Putting the Tarot to Work

by Mark McElroy

A review by - Crystal Wind, CTR, CPTR, CTC

Business world meets Tarot! Putting the Tarot to Work is about just that -- using Tarot creatively in the work place. If you want to be or are a business consultant, this book is for you. So, throw away those corporate training manuals and bring out a deck of Tarot cards. Chapter one offers Top 10 reasons to buy this book - number four being Rat race to help you align your dreams and sense of personal purpose with the work you do.

The whole corporate world would benefit by reading the first five chapters of this book to discover what an invaluable tool Tarot is. Putting the Tarot to Work tells corporate managers that they can hire 78 full time consultants for the price of a box of cards. This should intrigue most managers, especially if you ask them to use the Swiss Army knife of creativity as the author refers to a deck of tarot cards that show how brainstorming generates ideas for any challenge you face, and not only in business.

Any objections to bringing tarot into the boardroom will be overruled in chapter two. The fact that Tarot provides structural support that images from magazines can't -- overrules the objection that you should be working, not playing with cards. Chapter three debunks tarot myths and gives a concise, thorough overview of tarot. Still not convinced that Tarot can be used at work?

Chapter five teaches you to interpret a spread by describing, associating, personalizing, dramatizing, and referring what you see in a single card, to write it down, and associate it with a memory or idea of what each image suggests to you. Chapter six shows you how to brainstorm with a single card to get dozens of insights or solutions.

The good thing about this book is that the author gives examples of how the cards' symbols connect with peoples issues in every day life. Chapter six also studies the Trumps (major issues to pay attention to) based on expression, symbol, posture, colors, and what options the figure would suggest. For example, the Wheel: can be cycles, fluctuation, luck, fate, someone in tune with trends, previous manager or CEO. best case/worst case person, someone motivated by habit.

Tarot can also be used to improve the evaluation process. Instead of evaluating an employee on final sales figures, wouldn't it be better to take into account the process that went into the sales? Tarot breaks this process down into cards for each: cold call, presentation, answering objections, asking for business and closing the sale. Chapter seven lists the benefits of career-oriented brain storming and has a Self Portrait Spread for your current employment situation, for which the author offers suggestions to consider with each card. Also included in chapter seven are a Strengths and Opportunities Spread and a Goal Setting Spread. Chapter eight is dedicated to how to get rave reviews with the aid of Tarot. Included are a Fundamental Factors Spread, and a Manager's Great Expectations Spread to assist managers in exploring how their assumptions impact employee performance.

The Tarot is also available to help with communications issues. If you want to see how others see you, use the Mirror Mirror spread in chapter nine. Chapter ten has a Planning Perfect Presentations spread based on the communications triangle. Communications is so important that the author calls this the ?if you do nothing else spread? for presenters.

To help with deciphering all the spreads in the book, the author dedicated Appendix A to giving meanings and associations for each of the seventy eight cards. Appendix B suggests decks for personal and corporate use. Throughout the rest of the book, learn to phrase questions, choose spreads and brainstorm with Tarot to explore your profession for interviews and reviews. What makes this book unique is the way the author presents the information. Mr. McElroy tells the reader three times what he is going to say, he states what to expect at the beginning of each chapter, he explores the subject ion the chapter and then summarizes the information in a nut shell at the end of the chapter.

The way the information is presented makes this a book for readers of all skill levels. Everyday life examples for the spreads enhance the spreads and make them clear and easy to understand. Keep a deck of cards handy at work and when you have a question about what you need to know about an issue; what someone thinks of you, or about how to prepare for a presentation, you can ask your 78 business consultants for a quick answer.

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