Sunday, February 14, 2010

Book Review: Obstacles Welcome

There is a certain genre of business related literature that really gets my goat. You know the kind of thing, a tale of difficulties overcome, profits increased for the shareholders, and the (insert number) steps to success, wealth and happiness. Basically I am adverse to self-congratulatory back slapping, unfortunately Ralph de la Vega's book, "Obstacles Welcome", treads the well worn path of such literature.

A quick precis then, kid from Cuba comes to America, struggles at first then makes good, becomes CEO of a major telecommunications company and decides to write a book of inspirational anecdotes to show how he succeeded, usually accompanied by a natty alliterative number of bullet points.

Enough of the cynicism born of reading tome after tome of such works, de la Vega does have a genuinely amazing story, one which would no doubt have made a better autobiography rather than a business guide to success. But in terms of offering something insightful and innovative, he disappoints at almost every turn, yesterday's news re-worded and presented by a new face is still yesterday's news.

Nothing I haven't heard before and a choppy writing style made this a book that infuriated more than it inspired.

2 comments:

Brewers Union Local 180 said...

Lemme guess - another variant on "Name it and Claim It". Always popular.

Alistair Reece said...

More of another book of pop psychology posing as business strategy.