Book Review: The Orange Revolution: How One Great Team Can Transform an Entire Organization by Adrian Robert Gostick

Chia-Li Chien | April 04, 2011

What fosters high performers in teams? Author Mr. Gostick backs up his Orange Revolution formula with a 350,000-person study of employees from exceptional companies such as Zappos.com, Pepsi, etc. I would argue that people are people no matter where they work and that in my experience, people in small businesses are a lot more creative and flexible and better equipped to help you grow your business.

Although this book is geared toward Fortune 500 companies, with or without Fortune 500 corporate experience, there are many principles that can be applied to small businesses with flexibility.

The formulas include the Orange Revolution Model: The Cause -> Wow (Basic 4) -> No surprises (Team esprit de Corps Focus, loyalty, engagement, satisfaction) – > Cheer -> Breakthrough (results of sustained success.) The rule of 3: Wow; No Surprises; Cheer. Plus, 101 Ways to bring your team together.

The author even suggests using these proven formulas in personal relationships. Everything he mentions in that particular application I actually find to be true. For example, my husband T.C. and I obviously did not know the formula per se, but somehow we’ve figured it out on our own in 20 years of marriage. I can see how our trials and errors easily fit into his success formula.

We all know that people are the most valuable assets in business. For small to mid-sized businesses, this is a great reference manual to build your future super team. I especially enjoyed all the various stories that really demonstrate how easy it is to apply the rules.