David Maister - Professional Business, Professional Life
David’s ResourcesAbout David
NEW! Browse my materials by topic of interest:StrategyManagingClient RelationsCareersGeneral

Who’s Writing About the Book

John Baldoni (Fast Company)
January 2, 2008
“We know what to do, we know why we should do it and we know how to do it. Yet most businesses and individuals don’t do what’s good for them.” That conundrum is what David Maister calls the “fat smoker syndrome” and is the driving theme he explores his newest book (the aptly titled) Strategy and the Fat Smoker.
Marilyn Harris (Business Week)
December 14, 2007
Catchy title aside, Strategy and the Fat Smoker has genuine insight. A potpourri of essays by David Maister, a former Harvard Business School professor and longtime consultant, it is provocative and insightful enough to dip into for a burst of contrarian advice, if not to read at one sitting…
Charles H. Green (The Trusted Advisor.)
February 4, 2008
David Maister has a new book out—Strategy and the Fat Smoker. The title is personal—David once was heavy and smoked. And used both facts to explain something to his clients. It was that people don’t change by being told why they should.
GetThatWholesale.com
January 30, 2008
David Maister’s upcoming book, Strategy and the Fat Smoker, will be well worth the read. If you are a leader or manager trying to develop and execute strategy, I’d plan on picking this book up as soon as its January 2008 release. Maister is a trusted adviser to professional services firms, author of five previous books, and a prolific blogger (466 posts to date).
Genuine Curiosity
January 25, 2008
I’ve been involved in a lot of strategy work at my company lately, and have been doing some research on how to develop, influence, and lead others through this process. One fascinating (and very good) book I encountered was David Maister’s “Strategy and the Fat Smoker: Doing What’s Obvious But Not Easy.”
Lisa Von Ahn
December 30, 2007
As the line between work and personal life blurs, so does the boundary between the business and self-help book categories.
Suzanne Lowe (Marketing Profs)
December 10, 2007
In the traditional view of business competition, I should hate David Maister. He targets the same types of clients that I do — professional service firms — and his work is designed to help them achieve the same goals — marketplace gains. But I just can’t do it. Here’s a guy who smashes many of our traditional notions…
Dennis Howlett (AccMan)
November 11, 2007
I’m reading David Maister’s forthcoming book, Strategy and the Fat Smoker. Like much of David’s written material it’s accessible and easy to digest. I’m only part way through but something he says early on struck a chord…