BKNETRDY.RVW   20010208

"Net Ready", Amir Hartman/John G. Sifonis/John Kador, 2000,
0-07-135242-2, U$24.95/C$39.95
%A   Amir Hartman
%A   John G. Sifonis
%A   John Kador
%C   300 Water Street, Whitby, Ontario   L1N 9B6
%D   2000
%G   0-07-135242-2
%I   McGraw-Hill Ryerson/Osborne
%O   U$24.95/C$39.95 800-565-5758 fax: 905-430-5020
%P   314 p.
%T   "Net Ready: Strategies for Success in the E-conomy"

Be fast.  Thrive on chaos.  Trust nobody.  Be first.  Rush.  Hurry. 
Beat the competition.  Push.  Shove.  Look out for number one.  Lead,
follow, or get out of the way.

These are, of course, the mantras of the "e-conomy," "e-business," and
"e-commerce" age.  The authors promote them at almost every turn,
interpsersed with the odd bit of good and thoughtful advice.  The book
starts out with a quote from Epictetus, and the authors say that he
would have been right at home with this modern age of bustle and
blitz.  Taking the first part of the aphorism, that one cannot change
the world, this seems odd, but possible.  In the second part of the
epigraph, however, Epictetus, who was, after all, a Stoic, states that
one should accept that the world is the way it is, and then achieve
peace.  Not quite the message that the book promotes.  The fact that
the authors so thoroughly misunderstand the quotes they present does
not engender confidence in the insight of the rest of their material.

The same kind of inconsistencies riddle the book.  In talking of
leadership, the authors start out with some really beautiful and
insightful points, and then fall back to the old "drive 'em til they
drop" chestnuts.  A list purports to give us instructions on how to
survive in the new economy, but basically boils down to the fact that
success is unpredictable.  The text misses no chance to reiterate the
quote from Andy Grove that only the paranoid survives, but states that
it is important that your customers trust you.  The work also promotes
the idea that quality, customer service, and a good history are to be
ignored.  So how are your customers supposed to trust you?  Promised
new business "models" turn out to be nothing more than a few retreaded
examples.  "Techniques" for transforming your business boil down to a
few cliches and "try something different."

Cisco Systems may very well be "net ready."  However, if so, this
book, produced by their marketing people, is not an endorsement of
that fact.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 2001   BKNETRDY.RVW   20010208