It's hard to describe this book because I've never read another like it. It's deeply personal and completely universal; it's nuts-and-bolts business insight and it's profound spiritual insight; it's ancient philosophy told through the lens of "Star Wars" and "The Devil Wears Prada."
The best review I can give, I think, is a direct quote. Watch how he starts with a fairly commonplace psychological insight about money, moves to a concrete business application that most businesses could benefit from tremendously, twists it into an unusual look at the entertainment industry, and then (as he would say) "transcends" all that as he brings it back to his overarching theme of selflessness.
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One of the most useful things I learned as a sales and marketing executive is the concept of "dollar votes"...if we really want to understand what motivates people, we should look at how people actually spend their money...I may argue quite persuasively that helping others is my top priority, but if I donate far more money to my favorite casino than to my favorite charity, I shouldn't be surprised if you remain unconvinced.
In my own company, after some disappointing forays with surveys, we dispensed with this type of market research altogether. Instead, whenever we had a new product idea, we would presell the product into our customer base with a discount for prerelease software. Only if our customers were willing to pony up cold, hard cash would we in turn invest in full-blown product development. If the requisite number of sales was not forthcoming, we gave refunds to the disappointed few and headed back to the drawing board. This approach guaranteed that every product we introduced had a market, and it was actually less expensive and time consuming than traditional forms of market research.
When we look at the world through the lens of dollar votes, we see an almost insatiable human demand for stories. Books, movies, and television are multibillion-dollar industries...The fact that we spend so much money on stories--in good times and bad--demonstrates that stories offer something we really want, not just something we like to say we want.
And what most stories offer is the vicarious experience of transformation. We all learned in English 101 that in every compelling story, the main character must be transformed over the arc of the story...According to dollar votes, the fact that we spend so much time and money watching others being transformed proves that it is this essential transformation from selfishness to selflessness that we all really want. Of course the tragic part of this analysis is that for most of us, this urge toward transformation remains vicarious...deep inside we realize that just as we can't pay someone else to go to the gym, we can't be transformed secondhand either.
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Many Leadership Lessons in Humility & Love no matter your industry!
‘Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks’ is a beautifully written and timely read for the non for profit healthcare industry. Many lessons and take always in humility and love. Author August Turak shares amazing stories, analogies and most of all displays his God given talent in describing in detail incidents and the daily life at the Mepkin Abbey. ❤️ A must read for all Leaders no matter the industry!
Top reviews from other countries
John Richard Hanssen
Great book!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 11, 2016