Tuesday, September 12, 2006

I Am a Big Fan of Godin: "Small is the New Big" by Seth Godin

I think I have read most of the books that Seth Godin has written over the past several years. Seth is not always original, but I find him consistently provocative. He may say something I already know, but say it in a way that causes me to think about the familiar in a new way. Or, he may present me with an idea I had not been aware of, and encourage me to consider what that new idea has to do with me and my ever-changing world.

Over the years, in his Blogs and magazine columns, Seth has written about hundreds of ideas I have not yet had a chance to read. His new book project - "Small Is the New Big" - collects the best of these disparate gems in one place.

The excerpts below will give you a taste of the over-arching premise and common thread among these assorted writings:

Small is the New Big: And the 183 Other Riffs, Rants, and Remarkable Business Ideas.

The tipping point, when big began to be not-so-appealing, happened this way, according to Godin:

“Enron (big) got audited by Andersen (big) and failed (big). The World Trade Center was a terrorist target. Network (big) TV advertising is collapsing so fast you can hear it. American Airlines (big) is getting creamed by JetBlue (small).”

So far, so good. But then Godin offers this bit of a twist:

“Small is the new big only when the person running the small thinks big.”

Godin argues that small works best because a business can be nimble and flexible enough to change when it's demanded.

His overarching concept:

“If you want to be big, act small.”

Connect to the link below to access sample chapters, read reviews or buy the book.

Enjoy.

Al

Small is the New Big by Seth Godin

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