Everything I Know About Business I Learned From Monopoly

By Alan Axelrod

Book Overview

Everyone has his or her own strategy about how to win at the MONOPOLY game--bank lots of cash, invest prudently in real estate, or take plenty of chances and hope for a windfall from the Community... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0762416947
• ISBN13: 9780762416943
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Running Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Surprising in it's depth, effective in its brevity.

Do not be fooled by the casual nature of this book. The most valuabe insights may be difficult to frame, but it's surprisingly effective in its aim; to improve your perspective on succeeding in business. It achieves this concisely, one of its greatest strengths. The premise in this case, the board game, is just a conduit. An effective one. If you get bogged down in the material - the properties, pieces, etc... you're missing the point. The author uses it because it's accessible and has existing preconceptions that benefit from being reworked. Most people aren't that successful, so reworking a perspective is just what the doctor ordered. Monopoly, the board game, is good simply becuase it has high exposure; the lessons can be learned from any discipline. This one just works and is entertaining to boot. So the point is that if you change how you look at the resources in your business, you'll use them more successfully. To illustrate: you don't win Monopoly by becoming the richest; you win by ensuring everyone goes bankrupt first. The effect may be the same in both instances, but understanding the true cause/effect relationships is what separates the most successful from the rest. This is the overiding theme through this short, and engaging read. You can benefit from how you judge what causes success. The fact that it does this with Monopoly adds to the flavor.

From Monopoly to Business

The information presented in the book related pretty well to the Monopoly game. Each time I read more in the book, I couldn't wait to go play the game. But the information given was meant to be applied to the business world. I am not quite there yet but I feel I gained quite a bit of insight by reading the book and thinking of how it relates to Monopoly. There are quotes and thoughts throughout the book, put in the form of title deeds, chance cards, and other familiar Monopoly things that are rather insightful, but sometimes distracting. The only criticism was with the actual hardcover book itself. The spine broke about 2/3 of the way through. All in all, a good book that I would recommend.

Book Summary

After buying the rights from creator Charles Darrow, Parker Brothers introduced the board game Monopoly® in 1935. It soon became an American icon of capitalism in its most competitive form. Popular estimates claim that nearly 1 billion people have played the game. Ironically, the game flourished during a time when the Great Depression still held its sway on the American psyche. Author Alan Axelrod attributes this odd phenomenon to the cathartic affect the game had on people. Still, many attribute its success more to its ability to mirror real life. Monopoly as a metaphor for business serves as the impetuous for this book. Axelrod fills his book generously with quotes from leaders of industry. While the board game differs considerably from real life in some substantive areas, such as starting out on a level playing field, the game compensates for these few exceptions by creating a playing environment that relies more on skill and attitude. The author emphasizes this important lesson, "...our own fates are in large part decided by our actions and not completely by our starting points" (28). The book primarily aims to distill the practical lessons learned from playing the game, but at the same time teaches you many of the skills needed to become a better game player. The chief contribution Monopoly® makes to the business world is to expound the point that passing "GO" and collecting a $200 income will not win the game. A winning strategy necessitates aggressive play in analyzing, buying, selling, and trading properties. Axelrod believes that players must be bifocal, keeping an eye on both strategy and tactics, "To be sure, the business of business is making money, but it is also managing and manipulating money" (63). An important component in accumulating properties includes the willingness to leverage your buying power by taking on debt and mortgaging auxiliary properties. Player psychology also figures in prominently. By better understanding yourself and your opponents you can make better decisions. Successful deals require both players to feel that they gained something from the trade. When negotiating Axelrod reminds us what is most important to keep in mind, "The rookie salesman makes the mistake of selling price rather than value" (99). To improve your own playing build a healthy tolerance for taking calculated risks. Eliminate chance from the equation by "doing the math" and basing decisions on facts. Finally, the better players build on their investing and psychological advantages by exploiting market conditions, such as economic scarcity. The natural shortage of houses and hotels in the game teaches us that it pays to take advantage of market inefficiencies. This extends to finding deals by picking up properties at auction. Vigilance and preparation rule the day.

"Kill two birds with one stone"

Half the books seems to be devoted on how to win at the board game, and the other half on how the game applies to real life. If you play the board game you will probably like that it kills two birds with one stone;" If not, you may be destracted occasionally. For example, one page show the odds of someone landing on a certain property.Other than that, the book was amusing, and contained enough practical advice that makes it worth the purchase price.