Saturday, August 1, 2009

Book Review - Upbeat


Rajesh started a company during the dot-com bust in 2000. He says it was a blessing in disguise though he never felt it that way then. He tells his experience of what he learn then and about how to thrive in business having an 'Upbeat' attitude.

As the saying 'It is your attitude that determines your altitude," Rajesh guides us how to choose the right attitude in these tough times. He asks us to avoid the many traps which hit us day in and day out making us even more a part of the problem than of the solution. He prods us to be tenacious, disciplined, flexible and more true to ourselves. He asks us to set higher standards for ourselves and raise the bar in the market and in the process becoming more remarkable and valuable.

Rajesh always has a great take on relationships and network. He teaches how to leverage and improve the network in these tough times by adding more value to it. I liked what he has to say on strategy.
Imagination is a poor substitute for reality. Otherwise people will imagine their way out of their troubles. Reality is real. Now that you have accepted reality, you need a game plan to address this reality and accommodate in your thrive plan. This will call for ruthless re-priortization of your projects.

And finally he exhorts us to play the game rather than watching it from the sidelines by saying "you need to paly the game to get somewhere"

As it is said knowing is not doing, doing is doing, Upbeat has a D I Y helpbook, after it offering practical suggestions to implement the various ideas explained in the book. I liked the excercises very much and it will surely help in making the most of the book.

Seth Godin says that the content of the business book can be condensed into a few lines, and Rajesh's message in Upbeat is to choose the right attitude and focus on what we can control and to tenaciously stay the course. Then why write a book ? It is about the motivation, it is about the persuation and the call for action and Rajesh doesnt just stop there but offers practical tips on how to go about applying the ideas in the book. Ultimately, though it is clear that we have to invent our solutions to the recession problem, reading this small book would definitely put us ahead in finding our solutions.
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