Paul Woods

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A few weeks ago the June edition of the Australian Marketing Institute’s Marketing Update newsletter was released - and in it is the second book review I have done for the AMI - Getting to Big the Small Way by Frank Prestipino.

For those who are not members of the AMI… here is the review

 BOOK REVIEW

Getting to Big the Small Way

By Frank Prestipino. Published by McGraw-Hill, New York, 2008. 322 pages. RRP AUD$39.95. ISBN 13: 9780071484404.

While taking on a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) can get you out of bed in the morning, chances are getting your project off the ground is fraught with challenges. Budget. Risk management. Board approval. Hmmm, all sounds too hard!

But what if you could fly under the radar and drive significant change in your organisation? In ‘Getting to Big the Small Way’, Frank Prestipino illustrates how taking baby steps to drive change is a sound business strategy.

The book’s argument focuses on the Pareto Principle — that 80% of the benefit is derived from 20% of the effort. Prestipino says that as a business you need to focus on the 20% (or even less) to drive incremental yet significant change in your organisation. All without the red tape and risk associated with big transformation projects.
Although the idea is similar to that of Tim Ferris in ‘The 4 Hour Work Week‘, ‘Getting to Big the Small Way’ targets what a business or marketing team (not an individual) should be focusing on to drive significant returns.

For example, moving into adjacent markets and exploiting the products, skills and resources that are already at your fingertips, or closing the perception gap between how you and your customers see your organisation. Prestipino supports each idea with plenty of real-world examples and draws significantly on his experience at Oracle and other organisations.

The book itself generally reads well, with practical tools that complement Prestipino’s arguments. Near the end of the book I felt the tools became very prescriptive and took too much of the focus — great if the tools fit your organisation perfectly, a little disappointing if you need to adapt them to meet the challenges of your business.

That being said, there are plenty of great ideas I have taken from this book and am implementing within the business I live and breathe every day. I would recommend this as worthwhile reading for anyone with a strategic marketing or communications bent.