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I've nearly finished reading this and I have to say that it's one of the most out-of-touch business books I've ever read. Benioff sells Salesforce as an modern,
by benjaminjosephw 7y ago
I've nearly finished reading this and I have to say that it's one of the most out-of-touch business books I've ever read. Benioff sells Salesforce as an modern, socially responsible and generous organisation. He's not wrong, Salesforce is admirable in many ways but it's not as unique and different as it's sold as. The book sets Salesforce up as a pioneer in being a socially responsible but highly profitable business; in doing so, it's self-promotion draws attention to the fact that it's actually not all that radical or different to many other modern enterprise companies.
Benioff has lost perspective. He was once the pioneer of a new way of doing business and challenging the status-quo. What he's failed to see is that Salesforce has become the lumbering giant it once set out to slay.
One hilarious anecdote in a chapter on "innovation" describes how Benioff realises that the company must adopt AI technology to stay competitive. He gathers a group of engineers to work out how to "infuse AI into every product in our portfolio" because they "didn't want to be late to the revolution".
I have a lot of respect for Benioff and his company which was once a massive trailblazer of the industry. I'm not sure it's quite got the edge to still claim that title.