To Be of Use: The Seven Seeds of Meaningful Work

By Dave Smith

A son of the conservative South and president of his college's Young Christian Club, Dave Smith was radicalized by Vietnam. The young Porsche-driving computer programmer went to work with C?sar Ch?vez during the formative years of the United Farm Workers. From there, Smith became instrumental in founding a series of businesses -- including the seminal gardening and lifestyle company Smith and Hawken -- that planted the seeds for the now-burgeoning organic and sustainable business movements. In this fascinating memoir of his transformation, Smith shows how business can be a force for radical change, that business driven by simple core values -- not the hijacked values of right-wing extremism but common values of compassion and decency -- can truly make the world a better place. To Be of Use is both an entertaining, stirring read and a thoughtful guide to making our work lives personally meaningful again.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1577314905
• ISBN13: 9781577314905
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: New World Library
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 5.8"

Customer Reviews

Inspiring and thoughtful

The worldview expressed in this book is built on a foundation of ethics, decency, and humanism. Smith speaks to what Lincoln called "the better angels of our nature" in outlining not only a culture of work but an overall sensibility that can transform our productivity and relationships. What the author does exceedingly well is to show how the transformative values of the Sixties have been manifested in the new world of business and work. The cynics, of course, write off that decade as an era of excess and hypocrisy. Smith demonstrates that those values are alive and well and growing in the very institutions that define our lives. Idealism can generate change, and it's time we acknowledge it.

Inspiring and engaging

Dave Smith is a man of vision who walks his talk. He's brought values and conscience to his business ventures, and has rubbed elbows with many others who've done the same. He's unassuming and down-to-earth as he shares not only his experiences but the meaning behind them, and the impact a host of fellow Creative Action Heroes have had on their small communities and the world at large. "To Be of Use" entertains with Dave's characteristic easy, familiar voice, and it inspires those of us who hope to put our visions into action, and be truly useful in our work and in all the choices we make each day.

More than meaningful work

Dave Smith's book on finding meaningful work reminds me to strive to lead a meaningful life based on my own values. The author's honesty and humility in telling his own story from preacher's son to assistant to Cesar Chavez to founding meaningful businesses kept me engaged throughout. I found his spiritual beliefs reassuring and inspiring. Anyone searching for meaningful work or a meaningful life should find this book most helpful.

To Be of REAL Use

Dave Smith is the true unsung hero of his remarkably inspiring book.For business people to walk-the-walk and maintain their professional and private life with true sustainable comittment is noble. Dave's book will inspire those who are on the path of considering healthy models of entrepenearship and also rekindle many who are searching for soulful innovation. This book ignites thinking for the long term...it is good, and kind, and genuine.

Forging a Path to New Meaning and Purpose

Perhaps the most powerful message I got from this book was that we humans are capable of great and noble acts. It is so easy to become cynical and depressed in the world today, with so-called leaders from all walks of life being exposed for wrongdoing. The author, a business leader for over 30 years, I'd guess, has certainly not been blind to the stark realities of the contemporary world. And yet, he has clearly found his own heroes, some from the distant past, some from more current life, who have helped him find a life path filled with meaning and purpose. For me he offers living proof that there are emotional, spiritual, and even material rewards in searching for truths beyond "just going along with the pack." This is a book I'll be recommending to all of my friends. Dave Smith is a fine writer with a message that nobody should miss.