Cambridge Business Association
How
Book

How

Why HOW We Do Anything Means Everything ... in Business (and in Life)

Dov Seidman
Wiley, 2007
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Dov Seidman respects your intelligence. Instead of “10 tips for ethical behavior,” he provides a powerful new lens for seeing and assessing contemporary business ethics. Seidman, an erudite intellectual and practical philosopher, shows that in today’s transparent commercial environment, operating openly and morally is both honorable and economically necessary. Corporate achievement now depends far more on how you act than on what you do. With the proliferation of media outlets, the Internet, notably YouTube, and cable channels, everyone is watching. Seidman uses fascinating anecdotes, case studies and scientific research to prove that goal-driven companies must focus on openness, integrity, values and ethics. Do things right, you win; do them wrong, you lose and end up exposed on the Web. Now that businesses live under the microscope, “on glass...slides, flat as flat can be,” your company will be exposed if it cuts ethical corners. Seidman’s well-annotated book is peppered with learned references to brilliant thinkers from Aristotle to Kierkegaard. He deftly moves from sophisticated topics, such as brain functioning, neuroeconomics and language theory, to stories about pop diva Janet Jackson, Madam Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower and Krazy George Henderson, madcap inventor of “the wave.” This makes the book a pure delight to read. getAbstract openly enjoyed this insightful, idealistic and practical argument for corporate transparency, collaboration, good conduct and altruism.

Summary

Make Some Waves

Do you know where and when the first stadium wave began? A man with a “vision” invented it at a baseball game. In 1981, Krazy George Henderson was a professional cheerleader for the Oakland Athletics baseball team. During the team’s American League playoffs against the New York Yankees at Oakland Coliseum, Henderson decided to encourage something new: a show of unbridled enthusiasm for his home team that would start in one section of the vast stadium and move rapidly through it: the wave. In this now famous synchronized gesture of team support, the fans – all strangers but working together – rise out of their seats and raise their arms in successive groups, forming a human wave. How did Henderson start the very first undulation? He got it rolling by hitting his drum and screaming instructions to bewildered fans, but it quickly petered out. He persevered, encouraging nearby fans to boo when other fans did not build on momentum. After a few more attempts, the Athletics’ audience finally got the idea. The wave was born.

As a leader, you can replicate this movement in your firm by sharing ennobling ideas for how things should be. Enlist the support of your...

About the Author

Dov Seidman is founder, chairman and CEO of a corporate consulting firm that specializes in business ethics. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School, UCLA and Oxford University.

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