“Masters of Management: How the Business Gurus and Their Ideas Have Changed the World …” by Adrian Wooldridge (Harper Business, $29.99).
Wooldridge sees management as an industry unto itself — and rightfully so. The dynamics of change force managers to work and think in terms of dog-years. “To flourish in this atmosphere, it helps to have the spirit of a frontier settler, not a corporate bureaucrat.”
In a global sense, business must scale scope, not just scale. While preaching economies of scale, centralized production actually yields diminishing returns when dealing with globalization. Why? What works in Chicago may not work for the 4.7 million consumers in Chennai (India). Global markets are really networks of local markets. Centralization is not nimble enough to identify and respond to needs and changes of an array of local customers and economies. It also adds layers of distribution costs.
To scale scope, firms must take a networked approach, too, “forever reconfiguring themselves in response to a rapidly shifting landscape.” Rather than buying cheap, local manufacturing facilities, companies must acquire “local skills, brands and distribution channels.”
This reconfiguration extends to how companies view their workers. Brains, not brawn, drive growth. But there’s no assembly-line recipe for measuring the productivity of knowledge. Ideas are one thing; bringing them to market is another. Failure comes with creativity and innovation — yet companies don’t tolerate failure. They need to remember that Edison found thousands of ways not to invent the light bulb. Without some failures, companies can’t ride the crest of the next wave of innovation. If you don’t seize opportunity, someone else will.
Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher observed that you can’t step into the same river twice. Managers must keep that in mind because “the river has changed into a raging torrent.” Wooldridge uses the stories of small and large companies to drive home his “how to make it work” advice.
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“Why People Fail — The 16 Obstacles to Success and How You Can Overcome Them” by Siimon Reynolds (Jossey-Bass, $24.95).
According to Reynolds, the single predictor of success is focus. Without an objective, there can be no plan. Without focus, you meander through your career and life with an “it is what it is” mindset. Reaction trumps action.
Once you focus on what’s important, build your daily plan around SCORE (self-discipline, concentration, optimism, relaxation and enjoyment). Every day should be measured by whether you’re working toward your goals, maintaining a positive attitude and choosing to have fun with whatever you’re doing. Keeping score allows you to tweak your plan based upon the daily variables — many of which you don’t control.
SCORE helps you avoid the pitfall of destructive thinking which leads to low productivity. Close allies of low production are fixed mindsets, a lack of critical thinking and not focusing on your strengths.
Mindset drives action — or not. When you operate within your comfort zone, you limit your view of not only what you can do, but also what must be done. You also exclude the input of others whose perspectives don’t align with yours. Their input and feedback alert you to ways you can adapt your plan to an environment where change is the new normal. Lack of appreciation for the perspectives of others limits your ability to ask the right questions. Without new answers, you can’t expect to get from where you are to where you could be.
Building on your strengths expands your boundaries, too. Reynolds shows that spending some time each day on mastering your profession/ industry adds to your toolkit. Simply doing your job isn’t enough because it won’t give you the skills you need for what’s next.
“Failure is the ambitious person’s constant companion.” Learning to conquer it leads to success.
Jim Pawlak is a nationally syndicated book reviewer.
