Barack, Inc: Let’s Go Change the World
crbrowning | Jan 14, 2009 | Comments 10
I have just finished reading Barack, Inc by Barry Libert and Rick Faulk of Mzinga (my former employer). The book is an very quick read though with many great business lessons. I wanted to highlight two points here.
Be Cool.
The first major section of the book speaks to Obama’s character. Calm, focused, smart, and tough. He sets a great example for leaders (of all kinds) to follow and the book really details all aspects of his character with a great series of examples. One of my favorite highlights are the details behind Obama maintaining focus of the campaign on John McCain when Sarah Palin was getting a lot of attention in the press. For those still looking to add to their new year’s resolution list, Barack, Inc’s chatper on ‘Be Cool’ provides ample lessons for how to improve your leadership style to presidential levels!
Be the Change:
In what I thought was one of the most inspirational parts of the Obama campaign was Barack Obama’s response to the ‘toxic sermons’ of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr. The book details how Obama had the courage to face the media head on speaking to how we can be stuck in a status quo of a ‘racial stalemate’ or embrace change and strive for a ‘more perfect union’. In a time where technologies are threatening existing business models and financial distress forces businesses to make hard decisions, the ‘Barack, Inc’ message of change is a powerful message that needs to be headed by every business leader.
In summary, I recommend this book for any business leader or any Obama fan. It is a great, quick read with many stories to inspire your organization to the same level of success as Barack Obama.
/colin
Filed Under: Reviews
Colin, this is a solid review.
As one of the final editors I found that the book was a quick read and there in lies the problem. What Obama and David Plouffe achieved was much more prolific a feat then what can be described in 160 pages. The examples did not have enough beef in my opinion.
In the end, it is a solid read. But as you know, Social networking is changing the world. I just wish the story that rocked America’s political landscape could have received a longer and more flushed out effort then it received in this book.
Colin,
Thanks so much for taking the time out to write about Barack, Inc. It was also great to see you today!
I’m really glad Derek left the comment above because I think he brings a unique take on the book that I’m sure many social media folk will agree with. Barack Inc fails to demonstrate the intricacies of the social web and the ways in which it can and will change the world. Unfortunately, the world isn’t quite ready to internalize the messages and platforms that we so intuitively take for granted as advocates of the industry.
Things like transparency, community, collaboration…we don’t quite realize how groundbreaking these things are within the business world because we’re so closely tied to organizations and individuals who support these values.
I battled with Barry tooth and nail during the research phase of the book, begging him to investigate who was managing the @barackobama twitter account, and how many community managers and moderators were on my.barack.obama.com. At the end of the day, Barry’s message was simple: “Alexa, businesses just have to get it first.”
The messages outlined in Barack, Inc. aren’t new to many of us. But to others, they’re as earthshattering to the business as they are to the social media efforts that rocked America’s political landscape.
Thanks again, Colin. Derek – looking forward to reading your blog!
Alexa | @alexa
Alexa, my pleasure. I agree with all the points above. Social Networking is changing how marking folks market, how brand managers brand, how companies innovate and yes…how countries elect presidents.
Thanks for the well thought out and insightful response Alexa.
Derek and Alexa –
Thanks for the great comments. Certainly I agree that I would love to see every detail on how they have architected what was nothing less than the worlds most brilliant social media campaign to date. While I wish there was more of that, I am not sure how much of that would really be revealed (I know I would protect it). I do think that the leadership message is strong and you should both be very proud of your work.
/colin
[...] 15, 2009 Last night I was sprawled out on the couch chatting with @Alexa about Colin Browning’s blog “Barack, Inc: Let’s Go Change the World” when I saw the following post pop up on Twitter from Chris [...]
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