Book Review - FLiP

I've just finished reading a great book with the catchy title of FLiP - "How to survive and thrive by turning your business on its head" written by Peter Sheahan, an Australian strategic thinker whose clients have included Google, Microsoft, BMW and many other global brands (and other smaller regional companies too I shouldn't wonder).

This was an easy book to read, yet despite its ease it was packed with insights and inspiration. The entire book seemed to be leading up to the final chapter, "To get control, give it up" which is very much in line with my own thinking these days. How to free up my own time to work on stuff I enjoy most, and I've concluded that I need to give control of much of my business to those who work with me. Yet the book challenged me to think even beyond that, to think about giving up control to people outside my company, now that is thinking outside the box.

I really am thinking about ways to do this, because this would also free up time within the firm for the team to also engage on the things they are best at, and give away control of other things that we actually do not need control of.

The book has challenged me to ask all kinds of questions, such as whether I should be looking at enabling clients to shape what it is we do, and how much we earn. Scary stuff.

Peter also makes reference to social media, Web 2.0 and all that, and brings home just how powerful social media will be for companies in the future. Recommended reading for any forward thinking person.