Surviving your Serengeti
Encyclopedia
Surviving Your Serengeti: 7 Skills to Master Business and Life, published March 2011, is a motivational business fable
based on author Stefan Swanepoel
's experiences in business and growing up in Africa.
The book is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller
.
plains of East Africa
whose 1,000 mile-long migration filled with hunger, thirst, predators and exhaustion is often considered one of the natural wonders of the world
. The book matches a person's dominate instinctive skill with its corresponding Serengeti animal. According to the book the seven skills and animals include the "enduring wildebeest
", the "strategic lion
", the "enterprising crocodile
", the "graceful giraffe
", the "efficient cheetah
", the "risk-taking mongoose
" and the "communicating elephant
".
s and therefor the narrative
is easy to follow. When evaluating any business
parable
, the two primary criteria are the strength of the story
and the applicability of the lessons. From a story standpoint, Surviving Your Serengeti genuinely entertains. From an applicability standpoint, the book's biggest value is that at the end of each chapter the author summarizes the qualities that define each skill and then maps out a plan
of action for readers to follow.
Business fable
A business fable is a fable, parable or novel that shares a lesson or lessons that can be applied in the business world. Business fables focus on providing a powerful message for CEOs, executives, senior and middle management, sales teams, human resources, change management, goal setting,...
based on author Stefan Swanepoel
Stefan Swanepoel
Stefan J. M. Swanepoel , is an American business executive, author and motivational speaker. His books have been listed on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.-Education:...
's experiences in business and growing up in Africa.
The book is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller
Bestseller
A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade figures and published by newspapers, magazines, or bookstore chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and...
.
Synopsis
Swanepoel compares modern-day business and personal challenges with the life-and-death struggles of the millions of animals of SerengetiSerengeti
The Serengeti ecosystem is a geographical region in Africa. It is located in north Tanzania and extends to south-western Kenya between latitudes 1 and 3 S and longitudes 34 and 36 E. It spans some ....
plains of East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
whose 1,000 mile-long migration filled with hunger, thirst, predators and exhaustion is often considered one of the natural wonders of the world
Wonders of the World
Various lists of the Wonders of the World have been compiled from antiquity to the present day, to catalogue the world's most spectacular natural wonders and manmade structures....
. The book matches a person's dominate instinctive skill with its corresponding Serengeti animal. According to the book the seven skills and animals include the "enduring wildebeest
Wildebeest
The wildebeest , also called the gnu is an antelope of the genus Connochaetes. It is a hooved mammal...
", the "strategic lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
", the "enterprising crocodile
Crocodile
A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...
", the "graceful giraffe
Giraffe
The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...
", the "efficient cheetah
Cheetah
The cheetah is a large-sized feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The cheetah is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx, most notable for modifications in the species' paws...
", the "risk-taking mongoose
Mongoose
Mongoose are a family of 33 living species of small carnivorans from southern Eurasia and mainland Africa. Four additional species from Madagascar in the subfamily Galidiinae, which were previously classified in this family, are also referred to as "mongooses" or "mongoose-like"...
" and the "communicating elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
".
Review
This fable does not suffer from forced attempts at making the story fit the lessonLesson
A lesson is a structured period of time where learning is intended to occur. It involves one or more students being taught by a teacher or instructor...
s and therefor the narrative
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
is easy to follow. When evaluating any business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
parable
Parable
A parable is a succinct story, in prose or verse, which illustrates one or more instructive principles, or lessons, or a normative principle. It differs from a fable in that fables use animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as characters, while parables generally feature human...
, the two primary criteria are the strength of the story
Story
Story or Stories may refer to:*Story, a recounting of a sequence of events* Narrative* Bedtime story, a traditional form of storytelling, told to children to prepare them for sleep* Organization story, a narrative used in organization studies...
and the applicability of the lessons. From a story standpoint, Surviving Your Serengeti genuinely entertains. From an applicability standpoint, the book's biggest value is that at the end of each chapter the author summarizes the qualities that define each skill and then maps out a plan
Plan
A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with timing and resources, used to achieve an objective. See also strategy. It is commonly understood as a temporal set of intended actions, through which one expects to achieve a goal...
of action for readers to follow.