The book selects the cream of witty work from designers across the world. It comprises the most comprehensive collection of graphic wit ever published. Humour is fragile under analysis, and this is not a heavy read that wipes the smile off your face. It has a light touch, even when explaining in business terms why wit works.
The authors break new ground in analyzing the kinds of thinking behind the images, in showing the 21 different ways of being witty and making the case for witty solutions. The book includes hundreds of examples for all kinds of graphics, covering the main business sectors including work from over 300 designers in the USA, Britain, Europe and Japan. Its most intriguing feature is the collection of interviews with the world’s top designers which reveal the secret of secrets, how to get ideas.
Clive Woodward was at the helm when English rugby union triumphantly heaved itself from the boozy, pot-bellied mire of amateurism to the top of the professional game at the 2003 World Cup in Australia. And in Winning he makes a robust, cogent and at times brilliant argument for taking the lion’s share of the credit.
As sports autobiographies go this is an extraordinary book, part personal memoir and part historical revision, of course – Woodward is not backward in correcting his critics or laying bare the politics that shroud top-level sports managers. But what sets it apart is that the former England coach presents a detailed analysis of the man-management and coaching theories that underpinned the success, in what is effectively a case study in winning.
To this end there is an abundance of diagrams, flow charts and ‘key rules’ which at first glance will have a worryingly familiar look to anyone who’s ever sat through a motivational business seminar. They formed the day-to-day intellectual touchstones that were the foundation of the Woodward era, covering the 75 matches between November 1997 and that famous victory in the Telstra Stadium. And in a sporting turn-up akin to Jonny Wilkinson’s last-ditch drop-goal that felled the Aussies in Sidney, Woodward takes these unpromising raw ingredients and delivers a genuinely engrossing read: a how-to manual for aspiring coaches and an unique insight for fans.
Find out exactly what it is you want and then make it real! Step-by-step, Chris guides you through the working principles of genuine creativity – Insight + Ideas + Impact = Inspiring Opportunities, that completely demystifies the creative process. The book includes case studies and imaginative practical exercises to kick-start your ideas: – ‘Related Worlds’: looking at where your issue has been solved before in a different area. It may be as bizarre as extreme sports or dental hygiene! – ‘My clever friends’ – imagine what somebody else might do in your situation – ‘Go Visual’ – capturing your issue without using words. You can sculpt, collage, whittle, whatever!
Well written, insightful and frank this book is a useful view into what it takes to get an idea off the ground. Sometimes it’s luck, more often, it’s hard work and persistance. This book covers a multitude of different ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ and ‘maybes’ that had to be navigated for these entrepreneurs to realise their vision.
A great book, but definitely for the niche reader!
This book starts with a great story about how one boy arrived in the US as a ten year old immigrant from Cuba and rose to be one of America’s corporate high achievers as CEO of AT&T Mobility. Ralph de la Vega charts the course of his life from a scared young boy arriving in Florida without his family to a successful and respected business leader, and along side this story, he unpacks how hard lessons and setbacks had a positive impact on his success in life and achievements in business.
This is a great book – I enjoyed it hugely and learnt a lot from the very personal examples that the author provides. However, I don’t believe it’s a book that will be for everyone. It focuses strongly on business and how life’s obstacles and hard times can help and inform when leading people and teams in a business context.
He does cover in places the parallel’s in setting goals for life and achieving personal success, but the lion’s share of the book is devoted to how hardships and setbacks in life have impacted his corporate ambitions and achievements.
It is full of great lessons and wonderfully illustrated from the life of man who you will find it hard not to admire and respect. I would recommend it for anyone involved in leading people in business, but not an easy read for those just looking for inspiration in life.
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