The Brand You 50: Reinventing Work (Reinventing work)

In The Brand You 50, Peters sees a new kind of corporate citizen who believes that surviving means not blending in but standing out. He believes that "90+ per cent of White Collar Jobs will be totally reinvented/reconceived in the next decade" and that job security means developing marketable skills, making yourself distinct and memorable, and developing your network ability. His list-filled prescriptions cover everything; for example, "You are Your Rolodex I: BRAND YOU IS A TEAM" (no. 22), "Consider your 'product line'" (no. 25), "Work on your Optimism" (no. 35), "Sell. SELL. SELL!!!" (no. 47). While the book is overwhelming at times--its hyperactive typography pretty much shouts at you--any baby boomer thinking about his or her career will find much to consider. --Harry C Edwards, Amazon.com

However, you have to be prepared for the annoying style in which it is written. It's as if his thoughts have gone straight into print without having gone through the process of translating into written English.

Four stars.


Guide for the Free Agent Employee (Contractor) Universe-Wow!   May 29, 2004
Donald Mitchell (Boston)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful

There has been a lot written and said about how white collar employees will start acting like free agents in sports. This trend is already well advanced with software writers and other scarce professionals. Tom Peters has moved well beyond what has already happened to create a useful portrait of how to play this new role in order to have the most satisfaction and success. Further, he asserts that those in the non-scarce areas like human resources, purchasing, and so forth had better do the same thing . . . because 90% of these jobs will be gone in 10 years. I sometimes think that Tom Peters overstates things, but in this one area I think he is understating what needs to be done. Whether you are an employee, want to start your own firm, have friends and children who want good careers, or have just lost your job, this is an extremely important book on how to take charge of your own career (and to help those you care about do the same) to create the most benefit for those you serve (your clients, in Peters parlance)and yourself. Although you will recognize all of the ideas from having seen them elsewhere before, you will find the way he has woven them together to be practical, mutually-supportive and thought-provoking. I know that I got several good ideas from this book. As a business book author who helps people get a lot more with less ... and in less time, I found an additional benefit. This book is a great profile of how to be Tom Peters, the world's most successful business guru. I found this to be his most self-revealing book, and although I have always liked his work, I found that liked him personally a lot better as a result of what he shows about himself. If you are a Tom Peters fan, be sure to add this book to your reading list! You'll be glad you did. You'll live a much more interesting, meaningful, productive life as a result. This book is part of his 3 book series: Reinventing Work. I also recommend his book, Professional Service Firm 50, and you can read my comments about that book on that book's page on Amazon.com.


Trancends even dumbed-down.   April 23, 2000
4 out of 19 found this review helpful

Tom Peters seems to believe that bold letters, large fonts and exclamation points can take the place of concise ideas and well-constructed sentences. If you find the TV listings rough going, this is the book for you.