British Council-Business books

Transcript of the podcast

Q = the interviwer
A = Jared McCall, the author

Q: Today I’ll be talking to the author and business ‘guru’ Jared McCall. Jared has written a number of books on business subjects, and his latest, just out in paperback, is called The One-Armed Monkey – Ten types of new product. In this book, Jared looks at the way in which an estimated 90% of new products fail within a year of being launched onto the market, and tries to analyse why so many products do fail, and why that 10% succeed

Jared, if I may ask, why do you think the world needs another business book

A: Well, first of all I’d like to say that my book isn’t just another business book…it’s certainly not a dry, boring textbook, but something which – I hope – even the general reader will find of interest

Q: You’re aiming at the bestseller lists, then

A: Of course – any author would be

Q: So what is it that makes your book so special

A: Well, instead of just analysing statistics and showing graphs, I use case studies – actual stories of products that failed, or were successful – and often the story of these products is an entertaining read

Q: Yes, I agree with you there. There’s a strong narrative, and you’re a good writer

A: Thanks

Q: …but – and I’m afraid there’s a ‘but’ here

A (laughs): There always is

Q: …even though I found the book an entertaining read, I’m not sure your use of jargon helps

A: Jargon

Q: Yes, I mean the specialised language you use

A: Well, I aimed to reach all readers, so I don’t actually use that much jargon

Q: What I’m thinking of is the names you give each of the ten product types you describe – “the one-armed monkey” is what you call a product which will fail

A (laughs): Yes – after the disastrous toy

Q: And you call a successful product a “silver shadow”, and so on and so on

A: Ok, I take your point, but using these terms, these names isn’t really “jargon”, I’m just trying to find a quick way to describe different types of product. If you use names like this, it helps people to remember, and to identify their product ideas, and make difficult concepts clearer and easier to understand

Q: So you want to help product developers make sure their product isn’t a “one-armed monkey,” but a silver shadow

A: Exactly! And where my book is different to a lot of other ones on the market now is that it gives practical advice on how to make sure your new product succeeds

Q: Ok, but I found that all these terms were actually making things more difficult to understand

A: Well, ultimately the market will judge – if people agree with what I’m saying, or find it useful, or inspirational, then they’ll buy the book and start to use the terms…remember that a phrase like “long tail,” for example, is quite a recent term

Q: Sure, but to me, “long tail” describes something which is a real phenomenon – what I’m not sure about is the ten different product types described in your book, and the use of trying to label and name them all

A: I think if you look carefully at the stories I tell, the case histories, you’ll find that the names are actually quite useful guides as to why the products succeeded or failed

Q: Ok, Jared McCall, thank you very much – and I certainly hope your book proves to be a silver shadow and not a one-armed monkey

A (laughs): Thank you

Answers