Reviewed by Glain Roberts-McCabe
The Premise – Guy Kawasaki is the former Chief Evangelist of Apple, and has applied his knowledge of how to create a ‘cult-like’ following in the pages of his book Enchantment. The book covers what you would expect – how to enchant customers in a variety of ways – but also explores how to enchant your employees and even your boss. Kawasaki has taken the lessons learned from being an evangelist, entrepreneur and venture capitalist into a highly readable series of stories and concrete strategies and tactics. Mixed throughout the book are personal stories from a variety of people of ‘enchantment’ experiences that bring his lessons to life. The first few chapters start with how to make yourself ‘enchanting’ to others and then shift to building that deep level of engagement with your customers and eventually other stakeholders (like employees and boss). There’s even a chapter on how to resist enchantment from people who don’t have your best interests at heart. (Something that might have come in handy for many US voters).
The Bottom Line – True confession. My friend Chris Taylor gave me this book many years ago and I just never got around to reading it. Given that we’re coming up to February and all things love and kindness, it seemed like a good one to crack open. I really loved this book. It’s written for people like me who like to get right to the ‘so what’ and ‘now what’ of learning. Kawasaki has a very conversational writing style that makes this and quick and easy read. In addition, each chapter (nearly) stands alone so you can skip the ones you don’t want and dive into the things that are most relevant. Like any books that bring in technology, some of the advice around social engagement feel a bit dated, but there’s still lots of good foundational ideas in there that you can leverage. The chapter on Enchanting Your Boss won’t give you any earth shattering insights but it did remind me that sometimes it’s really about the simple things: deliver more than you promised; make their life easier; get the bad news out early (I hope my colleagues are all reading this!). Lots of common sense wisdom in there. I took a few nuggets from this book and would definitely recommend it as a quick read with some simple and instantly actionable takeaways.
Recommendation – recommended for anyone interested in the steps it takes to build a loyal tribe.
