Brilliant or Blunder: 6 Ways Leaders Navigate Uncertainty, Opportunity and Complexity

TLDR; Anecdotes of someone who has worked as a management consultant.I purchased this book because it was required reading for the leadership course. The book is in the vein of self-published vanity books. The book is published by the author's company, Enterprise Management Ltd. Having to use the book for my leadership class is just a way to gouge students out of a few more bucks. Granted what professor doesn't do that?Although because it is self-published it appears that an editor wasn't used. The book really needed a good editor. The amount of incomplete sentences and grammatical errors makes it a difficult read at times. There are so many incomplete anecdotes that it strongly distracts from the messaging. The anecdotes typically are three or four sentences long, without any connecting explanation as to why it is being mentioned or what objective the anecdote is trying to reinforce.If you have been in business world for anytime, you've heard most of the anecdotes and they don't seem to have much connection to the six mindsets Dr. Lippitt is trying to explain. Many of the anecdotes are very dated, than 30 to 40 years before the book's published date of 2014. Given that many of the anecdotes are quite old, subsequent context on some of the anecdotes should be given. An example is Dr. Lippitt mentions Malden Mills and the owner's actions after the mill suffered a significant fire. The fire took place in 1995. I am guessing she wanted to highlight it as positive action. However the owner's actions caused the company to declare bankruptcy in 2001, and to be sold in 2007. Source: Wikipedia.Another issue is that what Dr. Lippitt presents as facts or attributed quotes are wrong. Simple searches on Wikipedia or Snopes can quickly debunk the misstatements. I do understand many of the statements and attributed quotes have been repeated many times that individuals may think they are true. Again a good editor and fact checker could have helped eliminate the issue.Additionally, I was amazingly surprised to see a book on leadership use biblical quotes. Timely references. I can't imagine in what context biblical quotes are appropriate for a leadership book. Additionally too many American pop cultural references are used. After the 10-11 pop culture reference I stopped looking them up.Littered throughout the book are anecdotes that appear to have been generated from her personal company, Enterprise Management Ltd. However, there is no way to verify since Dr. Lippitt doesn't use company names or names of individuals. My guess is because she wasn't granted authorization from the client company.I would strongly avoid this self-indulgent disaster of a book.

There are thousands of books written on leadership. Unfortunately, many of them are based on many untried, academic theories and are chock-full of widely-used, often quoted platitudes of many a modern-day CEO.You won't find them in this book.Brilliant or Blunder provides a refreshing approach beyond what's found in the ordinary books on leadership. Dr. Lippit provides a deeper understanding of the six mindsets that leaders have and she outlines the frameworks used by leaders to make brilliant decisions. Chock full of real-life case studies and situations ranging from politics to the corporate world right down to the everyday decisions we make in our own lives, Brilliant or Blunder serves as an invaluable resource that should be consulted and used by the seasoned leader or one just starting out.Tim Houston, #1 international bestselling author of  The World's Worst Networker: Lessons Learned by The Best From The Absolute Worst! , Leads To Referrals  and  The Referral Rules! 7 Ways to Get More Profitable Referrals .

Dr. Mary B. Lippitt's book is a must read for everyone involved in business. It not only provides the framework for building a successful enterprise, it also provides the road map for sustaining it!I have trained over 3,000 CEO's as a Resource Speaker for Vistage. Working with this population, I have found that what makes your enterprise successful, may not keep it viable as technology and social emphasis rapidly changes.Dr. Lippitt provides the questions you need to continually audit your organization, and the action guidelines we all need to ensure continued success. This book should help to provide a frame of reference for all students who take business courses. It is a must for all executives and entrepreneurs who desire sustained success.

As a consultant working with small and medium sized businesses, I intend to use Dr. Lippitt's Leadership Spectrum Profile in helping business owners recognize and balance the six different mindsets - Inventing, Catalyzing, Developing, Protecting, Performing, and Challenging - they need for growth and success. Although the Leadership Spectrum has been used with many different organizations, I believe the book Brilliant or Blunder adds a rich context to the Leadership Spectrum online profile. When introducing the profile in the future, I will use the book Brilliant or Blunder as an additional resource in working with leadership teams.Margaret O'Donnell, Ph.D.PartnerDIREC ConsultingCentury Plaza10820 Kingston Pike, Suite 23Knoxville, TN 37934Telephone: 865- 456-3123

Mary Lippitt's insightful and inspiring book is a must-read for any organization that wants to promote creativity and innovation among its leadership group. I have bought books before for my management team, only to have them resent being given one more assignment. At our last meeting I read from excerpts from Dr Lippitt's latest and asked if anyone were interested. It was a clean sweep, so I bought a copy for them all, which I look at as less an expense than an investment in my company's future.Frank Mobus, CEO of Mobus Creative Negotiating

Dr. Lippitt's Brilliant or Blunder is a book that coalesces proven theory with an experiential understanding of what is important. Her involvement with Fortune 500 companies shines through in her ability to provide useful advice to guide leaders. Among the plethora of leadership books on the market, this books stands apart because it provides tactical, operational and strategic advice. Leadership is a complicated and tricky construct for which she provides a succinct and understandable approach that will require the type of self-knowledge you need to set yourself up for success.