I wrote a rave review for my friend and colleague Huggy Rao's book Market Rebels: How Activists Make Or Break Radical Innovations a couple months ago. His book is now for sale on Amazon and everywhere else.
As I said then:
'The book is full of useful ideas, but perhaps the central one is that,
if you want to mobilize networks of people and markets to embrace and
spread an idea, you need the one-two punch of a "Hot Cause" and "Cool
Solutions." A hot cause like deaths from tobacco or medical errors can
be used as springboards to raise awareness, spark motivation, and
ignite red-hot outrage. And naming these as enemies is an important
step in mobilizing a network or market. But creating the heat isn't
enough; the next step needs to be cool solutions. This doesn't just
mean identifying technically feasible solutions, it also means finding
ways to bind people together, to empower them to take steps that help
solve the problem, and to create enduring commitment to implementing
solutions.'
Market Rebels is a remarkably useful and evidence-based book, it isn't light and fluffy, as it is an academic book. But it is well-written and chock-full with great stories. If you want to learn how a small group of people can have a big impact on networks and markets, this is the book for you. It is especially relevant entrepreneurs, people in sales and marketing, and social activists — but anyone who wants to spread a message and change behavior on a large scale will find it extremely helpful
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