800-CEO-READ Blog

Jack Covert Selects - The Myth of Excellence

The Myth of Excellence: Why Great Companies Never Try to be the Best at Everything by Fred Crawford & Ryan Mathews, Crown Business, 240 Pages, $27.50 Hardcover, July 2001, ISBN 0609608207

Around ten years ago, a very good book came out called: The Discipline of Market Leaders. The authors, Treacy and Wiersema, declared that no company could succeed if they were trying to be all things to all people. They then based their theory of business success on three “disciplines”: product leadership, operational excellence and customer intimacy. (On a personal note, this book revolutionized my business strategy. When I read The Discipline of Market Leaders, I had already witnessed what the authors were talking about but hadn’t put a name to my discomfort). Crawford and Mathews, authors of The Myth of Excellence expand on this theory of limited excellence.

The authors break down marketing into five characteristics: Access, Experience, Price, Product, and Services. For a business to excel, they suggest, it needs to be great in only one of the five areas, while good in another area, and at least average in the rest. They use Wal-Mart and Target as examples. Wal-Mart excels in price and has a good inventory; Target excels in inventory and selection and has a good price. In a survey of more than 5,000 consumers, what Crawford and Mathews found out was surprising: 64% of consumers surveyed said that “honest, consistent” price was more important than lowest price, while 73% said “respect and courtesy” was the most important to them. As a retailer, I was interested to learn that 69% of consumers surveyed defined “superior” service as the ability to return a product unconditionally. Interesting findings! And ones, I am happy to report, that are cornerstones of 800-CEO-READ’s philosophy.

This book is absolutely loaded with examples that make sense and is one that I will have to consider for my best of the year.

Jack Covert Selects - Stuck at the Airport

Stuck at the Airport: A Traveler’s Survival Guide by Harriet Baskas, Fireside Books, 275 Pages, $13.00 Paperback, June 2001, ISBN 0743205391

Harriet Baskas is often heard on NPR speaking knowledgeably about travel, and here, in “Stuck at the Airport”, she has written the perfect book for the friends of “Jack Covert Selects.” This little treasure will find an immediate place in your briefcase next to your PDA and cell phone.

In alphabetical order, Baskas offers us an individual listing of forty-six U.S., and eight international, airports. Each airport listing begins with a web address, then provides a one paragraph history of that airport. Baskas then goes in depth about the neat little treasures we have missed on all previous visits these airports. These treasures are divided up under five major categories: “Get Oriented”, “Take Care of Yourself”, “Take Care of Business”, “Explore the Airport”, and “Get into Town”.

For example of this book’s wisdom, take note: LAX has an arrangement with a nearby Airport Hilton where you can work out, sauna, and shower for $10, and, it is open 24 hours. I’d bet you didn’t know about that little tidbit! Baskas will let you in on a number of other juicy secrets, like where you will to find the most comfortable chairs. For an example of best business services, Baskas says you need not look to Montreal, which has nothing except data ports and Internet kiosks…unless you belong to an airline club.

I could go on and on, though I am sure you have seen the value of this book already. Think about it, for under $20, you will have something to do when your flight is delayed in Dallas and you have read all the current month’s magazines. I think so much of this book that I will offer you a “no-charge” return. Well, big deal, as all of our books are sold on a “no-charge” return. Regardless, this is a top-notch buy.

Jack Covert Selects - Blood Sweat & Tears

Blood Sweat & Tears: The Evolution of Work by Richard Donkin, Texere, 370 Pages, $27.95 Hardcover, May 2001, ISBN 1587990768

The very first quality I look for when trying to pick a Jack Covert Selects book is customer value. “Stuck at the Airport”, included in this missive, is a perfect example of a book offering a ton of value to our customers. Then, I look for some innovative idea that I think is key to bring to your attention. Finally, I look for books by, or with involvement from, respected thinkers. Warren Bennis, one of the top five management thinkers alive today, wrote a remarkable forward to this book, Blood, Sweat & Tears”, calling it “...huge. In every good sense of the word.” I completely agree, and would assert that this book meets all of the JCS requirements listed above.

Blood, Sweat & Tears is an intense and comprehensive history of work. At over 350 pages, it reads surprisingly easily. Its greatest appeal, however, lies in its subject matter: here is a history book about what we do today—business. The author, Richard Donkin, is a columnist and writer for “Financial Times”. What he has done here is look at the evolution of work from the earliest times to the present. He incorporates all the major periods in the history of business, from the guilds, to slavery, to the digital world, and from Peter Drucker to Deming, Follett and Taylor. He leads us on a complete overview of this process we call work, and shows us how we got to this point where, as Alvin Toffler said, “We are moving from the workplace to work done any place.”

Donkin concludes the book with the following extraordinary passage: “In the future, work will need to earn its place in our lives. We cannot live for work. Instead we must take control of our lives. But the choice is ours. We cannot expect anyone to make it for us. If we choose wisely, if we follow our hearts, we may just begin to experience something called living. In the end, it’s up to us; our work, our play our learning. We get only one life. Let’s live it.” Not a bad way to end a book that has taught us the history of work, and attempts, by showing us the past, to lead us into the future.