Revved!
Authors Harry Paul and
Ross Reck
Price £8.99
From McGraw-Hill
ISBN 0071465006
In April’s issue of Training and Coaching Today, I had an uncharacteristic Damascene moment. A book, Silos, Politics and Turf Wars, dispelled my cynicism about business parables and fables.
Fear not: it was a temporary conversion and I am a doubter once more thanks to Revved!, a book on workplace dynamics.
Readers are expected to swallow the tale of world-weary divorcee Katie, who, in the course of the book, is transformed from an uninspired manager into enthusiastic leader.
The three-part strategy is memorable enough. It is called winning them over, blowing them away and keeping them revved. But it is told through a patronising tale that sees Katie take advice on “getting revved” from a radio phone-in therapist. She uses this to win over her team. And, dear reader, she marries him.
If readers don’t choke on the story, they will surely gag on the platitudes scattered throughout the book.
Motivational advice such as: “Each and every one of us absolutely loves to be appreciated for who we are” is reminiscent of the morality found on fridge magnets, and not in a business book.
Useful? two out of five
Well-written? two out of five
Value for money? two out of five
