---
product_id: 1702060
title: "Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace"
price: "826159₫"
currency: VND
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 9
url: https://www.desertcart.vn/products/1702060-orbiting-the-giant-hairball-a-corporate-fools-guide-to-surviving
store_origin: VN
region: Vietnam
---

# Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace

**Price:** 826159₫
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace
- **How much does it cost?** 826159₫ with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.vn](https://www.desertcart.vn/products/1702060-orbiting-the-giant-hairball-a-corporate-fools-guide-to-surviving)

## Best For

- Customers looking for quality international products

## Why This Product

- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Description

Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace [MacKenzie, Gordon] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace

Review: Still a great read, becoming a 'hidden' gem - Here's a little gem of a book that I missed and maybe you did, too. It's an unlikely book for me because it's not a topic I go looking for and the somewhat cutesy format would probably have put me off. But it came highly recommended and I loved it. To understand the book you have to know that the author worked for the Hallmark greeting card company for over 30 years, first as a sketch artist and eventually as an upper-level manager. Then, as he puts it, he escaped the "hairball" by creating his own job with the title, Creative Paradox. Here's a quote from the book that in really summarizes the whole thing: "...I contrived a private agenda to subvert the stupefying power of the corporate culture and provoke the emancipation of creative genius... in myself and others..." Now the corporate hairball he speaks of is the tangled mess of bureaucratic procedure and thinking that kills originality, stifles imagination and becomes so massive as to suck everyone into itself via it's gravity. Escape is futile if you work there--but, MacKenzie writes, it is just possible to launch yourself away from it, keep a bit of distance and keep the creativity. In other words to be in orbit! The book is full of `creative' typography, odd bits of art, and doodles. That's why I probably would have passed it by--too weird. But do NOT let that put you off. This is a wonderful book with powerful ideas that will stimulate your creativity and get you to thinking about things in whole new ways. The first story he tells is poignant and strongly echoes Sir Ken Robinson's [...] talk. Gordon writes how he was invited to visit grade school classes to show the kids his welded-steel art of fanciful animals and such (a hobby). The kids loved it and he got to be a popular guest. He opened each visit by praising the kids' artwork in the classroom and halls and asking them who among them liked being an artist. Universally, the K-1st grade groups would jump up and talk excitedly. They all loved doing the artwork and claimed the title of artist with enthusiasm. By 6th grade none of the kids reacted that way--they no longer thought of themselves as creative or artists. The question of why and how we do that to our kids echoes Robinson and is a theme that traces it's way through the book: what it means to be creative and how that energy can be recaptured and put to work in a corporate environment. He writes about it's importance and its rarity--even at Hallmark. This is a book that should be on the shelf of everyone. Get it, read it and enjoy.
Review: Excellent and fun at the same time! - "Orbiting" is one of my all-time favorite books for its important message hidden within a fun and interesting narrative. It is an autobiography of Gorden MacKenzie's organizational life as a creative force at Hallmark Cards. The Hairball is "policy, procedure, conformity, compliance, rigidity, and submission to the status quo, while Orbiting is originality, rule-breaking, non-conformity, experimentation, and innovation" (p. 39). It is difficult to write much about this book without spoiling the fun and discovery of reading it. Therefore, this review will be purposely brief and simply hint at some of the reasons I highly recommend this book: Favorite quote 1: "Companies we work for... have their perceptions of reality and they impose them on us. As a result, we are wrapped in a cocoon of realities perceived by others who came before us. It is a cocoon that gives us a sense of emotional security through connection to a shared belief. But it is also a shroud that binds and cripples us..." (p. 45). Many will recognize the forced team-building exercises that MacKenzie describes in this next quote. Favorite quote 2: "Mandatory fun is the force-feeding of some cockeyed activity to a captive audience with intent to generate joviality. Almost without exception, these ill-advised intrusions fail to create the mirth they are intended to. The result is a discomfort that everyone feels, but no one acknowledges (p. 118). Clearly the best part of the book are the stories that mark the author's journey through the company and speak clearly about how the exercise of power impacts the lives of individuals and the success of organizations. I especially enjoyed the power struggles over insignificant policies such as office trash bins. Overall, I can't really say what this book is about. Some will see it as a book on innovation, some will see it as surviving as an individual deep inside a corporate bureaucracy, and some will see it as a triumph of the creativity of the human spirit. For me, it's a wonderful example of the complexity of organizational life and evidence that emergent outcomes are more than "the sum of the parts". From a complexity management perspective, these narratives bring richness and reality to how real organizations actually function and evolve (or stagnate). [...]

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #53,169 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #169 in Creativity (Books) #291 in Motivational Management & Leadership #383 in Business Management (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (673) |
| Dimensions  | 5.31 x 0.75 x 7.32 inches |
| Edition  | First Edition |
| ISBN-10  | 0670879835 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0670879830 |
| Item Weight  | 12.6 ounces |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 224 pages |
| Publication date  | April 1, 1998 |
| Publisher  | Viking |

## Images

![Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81CWOMm50PL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Still a great read, becoming a 'hidden' gem
*by D***K on May 2, 2010*

Here's a little gem of a book that I missed and maybe you did, too. It's an unlikely book for me because it's not a topic I go looking for and the somewhat cutesy format would probably have put me off. But it came highly recommended and I loved it. To understand the book you have to know that the author worked for the Hallmark greeting card company for over 30 years, first as a sketch artist and eventually as an upper-level manager. Then, as he puts it, he escaped the "hairball" by creating his own job with the title, Creative Paradox. Here's a quote from the book that in really summarizes the whole thing: "...I contrived a private agenda to subvert the stupefying power of the corporate culture and provoke the emancipation of creative genius... in myself and others..." Now the corporate hairball he speaks of is the tangled mess of bureaucratic procedure and thinking that kills originality, stifles imagination and becomes so massive as to suck everyone into itself via it's gravity. Escape is futile if you work there--but, MacKenzie writes, it is just possible to launch yourself away from it, keep a bit of distance and keep the creativity. In other words to be in orbit! The book is full of `creative' typography, odd bits of art, and doodles. That's why I probably would have passed it by--too weird. But do NOT let that put you off. This is a wonderful book with powerful ideas that will stimulate your creativity and get you to thinking about things in whole new ways. The first story he tells is poignant and strongly echoes Sir Ken Robinson's [...] talk. Gordon writes how he was invited to visit grade school classes to show the kids his welded-steel art of fanciful animals and such (a hobby). The kids loved it and he got to be a popular guest. He opened each visit by praising the kids' artwork in the classroom and halls and asking them who among them liked being an artist. Universally, the K-1st grade groups would jump up and talk excitedly. They all loved doing the artwork and claimed the title of artist with enthusiasm. By 6th grade none of the kids reacted that way--they no longer thought of themselves as creative or artists. The question of why and how we do that to our kids echoes Robinson and is a theme that traces it's way through the book: what it means to be creative and how that energy can be recaptured and put to work in a corporate environment. He writes about it's importance and its rarity--even at Hallmark. This is a book that should be on the shelf of everyone. Get it, read it and enjoy.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent and fun at the same time!
*by W***D on November 9, 2013*

"Orbiting" is one of my all-time favorite books for its important message hidden within a fun and interesting narrative. It is an autobiography of Gorden MacKenzie's organizational life as a creative force at Hallmark Cards. The Hairball is "policy, procedure, conformity, compliance, rigidity, and submission to the status quo, while Orbiting is originality, rule-breaking, non-conformity, experimentation, and innovation" (p. 39). It is difficult to write much about this book without spoiling the fun and discovery of reading it. Therefore, this review will be purposely brief and simply hint at some of the reasons I highly recommend this book: Favorite quote 1: "Companies we work for... have their perceptions of reality and they impose them on us. As a result, we are wrapped in a cocoon of realities perceived by others who came before us. It is a cocoon that gives us a sense of emotional security through connection to a shared belief. But it is also a shroud that binds and cripples us..." (p. 45). Many will recognize the forced team-building exercises that MacKenzie describes in this next quote. Favorite quote 2: "Mandatory fun is the force-feeding of some cockeyed activity to a captive audience with intent to generate joviality. Almost without exception, these ill-advised intrusions fail to create the mirth they are intended to. The result is a discomfort that everyone feels, but no one acknowledges (p. 118). Clearly the best part of the book are the stories that mark the author's journey through the company and speak clearly about how the exercise of power impacts the lives of individuals and the success of organizations. I especially enjoyed the power struggles over insignificant policies such as office trash bins. Overall, I can't really say what this book is about. Some will see it as a book on innovation, some will see it as surviving as an individual deep inside a corporate bureaucracy, and some will see it as a triumph of the creativity of the human spirit. For me, it's a wonderful example of the complexity of organizational life and evidence that emergent outcomes are more than "the sum of the parts". From a complexity management perspective, these narratives bring richness and reality to how real organizations actually function and evolve (or stagnate). [...]

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ OUTSTANDING!! Gordon MacKenzie is my hero!
*by W***R on October 24, 2015*

"Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace" is a must-read for anyone looking to navigate the often-crazy world of corporate life. The book is written by Gordon MacKenzie, an artist and former executive at Hallmark Cards, and it's full of wisdom, wit, and inspiration. One of the key themes of the book is the importance of staying true to yourself and your values, even in a corporate environment. MacKenzie encourages readers to be creative and to embrace their individuality, and he provides practical tips for how to do so. Another strength of the book is its humor and warmth. MacKenzie writes with a light touch, and his anecdotes and observations are often amusing and insightful. He has a talent for finding the absurdity and absurdity in corporate life, and his writing is full of wit and wisdom. Overall, "Orbiting the Giant Hairball" is a delightful and inspiring book that is sure to be of interest to anyone looking to survive and thrive in the corporate world. It's a must-read for anyone looking to find joy and meaning in their work. I've gifted this book to dozens of friends and business colleagues over the years and reread it myself every few years just for the pure enjoyment of it.

---

## Why Shop on Desertcart?

- 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016
- 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories
- 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price
- 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members)
- 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection
- ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews

**Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.vn/products/1702060-orbiting-the-giant-hairball-a-corporate-fools-guide-to-surviving](https://www.desertcart.vn/products/1702060-orbiting-the-giant-hairball-a-corporate-fools-guide-to-surviving)

---

*Product available on Desertcart Vietnam*
*Store origin: VN*
*Last updated: 2026-06-04*