Digital Aboriginal: The Direction of Business Now: Instinctive, Nomadic, and Ever-Changing: Mikela Tarlow, Philip Tarlow

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Digital Aboriginal, by Mikela Tarlow with Philip Tarlow, proposes a rather unique approach for those seeking innovative ways to stay abreast of today’s high-tech business environment: reach back to the “magical, networked, multidimensional world” of the aborigines for inspiration and direction. The authors–she’s a specialist in organizational learning; he’s an internationally recognized artist–believe knowledge of the nomadic ways of the desert meshes perfectly with the modern needs of the workplace. In four sections that look into aboriginal behavior in the context of the digital age, they show how various key aspects can be appropriated with mostly familiar strategies and skills. They do this by examining information as a digital commodity; myths, stories, and rituals and the shaping of culture and commerce; independence, privacy, and human interaction in relation to peak performance; and moving permanently outside the box on the road to living differently. Scores of companies from Home Depot and Coca-Cola to small Web developers and consultancies are cited for their relevant applications in specific areas, and extensive sidebars in each section address the Grateful Dead Theory of Marketing, branding through entertainment, the freelance residents of Free Agent Nation, “seeing with new eyes,” and other appropriate topics. –Howard Rothman

From Library Journal
Mikela and Philip Tarlow, founders of the company Accelerating Results and authors of Navigating the Future: A Personal Guide to Achieving Success in the New Millennium, here look at the new economy and its changing patterns. Drawing on the aborigines’ view of the world that all things are connected, the authors analyze behavioral strategies for the new economy. The book’s perspective is of an anthropologist observing “one of the most dramatic shifts in the organization of our social universe that has ever occurred.” A new generation is “using the freedoms of the new economy to develop a set of behavioral strategies: digital aboriginal,” according to the authors. They are “driven, yet they rarely plan,” are “highly individualized, yet depend on tribal ways of birthing ideas,” and are “brilliant strategists” but often “chart their courses based on pure instinct.” Numerous case studies of companies illustrate changes in leadership strategies, marketing concepts, and behavioral strategies, moving toward a more instinctive, “nomadic” model. These companies include Napster, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and AOL. This thought-provoking work provides a unique perspective on the new economy and is recommended for business collections. Lucy Heckman, St. John’s Univ. Lib., Jamaica, NY
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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