Product review (4 stars): A New Way of Looking at the Sources of New Ideas
Author Alan Gregerman, ([...] a business consultant and adjunct professor at Georgetown University offers eight pages of additional resources at the end of his fascinating book, saying, "..these books articles, and websites,,,have formed an essential part of the mix that became 'The Necessity of Strangers.' You might say that I started with a large pot and a simple idea, threw in some water, and a few stones, and then wandered around looking for ideas, insights, and perspectives from a world filled with strangers." As you can tell, he includes the authors of books, articles, and websites, as well as ordinary people he encounters in the course of performing the small and large duties of life, in his definition of stranger inspiration. His business audience (Jossey-Bass) is very familiar with the former. Coming out of MBA programs, they look for help from books and articles all the time. It is the latter source of fresh thinking that they may, apart from surveys and polls. ignore. He also points out the importance of the fact that in many interactions, the parties are strangers. Smart business people take this into consideration and make every effort to establish relevant common ground. This seems obvious, but it is a significantly different way of thinking about customer service, collaboration, personnel relations, technological change, innovation, and leadership. The book is well-written, well-organized, and peppered with interesting examples, but it mainly argues for a change in attitude, and if you are a bottom-line business type looking for a quick, ready-made prescription to solve your problems, you may be disappointed. There are no charts or graphs or results of studies. Instead the author offers a road map and directions to set you off on your own journey. If you accept his challenge, he will be the first of a legion of strangers who will transform the human landscape around you.