Book Review: Tactical Transparency By Shel Holtz And John C. Havens
February 18, 2009 – 1:07 pm | by Daryl TayTactical Transparency
As a listener of the podcast For Immediate Release (co-hosted by Shel Holtz, one of the authors of the book), I decided to check out Tactical Transparency and it’s the first book I finished in 2009, and it was a fairly quick and good read.
One thing that is clear about this book, is that it’s not for people who are already “in the know” in the social media scene, but instead for people who are curious about social media and might be thinking about “taking the plunge”. One of the reasons why the book was a quick read was because most of the material was familiar to me.
Although the book is titled “tactical” transparency and indeed many of the chapters focus on a tactical perspective instead of a strategic perspective, there is a fair amount of the book that is dedicated to embracing transparency as a culture. Depending on what you’re looking for (specific steps vs broad perspectives), the book may or may not work out for you.
The one thing I’d like to see from future books dealing with social media, is perhaps a wider range of case studies. We’ve all heard about Dell Hell, the Target story, the Comcast guy who fell asleep on the couch. I’m hoping to see new examples in future books.
I think for anyone thinking about checking out the social media scene, Tactical Transparency will be a good introduction and summary and I’d definitely recommend it. For depth and experience however, no book can replace actually experiencing it yourself, and hopefully books like Tactical Transparency help provide a road map for your journey.
For more information, feel free to check out the Tactical Transparency blog.
[image taken from the Tactical Transparency blog]
Tags: 2009, comcast couch, culture, dell hell, embracing transparency, for immediate release, john c havens, road map, shel holtz, social media, strategic thinking, tactical transparency, taking the plunge, target responding to bloggers, transparency case studies
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