The Mormon Way

I just finished Jeff Benedict's The Mormon way of doing business. I picked the book up because of some reviews coming out because of the Romney Campaign. Based on the online reviews, the book incited two responses - this it the best book ever because it shows good Mormons succeeding by being good Mormons, or this book sucks because it isn't a business how to book.

The Mormon way is not a business book in the sense of how to do business. It is not a religious book in the sense of how to live successfully. It is an interesting piece of investigative journalism. The basic premise sounds like the plot of an epic novel: five relatively high-powered businessmen and their wives living parallel lives in the same congregation, the New Canaan Ward. They work in New York City and Boston, and travel the world. They lead their organizations through the attacks on the World Trade Center while keeping family first. The and their organizations persevere and thrive.

We have ten extremely driven competitive individuals who also had a no compromise attitude when it came toward family life and religious devotion. The no compromise attitude tended to moderate destructive business practices. The competitive drive can be a very ugly side to North American Mormon culture - I've lived in locations where Mormon church basketball had a reputation for being the roughest and meanest in town - too much trying to win, not enough trying to play well.

I really doubt The Mormon way is representative of how Mormons do business, or don't do business. I remember my mission president's wife sharing that her grandfather who was not Mormon, wouldn't do business with a Mormon who was not in good standing with the Church. He had been cheated too many times - he didn't feel they were trustworthy. In my professional life, I've encountered Mormons apparently in good standing, I would not do business with. I suspect there are people from other religious faiths may have a similar approach to balancing family and business.

The Mormon way offers no insight into small business owners. There are plenty of Mormon entrepreneurs, if only because more than half the population of Utah is Mormon. We have no idea how Mormons balance family life when working for themselves. We don't know if they share the same traits as the ten people in the book, or if they've found other solutions or made different choices.

The Mormon way is worth reading. It is a good piece of investigative reporting and it describes an interesting group of people brought together at a very interesting time.

The Mormon way of doing business : leadership and success through faith and family, Jeff Benedict, New York : Warner Business Books, 2007.