The Ministry of Common Sense. How to Eliminate Bureaucratic Red Tape, Pointless Presentations, and Other Corporate Nonsense

Martin Lindstrom is among Time’s 100 most influential people. He has consulted companies in nearly every country around the world. For his new book, translated into more than 10 languages, he gathered many funny and sometimes even terrifying examples of how common sense stopped working in organizations and how bureaucracy reached absurdity. For instance, in one company, in an extremely secure and secret office, they had to stop a meeting so Martin could go to the restroom—accompanied by one of the employees.

Lindstrom not only shares stories, but also offers a plan to get rid of pointless presentations whose essence can be explained on a single page; pointless meetings; and many other problems and “bottlenecks” of corporate bureaucracy.

Sometimes we’re too concerned with technology and business, focusing on B2B and B2C sales channels. The author emphasizes the most important interaction channel that everything ultimately comes down to—H2H, meaning person to person (human to human).

The author’s stories will make you laugh from the heart, and then—horror and make you think about changes in your team, company, and processes, so common sense returns to their work.