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Gordon McKenzie, who worked at Hallmark Cards for thirty years (to the day), wrote this little gem in 1998. I first read this book when I was a "corporate fool" yet, even after reading the book, I wasn't able to figure out how to orbit the giant hairball and survive with grace. So, I became a Solo Entrepreneur.

Recently I picked the book up again, and on a second reading, was intrigued to find that Mr. McKenzie's ideas are as applicable to Solo Entrepreneurs as they are to "corporate fools." From my perspective, the biggest difference is the size and the gravitational pull of the hairballs that we are trying to orbit.

McKenzie says that all organizations are, by nature, hairballs: "a tangled, impenetrable mass"-- a mass of policy, procedure, conformity, compliance, rigidity, and submission to the status quo. This mass has tremendous pull and can protect and paralyze at the same time. Corporations are obvious hairballs--other, not so obvious hairballs, are clients, families and communities. As McKenzie describes it, orbiting is "originality, rules-breaking, non-conformity, experimentation, and innovation." The idea of orbiting--rather than flying off into outer space--is to maintain the relationship or the connection with the hairball and get to the place of creative tension.

This book is small with lots of line drawings, wild splashes of color, and funky fonts. However, the "greeting card" look of the prose belies its depth. McKenzie, who at one time held the title "Creative Paradox�, describes the inherent paradoxes of being attached while simultaneously being autonomous. Using examples and anecdotes from his tenure at Hallmark and from his creativity workshops, McKenzie describes the dark side of hairballs (Death Masks and Cage Dwellers) and also the creativity and life that can spring from within (Conference of Angels and Dynamic Following).

Near the end of the book, McKenzie makes a wonderful distinction between letting go and rejecting. He says that when you let go of something, it will still be there when you need it. In the meantime, the letting go makes it possible to tap into other possibilities. In contrast, when you reject something, you restrict possibilities. What hit me as a read this section for the second time, was the realization that when I left corporate America, I was rejecting corporate America. And since my leaving, I have been clinging to ideas of being "non-corporate." I think it's time to let go of my biases and see what possibilities open up. And as McKenzie says, I'm sure I'll find that this letting go is not a one-shot deal. He says, "It's kind of like breathing. You can't breathe just once. Try it: Breathe just once. You'll pass out. If you stop letting go, your creative spirit will pass out."