Wednesday, June 25, 2008

More Tuned In

I received a thoughtful reply to my review of Tuned In from Craig Stull. It takes courage to reply to an negative review. Below are Craig's comments and my response.

"Hi Dave,

I just read your review of our book and I would like to thank your for carefully reading the book and taking the time to review it. Although you seemed a little apologetic about some of your comments, we understand where you are coming from. We intentionally wrote the book to address senior levels of management so we focused on “what” needed to be done as opposed to “how.” We have been teaching the “how” for 15 years and realize that, just for the technology industry, it takes over five days of lecture and workshops to drill down into that level.

We considered a deeper level of detail but felt that the book would join the legions of other academic books. We wanted a book that was approachable, practical, and, of course, pragmatic! We wanted to create a book that was a quick read but could convey the concepts of what we evangelize. Details on how to execute the six steps will have to come later through various forms of deliverables.

Again, thanks for taking the time to review Tuned In.

All the best,

Craig Stull
Founder/CEO
Pragmatic Marketing, Inc."

My response:

"Craig: Thank you for your note! I appreciate you taking the time and having the courage to respond. I will update my review to reflect your comments.

Just my view----I work with the top executives of global 500 companies on a daily basis. Most of the executives I work with have been very successful, are bright, and intellectually grasp the issues. The core issues you raise in Tuned In have been in the literature for years. Few executives I work with are not already aware of the what (though some reminders help.) They struggle with the how. They struggle with inspiring their people in executing the how. I believe there is a space somewhere between your coverage, an academic tome, and 5 days of lecture that can provide greater value to these execs.

I have seen some evidence, even through short papers, on focused topics (e.g. “going beyond the interview to discover customer needs before they are aware of the need”) to have an impact and resonate with executives.

Knowing your work, I had hoped you would address that space.

Thanks for taking the time to write. My best wishes to you and your colleagues for the success of your book. I hope you write a sequel on the how---that’s one I can get behind. Regards, Dave"

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