Corporate Canaries: Avoid Business Disasters with a Coal Miner's Secrets

In 2005, I joined a company that I was told would close within 6 weeks. When I arrived the two guys in charge were trying to guess what the last day would be. I disagreed with their assessment of the company & took some steps to turn the company around. After these were successful I was able to persuade them to try a few more steps. 20 months after I arrived, the company completed a profitable year & was headed in the right direction. Then I read this book. I was amazed at how closely the points in the book matched the steps I had taken to turn around the company. So I know first hand that this works, & that alot of organizations just don't make priorities of the points listed therein. I moved on to another company that was struggling & I've done alot of the same things again, with similar results. Read this book & follow the lessons within. Your organization will be better for it.

Interesting read. You will definitely identify descriptions of people you work with or have worked with. Some good basic insights.

This was a very easy read and very insightful. There is much wisdom in the straight-forward teachings of the author and his grandfather. And it is wonderfully current! A must read for anyone interested in business acumen.

Corporate Canaries is one of the few business books I have come across and was better off after having read it. I have since changed my entire approach to managing and feel more secure as a result. I found it to be an easy read and it's not terribly long as well. Lots of great information and lessons packed into this little package!

At the outset, I acknowledge what is more a quibble than a complaint: I prefer the word "organization" to "corporation" or "company" (both of which, obviously, are organizations) while agreeing that just as canaries once protected coal miners, their human counterparts can now protect (your choice) (a) businesses, (b) corporations, (c) organizations, or (d) all of the above. Whether or not Sutton was ever a coal miner is irrelevant. The focus should be on the five so-called "secrets" which he reveals in this book. (None is a head-snapper.) It would be a disservice, however, both to Sutton and to those who read this brief commentary to list the five out of context. They are best revealed within the book's narrative. The same is true of the "Big Secret" which Sutton shares in his final chapter. My advice is to go with the extended "canary" metaphor and allow Sutton to explain which of various business disasters are (key word) avoidable or whose impact can at least be reduced by rigorous preparation. Think of "canaries" as comprising a squadron of early-warning signs. It is imperative to know what they are, and, what each indicates. Those who ignore them do so at great peril. Here are what I consider to be the key points which Sutton stresses, either by explication or implication: 1. Unlike their feathered counterparts, human canaries must be properly trained so that they will recognize and then report potential problems, dangers, etc. and do so in a timely manner. 2. Of equal importance, senior management must ensure that these "messengers" (a.k.a. whistle blowers) are encouraged and rewarded rather than punished. 3. All organizations have points of vulnerability. Everyone involved must be constantly alert to potential threats. Once one is identified, the appropriate person(s) must immediately be informed. 4. All organizations (regardless of size or nature) should have zero tolerance of criminal behavior, of course, but also of inappropriate behavior when in violation of what should be a clearly stated policy or procedure. 5. An organization's human canaries need not, indeed should not be limited to its employees. Customers, vendors, service providers, and "alumni" can also participate in an early-warning system. Sutton makes clever and effective use of the extended "canary" metaphor and also of his grandfather who immigrated (at age 14) from Ballybunion, Ireland, to Harlan, Kentucky, and went to work in a coal mine. It is Grandpa Sutton who serves as the source of the five "secrets," each of which is revealed and then discussed within its own dedicated chapter. This use of what I call "Grandpa fables" may seem a gimmick but it's not. Sutton is too clever for that. Each of the "secrets" suggests lessons which can guide and inform sound business decisions. In each of the first five chapters, Sutton identifies a common problem such as what usually happens when a company's profits sag and its management decides to cure this by adding