Billed as the sequel to the best-selling The Diamond Cutter
, this slim volume lays out its “Eight Rules of Karmic Management,” a business philosophy predicated upon helping “karmic business partners”—co-workers, customers and suppliers, the world—succeed. With brief testimonials from hip-hop entrepreneur Russell Simmons and advertising executive Linda Kaplan Thaler, the guide lays out a mishmash of Eastern religions and such New Age strategies as visualizing future endeavors with a 100% success rate. Much of the book yields more puzzlement than enlightenment: the authors offer unfocused personal anecdotes, and various contradictory statements create further confusion (e.g., an assertion that the method “always works” is followed by the qualifying “If it works, then you have a friend for life in KM”). Also befuddling (and troubling) in a treatise espousing altruism toward competitors is praise for retailing giant Wal-Mart, whose evisceration tactics against rivals are widely documented. (Sept. 1)
