Aesop & the CEO: Powerful Business Insights from Aesop's Ancient Fables

This little masterpiece of a book is an absolute gem. Marketed as a business book, Noonan has taken a very clever premise -- using the "wisdom" inherent in Aesop's familiar fairy tales -- and structured a book dense with wisdom and extremely entertaining and thought-provoking stories and anecdotes. Similar to the classic The Elements of Style, which very concisely tells you everything you need to know about grammar and writing, "Aesop and the CEO" succinctly addresses the entire realm of business: hiring and firing, employee rewards, marketing, sales, etc. Each topic is kept to a page or two, and Noonan presents the nugget front and center: no searching required. The true genius of the book is how an animal-based story from 2000 years ago is paired with a current, well-known business figure (Sam Walton, Bill Gates, Howard Johnson, Donald Trump, etc.) through which it becomes clear that truths are timeless, although the names change. This much alone would have resulted in a book that is well worth the modest price. But what made the book so memorable to me were the compelling vignettes, anecdotes, and stories that were used to provide context to the lessons. Similarly to The Tipping Point, a book with an interesting premise that was made so much more vivid and memorable through the use of great story-telling, Noonan's tome has catapulted itself from being "merely" a business book to an instruction manual about life itself by its master storytelling. It is quite simply a suberb effort. This book is not the last we will hear from Mr. Noonan, I suspect. [Nor is it the first: he also co-authored a textbook called Groundwater Remediation and Petroleum (no doubt a best seller!)] I for one cannot wait for his next effort.

David Noonan's latest work is brilliant in concept and execution. Noonan has dusted off the 2000+ year old fables of Aesop, accomplished the scholarly research, and demonstrated in a succint yet very readable style that the wisdom of ancients holds true today. A "must read" for students and practitioners of leadership.

Within the limits of this genre which Noonan clearly recognizes, his book is far superior to so many others which also use a prominent historical figure as a source of business wisdom. (For example, Caligula on Values-Driven Leadership.) He carefully organizes his material within nine sections and employs the same format for each. In "Winning Business Strategies," for example, he examines seven of Aesop's fables in terms of (a) a contemporary CEO and/or company and (b) the key lesson to be learned from that fable: "The Lion, the Bear, and the Fox": Michael Dell demonstrates that sometimes new opportunities exist even in a fiercely competitive society. "The Fox and the Cat": Dunkin Donuts demonstrates that an organization should not be distracted from what it does best. "The Fox and the Lion": The success of a small hardware store in direct competition with Home Depot demonstrates that, sometimes, it is both sensible and prudent to find ways to cooperate with the competition. "The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing": General Patton's invasion of Italy demonstrates that a sound plan executed today is preferable to a perfect plan that's too late. "The Ant and the Grasshopper": W. Edwards Deming's first principle of management demonstrates that effective long-term planning is the key to survival and eventual success. "The Farmer and His Sons": Warren Bennis' use of Avis Rent a Car demonstrates that having an appropriate vision will enable everyone involved to know the business inside and out. Finally, "The Eagle and the Beetle": Ulysses S. Grant's attack on Fort Donelson demonstrates the importance of determining how to get ahead of the competition...and then stay there. Note the variety of situations, yes, but also the diversity of focal points which range from Dell through Patton and Deming to Grant. The same can be said of each of the other sections. Who else has identified correlations between "The Donkey Eating Thistles" and Mary Kay Ash, Peggy Noonan, and Sumner Redstone? Between "The Fox and the Crow" and Dale Carnegie and Paul Harvey? Between "The Fox and the Goat" and [The] Donald Trump? Highly entertaining material, to be sure, and certainly cleverly presented. However, the business lessons (albeit obvious) are worthy of reiteration and seem so much more vital when each is anchored within an unexpected context. To David Noonan I now offer an appreciative "Well-done!"

As an avid reader of business and management-oriented titles, I found Aesop and the CEO thoroughly engaging. The central concept draws parallels between Aesop's timeless fables and case studies from the modern business cannon, illuminating some simple truths found in both. Aesop and the CEO covers a broad range of subjects, in easy to digest chapters. I personally enjoyed the sections on management, leadership and motivation. It was unusual to find "lessons learned" by business, political, sports and cultural leaders (including Mary K. Ash, Rudolph Giuliani, Ulysses S. Grant, Edward Deming, the Beatles and a local hardware store) all in one volume. The book is uniformly well written and a fast read. The "morals" drawn from Aesop's stories and the business cases recounted in each chapter are widely applicable to today's social, business, civic and professional endeavors. These lessons will stimulate the reader's personal re-evaluation of past experiences and provide a richer perspective for future decision making. This book is appropriate for for the casual reader seeking a refresher on some of life's simple truths, the experienced manager searching for insights on unifying and motivating teams, and marketers or senior executives charged with defining strategic direction for their product line or business.