X: The Experience When Business Meets Design

There were no advance copies printed of the book we're giving away today, and we're even still awaiting the shipment of finished books we'll be sending on to the winners. So I'll be seeing X: The Experience When Business Meets Design by Brian Solis for the first time when I pack them up to send them on to you.

But I don't need a copy in hand to tell you that it's going to be worth checking out, and that's because everything Brian Solis puts his hand to is worth a read. Solis hit our radar with his book Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web. I remember a slight guffaw emerging among us when we passed the book around because none of us had ever considered the man who wrote the forward, one Ashton Kutcher, to be much of a business expert. What we quickly learned was that Kutcher dominated social media at the time, having recently become the first Twitter user to pass 1,000,000 followers at a time most others were just entering the fray (and most of us in the office hadn't). Our guffaws turned to an emerging impression that Solis knew exactly what he was doing, had something to teach us about success in the new web, and that we had better catch up. Luckily, the book we were already holding in our hands helped in that regard.

He followed that up with The End of Business as Usual and What's the Future of Business: Changing the Way Businesses Create Experiences, always remaining a step ahead of the crowd. 

He provided contributions to ChangeThis for his past two books. His manifesto on Leading Transformation and Captivating Communities is the site's most popular manifesto of the last few years, outstripping even Seth Godin—the site's creator—in popularity. And his manifesto Innovation Begins Here: How to Become the Hero in the Hero's Journey with illustrations from Hugh McLeod (currently the site's second most popular author with his How to Be Creative manifesto) is one I think I like even more than his first.

You can expect a longer review from us somewhere when the books arrive, but ...

If you're wondering if you'll want to throw your hat in the ring for this latest book, X, go dig into some of that earlier work this week. You'll not only be convinced, you'll end up with a wealth of ideas and insights in the process.

We have 20 copies available.