Analysis of Success Built to Last - Creating a Life that Matters - Book Report/Review Example

Book Review Introduction The book titled Success Built to Last: Creating a Life that Matters is one of the bestselling books in the 21st century. The book is written by three of the greatest authors of the century: Jerry Porras, Stewart Emery and Mark Thompson. One of the author, Jerry Porras, is a professor at Stanford University. Besides being an author and a professor, he is also a business management analyst with a better understanding of business. The other author Stewart Emery is renowned worldwide for his books and also as an excellent speaker and educator. Lastly, the third author of the book is Mark Thompson, who is well known for his key notes in several of his writings and is also a venture capitalist (Porras, Emery & Thompson, 2007). Contextually, the objective of the paper is to review the book Success Built to Last: Creating a Life that Matters for better understanding and analysis. In this regard, the main gist of the book is pointed out along with critical concepts. Moreover, the review also reveals the accuracy of information that is written in the book. Based on these aspects of critical understanding, a conclusion is also drawn at the end. Point of View The book Success Built to Last: Creating a Life that Matters is written in the background of some of the largest organizations of the world and their success factors. It not only contains: examples of big organizations but also adequate information about some of the small and the medium sized enterprises. Besides, analyzing the business organizations, the book also contains the learning factors from some of the greatest personalities of the world. These personalities include Nelson Mandela, Richard Branson, and several other renowned presidents of the past and also some sports personalities. The book provides a clear understanding about the habits and key success factors that would support the individuals and organizations of the present day to lead to progress. The core objective of the book is to reveal some of the key success factors of the renowned individuals and organizations of the past and present to help the people of the modern day and organization in order to gain excellence. In the process of writing the book, the authors have extensively interviewed several world famous personalities to get an in-depth knowledge about their views regarding success. Through this approach, the key concept of success factor along with leadership and more has become evident in the book (Porras et al., 2007). Book’s Authority The key concepts of the book are well defined through citation of several personalities and organizations. In this regard, one of the key concepts of the book is to define about the balance in life of an individual. This aspect was attained by citing examples and instances about Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and others, who did not have major issues in maintaining balance of life. These personalities did not segregate their proportion of daily time in order to have a perfect balance, but rather did things that mattered to them. This citation of examples of those personalities clearly defines the concept of the book and its well written structure. Besides the citation of examples of great personalities, the authors also cited some quotations of those personalities. There are several quotations of the renowned personalities like Sir Richard Branson, Herb Kelleher, Frances Hesselbein, Steve Forbes, David Stern, and many more. This quotation clearly defines the concept of the book and hence, upgrades the authority of the same (Porras et al., 2007). The book covers a wider concept regarding the foundation of critical success factors of an individual or an organization. In this regard, the book has revealed the essence of leadership to be one of the most success factors for an individual or an organization. Contextually, there are several concepts of Peter Drucker that has been adapted. Leadership is one such aspect, which is important for the success of an organization. The approach of an individual and the behavior displayed while dealing with issues related to management effectively leads to a strong form of leadership. It also covers the concept of balance of life, which is considered to be very spontaneous, through the citation some of the examples of greatest personalities of the world. Moreover, in the book there is also a concept of the self motivation. Self motivation leads to the efficiency and effectiveness of an individual to perform. This is also referred from the successful sports person of the worlds, who are highly self motivated and possess a strong enthusiasm to be successful in the match. This self motivation would not only help the sports person, but also equally generate enthusiasm amid common people in becoming successful. Another concept that has been highlighted in the book is the importance of perfect planning or strategy. Perfect planning leads to a certain direction for the organization as well as for individuals. This is vital for the success of an individual or an organization. It is also referred that most of the well known organization of the world had been successful after the due adaptation of a perfect strategy. Several leaders of the world, who are engaged into certain movements imposed certain effective strategy and based upon this, the movement were successful. Further, according to the words of Remen, culture is also an important aspect of achieving success. According to Remen, culture of an individual determines the leadership skill and hence, leads to the success of individual and group (Porras et al., 2007). Although, the book contains almost every aspects that leads to the success of an individual or an organization, but still a core concept that is considered to be a success factor by many is missing. Subsequently, the adequate structure is extensively important for an organization. However, the book exclusively determines the success factors of individuals and organizations as a success key (Porras et al., 2007). Accuracy of Information The information that is provided in the book is accurate. This is in terms of citations of the examples and so also with the quotations. There is hardly any case of temperament of the information. The book elaborates about the accurate information that helps in considering the success factors. Back Matter The overall editing of the book has been very perfect. There is hardly any sign of any loopholes in the editing. The book contains endnotes, bibliographical index and the index has been perfectly arranged with accuracy. The three authors have extensively used interviews for the purpose of the development of the concept with regards to the success factors. These sources are referred as primary sources of data or information. These primary sources are used to develop the core concept of the book (Porras et al., 2007). Conclusion The book Success Built to Last: Creating a Life that Matters that has been the bestseller is because of the certain factors that have been adapted by the authors. The book is elaborated through the collection of several primary sources that upgrades the authority and the authenticity of the same. Moreover, there are hardly any signs of the temperament of the information and so also the editing is also been very excellent. Further, with regards to the contents of the book some of the key concepts that have developed determine the success of an individual or an organization. These include the essence of leadership, strategy, and more for achieving success. It is also to be noted that the great personalities of the world did not segregate their work life. The balance amid the two comes in spontaneous. However, it is to be noted that one of the key factors that has been missed out is the importance of structure. Nonetheless, the concepts that are defined in the book should be implemented for attaining success of an individual as well as an organization. Reference Porras, J., Emery, S., & Thompson, M. (2007). Success Built to Last. India: Pearson Education India. Read More