Lucy Kellaway of Financial Times wrote about last year’s worst business books in her column late last year. Among other stuff, here’s what she said:
A more seriously bad book is Edward De Bono’s Think! Before It’s Too Late. De Bono’s view appears to be that no one has done any proper thinking since the ancient Greeks – with the exception of De Bono himself. Unfortunately, judging from the contents page, it is already too late for him to do any fresh thinking: he has merely rehashed all his old stuff about lateral thinking and Six Thinking Hats.
De Bono is not the only writer of business books who thinks the ancients have a role to play.
Although all these books are bad, none is as bad as Who Killed Change? by Ken Blanchard. The story is a “witty whodunnit” featuring a Columbo-style detective investigating the murder of someone called Change and who interviews suspects called Ernest Urgency, Clair Communication and Peter Performance Management. Laboured, tired, moronic and utterly tedious, this little volume leads to the following conclusion, written out in big writing on the last page: “Change Can Be Successful Only When The Usual Characters In An Organisation Combine Their Unique Talents and Consistently Involve Others In Initiating, Implementing And Sustaining Change.”
I don’t know about that, but I do know that Sentences Are More Successful When Upper and Lower Case Are Used Properly.