Paul Spiegelman, CEO of the Beryl Companies, has written a wonderful book about Beryl Companies and its extraordinary culture.  Rather than write a review of Paul’s book, I’m posting the review written by the business maven and book reviewer extraordinaire Robert Morris (see below).  On Monday at 11:00 AM Eastern, I will be hosting a webcast with Paul Spiegelman and you can sign up for it by clicking on employee engagement.

Robert Morris review of Why Is Everyone Smiling?

As I began to share Paul Spiegelman’s thoughts about “the secret behind passion, productivity, and profit,” I realized that there really isn’t a “secret” to be revealed. Rather, the challenge is to assemble and then – key point – retain those people who are so excited about being part of a given organization that they eagerly and cheerfully go what Napoleon Hill once characterized as “the extra mile” to add value to their organization and to its customers. It is no coincidence that many (most?) of those on Fortune’s annual list of the “most admired companies” are also #1 or #2 in their respective industries in terms of profitability and cap value. They also have the highest retention rate of valued employees and far more applicants for an open position than do any of their competitors. In fact, those who work for competitors are the most eager to work for them. The title of Spiegelman’s book is apt: If an organization’s employees (or if you prefer, as do Wal-Mart and JCPenney, associates) are not smiling, you can be certain that its customers aren’t.

This is an especially personal book and it must be because Spiegelman is obviously a passionate as well as a thoughtful and sensitive person. However, what he shares is really not about him; rather, it is about others within and beyond the Beryl organization who have found joy for themselves and created joy for others in the modern workplace, one in which, regrettably, joy is seldom experienced. I especially appreciate his provision of “stories” shared by thoughtful and caring people such as Julia, John, Melanie, Michael, Lance, Jared, Lali, Juli, Maricela, and Rhonda. Throughout the narrative, Spiegelman also includes a number of communiqués between and among people who are struggling to understand important business issues, to solve problems, and to share (often with stark candor) their opinions about a given situation. However different high-performance organizations may be in every other respect, all of them are transparent in terms of communication, cooperation, and most importantly, collaboration.

In the final chapter, Spiegelman explains that he wrote this book to “share simple secrets that might help other leaders successfully advance their business. I wrote it as an appeal for old-fashioned values in the commercial arena, with special emphasis on treating coworkers well.” The “stories” provided by others provide a human context for each of the “simple lessons.” In this instance, I am reminded of what Oliver Wendell Holmes once observed: “I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.” What Spiegelman and his Beryl associates share may seem “simple” and that’s true, but only if viewed within the context of Holmes’s observation.

There is a great deal of substantial value to be learned from this book. That said, the challenge to each reader is to apply lessons learned effectively and consistently. Awaiting them is what Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton have aptly characterized as “The Knowing-Doing Gap.” I agree with former Texas football coach Darrell Royal: “potential” means “you ain’t done it yet.” Credit Spiegelman and his Beryl associates with sharing what they have learned about the “what” and “how” of establishing and then sustaining passion, productivity, and profit within any organization (regardless of size or nature) by putting a smile on everyone’s face, by having fun, and thus sharing a sense of joy in what they do and how they do it…together. It remains for each reader to apply effectively what she or he has learned.

About Robert Morris

Throughout his career, Robert Morris has divided his time and energy almost equally between the academic world and the business world. After earning an M.A. degree in comparative literature from Yale University, he taught at two boarding schools in New England for the next 13 years while also coaching varsity football and basketball. He then served as Director and CEO of The National Humanities Faculty, the school division of the National Endowment for the Humanities. He and his staff supervised hundreds of humanities projects throughout the United States while raising millions of dollars each year to fund them.

Later, he founded and served as CEO of his own company (a public relations firm) based in Dallas that was eventually purchased by the largest advertising agency in the Southwest, then as SVP he headed its PR business unit until one of his clients, Scripps-Howard, hired him to be publisher and CEO of The Dallas Business Journal. In recent years, he has sustained his practice as an independent management consultant, based in Dallas.

Twelve years ago, he returned to the classroom as an adjunct professor of English at Eastfield College and, for the next ten years taught two sections of freshman, Introduction to Writing” and “Introduction to Literature.” Seven years ago, he began to review business books online for the US and UK Web sites of both Amazon and Borders who currently rank him #9 among their Top 100 Reviewers. Meanwhile, he continues to provide consulting services to dozens of major corporate clients. His specialties include what he calls “accelerated executive development” as well as knowledge management and performance measurement. Feature articles about him have appeared in the Harvard Business Journal, Inc. Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal.

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