On a whim at the library a few weeks ago, I picked up a book by Tom Peters called “The Circle of Innovation”. If you read many business books and find yourself in a store with this book, it’s really worth flipping through. He set out to write a business book like none other, and I would say he succeeded. It’s almost like a 500 page mind map with pictures and lots of different fonts. I actually found the format rather engaging and ended up reading the whole thing.
Many of the concepts in the book are actually certainly worth of consideration. It’s always amazing to me to read business books and while each have a slightly unique perspective, they all have overlaps. But the different perspectives do help to see things in different light. Some of the concepts that I found interesting in this book are things like making sure that you not only thing about the things you should be doing, but also the things you should stop doing. Every department should look at what they do as an art, constructing systems of work which are beautiful (think “Fish Sticks!” – another book that is kind of interesting). I also thought it was interesting that he focused on having work be oriented toward projects (particularly where things are ongoing). He also argues that one of the most important things is a transition for quality to design.
Anyway, it’s worthwhile perusing.
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