The Go-Giver – Bob Burg & John David Mann
Portfolio | Paperback | October 6, 2015
In this bite-sized paperback, Bob Burg and John David Mann deliver what they believe are “The Five Laws of Stratospheric Success.” The five laws are geared toward helping readers rethink their current mindset and cultivate a new attitude in and out of the workplace that will allow them to be “successful.”
Value
Compensation
Influence
Authenticity
Receptivity
Burg and Mann illustrate these five laws through their ambitious (and average) main character Joe, who is desperately trying to meet his quarterly quota. In a last-ditch effort to get some leverage and clinch some sales, he reaches out to a business guru, Pindar, who offers him the secret to success: giving. As expected, Joe accepts Pindar’s offer and embarks on a week-long, life-altering program.
To put it delicately, Joe’s story is cringe-worthy. Burg and Mann would have been better off condensing their 123-page book into a 35-page article and posting it on Medium. Joe didn’t need to drink 20 cups of coffee, sweat his quota, and have Pindar spell everything out for him, and in turn, make readers feel like they don’t know their toes from their elbows. Without the narrative format, Burg and Mann would have still been able to communicate the same information and they could have done it with more pointed examples.
In the introduction, it is mentioned that since it was first released, The Go-Giver has been used at a number of companies, gyms, and more. Personally, I would have liked to hear those stories and see how everyday people are applying these five laws in and out of the workplace. The narrative Burg and Mann have crafted for Joe is too neat, too picturesque, and I think it might leave readers feeling more skeptical, rather than ready to buy into this mindset.
With all this send, I commend Burg and Mann for creating five laws that people can start to incorporate into their lives straight away. It is extremely feasible to incorporate these five laws into your life within the span of a week, use them to make decisions, and evaluate your every day interactions. Overall, The Go-Giver’s message is worth internalizing because it shows us what happens when we consistently pay attention to little details, take stock in ourselves, and treat people with genuine attention and respect. In a me-centric age, The Go-Givechallenges us to think beyond our bubbles, and take more time to foster and maintain our relationships.
