that rejects pat, heard-it-before advice and shows–in a startlingly fresh way–how to use challenges to make both yourself and your organization stronger.
Mike Maloney, division manager for Boston-area tech firm CRX, returns from a business trip late one night feeling demoralized. His unit is about to lose its biggest customer and its most valuable employee. Mike wonders how much longer he and his staff can keep up their relentless work schedule and meet upper management’s new request for cost cuts. Something has to give. Hoping to blow off steam, he heads to a gym, where he runs into Joe, a former army Ranger.
After listening to Mike vent about the cards he’s been dealt, the ex-soldier says, "Sounds like your company is ready to bounce." Mike looks confused, so Joe begins tutoring him in lessons from the battlefield. It is precisely when all seems lost, says Joe, that the opportunity exists to rethink a situation and make real progress.
Over the next two weeks, Joe turns Mike’s view of himself and his company upside down. Despite his Ivy League MBA and extensive experience running companies, Mike has a lot to learn from this young grunt just back from Afghanistan. For example, he learns that under pressure, people experience two kinds of anxiety–one that hurts performance and one that helps it. Mike uses the insight to get his troops running toward the sound of gunfire, and in the process, learns that "bounce" can happen outside the workplace, too. With Joe’s help, he finds his own personal bounce.
Drawing inspiration from such sources as the work of M.I.T. social scientist Ed Schein, the film Saving Private Ryan, and his own experiences as a CEO leading companies, McFarland cleverly weaves a story whose practical insights can be put to use immediately. With an invaluable wrap-up section at the book’s end that analyzes each of the key ideas and shows how they can be applied in work and personal life, Bounce may be the most indispensable guide to facing challenges ever written.
Mike Maloney, division manager for Boston-area tech firm CRX, returns from a business trip late one night feeling demoralized. His unit is about to lose its biggest customer and its most valuable employee. Mike wonders how much longer he and his staff can keep up their relentless work schedule and meet upper management’s new request for cost cuts. Something has to give. Hoping to blow off steam, he heads to a gym, where he runs into Joe, a former army Ranger.
After listening to Mike vent about the cards he’s been dealt, the ex-soldier says, "Sounds like your company is ready to bounce." Mike looks confused, so Joe begins tutoring him in lessons from the battlefield. It is precisely when all seems lost, says Joe, that the opportunity exists to rethink a situation and make real progress.
Over the next two weeks, Joe turns Mike’s view of himself and his company upside down. Despite his Ivy League MBA and extensive experience running companies, Mike has a lot to learn from this young grunt just back from Afghanistan. For example, he learns that under pressure, people experience two kinds of anxiety–one that hurts performance and one that helps it. Mike uses the insight to get his troops running toward the sound of gunfire, and in the process, learns that "bounce" can happen outside the workplace, too. With Joe’s help, he finds his own personal bounce.
Drawing inspiration from such sources as the work of M.I.T. social scientist Ed Schein, the film Saving Private Ryan, and his own experiences as a CEO leading companies, McFarland cleverly weaves a story whose practical insights can be put to use immediately. With an invaluable wrap-up section at the book’s end that analyzes each of the key ideas and shows how they can be applied in work and personal life, Bounce may be the most indispensable guide to facing challenges ever written.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2009
13 people are currently reading
162 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
August 18, 2011
Has our educational system sunk so low that every book on management has to be written at a 6th grade reading level?
Has our "War on Terror" mentality branched so far out that we should look to the military when it comes to saving businesses?
Have we really made so little in-roads into the corporate culture that management books must have a theme that the macho way is the best way?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then Bounce is the book for you.
I do believe that innovation can come from bad situations, and I do believe that transparency is the best way to bring everyone to the table. I also believe that the best managers absorb anxiety for their employees.
But I don't believe that a business model should be predicated on a military style of morale building. I never want to work in a place that believes that "we're in a war out there." And I am not interested in ever reading another book by Keith McFarland.
Has our "War on Terror" mentality branched so far out that we should look to the military when it comes to saving businesses?
Have we really made so little in-roads into the corporate culture that management books must have a theme that the macho way is the best way?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then Bounce is the book for you.
I do believe that innovation can come from bad situations, and I do believe that transparency is the best way to bring everyone to the table. I also believe that the best managers absorb anxiety for their employees.
But I don't believe that a business model should be predicated on a military style of morale building. I never want to work in a place that believes that "we're in a war out there." And I am not interested in ever reading another book by Keith McFarland.
August 3, 2015
I'm not sure how I would have taken the (ultimately) optimistic tone of this book at the height of the recession in 2009, but reading it in better times was worthwhile. The author makes an excellent case for the need for companies and people to be resilient and forward-thinking. I found the conversations natural, intelligent and refreshingly free of corporate-speak. I enjoyed the book, and felt it has a great deal of wisdom.
May 4, 2018
If you are going through a tough time as a business this is a great book to help you get/think through it. I really enjoyed the story. I don't have my own business, but it is applicable in my current situation as well.
June 9, 2024
A great book to read for business leader and daily life individuals
A great book to read for business leader and daily life individuals. It starts with a great story to explain the points and summaries the key concepts in the later chapters of the book
A great book to read for business leader and daily life individuals. It starts with a great story to explain the points and summaries the key concepts in the later chapters of the book
October 29, 2018
I liked the narrative structure of this story. However, this wasn't the best fit for my needs. It has some good ideas about leadership and how to be the leader your team needs when they are failing.
November 6, 2018
Inspiring!
March 9, 2019
Great story and principles. Great takeaways. Key point: build a team and work the team. It’s not all on your shoulders... or you’ll fail.
November 5, 2020
If you walk into your supervisor's office, and this book is on their desk, run. It is written for a year 6 kids, not someone managing a team. Graphic design on cover is very nice though.
February 23, 2017
About 85% of this book is a waste. Most of the book uses the deficient fable-style that works great with ambitious five-year-old's but proves to be too slow for anyone with a mind. Skip to the end, which is where the author addresses his points. In my opinion, writing a book on the topics is overkill; a magazine article would have been adequate.
July 26, 2016
could not have summed it up better than Dave Kinnear (http://execleadercoach.com/2010/01/24...)
1. Embrace the bounce. Life is adaptation, which is the repeated disintegration and reintegration in the face of change.
2. Manage the anxiety. Excellent leaders know how to absorb anxiety from a fear of the discontinuous change happening and convert it to anxiety over what will happen if people and the organization doesn’t change and adapt.
3. Manage the mental factor. Change leaders know how to manage their own mental processes in times of stress and how to help their teammates do the same.
4. Manage the money. Why? Because a company can have a great mission, terrific morale and enlightened leadership and still hit a rough patch that runs them out of money.
5. Manage the mission. Organizations, like people, are inspired, lead happier, healthier and longer lives when they have a clear mission.
6. Manage the morale. Moral is “firmness in the face of danger, fatigue and difficulties.” People want strong decisive leaders who listen, understand the reality of the difficulty of the situation and also keep an eye on the bright side of the things as well.
1. Embrace the bounce. Life is adaptation, which is the repeated disintegration and reintegration in the face of change.
2. Manage the anxiety. Excellent leaders know how to absorb anxiety from a fear of the discontinuous change happening and convert it to anxiety over what will happen if people and the organization doesn’t change and adapt.
3. Manage the mental factor. Change leaders know how to manage their own mental processes in times of stress and how to help their teammates do the same.
4. Manage the money. Why? Because a company can have a great mission, terrific morale and enlightened leadership and still hit a rough patch that runs them out of money.
5. Manage the mission. Organizations, like people, are inspired, lead happier, healthier and longer lives when they have a clear mission.
6. Manage the morale. Moral is “firmness in the face of danger, fatigue and difficulties.” People want strong decisive leaders who listen, understand the reality of the difficulty of the situation and also keep an eye on the bright side of the things as well.
November 3, 2016
This book was recommended to me by a school superintendent, as a strategy for success for a shrinking school district. It definitely puts a positive, optimistic spin on setbacks. It also gives achievable goals, and strategies. Unfortunately, everything always worked out and was instantly and dramatically successful. It would have been more informative and helpful if everything hadn't gone so perfectly.
December 29, 2009
Very easy read with some business basics that are sometimes forgotten. Business problems don't have to be that complex, really can be very easy to understand root cause and solve, if you follow these basic steps. In today's environment, this is a good time to read this book and put some of the points to practice. I am going to.
November 6, 2013
I'd like to compare "Bounce" to most fairy tales. Both are unrealistic and vague. And both are short and end happily, ever-after. After the "story", the author summarizes the few points made throughout the book into what I took to be the only somewhat thought-provoking aspects of the entire book. If anything, read the last 30 pages.
October 26, 2009
This book lacks the academic rigor that made McFarland's first book insightful and educational. If you need a bedtime story then this is the book you should read, but if you're interested in learning how to improve your business you should not waste your time.
November 30, 2009
This book was different than other self-help books I've read. Told in the format of a short story made it flow more easily than normal work help books that I feel the need to keep a high-lighter near by.
April 28, 2011
Pretty good business and resillance book. I think I'm annoyed with it because, when trying to manage UP, how does one get those "in charge" to take a hard look at themselves and recognized their behaviors as described in this book. In some ways, a company is only as strong as its leadership TEAM.
August 23, 2013
Easy to read story about a basiclprinciple in management and running a business. Well done! Of course it needs more to survive though times with a company. But having a though time in private life, this book certainly sent some trust in a positive outcome
September 29, 2014
I enjoyed the lessons this book had to teach about being a good leader in a business setting. I can also see how those lessons would be useful outside the business setting. However, the story that was told to get these lessons across was pretty lame.
March 19, 2015
This is a pretty cheesy book that uses poorly drawn stock characters to illustrate the author's theory on how institutional crisis can provoke positive growth and change. I found the ideas behind the terrible writing interesting, which is why it gets 3 stars
January 4, 2016
Honed and clarified
The author took a step by step approach to outlining transformation in business during tough times using a narrative filled with memorable examples. Useful and elegant.
The author took a step by step approach to outlining transformation in business during tough times using a narrative filled with memorable examples. Useful and elegant.
January 3, 2010
A good quick business read and some good thoughts to start 2010.
March 19, 2014
good application for these times
March 23, 2010
Good principles imbedded in a story. Many aspects of the story seemed a bit contrived and artificial, but those underlying principles are valid.
November 7, 2010
A good little novel about reacting to adversity and actually growing through the experience.
May 19, 2025
Good Read on turning things around. This book and Swith help create a great change agent model.
July 12, 2011
I know that many people think this type of book is silly... but parables are useful. You really can get a lot out this book and others in its genre. Highly recommend.
November 4, 2012
I found the book helpful for both personal and professional goal setting and planning.
November 23, 2014
No great truths revealed. Like the admonition to prepare for the 'bounce', the turnaround.
January 29, 2016
Easy reading with some good thoughts which can be very helpful in groups or organisations.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews