Name: Orbiting the Giant Hairball
ISBN: 9780670879830

Gordon MacKenzie

A humorous look at the corporate structure invites readers to explore their own creativity within the confines of the workplace, which the author describes as the giant "hairball"

A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace

Orbiting the Giant Hairball

Sarah Schumacher

Daryl Houston

A colleague recommended this one as a business type book that isn't the type to make you want to stick a fork in your eye (that may not have been his precise wording). He reads lots of business books, and I had been bemoaning how much I dislike reading them in general, though had been wading through several at the time. I decided to give it a whirl.

It's mostly pretty annoying. The author styles himself sort of a guru, which is annoying out of the gate, but then he also just writes really inconsistently. One chapter will be a nice little meditation on an event that shaped the way he navigated corporate infrastructure and another will be a a weird self-congratulatory description of a way in which he seemed to think he was pioneering by being (what read to me as) patronizing to his coworkers or workshop attendees, and then just kind of stopping in what feels like the middle.

I did dog-ear a few pages, but on the whole, it felt like sort of a how-to for being a self-styled guru who actually is an annoying crank. If I had to work with this guy or attend one of his workshops, I think my eyes would fall out from all the rolling. I would probably be tempted in any case to stick a fork in my eye.

Randy Robbins

This book has somehow flew under the radar among books on business, leadership, and self-improvement. Not only is this a fun read but provides valuable lessons on the corporate world and not only how to survive but how to flourish. This is recommended reading for just about everyone even those that do not enjoy reading. It is easily digestible for anyone. I do not often re-read but this will I will revisit again.

Orbiting the Giant Hairball A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace