A long time ago I found the prospect of a Marketing career strangely thrilling. I’d done other things before that, that on the face of it were more exciting, but in the event they had proven to be less fulfilling than I had expected.
As I moved from other careers to Marketing, I read a book called ‘The Soul of a New Machine’. I read it through the night. It was the true story of an NPD project. It won the Pulitzer Prize.The commitment of the people in the story was energizing, and in the words of a song, ‘it made the blood burn in my veins’.
I’ve worked on lots of NPD projects since then, as a client and in agencies. Sadly, none have felt like the soul of a new machine. But one relaunch did, and I suspect its success is no coincidence.
I write this because I understand the book has just been reprinted.
In it’s original jacket
And as it appears today
Read it. It is inspiring. I suggest that if you approach NPD like the people who created the new machine did, you will succeed. Just like they did.
One reviewer recently said ‘The Soul of a New Machine’ made circuit boards seem cool and established a revolutionary notion: that there’s art in the quest for the next big thing.’
You can buy it here.
Simon
