The Big Moo: Stop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable

Godin derived the title for this engaging anthology of business homiletics from his marketing manifesto Purple Cow, which extolled the importance of garish new products that grab customers' attention. Phrased as a feel-good kindergarten platitude (""you are not ordinary/In fact, you're remarkable""), the principle seems a harmless nod to fancy-free individualism. But set in an adult business context of constant ""change"" and cutthroat price competition, where ""winning the game has absolutely nothing to do with hard work and paying your dues"" and ""a constant stream of industry-busting insights and remarkable innovations"" is the only guarantee of survival, the exhortation to uniqueness becomes terrifying and demoralizing. Fortunately, the cacophony of unsigned contributions from a ""Group of 33"" writers (Malcolm Gladwell and Tom Peters are in there somewhere) includes more reassuring and realistic lessons. There's a lot of New Economy histrionics (""They say, 'sure, we need change'""/ ""I say, 'we need revolution now'""), but also comparatively restrained parables about marketing and customer service. Some writers note that competent imitation of proven ideas is often a better strategy than innovation, that self-effacing Bill Murray did better than self-aggrandizing Chevy Chase, and that, yup, hard work and paying your dues does pay off. The selections are for the most part brief and pithy, and while they don't add up to a coherent viewpoint, browsers are bound to find something that hits a chord.