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The Obvious: All You Need to Know in Business. Period.
The secrets to success in business arent secrets at all. Theyre obvious, so obvious that theyve mostly been taken for granted or ignored -- until now.
Weve all read the business allegories, the "how I did it" success stories, and yes, there's good advice to be found in their pages. But nowhere is the advice as pure, as simple, as elegant, as it is in The Obvious . Former CEO James Dale has compiled ingenious words to live by, lucid truths as likely to be found in a fortune cookie as an MBA textbook. And the beauty of it is, regardless of the job -- from sales rep to department head to CEO -- the same principles yield the same results, and theyre always effective. While all of Dale's advice is, well, obvious, it's implementation isnt. In The Obvious , Dale shares ways in which any businessperson can carry out these simple lessons and achieve success.
Entertaining, compelling, and commonsensical, The Obvious is all you need to know. Period.
Weve all read the business allegories, the "how I did it" success stories, and yes, there's good advice to be found in their pages. But nowhere is the advice as pure, as simple, as elegant, as it is in The Obvious . Former CEO James Dale has compiled ingenious words to live by, lucid truths as likely to be found in a fortune cookie as an MBA textbook. And the beauty of it is, regardless of the job -- from sales rep to department head to CEO -- the same principles yield the same results, and theyre always effective. While all of Dale's advice is, well, obvious, it's implementation isnt. In The Obvious , Dale shares ways in which any businessperson can carry out these simple lessons and achieve success.
Entertaining, compelling, and commonsensical, The Obvious is all you need to know. Period.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
4 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 21, 2017
This book was really, really good. And short. Once again, I don't know how I came across it seeing as none of my Goodreads friends have read it and none of my friends in real life don't read at all. This book as a Dale Carnegie-esque feel and sounded a lot like his Win Friends and Influence People book but was more business oriented. Very simple, intuitive fundamental "truths that we once knew but chose to forget." (Whoever can guess that quote will be awarded points.)
So the author isn't trying to teach us something new. Just reviewing tried and true principles. Which is great because we need to go back to the basics and not try to run before we can walk. Kinda like the previous book talked about that I read: Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business. And speaking of the Smarter, Faster, Better book, this book also talked about Toyota's assembly line workers being enabled the halt the work if there is a problem. Maybe that was where I heard of this book. He listed off a lot of places that I want to work at. Hence the need for reincarnation.
He actually encouraged video games. Say wow.
The narrator did a good job and at times sounded like Optimus Prime which was pretty coolo.
This book needs a second edition for 2017.
Alright. Stuff I learned/relearned:
Movie producers make the most money out of a film crew. I'll need some figures to back this one up cuz I'm skeptical.
Employees first, customers second. When employees are happy then customers are happy. When did we start getting this backwards and start thinking that the beep beep customers are always right? (click on YouTube link for effect). I suppose they do dictate what happens in business but still.
Ignorance can be cured with knowledge but stupidity lasts forever. Yeah.
Selling stuff is just solving people's problems.
Find a way to make people's problems easier. If we want to help people we need to be specific. Help them do what, or be what? It's about getting specific and to the root of the problem. It reminded me of this book that's taking me longer than usual to get through: Calling: Gospel Truths to Guide Your Quest for Passionate, Purposeful Work
The best way to sell is to solve.
It's better to admit your bad behavior and ask for understanding than to rationalize it and put up justification. Taking responsibility by apologizing and accepting ownership of the blame and mistakes usually does more good than bad despite what our fears tell us. You people that are engaged in fornicating acts could do well to heed to this counsel.
Failure leads to knowledge which leads to success. Not, failure leads to success. You're missing a critical aspect of knowledge.
Even though our body ages and slows down, our minds can still be young, vibrant, and resilient.
It's not about what you did yesterday, it's about what you might do tomorrow (and do today I might add). I liked his bit on regrets and living in the past. I could do well to improve in that area.
Marketing is about persuading us to want things.
Envy is about wanting things at the expense of another. "I want it instead of you having it."
Opportunity knocks but doesn't always get let in, sometimes you have to break down the door. Yeah!! Rex Walls style!
Hiring someone smarter than you makes you look better for hiring them.
You shouldn't have to ask for a raise. Your efforts should show and be seen. If not then you haven't been performing well enough or you work for a company that is short sighted. You need to get the beep out of Dodge and find a better job.
So the author isn't trying to teach us something new. Just reviewing tried and true principles. Which is great because we need to go back to the basics and not try to run before we can walk. Kinda like the previous book talked about that I read: Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business. And speaking of the Smarter, Faster, Better book, this book also talked about Toyota's assembly line workers being enabled the halt the work if there is a problem. Maybe that was where I heard of this book. He listed off a lot of places that I want to work at. Hence the need for reincarnation.
He actually encouraged video games. Say wow.
The narrator did a good job and at times sounded like Optimus Prime which was pretty coolo.
This book needs a second edition for 2017.
Alright. Stuff I learned/relearned:
Movie producers make the most money out of a film crew. I'll need some figures to back this one up cuz I'm skeptical.
Employees first, customers second. When employees are happy then customers are happy. When did we start getting this backwards and start thinking that the beep beep customers are always right? (click on YouTube link for effect). I suppose they do dictate what happens in business but still.
Ignorance can be cured with knowledge but stupidity lasts forever. Yeah.
Selling stuff is just solving people's problems.
Find a way to make people's problems easier. If we want to help people we need to be specific. Help them do what, or be what? It's about getting specific and to the root of the problem. It reminded me of this book that's taking me longer than usual to get through: Calling: Gospel Truths to Guide Your Quest for Passionate, Purposeful Work
The best way to sell is to solve.
It's better to admit your bad behavior and ask for understanding than to rationalize it and put up justification. Taking responsibility by apologizing and accepting ownership of the blame and mistakes usually does more good than bad despite what our fears tell us. You people that are engaged in fornicating acts could do well to heed to this counsel.
Failure leads to knowledge which leads to success. Not, failure leads to success. You're missing a critical aspect of knowledge.
Even though our body ages and slows down, our minds can still be young, vibrant, and resilient.
It's not about what you did yesterday, it's about what you might do tomorrow (and do today I might add). I liked his bit on regrets and living in the past. I could do well to improve in that area.
Marketing is about persuading us to want things.
Envy is about wanting things at the expense of another. "I want it instead of you having it."
Opportunity knocks but doesn't always get let in, sometimes you have to break down the door. Yeah!! Rex Walls style!
Hiring someone smarter than you makes you look better for hiring them.
You shouldn't have to ask for a raise. Your efforts should show and be seen. If not then you haven't been performing well enough or you work for a company that is short sighted. You need to get the beep out of Dodge and find a better job.
October 3, 2016
The only positive thing I have to say about this book is that it is at least a very quick read (took about 1.5 hours, if that?). It is superficial in the extreme, pithy, and completely wrong in many cases (companies have gone bust, actual psychological research shows that certain things he claims are actually false, such as the ineffectiveness of 'insincere' apologies). Just terrible. Anyone who buys into this bullshit isn't a critical thinker.
May 5, 2021
Muy bueno el libro, te puede servir para muchas ocasiones en el futuro
April 15, 2008
Whether you are the boss or the employee, the key to success is obvious. The Obvious is a no nonsense book that gives common sense answers to the difficult questions about business success. In fact, this text is so saturated in realistic reasonable advice that the majority of people will find this information truly enlightening.
For the majority of people, work has become a quest for more money and less actual work. Most of us hardly even try to veil this desire. If we could earn grotesque amounts of money for sitting on our butts thinking about work we'd all be thrilled.
Unfortunately, here comes one of the first big obvious truths. In order to make money you actually have to work at it. You can't sit and think about it. You can't talk about it at a meeting. You have to actually do something.
Not only do you have to take action to work but you have to actually have a point to that act. Don't just create a complicated mess of extravagant exploits so that others will see how great you are and pat you on the back. No one is going to notice anyway because they are too worried about their own problems. Instead, work smart, put your all into your efforts, tell the truth, and think like a team member. The results will come in time.
The Obvious was refreshing. The author stated the plain facts without apology or any sort of gooey sugar coating. The result is a workable guide for real employees and their employers.
For the majority of people, work has become a quest for more money and less actual work. Most of us hardly even try to veil this desire. If we could earn grotesque amounts of money for sitting on our butts thinking about work we'd all be thrilled.
Unfortunately, here comes one of the first big obvious truths. In order to make money you actually have to work at it. You can't sit and think about it. You can't talk about it at a meeting. You have to actually do something.
Not only do you have to take action to work but you have to actually have a point to that act. Don't just create a complicated mess of extravagant exploits so that others will see how great you are and pat you on the back. No one is going to notice anyway because they are too worried about their own problems. Instead, work smart, put your all into your efforts, tell the truth, and think like a team member. The results will come in time.
The Obvious was refreshing. The author stated the plain facts without apology or any sort of gooey sugar coating. The result is a workable guide for real employees and their employers.
August 9, 2011
Reading The Obvious, I could not help but think how familiar all the tips were. Aside from being obvious, they were logical and more importantly, practical.
I especially like the part about biz-speak. Being from the advertising industry, I confess to being guilty of 'weaseling'. And here's an excuse for doing so (not reason) : Everybody else at work are doing it. We try to cushion the things we say in business, because we think that the recipient cannot handle the cold, hard truth.
Or worse, to give the impression that we're smarter, or the better Agency because we're using the latest business terms which are currently the flavor of the month. And it's all semantics, really.
Sometimes, I think we waste time trying to be diplomatic or PC. The thing about cushioning words used in business communications is that it leaves it open to interpretation. Sometimes, the wrong interpretation.
The Obvious is not anything new. But it is a reminder of what we know is true and makes sense. It's just that someone took the time to lay it all out in a book and that person is James Dale.
I especially like the part about biz-speak. Being from the advertising industry, I confess to being guilty of 'weaseling'. And here's an excuse for doing so (not reason) : Everybody else at work are doing it. We try to cushion the things we say in business, because we think that the recipient cannot handle the cold, hard truth.
Or worse, to give the impression that we're smarter, or the better Agency because we're using the latest business terms which are currently the flavor of the month. And it's all semantics, really.
Sometimes, I think we waste time trying to be diplomatic or PC. The thing about cushioning words used in business communications is that it leaves it open to interpretation. Sometimes, the wrong interpretation.
The Obvious is not anything new. But it is a reminder of what we know is true and makes sense. It's just that someone took the time to lay it all out in a book and that person is James Dale.
February 3, 2018
A book that delivers exactly what it promised on the cover. It's purely about the obvious, the obvious we overlook most times or don't think about enough. Nonetheless, it's quite an insightful and funny take on becoming a proper boss.
April 20, 2014
In a business world that constantly emphasizes thinking "outside the box", The Obvious reminds us that sometimes it's best to get back inside the box and remember those obvious business rules that we tend to overlook when attempting thought leadership and innovation. Quite often, organizations put so much emphasis on thinking "outside the box" that we neglect to remember why and who we are in business to serve.
Enjoyed reading this, it's a quick read with short concise chapters. If you own your own business or are working for an organization this book fits all.
Enjoyed reading this, it's a quick read with short concise chapters. If you own your own business or are working for an organization this book fits all.
February 27, 2008
Great, short read...if your like business books!
August 14, 2010
straight-forward, good advise. It's the kind of stuff your grandma told you, but backed up with examples from the business world.
June 19, 2011
Not earth shattering but a good review of what it really takes to be successful from a CEO who actually does the right things. Worthwhile and a quick read. Not too deep.
January 28, 2013
Straightforward, commonsense advice about succeeding in the business world.
March 29, 2013
A must-read book on business life.
July 23, 2023
motivation not about bonus but how to show you characters to the staff
May 20, 2014
very nice book
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews