Funky Business [Paperback]

Oh dear--a book called Funky Business by two Swedish academics. At first glance it has all the allure of Benny and Bjorn's (from Abba) sadly never released concept album about life as a middle manger in a multinational conglomerate. There is something very earnestly hip about the way that Kjell Nordstrom and Jonas Ridderstrale of the Stockholm School Of Economics present themselves. "They do gigs not seminars. These gigs sell out. They have shaved heads and wear black", says the blurb.

But that's what makes Funky Business worth reading. It's not so much the novelty of its argument--which boils down to the idea that in an oversupplied world, ideas are what separate successful companies and successful individuals from the failures. It is the vitality of the argument and, dare I say it, the rhythm of the language that make it so compelling. "Traditional roles, jobs, skills, ways of doing things, insights, strategies, aspirations, fears and expectations no longer count. In this environment we cannot have business as usual. We need business as unusual. We need different business. We need innovative business. We need unpredictable business. We need surprising business. We need funky business."

The book, which is almost a virtuoso display of rhetoric and intellectual power, bursts at the seams with the exuberant force of its argument and the weight of its highly colourful supporting evidence. Sources quoted range from the Pope to the Prodigy. Funky Inc, they say, "isn't like any other company. It is not a dull, old conglomerate. It is not a rigid bureaucracy. It is an organisation that actually thrives on the changing circumstances and unpredictability of our times."

This is great entertainment. But the slick veneer does not invalidate the way that the book pulls together many existing strands of thought about how business is developing and evokes a coherent and intriguing vision of a future whose main feature will be incoherence.

This really is one for all the family. Or at least all those old enough to have a job. --Alex Benady

"Funky Business is the antidote to bland writing and bland thinking." Tom Peters "Could barely, literally put down, Funky Business."Warren Bennis "The gospel of the new thinking is Funky Business"   - Industry Standard

"It's the best un-businesslike business book I have ever read ....Funky Business is less of a business handbook and more of a religion. It should be treated like a chain letter - read it and pass it onto 10 other people." (or even better, tell 10 other people to buy it) .... This book should carry a government health warning: Read with care - this book will seriously blow your mind. Go on, read it, be a devil - after all, you only live once."   - Human Resources

"Funky Business is a better book than most novels but it is not for bedtime.  It will jerk you out of your complacency and make you question your very existence.  It will transform your brain." - Customer Management "This is the New Economy's Killer Book!" Some say they can't put a certain book down. This one I had to - regularly - in order to recover from the impact of the statement I had just read. I'm in the Internet business and thought I understood plenty about the New Economy. But this book didn't just open my eyes, it ripped them out and tossed them high in the sky!"Rich Preece aus Hamburg, Germany, Amazon Customer Services "Funky Business - the groovy bible of modern business philosophy" Red magazine  "You know when Time magazine trumps the rebirth of design on its from cover that something's up. You know too that the world of "boring is best commerce" is taking note of change when books like Jonas Ridderstrale and Kjell Nordstrom's Funky Business hits the best-seller lists."Viewpoint magazine

BUSINESS AS USUAL? FUNK THAT

"The gospel of the new thinking is Funky Business"   - Industry Standard "Funky Business is a better book than most novels but it is not for bedtime.  It will jerk you out of your complacency and make you question your very existence.  It will transform your brain." - Customer Management "... the duo launch into a poweful critique of new business realities. This is not what business people learned at Harvard Business School." "The launch of their book, Funky Business, may mark Nordstrum and Ridderstrale's promotion to the major guru league." Move it.In 1995, 1000 new soft drinks were launched on the Japanese market. A year later, 1% of them were still for sale. Move it fast. If you are driving a 1990 model car, approximately six years were spent developing it. Today, most companies do that job in two years. Move it faster. At Hewlett Packard, the majority revenues come from products that did not exist a year age. Move it now. In Tokyo, you can order a customized Toyota on Monday and be driving it on Friday. More products, more markets, more people, more competition. In a world of abundance and excess, competition is total and competition is personal. Difference rules.If you think about it, most of what your business does could be bought from someone else using the Yellow Pages or an Internet search engine. How are you going to be attractive? By being more efficient? By doing it cheaper? Come on!  This is the age of time and talent, where we are selling time and talent, exploiting time and talent, hiring time and talent, packaging time and talent. Today, the "critical resources" wear shoes and walk out the door around 5.30pm every day. Karl Marx was right; the workers should own the critical means of production - it's small, gray and weighs about 1.3 kilograms. It will move markets and it will make capital dance.  Only talent will allow you to be unique, to escape business as usual. In this world we need business as unusual. We need innovative business. We need unpredictable business. We need Funky Business. This is business book as unusual.  "Funky Business gives a unique, informed and defiantly Funky perspective on the new world order.  It is the antidote to bland writing and bland thinking."  Tom Peters "Funky Business - the groovy bible of modern business philosophy"  Red magazine   

"In a world of suits, Nordström and RidderstrSle's message is refreshingly different." Business Strategy Review,'The Greatest Business Books of All Time'

 

"Funky Business- the groovy bible of modern business philosophy."  Red magazine

 

"Could barely, literally, put down Funky Business." Warren Bennis

 

“It will transform your brain."   Customer Management

 

 

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER THAT PUTS THE FUN(K) BACK INTO BUSINESS. FOREVER.

 

Funky Business: no business book is more stylish, or more funky. Now it’s back and it’s more funky than ever. Funky Business Forever casts a penetrating glance back over its shoulder to see how many of its predictions came true and turns a piercing gaze on the future to see where funky business is headed next. What’s new? What’s different? How will we be living, working, thinking tomorrow?

 

Dip into this inimitable and exuberant gallop through the big issues of today and see what the original funksters, Nordström and RidderstrSle, have to say about capitalism, the economy, politics, technology, the environment, talent. Always provocative, always controversial, their ideas may make you laugh, shout, grind your teeth, nod your head, pull your hair out, but one thing’s for sure, they’ll make you think. And they might even make you more funky …

 

BUSINESS AS USUAL? FUNK THAT.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Gurus and consultants abound. But, in a technicolor world why do we expect men in gray suits to have all the answers? Kjell  Nordström and Jonas RidderstrSle aren´t your average business gurus. They don´t wear suits and their ideas come in full color. Stalking the stage, dressed in black, the two Swedes have entertained, challenged and, from time to time, frightened audiences throughout Europe and North America. Their blend of forceful logic, academic rigor and charismatic delivery have made them two of the most sought after speakers in Europe.   Funkster 1: Kjell Nordström Kjell is based at the Institute of International Business at the Stockholm School of Economics. He received his PhD before helping to found the prestigious Advanced Management Program, which attracts the elite of Scandinavian business leaders. His research has focused on internationalization, and, his ideas work; he makes things happen. He is also on the board of directors of Stokke Fabrikker, Swedish Internet company Spary Ventures and US digital change agent Razorfish. His advice has been key to many other organizations across the globe.  Funkster 2: Jonas RidderstrSle Based at the Center for Advanced Studies in Leadership at the Stockholm School of Economics, Jonas is at the forefront of the new generation of European-based business gurus. He has an MBA, a doctorate and a book on global innovation under his belt. He has run the Advanced Management Program and has been lecturer, adviser and consultant to many international companies - enabling them to look to the future creatively and develop dynamic strategies and solutions. In his spare time (yes really) he is an art collector and backs one of Sweden's funkiest galleries.