The Monk and the Riddle: The Art of Creating a Life While Making a Living

Front Cover
Harvard Business Press, 2001 - Biography & Autobiography - 181 pages
What would you be willing to do for the rest of your life...' It's a question most of us consider only hypothetically-opting instead to "do what we have to do" to earn a living. But in the critically acclaimed bestseller "The Monk and the Riddle", entrepreneurial sage Randy Komisar asks us to answer it for real. The book's timeless advice - to make work pay not just in cash, but in experience, satisfaction, and joy - will be embraced by anyone who wants success to come not just from what they do, but from who they are.At once a fictional tale of Komisar's encounters with a would-be entrepreneur and a personal account of how Komisar found meaning not in work's rewards but in work itself, the book illustrates what's wrong with the mainstream thinking that we should sacrifice our lives to make a living. Described by Fortune.com as "part personal essay, part fictional narrative and part meditation on the nature of work and life," "The Monk and the Riddle" is essential reading on the art of creating a life while making a living. 'Belongs in a category by itself...The best thing I've read all year' - "San Francisco Examiner". 'A timely book' - "USA Today". 'A self-help manual and business fable rolled into one' - "The Times, London".
 

Selected pages

Contents

THE RIDDLE
1
THE PITCH
7
THE RULES OF THE GAME
27
THE VIRTUAL CEO
45
THE DEFERRED LIFE PLAN
57
THE ROMANCE NOT THE FINANCE
79
THE BIG IDEA
95
THE BOTTOM LINE
111
THE ART OF LEADERSHIP
129
THE GAMBLE
147
THE WHOLE LIFE PLAN
159
THE ROAD
173
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
179
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
181
Copyright

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About the author (2001)

Randy Komisar is a Virtual CEO who has worked with companies such as WebTV and TiVo. He was CEO of LucasArts Entertainment and Crystal Dynamics, CFO of GO, and one of the founders of Claris Corporation.