As an American who is also a consultant and former journalist, Dan Carrison states right off that he's here to talk about managing business, not politics and blame. He is not qualified nor does he desire to take sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he says. It is somewhat of a tall order to focus so narrowly, since anything to do with this particular Middle East tragedy is bound to be shrouded in politics: Business, of course, is very much a part of the larger forces in society. That said, Carrison offers some fascinating vignettes and first-hand accounts of life at work from Israeli managers' points of view.
One of the book's many strengths is its variety of interviews presented in a straightforward Q&A format. Carrison interviews, among others, the president of El Al Israel Airlines; the head chef at Mike's Place, a Tel Aviv bar/restaurant which reopened a week after a bombing that killed three people and injured over thirty; and the CFO of Egged Bus Company, which runs nearly 4,000 buses every day, carrying a million passengers, despite being a regular target of attacks. (The Egged CFO tells Carrison, "We won't say, Egged is safe,' because we don't see an elimination of attacks.") Other interviewees include hotel managers, venture capitalists, the deputy director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the managing director of a leading high tech company, and so on.
The interviews are divided among six chapters, covering topics ranging from managing in a crisis to "preparing for the long haul." Carrison then sums up each chapter's contents with a checklist of management lessons such as you'll find in many management guides, though with a deeper layer of meaning here, given the context: Advice like "Plan for flexibility" and "Focus on today" seems hard-won, however sensible. While we don't accept one of his final points, "Accept the fact of life' of hatred," we agree with his view that business can be a universal language, and often a positive and optimistic one.Martha Lagace