You may have come across the expression 'it's not rocket science'. Launching, flying and returning the space shuttle is rocket science, and requires the application of complex scientific thought. But most of us aren't flight directors at NASA and the things we do aren't rocket science. Too often, we look for complex solutions when simpler ones would be more appropriate, easier to find and simpler to implement.

This gem of a book is the perfect antidote to the endless tomes about how to leverage your core competencies and think "outside the box". Instead, it advises you to look for simple problems, simple solutions and direct approaches. If there's a philosophy here, it's this: be nice to people you work with, and try to see problems from their point of view. O'Connell, who also wrote the classic business guide The Silver Bullet, has a wonderfully dry sense of humour, and pokes fun at any reader who dares to take themselves too seriously. A series of questionnaires are designed to reveal how able you are to see simple solutions to business scenarios, from a drop in customer satisfaction to overdue projects.

This is a manual of sorts: covering how to plan, how to prioritise, how to see projects through, how to remember the customer's needs. This is simple stuff, simply written. But don't underestimate Simply Brilliant's value--much of this stuff is forgotten in the rush of everyday business. As O'Connell says--the thing about common sense is that it isn't all that common in reality. --Sally Whittle

Review
 "This is simple stuff, simply written. But don't underestimate Simply Brilliant's value -much of this stuff is forgotten in the rush of everyday business"     Amazon.co.uk "For a change this guide tears down management as a complex science, reducing it to life saving basics. This book does a good job - it may just help to simplify your working life."                                                                       The Evening Standard "Just when we feel we can no longer cope with it all, someone writes a book that offers salvation ..... Simply Brilliant is brilliantly simple - so much so that I may start coming to work again to get things done."                                     Financial Times  "Simply Brilliant could make a difference to huge numbers of managers who have lost touch with the small but important rules that make for harmonious business relationships.... O'Connell's ideas for creating a better working environment are as simple as he claims and will provide welcome relief for anyone who is struggling to come to terms with the latest fad from the Harvard Business School... He extols the virtues of simplicity in thinking, warns what happens when people are not sure what they are supposed to do, shows that to do anything there needs to be a sequence of events, and explains that things won't be done if people don't do them (obvious, but an amazingly common problem)."The Sunday Times - Book of the Week

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