Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool's Guide to Surviving with Grace

No one intentionally sets out to become a cog in the corporate machinery, but many of us eventually come to realize that what we're doing for a living isn't doing much for our lives.
Gordon MacKenzie is a welcome tonic to the toxicity that inevitably comes with being a slave to The Man. Many of us (yours truly included) dream of winning the lottery or finding out that Aunt Louise was worth $20 million and she left it all to us when she died. The truth is, however, that the overwhelming majority of us aren't going to hit that lucky Lotto number and Aunt Louise is more likely to leave her fortune to her cats. Instead, we gotta punch a clock day-in, day-out for decades.
What MacKenzie offers is a way to exist in the corporate jungle without having to sacrifice your soul. He challenges conventional thinking -- even though he knows that his challenge will probably die aborning in a workplace where uniformity of thought and behavior is far more prized than individuality and ingenuity. Still, you get the sense that this fool on a fool's errand is having a hell of a good time bouncing off the walls of authority.
MacKenzie isn't going to teach you how to be the top sales performer. He doesn't have seven habits that will make you wealthy and wise if you follow them. Gordon's gift is far simpler and far more valuable than all that -- you need never fear the office again. You can bring creativity and joy to your work. You can strike a harmonious balance in your work life. And at the end of it all, you'll have no problem looking at yourself in the mirror each morning.
Thanks, Gordon, for this wonderful book. I know you're orbiting a giant hairball far, far away now. But I'm also certain you're doing it with grace and humanity.

Gordon MacKenzie takes on the institutional hairball and the hairball we all wear between our ears. Both are the enemies of our uniquely human creative spirit. I was given this book by a friend who, like me, teaches creativity in the corporate environment. There is a great need to rescue the lost souls in our corporate confines and aiding in the much-needed healing of these spirits.
It is our Creator-ness, our giftedness, that will bring life to our individual lives and then to our working relationships. Gordon's book takes this on with wit, candor, practical advice and real stories from his years of incarceration in the trenches at Hallmark. It is also a delightful visual feast--though I was disappointed that so little of Mr. MacKenzie's own artwork was not used in his book--especially since he refurs to it so often.
"Hairball" is a grand companion to the books of SARK and Barbara Sher.

Wish I could give this book a zero. There's no THERE there. Do not waste your time or your money.

I heartily disagree with Robert D. Steele's review, which says that this book presents insights but suggests no solutions. I also disagree that the book's "...two most profound insights...are that our schools beat creativity out of our children, and our corporations suppress individual ideas.." These are indeed two of the key ideas, but I think that the most profound insight of the book is that THERE IS SOMETHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!
Most of us are not going to take radical action the way that MacKenzie has (and most of us do not have the luxury of working in a big, rich company that has the wherewithal to tolerate such antics). But the concepts still apply. For example, take the concept of "dynamic following." MacKenzie spent a lot of time listening to his colleagues complain about their jobs. He learned that the most helpful thing to do is merely to listen, but he says that one thing he always replied to was the commonly cited gripe "I wish there were some more dynamic leadership around here." He reportedly would reply, "I wish there were some more dynamic following." This is a new and very helpful way to look at the situation.
This is the essence of what I consider the major insight: each of us can make it a personal goal to bring to the table what we think is missing. Instead of blaming management, blaming the corporate culture, blaming the school system, etc., we each have within us the power to speak up, think creatively, communicate more effectively, and use these radical skills to make the world a better place. (If more of us would do this, and keep it up, maybe these things will eventually not seem so radical!)
It is not exactly news that schools beat the creativity out of children. It is sobering to be reminded of this by a master storyteller such as MacKenzie, and it is a good thing to be so reminded. It will be an extremely good thing for our society if we can solve that problem, but it will definitely take decades if not centuries. The lesson of this book is that, nevertheless, IT IS NOT TOO LATE! We can reclaim our creativity, and we can use it at work in ways that are effective and mutually beneficial.
This book isn't a step-by-step how-to guide, by any means, but it does contain quite a few examples of creative problem-solving at work. It also contains the best example I have ever seen of "out-of-the-box" thinking, a set of hand-written notes that presents a framework for re-thinking organizational structure.
There will never be a "solution" to the existence of the "giant hairball," but there is an alternative to being caught up in the hairball and becoming part of the problem. The alternative is to take responsibility for one's own happiness. I think this book makes a substantial contribution to our knowledge about how to do so.

I thought the book was ok. There were some good inspirational thoughts, but nothing that was life changing. I read the book twice and then discussed one chapter a week with a group- so I pretty much squeezed almost all I could out of this book. It was a very fast, light, and easy read. This book has GOT TO BE one of the most graphic books out there. The paper, illustrations, layout - wow. (I would guess why this book is so expensive, but I loved the layout!). It was a good book - I just like deeper content.

Gordon worked creatively at Hallmark for many years. He evolved within the corporate world into a position that held the title of "Creative Paradox". He opens his story with a poem by Rumi and then spreads his thoughts, experiences, doodles, etc. wonderfully across the pages that follow. Gordon was certainly creative. And life is a paradox. Put the two together and you get this delightful thought-provoking work of art. Read it and enjoy. You might wake up the urge to doodle outside the lines one day. It is your life. It is up to you what you do with it. Gordon may be just the person to help you.

I enjoyed the book, but more as a storybook than as a creativity handbook or survival guide. The techniques that it offered were often vague. The illustrations and layout were playful and fun though. I think the book works best as an inspiration source rather than a guidebook.

I just heard MacKenzie died. Very sad-- the book is a special glimpse of the creative mind. If you are an artist, want to be one or a creative type working with non-creatives, you'll love this book.

I found this book to be a bit “over my head.” Perhaps it was my frame of mind, or perhaps it was my background of education versus business, but I could not identify with this book at all. There were some excellent examples of life, but generally speaking the author lost me at hairball. I now understand why cats cough them up.

You know you've got a classic when people either love it or hate it. My wife tries to get this idea across to students who either love E.A. Poe or hate him as being 'too creepy'. The point is that the work creates strong emotions. What, if anything, you do with your reaction is up to you. MacKenzie's 'hairball' is one of these. Me?, I love it.