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Good Business
Book

Good Business

Leadership, Flow, and the Making of Meaning

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Penguin, 2004
First Edition: 2003

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Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Applicable

Recommendation

Take a look at the scandal-filled headlines, or just read a Dilbert comic strip about cubicle culture, and the message is clear: the business world is cutthroat, unethical and no fun. But here comes psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi with a contrarian message. Work should be fun, and companies should care about something aside from the bottom line. Using examples such as clothing maker Patagonia and investment pioneer Sir John Templeton, Csikszentmihalyi makes a convincing case that profits must come after meaning. Patagonia, for instance, lets workers take surf breaks, and Templeton became a model of full engagement. getAbstract suggests this book to any manager seeking a better way to do things, and to any employee hankering for deeper job satisfaction.

Take-Aways

  • Things are going wrong in the business world: corporate scandals have revealed some business leaders as frauds and many workers view their jobs as unpleasant.
  • The business world doesn’t have to be this way; companies can be run by principled leaders and jobs can be fun and can foster flow.
  • Responsible organizations know employees aren’t cogs, and know that greater priorities outweigh this quarter’s bottom line.

About the Author

Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi was born in Hungary. He is a professor of psychology at the Peter F. Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California, where he is also the director of the non-profit Quality of Life Research Center. Csikszentmihalyi’s previous books include Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience and The Evolving Self: A Psychology for the Third Millennium.

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