Below, within my review of Happywork, you’ll find three groups of people who you’ll hope read this book as soon as they can get their hands on it.
Quite a while back, I made two specific New Year’s Resolutions:
- I vowed to consume my life source, chocolate, daily.
- I vowed to read my favorite (non-family/non-Biblical) author, Agatha Christie, daily.
What do these resolutions tell you about me? Well, pretty much all you need to know. I like, very much, to set myself up for success. They also tell you another truth – I may, I just may, mind you, be nuttier than a Payday candy bar.
Dipped in chocolate, of course.
I would have also resolved to spoil my family and cats rotten, obsess over animals, and drink coffee like its my job – but, let’s be honest – I already have a gold medal in each of these sports and carry them out as often as I breathe.
I only mention these resolutions to get at this: I am obsessed with Agatha Christie mysteries and have read and re-read them for years. My favorites are the Hercule Poirot stories and often thank the literary Heavens that the great Christie wrote so many of them.
A recent non-Agatha Christie book I read – and enjoyed very much – made me think of my much loved Hercule Poirot mysteries. You’ll see the tie-in soon enough.
(Review continued below Charlie’s great quote…)
Happywork, by Chris Reimer, is a highly unique book and, as you would imagine, I love anything that can be described as highly unique.
With Happywork, Chris Reimer has given us a highly entertaining parable – a fictitious story that holds wisdom and very sound teachings within the plot, characters, and dialogue.
A fictitious manufacturing company (“Vunorri Inc”) is in deep, deep trouble. The hero of the story, Sam Maslow (a “turnaround specialist“) is called in to save the day. This is where yours truly, the Agatha Christie fan girl, drew an instant comparison to Hercule Poirot. Sam is called in to get to the bottom of the problem, as Poirot would be called in to solve a mystery.
Sam Maslow runs into mysteries of his own. He only has a certain amount of time to BOTH find the problem and eliminate the problem. And without Poirot’s sidekick Captain Hastings!
Along the way, author Chris Reimer gives the reader a lot of opportunities to reflect over our own approach to work – to be more specific, our attitudes toward work and the way we treat others. We see both sides of the story as they relate to the workplace, the employers and the employees. More importantly, we see how each of these two equally important and necessary groups must have respect for one another.
They have to realize that they’re all working to keep the same ship afloat because, make no mistake about it, if it goes down, they’re all going down with it.
Three Groups of People Who Will Want to Read Happywork:
- Men and Women in Managerial Positions. The mysteries unraveled by Sam aren’t entirely fictitious. These mysteries – or crimes against management, if you will – happen every single day. If not these exact occurrences, then certainly similar ones. That’s the bad news. The good news is that, once identified, these problems can be remedied. However, make no mistake about it – identity must come first. I think Happywork has the power to open a lot of eyes. When eyes remain closed, the company soon follows suit. And, let’s face it, closed companies are bad business.
- Men and Women in the Workplace… any workplace. If you have co-workers, whether it’s one or one hundred, Happywork can help you with your attitude – toward work as well as your attitude toward your co-workers and “bosses.” We all look at life, whether it’s our home life or work life through our own personal window. Father Time, discouragements, disappointments, stress, and disagreements can leave streaks and smears across our “work window.” After awhile, we find ourselves looking through a window PAIN as opposed to a PANE. Happywork could be just the thing you need to clean that glass. If you stop to think about the number of hours a week… month… and year you spend at work, you’ll soon realize that the window through which you look at this particular scenery of your life is of the utmost importance. How we see our world determines, to a very large extent, our world. Oftentimes a simple change of attitude can bring greater contentment, peace, purpose, and something you may not associate with work… happiness.
- People who Enjoy a Great Story! I work entirely from home with my web publishing business. My co-workers? My cats. My bosses? My cats. Can you say, “Zero drama.”? However, even I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Obviously, I enjoy a good mystery. Watching Sam get to the bottom of problems (sometimes in spite of himself) was greatly entertaining and – without giving anything away – I will say that, like Agatha Christie, he provided a couple of plot twists and shockers along the way.
About the Author Chris Reimer:
Chris Reimer is an award-winning communications strategist, a humanist, and a student of human interaction. He founded Rizzo Tees, a t-shirt company headquartered in his basement. Using the skills gained from marketing his t-shirt business, he went on to become possibly the only human alive who went from being a CPA and CFO to a marketing and communications strategist.
Chris is currently Marketing Director at both Kaldi’s Coffee and Honolulu Coffee, is a guest lecturer at Washington University, and resides in St. Louis, MO with his wife and two daughters. He is passionate about improving the way humans treat each other, and that especially includes adding more NICE to the workplace. He drinks coffee in the morning and red wine at night, and loves everything Italian.
Join him on HappyworkBook.com, or say hi on Twitter at @ChrisReimer (99% he’ll say hi back). – From “Happywork”
Happywork: A Business Parable About the Journey to Teamwork, Profit, and Purpose is now available on Amazon!
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