The Non-Obvious Book of the Week: Up the Organization by Robert Townsend

Up the Organization was published in the mid-seventies, which technically makes it just about as old as I am. The lessons, though, are actually timeless and the book stands apart for an idea that was well ahead of its time ... and feels relevant for now too. In case you don't know Robert Townsend, he was the visionary CEO that helped Avis pioneer their iconic "We're Number Two. We Try Harder." advertising campaign that is widely recognized as one of the most successful marketing campaigns of all time.

The subtitle of this book, How to Stop the Corporation from Stifling People and Strangling Profits, should tell you pretty much everything you need to know about the focus of the book and why I say it was ahead of its time but still important today. The structure of the book is a very old school style of using almost note-style lessons, and some of the examples and writing are quite dated. Those shortcomings aside, you will find some very useful forgotten wisdoms in this book that are sure to get you thinking. That alone makes this a worthy read.

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About the Non-Obvious Book Selection of the Week:

Every week I share a new “non-obvious” book selection. Titles featured here may be new or classic books, but the date of publication doesn’t really matter. My goal is to elevate great reads that perhaps deserve a second look which you might have otherwise missed.