Philosophy purists take note: yes, this is a business self-help book. But Tom Morris has plenty of philosophical street credibility: after getting his Ph.D. from Yale, he taught for 15 years at the University of Notre Dame (where stunts like bringing the ND marching band to class for an impromptu "pep rally" before a big test made him one of the most popular professors on campus). And Morris isn't dumbing down his message for the corporate culture. Rather, he's genuinely interested in fostering a workplace environment where one can seriously think about truth, beauty, goodness, and unity. "If we let the great philosophers guide our thinking," he says, "and if we then begin to become philosophers ourselves, we put ourselves in the very best position to move towards genuine excellence, true prosperity, and deeply satisfying success in our businesses, our families, and our lives. Why should we settle for anything less?" Why indeed?
From Booklist
Morris' book is not really about either Aristotle or General Motors, but his title effectively takes advantage of the symbolism each suggests. The author argues that the teachings of the ancients can and should be applied to today's corporation. Morris taught philosophy at Notre Dame for 15 years before founding the Morris Institute for Human Values in North Carolina and now conducts seminars for business executives. His message is that the four virtues--truth, beauty, goodness, and unity--form the foundation of human excellence. Putting them into practice leads not only to self-fulfillment but also to an open, nurturing, and ethical workplace that is more productive. Morris' book is a noteworthy addition to the growing number of titles encouraging business to be more humanistic. Big publicity push, including an ample first printing David Rouse
Review
"If Aristotle Ran General Motors goes to the heart of what makes people and organizations successful. Tom Morris' message is a guide to achieving the highest level of excellence in your company and your career."—Daniel Tully, chairman, Merrill Lynch
Book Description
Since its hardcover publication in 1997, If Aristotle Ran General Motors has been one of the year's most talked about books, not only in the United States but around the world, where it has been translated into many languages. Author Tom Morris has emerged as one of America's most popular motivational speakers, bringing his inspirational message of ancient wisdom in modern business to thousands of employees at major companies like AT&T and Merrill Lynch. In 1998 Morris will give more than 100 keynote speeches at corporate seminars to further establish If Aristotle Ran General Motors as a must-read for anyone doing business today.
Book Info
Illuminates the combined teaching of history's wisest thinkers to present compelling strategies for reinvigorating the corporate spirit & bringing the soul back into our professional lives. Paper. DLC: Management - Philosophy.
About the Author
Tom Morris was a philosophy professor at Notre Dame for fifteen years. He is the author of True Success: A New Philosophy of Excellence and chairman of the Morris Institute for Human Values in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he makes his home.
If Aristotle Ran General Motors: The New Soul of Business FROM OUR EDITORS
The Barnes & Noble Review
October 1997
Some argue that the spirit has disappeared from our drastically downsized corporate America. But now that the market has taken an upward turn, the biggest corporations — which less than a decade ago expended huge percentages of personnel — are experiencing a resurgence as well and are hiring at an exorbitant rate. Despite their ruddy cheeks, however, such companies continue to suffer from symptoms of greed. In his new book, If Aristotle Ran General Motors, Tom Morris shows corporate America how to focus on its most important aspect — its people — and create a culture that respects and nurtures them spiritually and emotionally.
If Aristotle ran General Motors, Morris hypothesizes, he would concentrate on happiness, satisfaction, meaning, and fulfillment rather than short-term cures like the reengineering of corporate structure. Morris presents a simple premise: A few basic yet powerful ideas drawn from the teachings of eminent philosophers of the past offer the key to building great morale, total job satisfaction, and productivity in any size business. "The newest problems we face can't be solved without the most ancient wisdom we have," Morris claims.
At the core of this provocative assertion are four fundamental aspects of human experience and their corresponding virtues. Morris explains how each of these principles, identified by Aristotle more than 2,000 years ago, is directly connected to interpersonal and business excellence. He explains why management techniques such as teamwork, reengineering, and intrapreneuring willneversucceed unless linked to such human attributes as love, appreciation, respect, trust, and sympathy.
Morris reveals how the enhancement of truth, the experience of beauty, the assurance of goodness, and the sense of unity felt by the people who work with you and around you can provide a wellspring for creating both an ethical corporate culture and inner personal satisfaction. Thought-provoking analysis and inspirational quotes combined with fascinating anecdotes from a variety of companies — from Tom's of Maine to General Electric — brings this powerful argument from the theoretical to the practical. Morris's optimistic vision for the future offers a realistic plan that will reinvigorate the corporate spirit and bring the soul back to our professional lives.
ANNOTATION
To achieve excellence, truth, beauty, goodness and unity must be present.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
In If Aristotle Ran General Motors, Morris, who taught philosophy at Notre Dame for fifteen years, shares the knowledge that he has garnered from a lifetime of studying the writings and teachings of history's wisest thinkers and shows how to apply their ideas in today's business environment. Although he frequently draws on the wisdom of Aristotle, Morris also finds inspiration in the teachings of a wide array of thinkers from many different traditions and eras. Throughout these pages we're invited to pause and consider the words of Confucius, Seneca, Saint Augustine, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Abraham Lincoln, and many others. Morris makes it clear that the most successful companies encourage a corporate culture that ensures that all interactions among colleagues, employees, bosses, clients, customers, and suppliers are infused with dignity and humanity. Moreover, the book provides clearly stated strategies for how everyone who works can make these qualities the foundation for their everyday business (and personal) lives.
SYNOPSIS
A philosophy professor from Notre Dame offers an inspirational message of ancient wisdom as it could be applied to modern businesses.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
Morris's discussionwhich deals with how to run all businesses, not just the automotive giantsreads like a clever, late-night conversation among grad students. That isn't surprising, since Morris is a former philosophy professor and, like the best teachers, he makes his case in a simple, compelling way. His message? The "four dimensions of human experience" that Aristotle talked about 2200 years agotruth, beauty, goodness, unityshould form the underpinnings of today's corporation. For Morris, truth can include opening the books to employees. A more beautiful workplace increases productivity. Goodness means behaving ethically, and unity means meeting employees' spiritualdistinguished from religiousneeds on the job. Hard-nosed readers will note that Morris, who quotes scores of other philosophers to make his points, often in highlighted text, never cites a number, ratio or rate of return to buttress his arguments, and that corporate examples are cited only in passing. Still, he provides an innovative resource for executives who claim that they want to return to basics. 75,000 first printing; author tour. (Sept.)
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Book Info
