The book that does for companies what WHO MOVED MY CHEESE? does for individual employees, SURVIVAL IS NOT ENOUGH provides a groundbreaking new way to organise companies and thrive during times of change. Everything in our world, from marketing to technology to distribution to the capital markets, is moving at a faster pace than ever. Yet most companies view change as a threat, and survival as the goal. This book transforms all that. It contains a simple yet revolutionary idea : we can evolve our companies the same way nature evolves a species. Evolution is a fundamental force of nature, and Seth Godin demonstrates how it can be put to work in any organisation. The first step is to eliminate the anti-change reflex that’s genetically coded into all of us. Once a company learns to ‘zoom’ (to change without panicking), it is much more likely to evolve. And a company that evolves can become ever more profitable. For the last five years, bestselling author Seth Godin has repeatedly demonstrated the power of his books by living their advice. He used the tactics in PERMISSION MARKETING to drive the book up the bestseller list. He followed the advice of UNLEASHING THE IDEA VIRUS to turn his treatise into a living example of an ideavirus. Now, as a committed zoomer, he shows his legions of fans how to turn their company into one that can zoom from one change to another. It’s a formula for success whether the market is up or down, whether technology is hot or not, in all industries, from retail to tech to restaurants.

5 Responses to “Survival is Not Enough: Shift Happens”

1. MovieMusic says:

   May 12, 2009 at 12:00 am

   Seth is a tsunami of self-promotion. Which is a good thing for him, because he writes rubbish, and he will need all his skills if people ever start seeing how much of their time he is wasting.

   This infantile book, using a silly word he has re-defined (zooming) in an attempt to make him as famous as Charles Darwin, merely serves to provoke an interesting question. Is he, at some level, having a good laugh at everyone who buys his books? Or is he a self-absorbed dope?

   “My goal in writing this book is to explain the paradigm and sell you …”. (P.3) I exited right there.

   Reply
2. Mark Deo says:

   April 9, 2009 at 12:00 am

   I think this is a solid Godin book. His insight is always beneficial to me. The insight on Corporate evolution is very interesting. I recommend.

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3. J. Fagan II says:

   May 18, 2008 at 12:00 am

   Some of the case studies may be a bit dated today but that does not detract from the value in this powerful book from Godin. The core concept of business as evolutionary is fact. None of us can deny that the ever changing environment causes change in how we deliver value for revenue.

   Facing business as an evolution is critical if we want to be successful beyond fashion and flash in our endeavors. Continuing to reinvent how we do things is a theme inside this read.

   The terminology that Godin defines makes sense and although it hasn’t and may never become the way we all see business, the concepts and thoughts behind them are significant.

   Godin continually adds value to how to think about what we do. His survival guide, which could double as the title is well worth the time spent reading. As usual his message is as entertaining as it is thought provoking.

   You won’t be disappointed on the time you spend reading this book if you are concerned about your companies and your own future.

   Buy it today. Comments are always invited.

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4. Lars Dahle says:

   January 2, 2008 at 12:00 am

   Very precise description of where most busienesses find themselves today. Seth pinpoints the gap between schoolbook-management and the realities of running a successful business today. Most of us managers probably need to forget most of the stuff we learned in business school 10+ years back and take in the perspectives in this book. BUT the Evolutionary comparison can be stretched a little too far from time to time..

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5. Joao Carlos Caribé says:

   July 15, 2007 at 12:00 am

   Seth Godin is the guy that think outside the box, think without the box, kicked of the box, why that box? This was the first Seth’s book I read, but I follow Seth trough his blog for a time, and he point his words with precision to targets. Direct or indirectly his words come and growing answering my business, social, marketing, economics oriented mind.

   Just three words resume “Survival is not enough” : mDNA, meme and zoom. Simple like that! Along the book, this three words growing and come to make meaning. Seth develop a analogy trough a evolution (Darwin’s evolution) and company evolution, on the company evolution DNA was replaced by mDNA that changes faster than DNA. Don’t be astonished if you read that the best sex you must do is with your boss. On that book, sex goes the meaning of natural selection, its fine, believe me.

   Finally, make zoom, do it all the time, don’t be worry about changes, doing the same think all the time is the more efficient way to fail your company. Don’t believe on championship strategies, “feel” your customers, and let your business grow from botton to top, or from the boundaries to core.

   Reply