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matthewjhsmith's review
challenging
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
4.0
Quick read. One of the more interesting and useful lenses through which to think about ways that people work. Definitely made me reflect about how my team and I work best and where some of our gaps in the model are.
seanshadow's review
4.0
Great as always, Lencioni has such a unique way of illustrating his points with fables. Here i’m going to dock it a star because honestly, while that fable was helpful it was far too long. Shortened by 1/3-1/2 and more meat given to the actual model I would have been a happy man.
I am very excited to begin implementing this with our team soon though. The review is for the book not model, model seems solid.
I am very excited to begin implementing this with our team soon though. The review is for the book not model, model seems solid.
zabeishumanish's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
3.75
It is unbelievably trippy to listen to a memoir-style book from the cult leader of a cult of personality that developed in a corporate American office company. Highly recommend it just for the sheer insanity involved.
The book is bad, and very poorly written, but the model described is super cool and likely very helpful for people who work in corporate teams.
The book is bad, and very poorly written, but the model described is super cool and likely very helpful for people who work in corporate teams.
zabeishumanish's review against another edition
3.5
Reading this book was more of a rollercoaster than any amusement park ride I've ever been on. This was a ride! I had a wildly fun time reading this book, but not at all for the reasons the author would want. For the LOLs, the shits, and the gigs this book was so fun.
I'm highly confident Patrick Lencioni didn't write this book, and that it was completed by a ghostwriter. I have nothing but respect for ghostwriters and their craft, but a book serving your cult of personality is a bold choice. It isn't just that the ghostwriting doesn't serve the self-help memoir genre well, but also that the quality of the ghostwriting is too poor to even passably be believable. In general, the writing is badly done.
The working genius model does seem super useful for any kind of work that is frequently conducted in teams. Any model that requires so much of the author's backstory to understand it though, is something I am immediately suspicious of.
Beyond the poor ghostwriting, I don't think I have much I can say to review this. The reading journal notes I took while reading may give you some semblance of the experience of reading this book;
38%
This book is psychotic, so so deep into cult of personality shit, but like corporate America cult of personality shit. This book is just "what-if-a-cult-of-personality-developed-in-a-corporate-American-office-company?".
57%
WHY IS THIS CULT OF PERSONALITY SO FUCKING CUTE!!?!?!??!?!??! THEY HAVE NAMES FOR THE DIFFERENT GROUPS OF MEMBERSHIP LEVEL IN THE CORPORATE OFFICE!!!!!!!!!!!! (LITTLES!!!!!) IT IS JUST SO CLASSICALLY FUCKING CULTISH IN SUCH A CUTE LITTLE CORPORATE AMERICAN CULT OF PERSONALITY!!!!!!!
82%
God damn. Why do I believe in the cult-of-personality-man's Model of Working Geniuses right now!?! Why does cult-man's corporate structure of group-work model make sense to me!? God damn it, I'm sold on cult-man's concepts now.
I'm highly confident Patrick Lencioni didn't write this book, and that it was completed by a ghostwriter. I have nothing but respect for ghostwriters and their craft, but a book serving your cult of personality is a bold choice. It isn't just that the ghostwriting doesn't serve the self-help memoir genre well, but also that the quality of the ghostwriting is too poor to even passably be believable. In general, the writing is badly done.
The working genius model does seem super useful for any kind of work that is frequently conducted in teams. Any model that requires so much of the author's backstory to understand it though, is something I am immediately suspicious of.
Beyond the poor ghostwriting, I don't think I have much I can say to review this.
38%
This book is psychotic, so so deep into cult of personality shit, but like corporate America cult of personality shit. This book is just "what-if-a-cult-of-personality-developed-in-a-corporate-American-office-company?".
57%
WHY IS THIS CULT OF PERSONALITY SO FUCKING CUTE!!?!?!??!?!??! THEY HAVE NAMES FOR THE DIFFERENT GROUPS OF MEMBERSHIP LEVEL IN THE CORPORATE OFFICE!!!!!!!!!!!! (LITTLES!!!!!) IT IS JUST SO CLASSICALLY FUCKING CULTISH IN SUCH A CUTE LITTLE CORPORATE AMERICAN CULT OF PERSONALITY!!!!!!!
82%
God damn. Why do I believe in the cult-of-personality-man's Model of Working Geniuses right now!?! Why does cult-man's corporate structure of group-work model make sense to me!? God damn it, I'm sold on cult-man's concepts now.
akross's review
4.0
Read this one as a work assignment and agree 100% with what another user said - Let’s just say that fiction writing is not one of Lencioni’s genuises.
With that said, I opted for the audiobook version, and Ray Porter as the narrator makes a cringe-worth "fable" palatable so I could focus on the meat of the book - the working genius model. Very applicable and usable to the challenges I see our organization and my team facing.
With that said, I opted for the audiobook version, and Ray Porter as the narrator makes a cringe-worth "fable" palatable so I could focus on the meat of the book - the working genius model. Very applicable and usable to the challenges I see our organization and my team facing.