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Reviewed By Philip Abelard booksforbusiness@yahoo.com
Filling the Glass: The Skeptic's Guide to Positive Thinking in
Business by Barry Maher (Dearborn Trade Publishing, $19.95)
Rating: $$$$$
Businesses often seem more concerned with the spin than with the
reality, more concerned with what people think about the product
than the product itself. Employees are constantly being told to
be positive. "Negative attitude" on an evaluation can kill a
career. Positive thinking shaman crisscross the country,
delivering keynotes and writing books. With cosmetically perfect
smiles and televangelist hair, they explain that everything is,
after all, wonderful. Let's all think happy thoughts. And the
glass is-as we all know--half full not half empty. Reading the
cover of Barry Maher's new book, Filling the Glass: The
Skeptic's Guide to Positive Thinking in Business, you might
expect more of the same. Maher is, after all, a prominent
keynote speaker. And the cover blurbs are too good: "inspiring,"
"uplifting," "packed with useful practical advice,"
"enlightening," "entertaining," even "laugh out loud funny."
Once you begin the book however, you'll suspect that Maher's
teeth are less than perfect. He openly admits his hair is much
too thin for televangelism. He says things like "With all the
money we spend on self improvement in this country, you'd think
we'd all be darn close to perfect by now." And, "If you're
absolutely, 100 percent positive, without the slightest trace of
a doubt that you can do something, get a second opinion."
Filling the Glass is a business self-help book with an edge:
Chicken Soup for the Skeptical Soul. It's a book for the rest of
us-for those who understand the benefits of a positive attitude
but deep down inside don't really believe that chanting
affirmations will make our dreams come true. It's a book for
those who suspect that when the boss enthuses, "Jack has a
positive attitude," he really means, "Jack kisses all the right
posteriors and doesn't gripe about my stupidity." Barry Maher
doesn't seem at all concerned about who moved his cheese. He
distrusts self-help books and business gurus. And when he holds
them up to question, he holds himself up as well. Readers who
loved Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun, Maher writes, will
find that Maher is "every bit as much an expert on
seat-of-the-pants psychology as Attila was on rape, pillage
and--I guess--twentieth century management technique." To Maher,
whether you call the glass half empty or half full, it's still
only four ounces of water. The problem isn't whether it's half
full or half empty, the problem is figuring out how to fill it
up. Reality counts. To grow or change or improve a business, to
motivate people for the long haul, you have to begin by dealing
with that reality-rather than what you, the company, the CEO or
the stockholders might wish were true. All the innovative--and
even counter-intuitive--strategies, tactics and tips that Maher
offers for improving businesses, business lives, and careers
spring from that deceptively simple premise. Consider the
technique he calls, Bragging about the Negatives. Are you having
a problem explaining a price increase, for example? Try this:
"Are our rates expensive? Absolutely. Why do we charge so much?
Because we can. Because our clients are willing to pay that much
for the results we generate. Is the competition cheaper?
Absolutely. But do you really think they would charge less if
they could charge more? They charge less because that's what
they can get for the results they generate." No excuses, no
convoluted explanations, no mealy-mouthing. Reality. If you ever
want to promote an idea, a proposal or yourself, if you ever
want to sell anything to anybody, the story of Clyde Thompson
winning a job by bragging about his prison record is, by itself,
worth the price of the book. Maher's unique perspective
illuminates even the familiar in new and revealing ways. "As far
as this, I'm okay, you're okay stuff," he writes, "maybe you're
not so okay. It's not like everybody is. The universe has
produced Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer and Adolf Hitler. They
weren't okay. And to be frank, I'm still not all that convinced
about Attila the Hun . . . [When it comes to self esteem,] you
know yourself a lot better than I do. If you don't think much of
yourself, who am I to contradict you?" Oddly enough, the book's
hardheaded skepticism ultimately makes it more
inspirational--and more positive--not less. The ending is an
emotional body blow. Filling the Glass is not perfect. Some
strategies could use more amplification: two or three are worthy
of books of their own. A few anecdotes seem to have been
included more for their entertainment value than because they
add much to the message. And occasionally, Filling the Glass
yields to the self help temptation of promising more than it or
any book or program can deliver. The over-promising is
unnecessary, and Maher should know better. But, as he himself
notes, "Marketing has it's own truths which are often hidden
from the heart." No matter, Filling the Glass: The Skeptic's
Guide to Positive Thinking in Business is a strong $$$$$: our
highest recommendation. For once, the cover blurbs are right.
And when Guerrilla Marketing author Jay Levinson writes that
Filling the Glass should be "required reading for any MBA
program," the proper response, even for those of us without
televangelist hair, can only be "Amen."
Books for Business Ratings
$$$$$ A Must-Read, Invaluable $$$$ Well Worth the Investment $$$
Some Worthwhile Content $$ Invest Your Money Elsewhere
$ Demand a Refund
About the author:
Philip Abelard writes the syndicated Books for Business column.
He may be reached at booksforbusiness@yahoo.com.
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