Copy This!: Lessons from a Hyperactive Dyslexic Who Turned a Bright Idea Into One of America's Best Companies

Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest (why did not I think of that?... well you didn't... that's all). A simple idea. A simple narative. A little Prozac. It is a good mix. A very enjoyable read.

This book is so excellent that I am recommending it to all my friends. I finished the tapes first, then bought the book and read through the whole book again. He talked about so many enlightening points that they don't teach you in school. His real life experiences made fascinating stories. I enjoyed his book more than Jack Welch's which I also liked. I found what he highlighted in the book is more applicable to normal people like myself. It is also a fun book to read with lots of funny anecdotes, highly recommended.

I was a Kinko's coworker for many years, and though I've moved on to other things I still refer to the Kinko's Philosophy and Commitments to Communication, and try to apply them in my current workplace. It's an uphill battle in the typical corporate environment, but Paul taught us all that you can respect and care for others and be more successful because of it. Paul, you're the best! Thanks for sharing.

In a very captivating, "auto"-biography (it certainly cannot be an "autobiography" if there is another author involved!), Orfalea narrates his trysts and travails which made him the person he turned out to be....from the dylexia that affected his schooling, friendships, first copy store idea, how his store expanded, 'fights' with Xerox, and finally his decision to "cash in" his chips with Kinkos. Each chapter provides an account of a critical episode of Orfalea's life, his reflections on it, and some witty aphorisms based on that episode ("integrity is like virginity - you can lose it only once" etc.). The beauty of the writing style is such that these three elements are neatly interspersed without any sense of pretense or didatic tone. The ever-pervasive witty tone and self-effacing narrative style makes the book seem like a intersting novel as opposed to being an autobiography. In addition, one gets to learn interesting stories about one of the most admired companies. The different appendices in the book provides a good snapshot of the author's personality - one of them is a long list of all people he thanks for their help! A 'collection' of his aphorisms that appear in various chapters is provided as a separate appendix for reference. That alone is worth the price of the book and will certainly make you pause and think about his words. Though the author titled the book, "Copy This!", it is unlikely that anyone can actually copy or imitate the style of the book or of his own! A must-read.

As a longtime coworker who still works with Paul, I want to address a frequent criticism of this book: that it offers no new and earth-shattering business wisdom. That kind of thinking permeates business and media; they would rather have new ideas than good ideas, they would rather be exciting than effective. Every twenty years or so, someone has to remind us that quality matters, values matter, and the biggest secret of all: you should be nice to your customers and coworkers. Paul's values and methods may be found in other business books, but they will still seem absurd and dangerously revolutionary to the ruthless, greedy bastards who still dominate America's boardrooms.