Get Back in the Box: How Being Great at What You Do Is Great for Business

This is an excellent book about understanding what you do best, how that best makes the world a better place, and a bit about how to reach the public with what you do best. This is a point made on every page of the book. I highly recommend it to folks who want to take what they do very well, what they do better than anyone else, trust it, and devote oneself to doing it even better while bringing one's offering to market.There is, however, one important qualification to my praise. Which is, that while the author contrasts the limitations of the "first" Renaissance, with the virtues of this "second" Renaissance" he also makes a great case for the value, insights gained from, and need for the competency of "pattern recognition," by upper corporate management. He makes the point that each company should have the ability to recognize the patterns associated to its core competencies and offerings, and I assume with how those patterns resonate with their customers. This was the essence and sine-qua-non of the "first" Renaissance; the re-birthing of the eternal patterns first made known in the classical Greek period. There is a great deal to learn about patterns and their recognition from the first Renaissance, much more than Mr. Rushkoff's excellent book has to offer, or gives credit to.Our current obsession with "Brand" and "Branding" and "Brand Management" is not anything more than a less adept striving to create what the Greeks understood about the worship of their gods. How each divinity was a constellation of psychological forces that formed patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior that were expressions "from" the culture and not imposed "on" the culture. During the first Renaissance this was recognized and was employed as a way to speak to and create for its own people. In this way, by understanding the first Renaissance a time of "pattern recognition," one can learn to create value for people from their lives and not impose it on their lives.I love this book and at the same time, this significant lapse has me thinking about how much the author has sacrificed of his own considerable and core competency for research in chasing the gods of "compare and contrast" so overly worshiped by those in-the-academic-box.But, let me also say that this is an amazingly useful book for those who want to embrace the patterns of collaboration, generosity, and approaching one's work as play, which are the shinning patterns of this "second" Renaissance, that we live in today and which Hermes, Aphrodite and a sense of Philia can teach us all about as well.Once I began reading this book I could not put it down. Nothing is perfect, however, which is another point he makes in the book.

Throughout the 20th century business has been fine-tuned to deliver incredible amounts of productivity. This has been through corporate organization, division of labor, an increasing openness of management to listen to and involve labor and changing the package of incentives to workers. What Rushkoff outlines in "Get Back in the Box" flips this upside down. To me, he is really asking, 'where do we want to take business tommorow?'.Rushkoff answers that by looking at companies that have managed to succeed, and continued their success. The keys come down to a few broad themes, first, realize what is motivating workers of today and learn to treat your consumers in a more human manor.The first breaks down to realizing that todays workers are less inspired by the corner office and more inspired by exciting work. Moreover, workers expect fair compensation for their work, and are uselessly distracted by fighting for raises or protecting retirement funds.The second part means two things: don't treat your costumer like an idiot, but also, be careful how much you listen to them. Rushkoff exposes some companies that are so busy protecting themselves from lawsuits, and guarding their copyrights that they end up alienating their customers and losing business. It all boils down to companies thinking that what they own (IP) is more important than getting it out to customers. In Rushkoff's previous books, he's explored the world of conultants like "cool hunters" trying to track down the next big trend. In this book, he takes us into the world of companies making bold decisions because they know their product. Sure enough, the customer often follows.Overall, a great book for both business people looking forward and workers trying to inspire change.

After reading 'Get Back in the Box' and watching the press run up to Rushkoff's latest, Life Inc., I'm puzzled. Many of the stories that Rushkoff cites as impetus for creating Life Inc are thoroughly covered in 'Get Back in the Box'.And stories they are. While much of the anecdotal evidence is entertaining it remains personal opinion and observation. Rushkoff's message is one, ultimately, of wanting companies to *DO* something. The clarion call is to those companies that have so fragmented and outsourced what they do that there is no real expertise or 'craft' to be had. This is a much needed message in an age of 'Four Hour Work Weeks'. It makes for a compelling read. I just wish his foils weren't such cardboard; something that makes the dispatching easy when presented in such a one-dimensional manner.

One of the best books on taking an outside look into how we do business, live and experience the world as people, not just consumers. Get Back in the Box: Innovation from the Inside Out