Corporate Canaries: Avoid Business Disasters with a Coal Miner's Secrets

This short book given its attempt to be simple in delivering five key lessons (plus wrap it around with some savvy homely anecdotes of his grandfather's mining experiences in pioneering times to fill out the book) is likely to leave most business book readers feeling short changed one suspects.Sutton's turn around credentials and war stories underpin the five rules and as with many such books the five (which can be written in less than half a page) will not be new or unknown to most readers. Where the pinch comes is that Sutton's real theme based on the number of basket case companies he has been involved with, seems to be acceptance his book will not be immediately of use but once read should be kept in a bottom drawer for reference to when things start to go wrong and application of one of the lessons will he argues apply.I would class it as an easy two hour maximum read - food for thought but not going to get you fired up as to what you might do new unless you are in the unfortunate position of being in a company that is actually heading for or going into tailspin.

Perhaps a bit folksy for some readers, but contains timeless lessons for those willing to read and learn.

I had this on my to MUST READ list and finally picked up a copy. i liked the stories and a little advise. The book is a little light, big print and only 140 pages...then you read his "grandpa" is a composite of people. The storytelling basically untruthful as you read it. I was very disappointed.

In my quest to read from a broad spectrum of disciplines, I committed to reading at least two business books a year. I was delighted to find this one as it was an easy read and comes with a guarantee. "This book will help managers detect a serious business problem, either in your company or in a competitor's, within a year of reading. If not, I will return your money plus a dollar." (p. xii) (The guarantee is void three years after the copyright which raises the question of the shelf life of what is said in this book.) My management responsibilities are limited to one office, two employees (myself and an intern), three volunteer receptionists and a caseload; therefore I did not expect to discover a "Corporate Canary" in my system. This book was read in hopes what was said to a professional business setting would translate in a nonprofit world. I suspect my CEO is familiar with the five "canaries" Mr. Sutton mentions in this work, as I spotted none of them alive in our agency. WHEW!The canaries mentioned in the title and discussed throughout the book are derived from one of the safety measure's coal miners once used of having canaries spaced throughout the mines as gas detectors. If the canary was alive and well (singing, moving about, flying around the cage) all was well. If the canary stopped being well, the alarm was sounded and the mine cleared, as the canary's tolerance for gas was much lower than humans and the miners had time to leave before they were affected. Mr. Sutton translated five of these "canaries" he learned at his grandfather's knee into effective management tools and industry indicators. By his report, he was very effective in reading his canaries.The five "canaries" (rules) are more commonsense than a breakthrough.1. "You can't outgrow losses." - Fix what is causing the losses, growth, and profits, will follow.2. "Debt's a killer." - The business ends up servicing the debt instead of its customers, employees, stockholders. "Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender." Proverbs 22:73. "Fools fly blind." - Know what is happening, in your area, the company, the industry. Become educated enough to have an idea of "what's next."4. "Any decision beats no decision." - Anyone who has ever been a part of an organization where the leadership is unclear or uncertain, knows the slow death trying to work in such an environment is. Make an honest decision. Even if it proves to be wrong, it is better than doing nothing.5. "Markets grow and markets die." - DUH! This should be commonsense until one remembers: the railroads, who thought their job was railroading, not transportation; Kodak, who thought their product was film, not pictures, etc.It took me less than a busy day to read this small book. For those in management, or just starting out therein, this is a good "reminder" book to keep around. One never knows when one will have to crawl into a new "mine," the canaries are important.

In this book, Gary Sutton shared some of his grandfather's wisdom for 21st century leaders be them small business owners, C-Suite executives, entrepreneurs and independent sales professionals such as realtors, insurance agents and financial advisors.What attracted me to this book beyond the bright yellow cover with the simple black bird cage was the simplicity and it being a quick read (less than 150 pages). Using a proven concept to avoid disaster in the mine, Sutton relates in six chapters some specific lessons in how to turn a business or organization around based upon his grandfather's real world experiences after working in the coal mining business. At the end of each chapter are some golden nuggets just in case you missed a key concept.Chapter Two is simply entitled Debt is a Killer. Given the current economic crisis of the last several years, this chapter is one a lot of more individuals should have read. One golden nugget is this chapter is your business is in trouble when its debt to equity exceeds 1:1. Hmm, I wonder if anyone if the federal government is currently understands this concept?Chapter Six concludes the book by reviewing the five big lessons to avoid a dying canary. Additionally each chapter has some great call out boxes with specific examples of corporate canaries. If you are at a lost as to why your business is experiencing some significant challenges, then consider reading this book to learn how you can avoid being one of those dead canaries and instead [ASIN:0981800459 be The Red Jacket in a sea of gray suits]]

Trying to match the brevity of Corporate canaries, I will simply say that it distills lessons in corporate wisdom that could easily be overseen as 'too simple' or even simplistic. They're not. I found it an amazingly honest tales of what a veteran who has seen it all in corporate warfare would share with new recruits to help them survive on the battlefield. Here you'll find good and simple advice. Simple doesn't mean trivial: I've seldom read books that deal honestly with the fate of corporations having to deal with the death of their market (it does happen a lot though!), or that tell you the simple truth about leveraging: borrowing money for growth is not necessarily a loosing gamble, it just happens to have very high negative odds and requires nerves of steel. Don't try it if you don't feel lucky...