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That sounds like a good book. Anybody else read it? Would you recommend it?

by barnaby 16y ago

minsight 16y ago
I read it in the late 70s. It's a very good book. It had a controversial title, and people made great assumptions about the book's contents based on that title. But basically it's a book about making sure that you don't allow anyone to (overtly or not) push you around.
seanstickle 16y ago
It's a pretty good (and quick) read. It has been retitled "To Be Or Not To Be Intimidated?: That Is The Question" due to people thinking it was actually about intimidating other people, rather than standing up to certain types of business intimidation. It's a mostly autobiographical account of a real estate broker, and how he learned to stand up for himself against a series of different sorts of intimidating business types. There's nothing revelatory in any of this: go in prepared, have a fallback plan, don't buckle under to crazy demands. There is some interesting stuff about real estate brokering in there, which I found interesting, but which can easily distract from what the author is actually trying to discuss. I read Trump's first book "The Art of the Deal" right after, and I think Trump's book does a better job of doing the same thing with much more interesting stories. First of all, Trump's arena is New York City real estate, which is more dramatic than Missouri real estate. Second, Trump talks about the actual personalities and organizations he dealt with, rather than the cutesy pseudonyms that the Intimidation author uses and the generic locales he describes. Third, Trump, for all his faults, comes off as a real guy with real ways (good or bad) of dealing with business problems, where the Intimidation author is mostly creating a hammed-up and semi-ficitional account of his modest deals. Bottom line: "Winning Through Intimidation" is ok if you get it from the library, and you enjoy watered-down business parables. "Art of the Deal" is much better if you care about how someone who did some pretty spectacular things describes how he did them (which may or may not be wholly accurate).
- klbarry 16y ago
  Another book that is an auto-biographical business book is Lester Wunderman's Being Direct. Wunderman pretty much invented the direct marketing industry and relationship marketing. It's easily in my top three books I've ever read.

That sounds like a good book. Anybody else read it? Would you recommend it?

by barnaby 16y ago

That sounds like a good book. Anybody else read it? Would you recommend it?

I read it in the late 70s. It's a very good book. It had a controversial title, and people made great assumptions about the book's contents based on that title. But basically it's a book about making sure that you don't allow anyone to (overtly or not) push you around.

seanstickle 16y ago

It's a pretty good (and quick) read. It has been retitled "To Be Or Not To Be Intimidated?: That Is The Question" due to people thinking it was actually about intimidating other people, rather than standing up to certain types of business intimidation. It's a mostly autobiographical account of a real estate broker, and how he learned to stand up for himself against a series of different sorts of intimidating business types. There's nothing revelatory in any of this: go in prepared, have a fallback plan, don't buckle under to crazy demands. There is some interesting stuff about real estate brokering in there, which I found interesting, but which can easily distract from what the author is actually trying to discuss. I read Trump's first book "The Art of the Deal" right after, and I think Trump's book does a better job of doing the same thing with much more interesting stories. First of all, Trump's arena is New York City real estate, which is more dramatic than Missouri real estate. Second, Trump talks about the actual personalities and organizations he dealt with, rather than the cutesy pseudonyms that the Intimidation author uses and the generic locales he describes. Third, Trump, for all his faults, comes off as a real guy with real ways (good or bad) of dealing with business problems, where the Intimidation author is mostly creating a hammed-up and semi-ficitional account of his modest deals. Bottom line: "Winning Through Intimidation" is ok if you get it from the library, and you enjoy watered-down business parables. "Art of the Deal" is much better if you care about how someone who did some pretty spectacular things describes how he did them (which may or may not be wholly accurate).

klbarry 16y ago
Another book that is an auto-biographical business book is Lester Wunderman's Being Direct. Wunderman pretty much invented the direct marketing industry and relationship marketing. It's easily in my top three books I've ever read.