Orbiting the Giant Hairball

GORDON MACKENZIE

Reviewed by Todd

We love to ask readers if they have ever read Orbiting the Giant Hairball, because when we get an affirmative answer, it makes asking the question so worthwhile. Their answer starts nonverbally: over the phone, you hear the pause as they recall the experience of reading the book; in person, you can see everything in the person slow down—their shoulders drop slightly, they take a deep breath, and they smile. Only then do they answer verbally with a simple “yes.” Few books create such an emotional response.

Gordon MacKenzie opens his book with a story of schoolchildren and creativity. During workshops he holds to show children how he makes his metal sculptures, MacKenzie always asks his classes how many of them are artists. The first graders eagerly raise their hands, but as the children get older fewer hands are raised. The pressure to fit in and “be normal,” so common as children age, suppresses their creative genius. And with this anecdote he lays down the bad news—this same suppression of creativity happens in corporations.

MacKenzie explains that the phrase “corporate creativity” is often an oxymoron. He had an early boss who referred to Hallmark’s Creative Division, in which they both worked, as “a giant hairball.” The description bothered MacKenzie until he pondered the question “Where do hairballs come from?”: “Well, two hairs unite. Then they’re joined by another. And another. And another. Before long, where there was once nothing, this tangled, impenetrable mass has begun to form.”

As the hairball grows, everyone and everything is pulled toward its core. The organizational physics of normalcy and conformity rule the day. MacKenzie admits that this is what allows many organizations to be successful. The problem, though, is that people never reach their full potential nor do the companies that employ them.

MacKenzie’s stories and suggestions throughout promote ways of getting and keeping yourself and others in that creative orbit. MacKenzie’s solution is not to untangle the hairball but to find a way for individuals to draw from the power of the organization and yet stay in orbit. Some of the topics are surprising. He spends a chapter talking about teasing and how it robs people of the confidence to take risks. Chapter 19 is just one sentence long: “Orville Wright did not have a pilot’s license.”

In another story, MacKenzie, while furnishing a new set of offices, bought a collection of antique milk cans. When he decided to use them as clever wastebaskets, he was forced to justify his purchase. Accused of procuring unapproved office supplies, he became furious. His clear-headed coworker saved the day by suggesting the items be donated to the corporate art collection and loaned back to the company. Corporate regulations were met and everyone was happy. MacKenzie reflects that letting his anger take hold robbed him of the opportunity to create a solution that worked for everyone—a skill those orbiting the giant hairball need.

“Orville Wright did not have a pilot’s license.”

His stories are inspirational, but more important, MacKenzie offers a map to the creativity roadblocks inherent in organizations. This is not a common approach. There are plenty of books on how you personally can become more creative or how your team can generate more ideas. The backdrop of a creative person working for a creative organization like Hallmark makes the message real and even more profound (“Wow, if Gordon had these problems, then my journey is going to be even harder”).

What makes Orbiting the Giant Hairball truly stand apart from any other book in our collection is its perfect fusion of word and image. Many business books have tried to use graphics and pictures to enhance the message, but they often fall short. The visual treatment always seems like an afterthought. MacKenzie uses illustrations to act as signposts throughout the text rather than the usual pulled-out quotes and section headings. His riff on a proposed organizational evolution of Hallmark from pyramid to plum tree appears on yellow ruled paper as scribbled notes, and a crumpled piece of paper at the end of the chapter describes in an instant how the presentation went. MacKenzie’s initial choice to self-publish also allowed the book to escape the tendency to normalize by giant publishing hairballs.

The only proper result of this review would be you picking up Orbiting the Giant Hairball and being able to answer “yes” when someone asks if you have read it. The inspired smile alone will be worth it. TS

Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace, Viking, Hardcover 1998, ISBN 9780670879830

WHERE TO NEXT? Here for more about hairballs Here for more about dirtballs Here for “the magical things you can do with that ball” | EVEN MORE: Rules of the Red Rubber Ball by Kevin Carroll; One Great Insight Is Worth a Thousand Good Ideas by Phil Dusenberry; Unstuck by Keith Yamashita and Sandra Spataro