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Business fiction (4): a review of "The Present" |
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Storytelling In The News: Story #167
June 2, 2004 Business fiction (5): review of The Fred Factor The Fred Factor is a book written by a motivational speaker, Mark Sanborn. It was pointed out to me as an example of “business fiction” but in fact it is supposed to be based on a true story. The basic facts of The Fred Factor Its physical characteristics are these:
The Fred Factor is based on what is said to be a true story – the story of Fred the postman, who really exists and continues to work in Denver as a postman. Fred’s story is told in a couple of pages at the start of the book and most of the rest of the book consists of lessons that Sanborn draws from the life of Fred. Essentially Fred approaches his boring job as a postman with enthusiasm and keeps energetically searching for ways to add value for those he serves. He introduces himself to newcomers and finds out about their lives and needs. He starts responding and anticipating those needs in various ways. He makes special arrangements for the mail when residents go on trips. He notices when UPS has delivered a package to the wrong house and restores it to its rightful owner. He does the right thing by putting stamps on letters that he himself sends and delivers. He takes a personal interest in the neighborhood even when he is not on duty. Because he approaches his work with enthusiasm, Fred doesn’t find it boring. Instead he gets deep satisfaction from it. That’s pretty much it, in terms of Fred. Out of this slender material, Sanborn concocts a whole philosophy of working and living. We are introduced to “the Fred principles”:
We are presented with a couple of Fred look-alikes, including:
In Part Three of the book, we turn to “developing other Freds” by finding them, by rewarding them, by educating them and by demonstrating Fred-like behavior. Who is Fred? It's interesting that after reading a whole book ostensibly written about Fred, we don't know much about him. Part Four introduces us to “Fred today”, and we learn that that he is interested in music and that he repaired drums when he was a boy, and that he has a wife called Kathie, we discover little else. We don’t know for instance where he grew up, what his father and mother were like, what his school and teenage years were like, what is his family status, whether he has children, where he lives or what his family and his own neighborhood thinks of him, or what he does in his spare time. Does he watch TV? Does he read books? Does he have any interests? What are his politics? Who does he vote for? Is he a religious man? We have no idea. Apart from some fairly routine endorsements of “the Fred philosophy” concocted by Sanborn on pages 102-103, we never find out what Fred really thinks about things. Fred remains a kind of “stick figure” in a parable, rather a fully depicted human being that we would discover in a biography. Why is this? Sanborn is telling a springboard story, in which the story of Fred is merely a scaffolding to get readers thinking about Fred-like actions. In this sense, the real Fred is not merely irrelevant. If we knew a lot more abouto him, that might well get in the way of convincing people to become more Fred-like. I don't know what Fred's politics or religion really are, but let's imagine we did know. If we knew that he voted Republican, this could turn off Democrats. If we knew that he was an atheist, this could turn off someone with a strong religious belief. Or vice versa. Keeping us in the dark about much of "the real Fred" is key to persuading to think about the implications for their own actions. The philosophy of The Fred Factor The messages in The Fred Factor are harmless enough although they are not exactly new. They will hardly be revelations to anyone who has read Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People” or Norman Vincent Peale’s “The Power of Positive Thinking”. The idea that we should be more generous and large-spirited in the daily conduct of our life has a long history and is hard to argue with, so far as it goes. As a philosophy of life, however, it has significant limitations. Sanborn’s book essentially argues that we should accept our lot in life, particularly our work, however boring and mundane it may happen to be, and approach it with energy and enthusiasm. The idea that one might ask a question as to why the work is so boring and mundane, or what can be done to change it, never seriously enters Sanborn’s world of unending optimism and positive attitudes. The Fred Factor should thus appeal to a corporate management looking around for a book that might energize or cheer up a demotivated workforce. It may be cheaper and easier to distribute the book than to actually make jobs more interesting or give workers a say in how the work is organized. Sanborn is thus a preacher of a well-known brand of secular religion, spreading syrupy optimism and good cheer wherever his gaze turns. Those who go to hear him speak apparently say that they come away energized and inspired. The FredFactor may even encourage the odd individual to look on life more optimistically and to act from time to time in a more positive way. The world will be a better place if that happens. Those who read his book will find in it a kind chicken soup for the world-weary worker. Read my other reviews of business fiction: For more examples of Storytelling in The News, go to the Archive |