The Monk and the Riddle

by Komisar, Randy

• ISBN13: 9781578516445
• ISBN10: 1578516447
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-07-01
• Publisher: Harvard Business School Pr

Summary

What would you be willing to do for the rest of your life . . . ?It's a question most of us consider only hypothetically-opting instead to "do what we have to do" to earn a living. But in the critically acclaimed bestseller The Monk and the Riddle, entrepreneurial sage Randy Komisar asks us to answer it for real. The book's timeless advice-to make work pay not just in cash, but in experience, satisfaction, and joy-will be embraced by anyone who wants success to come not just from what they do, but from who they are. At once a fictional tale of Komisar's encounters with a would-be entrepreneur and a personal account of how Komisar found meaning not in work's rewards but in work itself, the book illustrates what's wrong with the mainstream thinking that we should sacrifice our lives to make a living. Described by Fortune.com as "part personal essay, part fictional narrative and part meditation on the nature of work and life," The Monk and the Riddle is essential reading on the art of creating a life while making a living."Belongs in a category by itself . . . The best thing I've read all year." -San Francisco Examiner"A timely book." -USA Today"A self-help manual and business fable rolled into one." -The Times, London

Table of Contents

Preface to the New Edition: Postmortem	xi
Prologue The Riddle	1	(6)
The Pitch	7	(20)
The Rules of the Game	27	(18)
The Virtual CEO	45	(12)
The Deferred Life Plan	57	(22)
The Romance, Not the Finance	79	(16)
The Big Idea	95	(16)
The Bottom Line	111	(18)
The Art of Leadership	129	(18)
The Gamble	147	(12)
The Whole Life Plan	159	(14)
Epilogue The Road	173	(6)
Acknowledgments	179	(2)
About the Authors	181