Buy-In

Saving Your Good Idea from Getting Shot Down

By: John P. Kotter, Lorne A. Whitehead

Narrated by: Tim Wheeler

You believe in a good idea. You know it could make a crucial difference for you, your organization, your community. You present it, hoping for enthusiastic support. Instead, you get confounding questions, inane comments, and verbal bullets. Before you know what’s hit you, your idea is dead, shot down.

It doesn’t have to be this way, say John Kotter and Lorne Whitehead. In Buy-In, they reveal how to protect good ideas and win the support needed to deliver valuable results. The key? Understand the unfair attack strategies that naysayers, nitpickers, and handwringers deploy with great success time and time again:

• Death by delay: Endlessly putting off or diverting discussion of your idea until all momentum is lost
• Confusion: Presenting so much distracting information that confidence in your proposal dies
• Fear mongering: Stirring up irrational anxieties about your idea
• Character assassination: Undermining your reputation and credibility

Through the device of a fresh and amusing fictional narrative, the authors vividly show how avoiding or attempting to quash attackers doesn’t work. According to their counterintuitive approach, it’s far better to respectfully engage these adversaries and stand your ground with simple, convincing responses that save the day.

©2010 John P. Kotter, Lorne A. Whitehead (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Practical!

A fantastic book. Using a story to illustrate the concept follow with analysis. Like other business fable, the concept is clear and easy to follow.
The performance is clear, and slightly on the softer side for my preference. Yet, considering persuasion pitch by this book is not hard sell by also on the softer side, hence I will still think it is appropriate.

Practical Application

This book was a good one. The first half is written in story format which gives the reader a chance to hear the concepts in action. It also provides examples of results to expect if you handle a situation one way or another. The second half is loaded with practical applications using real life examples of the concepts being taught.

One thing at a time

Since the subject is interesting, in some aspects falls as "cooking receipes". It will hwlp to those looking for strengthening their abilties to keep on the point, fight in a constructive maner the "no sayers", providing with tips for keeping the mind upright. Good, but not impressed.

Not a good book for audible

There is a lot of great content and stories; however, being in audible format keeps it from being easily referenced. Book best served in readable format.

Good book with great talk on applications

Good read. Used an effective, detailed story/example for the first half of the book to relay the concepts, then took the principles one by one and discussed them in further detail. Great book for those who present ideas to large or small groups and want to know how to effectively prepare a defense so your ideas aren't shot down by petty arguments.