The Hypomanic Toolbox
Encouraging business leaders to harness their energy in the name of accelerating company growth, The Hypomanic Toolbox is an ambitious organizational transformation guide.
Drawing on the positive attributes of hypomania, Todd Hagopian’s business guide The Hypomanic Toolbox recommends unique means of boosting personal and organizational productivity.
The book is divided into two parts. Its expansive and candid but disjointed opening section covers Hagopian’s experiences with bipolar disease, detailing the effects of his hypomania on his work performance and relationships. The business theories that follow are modeled around the attributes of the disorder that the book deems favorable—treated as a means of harnessing energy, improving careers, and accelerating company growth.
The subsequent introduction of the Hypomanic Toolbox is succinct: It is presented as a means of “finding a sustainable way to tap into your highest potential.” However, the toolbox itself remains in the theoretical realm, naming no specific steps tailored to individuals. As a separate undercurrent, the book includes tips for working with someone with bipolar disorder, with notes about the effects that a manic episode can have on their work and personal lives.
The bulk of the book is devoted to a hypothetical illustration of applying HOT (Hypomanic Operational Turnaround) System techniques. In it, a shopping cart manufacturer on the precipice of collapse uses HOT to recover following pressure from its controlling private equity group. It takes six months to turn this imaginary company around; rapid change is effected across its departments, including related to sales, engineering, warehouse operations, supply chains, financials, and product marketing. They integrate an 80/20 focus on processes, improve efficiency, set specific company goals and visions, and encourage team innovation. To complement this sense of overhaul, the text includes detailed sales figures, notes about customer groups, and industry data, though the latter is not included in an easy-to-read format.
The prose is clear, though the occasional use of context-free business acronyms impedes lay progression through the text. However, the central illustration is ultimately unpersuasive. Alongside the central characters, department heads are introduced, but in a superficial manner related to their respective roles, including during management meetings. Some of the critical problems the company is imagined to face defy logic, and as the text progresses and HOT tactics are applied, the company’s success is realized with little difficulty. The expedited timeline of its transformation also strains credulity, in particular given that many of the concepts drawn upon reflect familiar business practices. Further, the hypothetical company’s area of expertise is limiting, though some aspects of the illustration, as with the use of techniques such as Level 10 management meetings and the need for a comprehensive understanding of a company’s competition, are applicable across industries.
The example-driven business guide The Hypomanic Toolbox models harnessing enthusiasm and high energy to achieve business success.
Reviewed by
Katy Keffer
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
