(book review) Creating Magic

Creating Magic: 10 Commonsense leadership strategies from a life at Disney by Lee Cockerell
Currency Double Day, NY-USA, 2008


'Creating Magic' is based on Lee's career and his experiences at Marriot, Disney World and Disneyland,Paris. The book also talks about leadership strategies that the author developed and those that later became learnings at the Disney Institute – strategies that are transferable to any domain or industry. 


Though the book has a part where Lee talks business, the first part of the book is a more personal and honest, where Lee tells stories about his personal experiences, mistakes, learnings and development as a manager and a leader. Lee demonstrates that adversity and failure are part of a leader's journey towards success and that, a balanced life plays a significant role in a leader's success.


I have always been fascinated by 'Disney' as a brand and wondered what makes it “magic”. This book gave an insight into what makes Disney a magic-land and that real hard-work and mostly, excellent management are behind the Disney's success. All the stories about Disney were just fascinating and discerning.


The ideas he mentions in the book demonstrate Lee's years of experience. The ideas aren't quite new but ideas that one might term as 'commonsense' and as they say – 'commonsense' is not common! He describes the following strategies as 'essentials' for any manager: 
          1.Everyone is important
          2.Break the mold
          3.Make you people your brand
          4.Create magic through training
          5.Eliminate hassles
          6.Learn the truth
          7.Burn the free fuel
          8.Stay ahead of the pack
          9.Be careful what you say and do
          10.Develop character


And the bottom-line everywhere in the book is: “Make people feel special” (customers, employees, managers). We need to get along with people to succeed and make our business successful. 


This book is a good read for anyone running their own businesses or anyone in a managerial role. If all the managers were to look up at Lee's principles, no office would be a “dull” place to work.

(book review) A Whole New Mind

A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel H. Pink

Riverhead Books (Berkely Publishing Group), NY-USA, 2005

The principal argument of this book is that “right-brainers” or people with R-directed thinking will influence the Conceptual Age or the 21^st century, just as the farmers did in the Agriculture Age or the Factory Workers did in the Industrial Age or the Knowledge Workers did in the Information Age. The author illustrates 3 major problems of the developed world that will induce right-brainers to beam:

Abundance (It has satiated our material needs and now beauty has taken an important place in our lives. Now, people are in search of meaning)

Asia (Has taken up all the “white-collar” / Left brainer jobs)

Automation (Is affecting the white-collar workers similar to the way it affected the “blue-collar” workers of the industrial age)

He aptly defines the traits of L-brainers (converging, detail-oriented, sequential, logical, literal, analytical, textual) and contrasts them to those of the R-brainers. (Diverging, looks at the big-picture, simultaneous, synthesis, emotive, metaphorical, aesthetic, contextual)

In second part of the book, Pink talks about 6 R-Directed aptitudes necessary in the 21^st century:

Design - (Today, the emphasis has to be more on form and emotional engagement rather than just the function – that is what appeals)

Story - (It appeals to our emotions and gives a deep understanding of the context. It helps in communicating yourself) Dev Patnaik's book – 'Wired to Care' goes into more detail on this aptitude. I will write a post on the book soon.

Symphony (This capability helps us put the pieces together, helps us look at the larger picture. We can use it to combine and generate a unique value)

Empathy (It is a basic human quality – the ability to understand other people. This can be used to build a strong network for collective advantage) Dev Patnaik's book – 'Wired to Care' goes into more detail on this aptitude. I will write a post on the book soon.

Play (lightheartedness – doing what you enjoy)

Meaning (Abundance of everything does not give peace to one's mind. That is why the clichéd term 'search of a meaning'. This will have a positive influence)

Though I appreciate the author's thoughts about moving to a Conceptual Age and sharpening our R-Directed skills, I choose to disagree with him in portraying the six R-Directed aptitudes as unique to the developed countries. It is a mistake to make such an assumption as any person, regardless of his country, might be able to acquire them. It is worth-while to note that many successful entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers in the West – People such as Laxmi Mittal, Guy Kawasaki, C.K.Prahlad have origins in the East. But overall, 'A Whole New Mind' the kind of book that marks a shift – It gives a fresh perspective to look at yourself and the changing world.

The right-brain exercises in the book are interesting and fun. It makes one come out of the comfort zone and really challenges the R-brain. Hence to the book,the title is just right!

(book review) Emotional Branding

Emotional Branding: The New Paradigm for connecting brands to people by Marc Gobe`

Allworth Press, NY-USA, 2001

This book, 'Emotional Branding' by Marc Gobe` gives a meaty insight into the delicious history of branding. The book tries to bridge the gap between 'business centered' brands and consumers. Marc Gobe` understands that, for a brand to be effective, it should appeal to the consumers' emotions and feelings instead of treating its consumers as enemy targets and forcing themselves into the consumers' life.

The landscape for brands is changing by the day and increasingly, consumers run the brands. A brand needs to appeal to the emotional senses in order to succeed. Gobe` gives 10 commandments of emotional branding: 

1. from Consumers to People (consumers buy, people live)
2. from Product to Experience (products fulfill needs,experiences fulfill desires)
3. from Honesty to Trust (honesty is expected, trust is engaging & intimate)
4. from Quality to Preference (quality is a given, preference creates sale)
5. from Notoriety to Aspiration (what does your brand mean on an emotional level to consumers?)
6. from Identity to Personality (identity is recognition, personality is character and charisma)
7. from Function to Feel (function is practical & superficial qualities, feel is about experiences)
8. from Ubiquity to Presence (ubiquity is seen, emotional presence is felt)
9. from Communication to Dialogue (communication is telling, presence is felt)
10. from Service to Relationship (service is telling,relationship is acknowledgement)

The book starts with an Introduction chapter, ends with a Conclusion chapter and sandwiched between are 4 chapters named after the 4 pillars of emotional branding: Relationship, Sensorial Experiences, Imagination & Vision.

Though I enjoyed reading the book where Gobe` goes into small details such as describing various symbols and colors and their properties, to painting diagram for portraying the logo and identity evolution or writing about the generations - Baby Boomers, Gen X and Gen Y, to demonstrate relationship between 'Needs' and 'Desires', to stating 'Why' brands need to make that emotional connection, I would have enjoyed more had Gobe` shed more light on 'HOW' to make this emotional connection. 

This book is for people who think that products that sell the best, target the emotional level and one's who want to learn about branding and strategies and get insights into capturing emotions. It provides key insights into branding that will be useful for everyone in the chain - designers, marketing people, strategists and business people.