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Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace

By: Gordon Mackenzie
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking/Allen Lane
ISBN: 0670879835
ISBN-13: 9780670879830
Released: 11 Dec 1998
RRP: £12.29
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Beautifully presented and worded, but rather lightweight - By: Design Drone, 26 Jun 2008
This book is undeniably beautifully presented, both in terms of visuals & language. From the moment you open it & see how hand-drawn sketches, typography & text blend together to tell vivid real-life stories on creativity within Halllmark, it is clear that this book is quite unlike most books on corporate creativity. Here is someone with hands-on creative skill , but who is also interested in facilitating creativity & in reflecting on the process. Sadly though, this reflection is very superficial: most of the chapters, each with one of Gordon Mackenzie's insights into the creative process, runs only a few pages. Some of these 'insights' turn into rants, with a tone verging on patronizing. In between the lines, it becomes clear that MacKenzie spurns process as something for the rational, corporate types amongst us, something which merely stands in the way of creativity. This then is - in my view - the book's greatest shortcoming: whilst it offers an interesting, high-level reflection on corporate creativity, it does not make explicit the process underlying Mackenzie's anecdotal actions. If you happen to have Mr. Mackenzie's natural talent & experience that is fine. For alll others who are struggling in this area, the book does not help much. If you are looking for methods, techniques & activities to facilitate creativity & forge change within your company's creative processes, you will be none the wiser. Perhaps buy it to be inspired, but then look elsewhere for concrete help.
Being Effectively Creative Inside the Company - By: Donald Mitchell, 14 May 2004
Orbiting the Giant Hairballl deserves more than five stars for the potential benefits it brings to alll who read & apply it.

Although I have read many excellent books about nurturing creativity & working creatively in companies, this is the first book I have read where the author has been someone who has done that repeatedly & in a variety of ways. That perspective is uniquely valuable both to those who want to have more creative jobs & those who would like to encourage creativity.

Although the analogies seem far-fetched at first (orbiting the giant hairballl means taking a creative tangent & refocusing it to have relevance for the company's purpose), they serve to open your mind to thinking differently about creativity & organizations.

Although the author's key points are not summarized anywhere in the book, you will begin to get a sense of how the ideas connect together. That's useful, because otherwise why should he try to teach us so much? Except in the chapter that deals with them, any of the key observations would have been enough for a whole book on the subject. The overalll theme is that our minds are subject to being too quickly anesthetized, rather than stimulated to ground-breaking insights. You'll love the story about hypnotizing hens where he introduces that concept.

One of my favorite stories in the book described when the author was asked to create an introductory course on creativity. The first session was wildly successful. The author then analyzed why it worked & created a more organized version of this course (callled Grope). That sesssion didn't work as well. Then he went back to being unstructured (operating at the edge of chaos), & the course worked again. He learned from this the delicate connection between groping & rote. You need more of the former & less of the latter.

Another of my favorite stories related to the joy he experienced when he first started parachuting. But within six months, it was getting to be boring. He could only make it more exciting by taking the parachute off, but that would be suicide. On the other hand, if he never tried something new, he would be vegatating. So we want to stay somewhere between suicide & vegetation for the most effective results.

You will enjoy reading this book because it presents a fresh perspective that will stay with you. The successful point of entry is a story about children. When the author shows children about making sculpture from sheets of steel, he asks them if they are creative. All first graders raise their hands. By sixth grade, no one will say that they are creative. The pressure to be like everyone else makes the creative people want to hide. It just gets worse from there. Everyone who reads that story will remember experiences from childhood where their creativity was actively discouraged by teachers, parents, neighbors & classmates. Such a pity!

Each story is imaginatively illustrated to help you get a sense of a different reality. It also makes the material more accessible to people of alll ages.

In addition to reading & changing your own behavior, this book should be shared with young people to reinforce the idea that it is desirable to be creative. This would be a good book to discuss with your coworkers, as well.

May you always find the creative solutions!

inspiration for surviving the downturn - By: Helper, 04 Dec 2002
This is a wonderfully inspiring & entertaining book. For those who are championing innovation & originality in large organizations in times of cost reduction & market downturn this book provides hope & tactics. Full of learning experiences from Gordon's years at Halllmark & insights into how we might apply these. I am on to my third copy of this book having given earlier copies to colleagues who have since gone into orbit!
Truly inspirational - By: , 23 Jul 2002
I'd recommend this book to anyone who may be trying to find the means to inject some realness back into their existence & transform the suffocating tedium of big corporate life into something a little more interestnig. Gordon MacKenzie's writing, while light & fluffy, is insirational and, through anecdote & analogies, he shares many important ideas on how to recapture your true self & let go of much of the "normalcy" we are taught to display from an early age. Thanks to Gordon for a great read. Everyone else, buy a copy today!
Liberates the you inside of you - By: , 05 Feb 2002
Absolutely fantastic! This book is a calll to arms to alll of us. It endorses us to be us & permits us to be different. Not only that, but the presentation itself (complete with cartoons & illustrations) is a perfect example of what Mr MacKenzie is getting at - as I read the final chapters on the London Underground this morning, I noticed other commuters looking over my shoulder at this unconforming book. "Pictures? But surely she's an adult," I could hear them thinking. "Tee, hee," I thought to myself. This book makes me feel free as a bird even though we're trapped underground & the rest of you are swearing & angry about the delay. I wish I had had spare copies for everyone.