Better Make It Real (PDF)

A comprehensive study of the power of differentiation as a key component of any business model, this book includes a step-by-step process to help leaders discover, achieve, express, and sustain their own authentic position.

For the first time in recent history, trust is as important to corporate reputation as quality of products and services, according to the 2010 Edelman Trust Barometer. Still, nearly 70 percent of people say that organizations will revert to "business as usual" once the economy recovers. Moreover, U.S. job satisfaction is at a 22-year-low, according to a 2010 Conference Board report, and by most every measure, the consumer outlook is bleak.

The good news?

Organizational authenticity is attainable, declares Morin in Better Make it Real. However, it isn't the goal, she says, but the result of providing, consistently and continuously, an authentic "total experience" to your stakeholders-workers, customers, vendors, and other business partners. In other words, Morin affirms, authenticity isn't a destination-it's an ongoing journey that will serve to differentiate any organization in its marketplace, which too often is littered with fakes.

Morin's recommended roadmap is Kahler Slater's Total Experience Design-a specific, step-by-step process for designing stakeholder experiences that are "authentic, intentional, and wholly integrated." In Better Make It Real, Morin offers a comprehensive guide to implementing Total Experience Design inside organizations of all types and sizes. She also shares behind-the-scenes stories from Kahler Slater projects and clients, including Google, Robert Redford's Sundance Cinemas, Monster.com, and numerous entrepreneurial enterprises.

Bottom line: Organizational authenticity is sorely lacking-and urgently needed. On the heels of the Great Recession, Morin rolls out a roadmap to "real"-helping executives and entrepreneurs find their way forward.