Inhuman Resources
A guide to the psychos misfits and criminally incompetent in every office
Author – Michael Stanford

Review Steven Cornwell

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Michael Stanford. This book is hilarious. If you have worked a corporate job all of your life then you won’t be able to help yourself and read this cover to cover. From the ‘I need to get into the lift before you can get out person’ through to the ‘lets have a meeting before the meeting person’, or my personal favorite ‘I’m just so sick, but I’m too important to go home person’ this book uncovers the many toxic character traits of the many toxic individuals that pollute today’s offices. So, if you are struggling with a client, a colleague or friend, Michael’s advice is to not take the gun to work, just take a copy of Inhuman Resources. And if you wanted to be more specific I suggest post-it note the pages and leave it on the desk. A great laugh, but scarily accurate.

The Global Brand
Author – Nigel Hollis

Review Steven Cornwell

Ok, I haven’t read this book from cover to cover. However, in my in-flight skim read I found some wonderful insights from Nigel on how to build, manage and create brands in the global economy. Working as a brand consultant and marketer we have spent many years creating and recreating brand models for our clients. For the uninitiated the models are simplified, easy to digest and thankfully written in English rather than brand babble. As a researcher for Millward Brown Nigel has worked for some of the worlds leading Global brands. His CV reads as a laundry list of favorites such as Nestle, Pepsi-Cola, Unilever, HP, Kraft... I guess with a CV like that I feel comfortable taking some of it on board. Worth a read.

Buy.ology
How Everything We Believe About Why We Buy is Wrong
Author – Martin Lindstrom

Review Steven Cornwell

“I can’t help but be reminded of one of my numerous hotel visits. When I walk into a hotel room in a strange city, I immediately toss my room key somewhere, and in a millesecond later I have forgotten where I put it. The data just vanishes from my brain’s hard drive. Why? Because whether I’m aware of it or not, my brain is simultaneously processing all other kinds of information – what city I’m in, how long until my next appointment, when I last ate something – and with the limited capacity of our short term memories, the location of my room key just doesn’t make the cut”. This quote is from the first chapter of Martin’s book buy-ology and is a great hook. I have suffered the room key episode many times. As a marketer, the new digital generations emerging are retiring many of the channels that have been previously successful. There are many theories as to why they are no longer relevant. Generational/attitudinal changes fuelled by advancements in technologies have made it more difficult for brands to compete. Martin’s research defines buying behaviour as a true science. The book challenges old methods of research, advertising and brand building and focuses on how to engage the new millennial consumer. 

Who stole my Mojo?
How to get it back and Live. Work, and Play better
Author – Gary Bertwistle

Review Steven Cornwell

If you are an A type personality like me you probably live on the premise you are invincible, and quite sadly, you believe you are always right. Its a curse. Like me, you probably have very little balance in your life and you love your job. I have a kind of better or for worse love of work and tend to push work to the front of my lobe and let it consume every part of my being. I think about it in the car, over dinner, in bed (sadly), and even while I am watching TV or playing with the kids. It is exhausting and every now and then I dream of retiring on a desert island eating pineapple for breakfast, lunch and dinner. My burn outs are random, but they happen, often. Gary Bertwistle’s book was a purchase I made while I was bored at the airport. I have a cupboard full of ‘ bored at the airport’ at home. If you have ever felt that your batteries have begun to run dry and that you can’t quite find inspiration or your Mojo, then you should read this. Did it change the way I work, no. Now I just carry the guilt of knowing what I am doing wrong. Thanks Gary.

Groundswell
Winning in a world transformed by social technologies
Authors – Charlene Li, Josh Bernoff

Review Steven Cornwell

Social technologies have enabled us to network, play, build business quickly and market ourselves in unique and pervasive ways. In fact technology, and the internet, has opened doors to scores of brands that would otherwise not have the capital or scale to invest in traditional advertising channels in their pursuit of fame and growth. Groundswell is an insightful read into social technologies, how they work, or more importantly how they work today. The future of successful brand building is unequivocally in this space. How we choose to utilize social technologies to better our lifestyle, our communities, our planet will be the ultimate test of its value and effectiveness.

Leadership – Inspire, Liberate, Achieve
Author – Tom Peters

Review Steven Cornwell

If you have ever gone home at night wondering why your creativity made you feel like an alien, or as you were traveling to the right everyone else seemed to be turning left, this book by Tom Peters will give you, the innovators and leaders, a little comfort. The book is short and to the point. The title is Inspire, Liberate, Achieve. Much of the thinking in this book has influenced the way we create events within organisations to establish support for brands, rallied support of vision, and most importantly, it has enabled us to identify the strengths and weaknesses of, well, us. It is a great, short read. Take it when you board your next plane and be inspired when you arrive at the other end.

The Story of God
Author – Robert Winston

Review Steven Cornwell

Much of our youth is spent rationalising religion, if not religion, then at least rationalising things that go bump in the night. Things that are believed, but not proven or seen. Most of my Catholic upbringing was spent in question. Did he really walk on water or was this just a metaphor. And while this question may seem strange to some, for many parts of the world the supernatural hysteria still applies. Questioning is part of my inquisitive nature and probably why I have ended up branding. Questioning things that don’t make sense to me, or others, is the start of most of our research processes. In some ways brands, and branding is very much a process of questioning. If you have ever wanted to understand the anthropological and pervasive nature of brands, as well as basic human behaviour, then this is a book you won't be able to put down. As we head into a world where Gen Y’ers are immersing themselves in the social depths of the internet, and researchers are spending millions trying to segment audiences to better understand their customers, you only have to read this book to realise how little the world, and by that I mean human beings, have changed. The same primal drivers apply today as they did thousands of years ago. We have just adopted new ways to express ourselves, and rationalise things we don’t understand. If you are religious you may get a little unsettled by the objectivity and lack of commitment to one religion. if you are interested in anthropology you won't be able to put it down. Enjoy. Amen.

Giving
Author – Bill Clinton

Review Steven Cornwell

On a trip back from the States I found myself bored at the airport once again. Browsing a bookshop in LA International I came across this book. The book was a few years old when I bought it and Bill had well and truly left the presidency, however, the sub title caught my attention - Giving, how each of us can change the world. We had just been commissioned to brand Sustainability Victoria which was established by the State Government to provide the community with vital information on how to be resource smart. In all of my reading and emersion in sustainability through my collaborations with architects and corporate brands, many of the CSR programs undertaken were more to do with how ‘we the corporation’ would be sustainable rather than lessons on how individuals could make a difference beyond the corporation. In the opening of the introduction he makes a comment about the life he lead as a politician “politics, which consumed so much of my life is a ‘getting’ business.” Indeed most of my commercial life I had spent getting. Or at least trying to get. The sentiment of this book has inspired me to continually search for ways to give. If you were thinking that your CSR strategy was rock solid I highly recommend Bill’s book to help you rethink it. The obligations of employees  and individuals should be the drivers of corporate CSR strategy. We, the CEO’s and senior managers, should be supporting them in their community pursuits. Thanks Bill for the wake up.

The Breakthrough Company
– How everyday companies become extraordinary performers
Author – Keith R McFarland

Review Steven Cornwell

Few books have inspired me on business strategy as this book. I have to confess it was another bored-at-the-airport book. As a small business owner (this is categorised by Keith as a company with revenues between $1million and $50 million), one of the greatest issues facing our business is navigating what Keith refers to as the ‘Business Bermuda Triangle’. When interviewing small business about what makes them successful they inevitably answer 1) they are better at giving customers what they want, 2) they are able to respond more quickly and 3) they operate with lower overheads so they can compete on costs. The book goes on to discuss the difficulties that emerge as companies grow and all three points which have their own magnetic pull need to be successfully managed. If you are sitting at your computer, as I did, and wondered how to contain all three of these in equal balance then this book is worth a read. I can tell you that we have put steps in to ensure we balance our own Bermuda triangle, but, like most small business we too can go missing in action. Its knowing how to recover and move forward that is important. This book helps. Happy sailing.