It’s been 40 years since the Sex Pistols arrived and shook up a fairly corporate and slick music scene. Now, John Lydon is 62, the music seems a little tame even if it’s still raw, and anyone who remembers (if they can remember) those punk years has more gray hair that’s in need of dyeing, And the genre’s supposed traits have been applied to the corporate world in Jeremy Dale’s The Punk Rock of Business: Applying a Punk Rock Attitude in the Modern Business Era.
Dale outlines “Eight Elements of Punk Rock Business,” and they mostly revolve around authenticity, speed, and originality. Dale relates some interesting anecdotes about his time working with the Motorola (RED) campaign and the launch of Pokemon in order to illustrate his points. He also throws in some nuggets about the original punk rockers and their philosophy to complete the picture.
From a business advice standpoint, there’s really not much new or revelatory here. One could argue that the basic mantra is an offshoot of all the books about disruption or Facebook’s “Move Fast and Break Things,” though geared to the laptop-and-Dockers crowd. But Dale keeps it lively with his professional anecdotes, avoiding the very common business book trope of pulling a hundred mini-case studies he wasn’t directly involved in. If you’re looking for a jolt of inspiration and haven’t had one lately, The Punk Rock of Business just might be the ticket for you.
Special thanks to FSB Associates for providing me with a review copy.
