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The Monk and the Riddle: The Art of Creating a Life While Making a Living |
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List Price: $20.00
Our Price: $13.60
Your Save: $ 6.40 ( 32% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Harvard Business School Press
Average Customer Rating:  
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PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 650
EAN: 9781578516445
ISBN: 1578516447
Label: Harvard Business School Press
Manufacturer: Harvard Business School Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 208
Publication Date: 2001-07
Publisher: Harvard Business School Press
Studio: Harvard Business School Press
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Editorial Reviews:
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What would you be willing to do for the rest of your life . . . ? It's a question most of us consider only hypothetically-opting instead to "do what we have to do" to earn a living. But in the critically acclaimed bestseller The Monk and the Riddle, entrepreneurial sage Randy Komisar asks us to answer it for real. The book's timeless advice-to make work pay not just in cash, but in experience, satisfaction, and joy-will be embraced by anyone who wants success to come not just from what they do, but from who they are. At once a fictional tale of Komisar's encounters with a would-be entrepreneur and a personal account of how Komisar found meaning not in work's rewards but in work itself, the book illustrates what's wrong with the mainstream thinking that we should sacrifice our lives to make a living. Described by Fortune.com as "part personal essay, part fictional narrative and part meditation on the nature of work and life," The Monk and the Riddle is essential reading on the art of creating a life while making a living.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Use these principles to find the job of your dreams!
Comment: `The Monk and the Riddle', a short book by Randy Komisar, guides the job seeker or entrepreneur towards making the most of their passion. Kosimar shows us the strength that passion has to pull us towards success and happiness.
Komisar, an experienced consultant, shares the advice given to him along his own path to success by telling the story of Lenny, a struggling Internet entrepreneur who, just as he is about to give up, instead turns to Komisar for guidance.
We see that Lenny's shortfall is his drive to make money, rather than a natural pull towards something he is passionate about. Also addressed is his lack of appreciation for the process and his excessive focus on the end result. Kosimar shows him how to find the passion behind his project, which is the real key to success.
`The Monk and the Riddle' focuses on how to start a business, but at its core it contains important advice for all job seekers: How to figure out what we are good at and enjoy most, and make a living doing it!
Danny Iny
Author of the free eBook "Forget Everything You Know About Looking For a Job... And Actually Find One!"
HuntingToHired,[...]
Customer Rating:
Summary: Riddle: Who spends good money on a bad book? Answer: Me
Comment: If I had to sum it up, I'd say it's 1/100th E-myth (by Michael Gerber)--a great book by the way; 1/100th Laws of Success (by Napoleon Hill); 1/100th Money and the Meaning of Life (by Jacob Needleman)--which I do not recommend; and 97/100ths fluff, to borrow the commonly used word of my college English teacher when referring to such works. I give this book 2.5 stars only becuase the venture capital story line is a little interesting.
But, this is not a book for the entrepreneur. It's more of a Chicken Soup for the Business Unsavvy Soul meets Monkisms that Don't Hit Home. The venture capital story line is the only real interesting part of the book, yet this story fizzles so dramatically at the end that I thought I actually felt my stomach ulcer relent a moment when I closed the book--or maybe the book was causing the pain? I don't know.
The monk's answer fails to deliver on multiple levels: first, the question (oh yeah, the monk's answer is a question) is judgmental wonderment by a man so far removed from the "rat race" and normal stressful life that he could have no other view than that of a little child; second, the so called journey that leads one to the answer/question is at best askew to the venture capital storyline; and third, a person looking for an answer to a pretended great question will find no mystery unfolded in this book.
My suggestion, save your money! Buy a Chicken Soup for the Soul book (this will take care of the good feeling you were supposed to get when reading this book) , read one of Napoleon Hill's books (this will put in the "money" frame of mind), and one of Michael Gerber's E-myth books (this will help you structure your would-be business), at least you'll know what you were getting and feel like a more significant person after reading any one of these other books.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I'll sum it up in one paragraph
Comment: You can't be happy in life, being an entrepreneur, unless you find a way to find meaning into you business. Venture Capital, post "the bust", is very hard to come by; finding meaning in your business will be a key component in providing you with the drive necessary to overcome the many obstacles inherent with owning your own business. VC's know this and want to see it when your giving your spiel before they fork over the cash. There you go; save your money. Define it and use it as your central drive in life and business. I was a little duped into buying the book. Babson College requires it for one of their entrepreneurship classes. What's with professors making you buy books that tell you what they (the professors) can tell you in just one paragraph?
Customer Rating:
Summary: Quick Read, Great Idea!
Comment: After reading 4- hour work week by Tim Ferris, I am a big fan of NOT living the Deferred Life Plan. Tim recommends this book so I read it in a few hours. Other critics like to say negative things about what the book wasn't, but I am going to tell you about what it was.
It was a little slow in the middle due to all the story telling about the his life and experiences intermingled with a few characters he was currently dealing with.
It was enlightening on how the VC business works and what one goes through when deciding on who to invest in. My favorite quote in the middle was that Randy believes in the "Romance not the Finance." The bottom line has to be more about something than just making $!
But most of all it hits home for so many people who are doing what they have to do now, so they can do what they want to do later. Chapter 9: The Gamble is where it gets good. I found the words he uses to describe the differences of business risks and personal risks to be exactly where I am in life (28 with a great job that I could continue to make $, but have to compromise my creativity, work with people I don't respect, working for a company who's core values are different than mine, and doing something I don't care about). Or seek out that other career that is not so certain but is my passion and I could see myself doing it for life.
Thanks Tim and Randy for the words. I am a Whole Lifer Now!
RC
Customer Rating:
Summary: Metaphysical Capitalism
Comment: Liked the author, enjoyed the insight into the world of venture capitalism but this book could have been an article in a magazine. It seemed to me like a long walk for a short pay-off. I get the point but felt like the author was purposely stringing you along for some bigger pay-off that did not happen.
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