Book Description
"Toyota is becoming a double threat: the world's finest manufacturer and a truly great innovator . . . that formula, a combination of production prowess and technical innovation, is an unbeatable recipe for success."
-- Fortune, February 2006
For the first time, an insider reveals the formula behind Toyota's unceasing quest to innovate and do more with less, a philosophy that has made it one of the ten most profitable companies in the world (and worth more than GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and Honda combined). In a rare look into Toyota's ability to consistently achieve breakthroughs that outperform the competition, The Elegant Solution explains what Toyota associates have known all along: it's not about the cars. Rather, Toyota's astounding success is just the visible result of a hidden creative process that begins with a seven-digit number.
One million. That's how many new ideas the Toyota organization implements every year. These ideas come from every level of the organization -- from the factory floors to the corporate suites. And organizations all over the world want to learn how it's done. Now senior University of Toyota advisor Matthew May shows how any company can achieve an environment of everyday innovation and discover the kinds of elegant solutions that hold the power to change the game forever. World-class benchmarks like Lexus, Prius, Scion -- even Toyota's vaunted production system -- are simply shining examples of elegant solutions.
A tactical playbook for team-based innovation, The Elegant Solution delivers powerful lessons in breakthrough thinking in a provocative yet practical guide to the three core principles and ten key practices that shape successful business innovation. Innovation isn't just about technology -- it's about value, opportunity, and impact. When a company embeds a real discipline around tapping ingenuity in the pursuit of perfection, the sky is the limit. Dozens of case studies (from Toyota and other companies) illustrate the universal power and applicability of these concepts. A unique "clamshell strategy" prepares managers to successfully lead and sustain the innovation effort.
At once a thought-starter and a taskmaster, The Elegant Solution is a vital prescription for anyone wanting to truly master business innovation.
Customer Reviews:
The Elegant Solution.......2007-10-08
This is an excellent (and yes, elegant) overview of the Toyota quality "mindset." The book is a "must read" for for anyone interested in business strategy development. The book offers a readable summary of the principles of the Toyota Way with an emphasis on the development of the Lexus and Prius lines including practical examples of the elements of the approach advocated. When a company has amassed assets greater than GM, Ford, Chrysler, VW and Honda combined, their approach may be worth deeper study. I highly recommend this practical, important, and very readable book.
Nice stories, little new content.......2007-08-27
I excepted a lot from the elegant solution. It has been recommended by a lot of persons as a must read. Honestly, I was dissapointed. It's still an good book, but didn't find it as "classic" as people had suggested to me.
"The elegant solution" is about tools for creating innovation on your job. These tools are based on Toyota's tools and practices. The book is devided in three parts. The first part sets three general principles. The second part, by far the largest, provides the tools for innovation, the practices. The last part talks about implementing these practices.
The three principles are "the art of ingenuity", "pursuit of perfection" and "rhythm of fit". They were interesting principles, but not really new or shocking. Sometimes I found them even a little too vague.
The practices range from "thinking in pictures" to "master the tension". Each chapter shortly states the practice and explains the key ideas. After that it uses stories to clarify the practice. Lot's of stories are from inside Toyota. Some stories related to Lance Armstrong, a little too many in my opinion and they were somewhat boring. Anyways, in general, the stories were what made the book interesting.
The third part didn't provide very much content.
In summary, I enjoyed the book, for the stories. I didn't find the practices new and the book didn't provided me with any new insight that other lean books did not provide. The book was written a little bit too much in a "popular style" which annoyed me.
Worth reading for the stories. When wanting to know more on lean or toyota I'd recommend other books like "Toyota way" or "Lean product and process development".
Good nuggets, lots of fluff, some really sloppy thinking.......2007-08-22
I came to this book via the Shampoo Problem that's been floating around the internet these past couple of weeks (which he published in his Change This manifesto). The puzzle is this - a high-end health club puts nice shampoo in their showers, but customers keep stealing it. How do you implement a solution that takes no time to implement, doesn't inconvenience customers at all, and doesn't require any money? That's a lot of constrictions, but the author claims it can be done! (you can search for the answer yourself, I don't want to spoil your fun.)
The question itself reminded me of so many bad professors who would ask totally subjective questions and disregard legitimate answers until they found someone who agreed with them. "Who can give me an example of an apple that's tasty? Macintosh? No too sweet. Granny smith? No too bitter. Golden delicious? Why yes Bobby, you get a star."
This is the tone in my head while I read the book - condescending. Maybe he didn't write it that way, but that's how I'm reading it, and honestly, it fits. On page 21 he chides psychologists for loving "to explain our uniquely hardwired capabilities in hugely complex terms. Sixteen types, thirty-four strengths, etc." and then goes on to give his "easier, more elegant" (but no less arbitrary "four basic buckets of natural ability." (Four because the ancient Greeks loved the number four.) Of course, what he fails to mention is that the psychologists he's referring to all write for pop magazines like Cosmopolitan and their articles appear alongside such classics as "10 ways to improve your sex life" and "5 ways to tell if your man is cheating on you." He also never mentions the "four basic buckets of natural ability" again and they have absolutely no bearing on the rest of the book. (The book is filled with useless random made up facts like those.)
He also throws out sentences that have huge presumptions built in to them, but have absolutely no evidence to back them up. Stuff that, in a seminar you wouldn't want to question him on because "there is no right answer" or the facts are obscure enough that he could bluster his way though most arguments that weren't from an expert on the subject. In book form, though, and knowing better myself, I read this stuff and think "well there's a very poor and inaccurate description." Luckily there's an only 50% chance that even the next sentence will depend on you agreeing with that statement, much less the next page.
In a later section he rehashes "the scientific method" (I put it in quotes because he botched his basic characterization of it) and compares it to other four step iterative processes, mostly those developed by the military - Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA), Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA), Observe-Orient-Decide-Act (OODA), Scan-Analyze-Respond-Assess (SARA), etc. and comes up with his own version, cleverly called IDEA - Investigate, Design, Execute, Adjust. It's not much different than the others, but it's his and he can teach it in seminars as his own. FWIW, "While Toyota officially recognizes only PDCA (not IDEA), they actually use all of these (methodologies) to some degree." (page 73-4)
Well of course they use all of the methodologies to some degree - they all describe the same basic thing, and very few organizations are so button-down that they actually only use a single methodology and follow it to the letter each time.
The very next sentence is "Let's look closer at the process." But that's pretty much the last time PDCA is mentioned in the book, the next section is about process in general and why it's good to "Insist on a common approach."
Another example of sloppy leaps in logic and condescending attitude is the Edsel. (page 93) Ford did their research and designed a car that people would want - except nobody wanted it. Why? "The problem was, all the research was based on a forty-year-old market belief... that buyers fell into one of four income segments: low, low-middle, upper-middle, and upper... Except markets don't think that way. When it comes to cars, consumers were thinking `lifestyle,' not income."
I like how he swaps an old marketing tool for a modern one as if that's the answer to all the world's problems. Lifestyle marketing was originated in the 70's and 80's as a result of - surprise surprise - new market research techniques developed by psychologists who were using statistical analysis more and more in their psychological research. (I wonder if he thinks those psychologists are too complex now.)
He also utterly fails to get into the concept of lifestyle marketing - he tells you why the Edsel failed, and what they should have done, (or his completely arbitrary and baseless versions of them) but what they should have done is literally one word. "lifestyle." Shame on Ford in the 1950's for not using an 80's marketing concept to understand how the market thinks. Why didn't they use the word "lifestyle" instead - then the Edsel would have been a huge success.
Hansei is another example of this sloppy, condescending thinking. "Hansei is the rigorous review conducted after action has been taken. It's a huge and absolutely vital part of learning. And with few exceptions, our Western culture is just plain miserable at it." Of course there's not one mention of the term "post-mortem" which is a western term and performs the exact same function. Sure most businesses don't do it (most businesses don't follow a lot of best practices), but don't pretend that Toyota or "Eastern culture" somehow invented the concept and that nobody in the west does it. If there's an existing best practice that we understand, then why not just tell us about it rather than pretending that it came from the fount of the Toyota godhead?
"Ford hadn't gone to the field to see what was actually happening. They remained in the office and believed the data. Big mistake. The Edsel was dead on arrival, a complete and utter failure."
Of course the next chapter is about how Toyota did the same basic thing, but managed to succeed. Their data told them that the youth of today would be the car buyers of tomorrow (startling, I know). The case study for the Scion reveals absolutely nothing about the techniques they used to study the market - it's the after report.
"Where are these kids going to buy the car? There's no time or money for new stores. That's a problem. That means they go to a Toyota store. Okay, so they'll know it's a Toyota. How do we get around that? Think? We don't. It's not the ugly stepchild. It's legit, but different. It's Scion, offspring of Toyota. Don't ignore the Toyota link, it's got cred...."
Note the use of the magical word "Think" in that paragraph. He totally neglects to address what "Think" means. Think is the Elegant part of the solution (he also likes the word "Intuitive" and uses it liberally), yet he doesn't describe it at all.
"Think" is where all the magic happens. Katie Lucas calls this the "Run really, really fast" step for "how to win a marathon" methodologies. It's the step where all the real difficult, nitty-gritty stuff magically happens. South Park summarizes it "Step 1: Steal underpants. Step 2...... Step 3: Profit."
Ostensibly the whole book is about that one word "Think" but the tools he provides - the IDEA loop, mind mapping, story boarding are nothing new, and the book is utterly lacking a cohesive whole. They're just scattered ideas, praised one second, and then dropped in the next chapter. He even mentions the Toyota "dashboard" which is a tool for getting a quick overview of a problem - except he (again) utterly fails in to a dashboard. "Dashboard" doesn't even appear in the index of the book, and if it did, the only occurrence would be on page 113.
Here's all the text on page 113. "Creative Visual Control - Visual control is an integral part of Toyota's methodology. The Project Management Office of Toyota's North American Parts Operation (NAPO) used creative visual `dashboards' to track performance in their Stretch Goals Initiative (see Chapter 9)."
Chapter 9 is on how to stretch goals, not about dashboards. He clearly states "Visual control is an integral part of Toyota's methodology" yet it's explained nowhere in the book in any depth.
In fairness, Toyota did do something Ford didn't do (or at least something he claims Ford didn't do) - they got to know their market. Really engage them and have a conversation with them. Learn about them, and let those learnings drive their product, and he does get into that in the book.
The main thrust of the book - if I can understand it all because it's couched in so many superlatives and it jumps from topic to topic so fast that it's really difficult to tease core themes out - seems to be something like: Move forward by getting hands-on experience with your product and your customers. Don't dictate strategy based on numbers alone, or build bureaucracies - get down and dirty and get to know the product you're selling and get to know the marketplace. Come up with grand "elegant" visions for the future, but innovate little by little - tiniest bit by tiniest bit. Listen to everyone and implement every good idea, then standardize it so that the whole company benefits. Don't let the numbers do all the talking; learn the context, the story behind the numbers. Which is a pretty good message, and he does give you some tools to do that, but the tools are often vague, and you feel that the real tools are mentioned only in passing.
The subtitle of the book is "Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation." If this book was about the "formula" for Coca-Cola, it would say something like "cola syrup and seltzer" and go on about the intuitive and elegant way they matched cola syrup to the bubbling process and created a dynamic new soft drink and how the other soft drink companies of the day - lemonade, sugar-water and apple-juice - failed to really understand the problem, which is why they didn't come up with the cola + seltzer combination first and why they lost so much market share. (If only apple juice had thought "lifestyle" instead of "income segment!")
Overall, it's an okay read and a decent introduction to the subject of business innovation, though for a book that's supposedly written by a guy who's on the ground floor with this stuff, I would expect a *lot* more meat and a lot less fluff. Get it if you think you'll like it, but don't expect as much as the other reviewers seem to be hinting at.
"Keep it lean. Scale it back, make it simple, and let it flow.".......2007-05-22
The subtitle of this book ("Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation") is not inaccurate but somewhat misleading. Although, yes, Matthew E. May has much of interest and value to say about the Toyota Production System, his attention is by no means limited to it and to the remarkable organization within which it was developed and within which it continues to flourish. Today, Toyota is one of the ten most profitable companies in the world and worth more than General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and Honda...combined. Obviously there are reasons for such extraordinary success but it would be incorrect to assume that other organizations can achieve the same success once they know what Toyota's "formula for mastering innovation" is.
What about this book's title? According to May, "Elegance isn't about being hoity-toity. It's not about lofty concepts and grand designs. It's not about beauty or grace, or anything to do with aesthetics - ugly is okay. Elegance is about something much more profound. It's about finding the `aha' solution to a problem with the greatest parsimony of effort and expense. Creativity plays a part. Simplicity plays a part. Intelligence plays a part. Add in subtlety, economy, and quality, and you get elegance...Elegant solutions relieve creative tension by solving the problem in finito as it's been defined, in a way that avoids creating other problems that then need to be solved. Elegant solutions render only new possibilities to chase and exploit. Finally, elegant solutions aren't obvious, except, of course, in retrospect."
Elegant solutions include library, paper money, pencil, wallet, wristwatch, icebox, mortgage, Social Security, credit card, cell phone, and auto leasing. These and other elegant solutions, as May correctly points out, "universally change the world's attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and habits." Efforts to formulate elegant solutions are guided and informed by three principles: ingenuity in craft, pursuit of perfection, and fit with society. "They're the raison d'etre at Toyota, and nonnegotiable."
Earlier, I suggested that this book takes a close look at the mindset and the process by which Toyota continues to formulate elegant solutions. In fact, the Toyota organization implements a million ideas a year. May also includes within his narrative dozens of non-Toyota cases that indicate that none of the individual concepts are new, or even unique to Toyota. All organizations that formulate elegant solutions have people at all levels and in all areas of operation who possess both an ability and a determination to collectively and completely master all of the concepts as "a way of life, not a program centered on select teams led by specialists with artificial agendas."
But what about much smaller organizations, especially those with severely limited resources? Decision-makers in those organizations will be delighted (and perhaps surprised) to find that May provides a wealth of material that they can immediately put to use, once they understand the "deeper principles" that he discusses in Part I and the "ten key practices supported by tools and techniques" that he discusses in Part II. Then in Part III, May explains "how to put the practices and tools together well to achieve a [desired] result." He helps his reader to track the course of an exemplary team through a day of searching for the elegant solution.
For me, some of the most interesting and valuable material is provided in Chapter 12, "Make Kaizen Mandatory," as May poses again (as he does in other chapters) a combination of Problem, Cause, and Solution:
Problem: Innovation is hit or miss.
Cause: Creativity is misdirected and mismanaged.
Solution: Embed the kaizen ethic.
After a brief review of the factors that came together to help embed the kaizen ethic in Japanese business ethic during the decade or so following World War Two, he goes on to explain that at companies such as Toyota, the key issue is that they view kaizen in terms of standards that are created by the individuals performing the work, and, that standards are dynamic, and not everything gets standardized. These companies establish a best practice, document the standard, and train accordingly. Then in the next chapter, May shares his thoughts about "the power of lean" thinking and execution that reduce (if not eliminate) inconsistency, overload, and (most important) waste. Here is another combination:
Problem: Too many, too much - of everything.
Cause: Assumption that more is better.
Solution: Start thinking lean.
Once again, when it comes to innovation and designing solutions, the emphasis remains the same: "whatever you do, keep it lean. Scale it back, make it simple, and let it flow."
And that is what elegance really is all about.
Easy Reading.......2007-03-25
A must read for learning how to implement and sustain continuous improvement enabking lean to become part of the compny's culture
Book Description
THINKERTOYS will teach you how to generate new ideas for businesses, markets, sales techniques, and products and product extensions. Packed with fun and practical tools and exercises, it outlines 30 practical linear and intuitive techniques that can be used by individuals or groups to tackle and solve business problems in fresh, creative ways.
An updated edition of the best-selling business creativity book, with more than 30 brainstorming techniques and hundreds of creative-thinking tips and tricks. Revision includes new techniques, examples, and sections on group brainstorming and endgames.
Customer Reviews:
Valuable Tool for Brainstorming.......2007-08-10
Thinkertoys has proven to be an excellent resource guide and valuable addition to my library on creativity. Not only does it provide a variety of different brainstorming techniques, but it lays them out with an easy writing style. I have used this book in an applied creativity workshop taught to graduate management students and have found it to be very helpful.
Not the final approach to creativity, but useful, espesially for building confidence.......2007-08-01
My method of creativity: Take something you're not satisfied with. Start thinking what in it is unnecessary, what could be removed. Compare it to other such things and incorporate their features if necessary. Start combining the parts to all kinds of wholes that match your inner models of their ideal function. Keep on evolving, adding branches, developing, destroying. Ultimately you have arrived at something completely different.
In my opinion the only worthwhile creative practices are:
1. Being aware that you can be a creative person and that you have creative modes of thought that can always be accessed. Basically doing things that are weird and creative helps. Like I've been developing new writing systems for English and Finnish. There's no practical use for them really (even though they're already a lot better than the Latin alphabet). Just for the sake of being creative. You don't have to be artistic. That mostly means learning self expression and technique. The trick is to see that anything at all is really helpful in moving you towards new things. You just have to keep moving in all possible ways, use all areas of thought, and ultimately you'll arrive at something. Creativity is your friend.
2. Practicing knowing what your customers/target group are looking for. You have to be there earlier than they even know what they actually want. What this means in practice is just things like watching TV and being on the net and reading and following the trends. Be like they would be in 5 years. Have a sense of design that's better than their taste.
3. Practice things that have nothing to do with creative problem solving like dancing or whatever. Whatever you're motivated to do at the moment. Be familiar with all cultures, not only what's mainstream or popular at the moment. It all affects the way you think and generally you should be able to do and like and be confident of just about everything possible.
What this book does is make you aware that it's possible to ask questions from yourself and to work towards solutions from perspectives that seemingly have nothing to do with it. After a few pages you'll get the formula. Basically doing something like watching cartoons to solve your problems works just as well as any single thinkertoy. The key is that whatever you're using for inspiration, it cannot be too complicated. It has to be something that can be reduced to simple concepts. And the area that is in need of creativity also has to be reduced to simple concepts. So it's useful not to look at the whole thing at once, but identify some key areas and issues and work on them.
There's a practically infinite number of thinkertoys you can use. You can come up with them yourself too whenever you want to. Maybe this book will make you aware of the fact. If you already are, there's no use to refer to it really. You're already carrying a lot better and easier to customize thinkertoys inside you.
After working with creative problems for a while you'll develop a routine. It helps to keep you sane and flowing all the time. There will never be a dead end where you'll have no way of moving forward. Just abandon, restate, do something dramatic like macroevolution. But keep your ideas manageable at all times. You don't have to really memorize any creative thinking techniques. There are about a 1000 questions this book tells you to ask yourself when you need to be creative. And it's far from complete. Opening a random page when you encounter a dead end hardly gives you the best new approach. It's like dancing about architecture.
So I'd like to stress that the function of this book is to rather make you aware of your creative intuition than to provide techniques of surpassing it. There are no such techniques and you can't memorize them. This book is not the environment you'd like to be at when faced with a creative task. It's mainly useful for clearing blocks in your mind about the limits of what can be used creatively. If you know how it's done already, this book will be rather repetitive.
If you have trouble about seeing randomizing as a useful technique, read about dada. If you can't use things like sound in association to problem solving, become really interested about music. If you aren't comfortable with all areas of human experience, you can't really use them in problem solving either. Being aware that they can be used isn't enough. You have to have the intuition too.
That said, this book is really important to me too. But I just like to offer the other side. That creativity is like walking. There are no ways to reduce it to a successful formula that always works. But still, it's so essential that you really should read about it, a lot. I think if you're buying just one book from Michalko, Cracking Creativity might be better. Not entirely sure though. Just make sure you'll read and do a lot of other creative stuff as well, it really does pay off after some time.
Very good collection of "thought toys".......2007-07-30
Thinkertoys is a wonderful collection of tools for creative thinking. I am an engineer and purchased the book to help me stimulate new ideas. The techniques in the book open up places in the brain where one would not typically look for these ideas. I found the tools inside quite useful to stroke the imagination and, many times, look at old problems in new and different ways
Works!.......2007-07-21
When a book goes into its second edition of its print run, you can be sure it have a solid message to convey.
Kishore Dharmarajan
Author of Eightstorm: 8-Step Brainstorming for Innovative Managers
Idea generator, brain teaser good resource for creative thinking in any field you are in........2007-07-21
Having read the Lateral Thinking book first few days back, I started looking for something similar, a resource that could help me in my field and even in general. If you read the reviews of Lateral Thinking, you would find comments of Michal Michalko where he recommends the book as a must read. That is where I came across his book and started exploring it over the internet.
I found this book as an excellent resource for creative thinking. The best part is the write up and the exercises use the "Power/Law of Simplicity" in a way that you would be surprised at many instances. His examples of rabbit and duck and about the staircase on page 52. They make you smile and the smile is actually a realization about the possibilities the life has in store for everyone.
This has helped me in changing my perception about many things. At least now I have more than one way to think about any situation. I firmly believe his theory of "Challenge Your Assumptions."
You might be aware of the concept of "Mind Mapping" by two British authors Tony and Bary Buzan. The mind mapping has helped me always, not just in planning my work but even my personal life. It's like you have all the things that is going on in your mind about a particular subject on just one paper. Once you have it in front of you, earlier I simply used to feel relaxed and follow my assumptions. However, now I simply explore the possibilities.
To be very brief about the book, your business, work, daily life, everything that you do, you would find yourself trying out as many possibilities as you can and you would choose from the best one.
Book Description
Why do so many world-changing insights come from people with little or no related experience? Charles Darwin was a geologist when he proposed the theory of evolution. And it was an astronomer who finally explained what happened to the dinosaurs.
Frans Johansson’s The Medici Effect shows how breakthrough ideas most often occur when we bring concepts from one field into a new, unfamiliar territory, and offers examples how we can turn the ideas we discover into path-breaking innovations.
Customer Reviews:
Better than it would appear.......2007-10-01
This book is about developing ideas. It starts out very slowly and it seems like just another rehash of the tales told a hundred times before. It goes through the normal diversity is better arguement, which is a plus and a minus (he never gives us the minus). But as the book develops he provides a family of keen insights. He reviews much of the literature in an interesting way. Even old news is presented nicely. For example, at this point most people know that brainstorming does not really get you anywhere. Indeed, individuals will come up with more ideas than a team all working together, one after the other. He goes through this and then suggests alternatives. By the time I was done with the book I was impressed and I would recommend it to others.
Nice Book.......2007-08-01
You actually feel inspired when reading it. Just get done and you'l feel real effect.
Good for getting in an innovative and integrative mindset.......2007-06-04
This book was really easy to get through and I came away thinking more about how to keep my mind open to ideas from lots of different disciplines. It provides good examples of cross-discipline collaboration and why you should care. The book provides a few little tricks to get you thinking in a different way, but I found the subject matter itself to be more inspiring than directly applicable.
Interesting, thought provoking and you really can learn "creativity" from it .......2007-03-13
Copied from pg 2, "The idea behind this book is simple: When you step into an intersection of fields, disciplines, or cultures, you can combine existing concepts into a large number of extraordinary new ideas." Somehow you may vaguely have a similar concept as the author's in mind. What he did much more than the rest is that he had studied and consolidated on it, given it a an exotic name "The Medici Effect", and furnished it with plenty of vivid, interesting and memorable examples for others, presumably less bright people like me, to read and follow. In short, quite outstanding in the sea of books on creativity and innovation. Really helpful! Highly recommended!
Ultimately society decides whether an idea is both new and valuable...It is impossible to determine if a person's products are innovative if they have never been seen, used, or evaulated. pg 15
In essence, these people (Marcus Samuelsson, Charles Darwin) succeeded at breaking down their associative barriers because they did one or more of the following things: exposed themselves to a range of cultures; learned differently; reversed their assumptions;, took on multiple perspectives. pg 45
The most successful innovators produce and realize an incredible number of ideas....Pablo Picasso produced 20,000 pieces of art; Einstein wrote more than 240 papers; Bach wrote a cantata every week; Thomas Edison filed a record 1,039 patents. This holds true today. Prince is said to have over 1,000 songs stored in his secret vault, and Richard Branson has started 250 companies. pg 91
Research has shown, in fact, that the vast majority of successful new business ventures abandoned their original business strategies when they began implementing their initial plans and learned what would and would not work in the market. The dominant difference between successful and failed ones, generally, is not their original strategy. Guessing the right strategy at the outset is not nearly as important to success as conserving enough resources (or having relationships with trusted backers or investors) so that new business initiatives get a second or third stab at getting it right. Those that run out of resources or credibility before they can iterate towards a new strategy are the ones that will fail. - Clayton Christensen pg 130
Risk homoeostatis: people will compensate for taking higher risks in one area of life by taking lower risks in another. - Gerald Wilde pg 167
The most effective way to combat fear is to acknowledge it...For starters, you have to come to terms with what is at stake and admit that you might lose it. Often this means that you must be comfortable enough to know that if everything is lost, you can still move on. pg 180
interesting book but need to be better.......2007-03-04
1. the author have something to say, and he say it in a easy way that friendly to understand. it's good. But the author seems too hush to run into the conclusion, it seems if he spend more time in detail study, this book will be much better;
2. For the same topic, I suggest "A Technique for Producing Ideas" which is short but powerful; and it from a master's hand, if you compare that book with "Medici Effect", you will find how good it is, ;-);
Book Description
For true innovation, you may need to think outside the box-and outside the company.
Innovation is vital to the success of an organization. But often, "GroupThink" and "ExpertThink" stifle new ideas. This book presents the idea of using outsiders-people who are not a permanent part of a particular group or constrained by its preconceptions-to stimulate innovation. They may be employees from other parts of the company, consultants, or even people borrowed through "swaps" with other, noncompeting companies. These outsiders share three characteristics:
* related expertise: knowledge without the burden of "the way we've always done it" * renaissance tendencies: varied interests and experiences, with the ability to put ideas together in new and useful combinations * psychological distance: they are not tied to the hierarchy of the group, making it easier to propose unpopular ideas
Outsiders can help defeat the kind of thinking that can overcome teams and kill true innovation. The author reveals how to find and work with the right people and shows, through fascinating real-world examples, the huge difference they can make.
Customer Reviews:
Fresh innovation advice: think outside the gravity.......2007-04-05
This is a lively book. As befits its central image, the "Zero-Gravity Thinker," it moves lightly, traveling without friction through the challenging thicket of innovation. Cynthia Barton Rabe defines innovation simply and focuses on its human side. While her book does not provide specific guidance about what processes to use, or tell you how to innovate in your industry, it is an immediately applicable, solid introduction you can use to promote innovation. Rabe's creative successes (she was part of the team that introduced the Energizer Bunny) illustrate her points well. Her stories about skilled leaders who failed to innovate though they had the right training and personnel go a long way toward proving her central claim: Organizational attitudes blocking innovation are the main reason people don't innovate more often. We recommend this book to all those who are eager to innovate, and ready and willing to shake up their organizational structures to do so.
A good book for those commit to innovate!.......2006-12-28
The author, an innovation and strategy consultant, promoted in this book her concept of bringing in Zero Gravity Thinkers (outsiders with "psychological distance" from the team, "renaissance tendencies" (broad interests and capabilities) and "related expertise") to stimulate innovation by disrupting GroupThink (tendency to make decisions like the people with whom we work most closely) and ExpertThink (tendency to go along with the tried and true methods of experts). Frankly, I like very much her detailed elaboration and good choice of cases (esp the Naked Emperor and the Bluetooth). However, I doubt whether those companies in need of innovation the most could accept this concept and undertake the change. Quote from JC Penny, "The theory is splendid, but until put into practice is it valueless." Anyway, this is a good book for those who commit to innovate. Recommended!
p.s. Below please find some of my favorite quotes in the book for your reference:-
Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs, it is the rule. Friedrich Nietzsche pg 23
Alfred Sloan, who ran GM from 1923 to 1956, was onto something when he said at a meeting, "Gentlemen, I take it that we are all in complete agreement on the decision here. Then I propose that we postpone further discussion...to give ourselves time to develop disagreement and perhaps gain some understanding of what the decision is all about." pg 39
The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress. - C.F. Kettering pg 143
The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself; to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile. - Plato pg 157
Promotes the concept of the 'zero-gravity thinker'.......2006-10-16
Companies rely on established procedures and knowledge to streamline and drive business - but what happens to innovation in the process? Often it's squashed, taking with it flexibility and quick responses, risk taking, and acceptance of change. THE INNOVATION KILLER: HOW WHAT WE KNOW LIMITS WHAT WE CAN IMAGINE-AND WHAT SMART COMPANIES ARE DOING ABOUT IT promotes the concept of the 'zero-gravity thinker' not weighed down by group processes or expert opinions. Chapters provide case histories to illustrate the hidden costs of conducting business in manners too routine to encourage innovation.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
How to overcome GroupThink and ExpertThink.......2006-10-13
Rabe defines innovation as "an application of an idea that results in a valuable improvement." Her definition emphasizes that the ability to think innovatively should be a goal for every function in an organization - not just the new product or technology team. As she correctly observes, there is a process by which ideas become reality in most organizations. "First there is typically a challenge or opportunity to be addressed. Then someone comes up with an idea for addressing it. A stage of development or fine-tuning typically follows (this can be very short or, in the case of some product or technology innovations, very long) in order to apply the idea. The final result? An innovation." One of her most interesting - and most valuable - concepts is of what she calls "Zero-Gravity Thinkers." The title of her book refers to the most common barriers to innovation: practicioners of GroupThink ("the strongest force on earth") and ExpertThink ("GroupThink on steroids"). They establish and then vigorously defend all manner of "filters" to diminish if not "kill" any perceived threats to the status quo. Rabe concedes that Zero-Gravity Thinkers aren't a "magic solution" to such barriers because "there is no cure-all for a stuck-in-the mud organization." However, they are a high-value tool when recognizing and then responding effectively to the aforementioned "filters."
Of special interest to many readers is what Rabe has to say about the leadership required when "going where no one has gone before." She does not limit her attention to leadership at the senior-management level. On the contrary, she convincingly explains why innovation leadership must be present at all levels and throughout all areas of an organization. Moreover, given the well-entrenched and highly-efficient "filters," the nature of the leadership required must itself be innovative. It must take into full account, for example, the perils of challenging traditional chains of authority and channels of communication. This is precisely what Jim O'Toole has in mind when discussing (in Leading Change) what he characterizes as "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom." The power of GroupThink and ExpertThink must never be under-estimated. When necessary, effective leaders of innovation initiatives are courageous enough to ignore convention and act on their own intuition and rational arguments of those outside the given organization. Also, they are prudent but not risk-adverse. They never state or even imply that innovative thinking is acceptable only without the possibility of failure. What Rabe offers in this volume is a rigorous and thorough examination of who and what can "kill" innovation...and offers practical advice as to how to respond effectively and productively when opposed by them.
Good start to help innovation.......2006-09-22
There are some good key points to take away from Innovation Killer. Cynthia Rabe spent much of her career in Intel then left to start her own innovation firm. The book uses basic ideas that can take away from or lead to innovation. The book was a quick read which I would recommend based on the fact that people tend to get caught hung up in the mistakes that take away from innovation.
The ideas that bother her the most are GroupThink and ExpertThink which she describes "as groupthink on steroids". Groupthink is the idea that everyone in the group will follow the majority. The weaker group members will not dissent because the majority commands the choices. ExpertThink means the same thing except there is a person that is highly qualified that leads the group into a bad idea. The group will not speak up because the "expert" could be there boss. These are two common mistakes and Rabe shows plenty of examples to get her point across.
The entire premise of the book focuses on Zero Gravity Thinkers. A Zero Gravity Thinker (ZGT) is well rounded in three areas that set him/her apart from the group. The first is psychological distance. This means there is an objective thinker set apart from the group so his/her decision is not influenced by the group (groupthink). The next is renaissance tendencies meaning the person is well rounded is several areas and never stops learning new ideas. This is good because the ZGT can link ideas together easier than other group members. Then to finish the cycle there is related expertise. This is the one that does not flow with the other two areas. Rabe says that it is good to be naïve sometimes. The related expert can link his field with the group's field then it is good for innovation.
The last section of the book details how a ZGT fits into the group and can help innovation. She discusses Big Picture problems that a ZGT can help with and that hiring consultants can help innovation. The ninth chapter in the book tells how to work with a ZGT. She discusses a process that should be followed or include some of the steps to help promote innovation. The last chapter tells the reader how to help become a ZGT.
The book as a whole became repetitive at times, but it was a quick read that can help many people that are stuck in a rut and will not move. The book is definitely easier to read if you have studied innovation and the other ideas discussed in the book. I would recommend the book because it can help and everyone should understand how to avoid killing innovation. I take a star away because the book did a get repetitive that is the only reason; the repetition does not slow the book, but I have studied these ideas for the past year so I became a little bored with it.
Book Description
In the modern economy, where most workers are knowledge workers, creativity and innovation are the most easily sustainable competitive advantages. In The Big Book of Creativity Games, Harvard trained psychologist Robert Epstein provides dozens of games and activities designed to stimulate creativity and generate innovation in the workplace.
Dr. Epstein describes the scientific principles of creativity that underlie the games, and how these principles can be applied to tasks like problem solving, new product development, and marketing. Timely and innovative, The Big Book of Creativity Games is the ideal book for managers to turn to whenever they need:
- Games that are easy to lead and fun to play
- Exercises that go far beyond standard brainstorming techniques
- Innovation jump-starters for team meetings and work groups
Customer Reviews:
Creativity from one who knows the source.......2007-02-11
The book is firmly rooted in science, and the exercises are proof: This is not a cookbook. You need to understand the rationale behind the exercises. The book builds up a coherent set of argument, points to further reading, and is a veritable treasure trove of how to be, and help others be, creative. I highly recommend it.
Hare-Brained.......2004-03-26
This book delivers so much less than it promises that I have found it virtually useless in training actual human beings. Maybe it was tested on hares. You would do much better (and be much more creative) coming up your own exercises.
Disappointed Innovator.......2004-03-06
This book was a total disappointment. I have never written a review online before, but if I can stop someone from buying this series I will feel like I've saved someone their hard-earned dollars. The subtitle says "Fun Activities for Jumpstarting Innovation". It should have said "Invent your own games because we don't have any good ones to tell you about". At least half the games were not games at all, but instructions for the participants to CREATE THEIR OWN GAMES!!!!! I COULD HAVE DONE THAT! One after the other are worded as follows: "Participants design and carry out their own exercise to demonstrate the importance of _____ for the creative process" -- (insert chapter topic in the blank). Sorry, that doesn't help me at all. STAY AWAY!
Unleash Your Creativity.......2003-09-07
It is probably no accident that Robert Epstein's _Big Book of Creativity Games: Quick, Fun Activities for Jumpstarting Innovation_ appears at first glance to be a book for children. Its title, colorful cover, and interior design are reminiscent of children's books. While many of the games can be used in classrooms, the primary audience for the book is adults -- people who want to improve the creativity of those in their businesses or other organizations.
The forty-eight games in the book are based on Epstein's Generativity Theory. His ideas about the creative process grew out of his laboratory research. In addition to refuting popular myths about the creative process, Epstein identifies four core competencies that help individuals express their creativity (plus four more competencies to nurture creativity in others):
1. Capturing new ideas
2. Challenging yourself so that new ideas emerge
3. Broadening your base of knowledge and experience
4. Surrounding yourself with an environment -- both physical and social -- that encourages new ideas
Despite the fact that the book is grounded in theory and research, the information it contains is practical and easily accessible. The book is written in lay terms, and the information is as easy to understand as the juvenile format leads you to expect it to be.
The games are categorized by purpose (such as "convincing people that they're creative") and by core competency. It is easy, therefore, to find games to fit a particular need. Epstein devotes about three pages to each game, providing a summary of the game, its objective, the time required (ranging from 5 to 90 minutes), the materials needed (generally readily available), the procedure, and discussion questions. The discussion questions are indeed a key feature of the book, for the games are intended not only to boost creativity but also to demonstrate creativity's basic principles.
Epstein places a high premium on failure. He says that failure causes us to recall past methods of dealing with a problem -- and often discover a new solution. Without failure, creativity is not needed (remember the Apollo 13 mission). Many games involving the second competency, Challenging, deal with managing the frustration and other negative emotions that often accompany failure.
In addition, the book includes an abridged version of Epstein's Creativity Competencies Inventory for Individuals (ECCI-i) along with a self-scorer. These tools are effective for evaluating a person's overall creativity and each of the four competencies. It is easy, then, for a person to see which areas would benefit from development.
CREATIVE PROCESS DEMYSTIFIED.......2000-11-15
Thank you, Robert Epstein, for demythologizing creativity. As a writing teacher I found this book very helpful in several ways. The games are fun and each one makes a strong point. My students respond to the core competencies with excitement and gratitude and most can't wait to develop these concrete skills. I've found nothing better for tackling the problem of "writer's block." I have used this book with students in classroom and workshop situations and recommend it to managers who want to jump start their employees' creativity.
Book Description
Breakthrough innovation is a prerequisite for success in almost any organization, yet the actual management of innovation has only recently begun to receive the attention it deserves. Here, innovation thought leader Elaine Dundon offers a "how-to" prescription for building creative and strategic innovation skills at all levels of an organization (rather than focusing on decision-making levels only) -- and explains how to produce measurable results that translate directly to the bottom line.
Using field-tested concepts and practical examples, and featuring easy-to-apply processes and concrete thinking tools, this straight-talking book provides a broadly applicable guide to innovation -- one that's not limited to a specific industry sector. Today's most comprehensive, one-stop innovation resource, it describes:
* The three necessary components of innovation -- creative, strategic, and transformational thinking * Methods for applying innovative thought to existing products, processes, and business models * 90 great innovations and 90 trends to consider
Customer Reviews:
A good overview of the role of innovation in organizations.......2005-11-09
In her book, The Seeds of Innovation, Elaine Dundon shows how companies can foster and grow this innovation. Dundon founded a company called The Innovation Group Consulting, Inc. This is a consulting group that works with individuals and corporations to help them with innovation.
Dundon focuses on three major types of innovations: Efficiency Innovation, Evolutionary Innovation and Revolutionary Innovation. All new innovations within an organization can fall into these three categories. Which type of these three innovations the organization chooses is dependent on what goals the organization seeks. Efficiency Innovations deals with making a product or service faster or more efficient, such as extending service hours of a fast food chain. Evolutionary innovation deals with making an already existing service or product "distinctly new and better," such as the ATM for 24 hour banking. Revolutionary Innovation focuses on introducing a radical new change to the marketplace, such as McDonald's did with fast food. All organizations need to decide on which three of these innovations to focus on.
In The Seeds of Innovation Dundon also focuses on individual innovation as well as organizational innovation. She creates a nine-step method for improving innovation within organizations. In order to implement these steps Dundon first focuses on the ability of the individual to be creative in an organization. This creativity can come from a number of tools Dundon offers, such as mind mapping, brainstorming as well as different ways of thinking and asking questions.
I did not like a few things about the book. I felt it was overall interesting and informative, however I don't think it broke new ground on the subject. A lot of the most powerful ideas found in the book were paraphrased from others, such as Michael Ray's "voice of judgment". It's good to explain such ideas clearly because they are important in innovation, however I didn't feel Dundon brought enough of her own ideas to the table. All her ideas are very intuitive and mundane. She seems to be just saying essentially the same themes from different angles. The book could be easily boiled down to a handful of key points. Moreover, I don't think managers will learn a whole lot from the last two sections of the book. These seem to go over very basic concepts of innovation within an organization.
Anyone who has little backround in the world of buisness will find this book informative. CEO's or other people with buisness experience may find parts of the book simple, however their are a number of techniques all people can benefit from. This is a clear, simple read but i just think there are better books on the subject out there.
This book is needed NOW, more than ever!.......2004-12-10
Dundon makes it clear that "innovation" is not the same thing as creativity. Importantly, she establishes that the work of innovation requires
discipline with an explicit focus on results. Indeed, her book should be required reading by anyone who is serious about personal and organizational performance. In a very practical and readable way, The Seeds of Innovation provides essential guidance for dealing with change while adding value on a sustainable basis. It's about time that someone demonstrated how real innovation can and does work! Now it's time to plant, cultivate, and harvest the "seeds of innovation" by reading and practicing the essential wisdom in Elaine Dundon's book!
Gives the reader real innovation techniques to use.......2003-10-29
Innovation is an overwrought, overused word/topic with many books written about it. You are reading this review because you are seeking thinking tools and techniques to apply to your version of Innovation, whether for an organization, community, or to be used personally. This book provides you, the reader/user, with an excellent and sensible framework to define, understand, develop, and implement processes that empower and support environments where "innovation" can happen (you still need to do the work). Dundon defines innovation as "the profitable implementation of strategic creativity." Whether your "profit" is quantified in money or good will, this book gently instructs you in the finer arts of achieving real innovative results by taking a holistic 3 innovation-dimension views on your challenges. I have purchased 20 copies of this book and given them to professional colleagues, the book is that rewarding. Innovation is not creativity, which is a very common misperception. More information can be found at www dot seedsofinnovation dot com I higly recommend this book as one of the most important books in its field ever written.
Relevant, Practical, Good Tool.......2003-07-13
Innovate or stagnate. Or, put another way, innovate or stand helplessly and watch your competitors eat your lunch! Wise leaders stimulate, encourage, reinforce, and reward innovation. If you're not doing this in your organization, now is the time to start...and this book will show you the path.
The book is organized into three parts: The Seeds of Creative Thinking, The Seeds of Strategic Thinking, and The Seeds of Transformational Thinking. Dundon, a consultant and speaker on innovation, takes us out of the proverbial box. The process starts with an introductory chapter that delivers an introduction to innovation management. In this presentation, the author sets the stage nicely for the value of the balance of the book.
Each aspect of thinking is essential to making a difference in an organization. Dundon explains the what, the why, the how, and provides examples in a very instructive text. Each chapter addresses skills and strategies to generate creativity, a strategic approach (big picture and visionary), and practical how-to ideas to support innovation in organizational settings. Reading the chapters alone is worthwhile, but we're not done yet. Following the eleven chapters are five appendices, a recommended reading list, and an index.
The appendices provide an explanation of the nine step innovation process, a list of probing questions to energize innovative thinking, 99 innovations and 99 trends. Readers will find it valuable to go through the list of trends and consider their influence on how their organization does business...and will do business in the future. As a futurist by profession, I can vouch for this being a comprehensive and highly usable list. The additional criteria section, while not too long, offers even more thought-provoking insights to check your work, stimulate more discussion, and refine the product of your synergistic thinking.
Readers will find this book valuable as a cover-to-cover read, but then highly effective as a tool to achieve significant results.
Timely and well written - Dundon reveals real insight.......2002-07-17
The Seeds of Innovation: Cultivating the Synergy that Fosters New Ideas comes at a critical time in the quest for new ideas and breakthrough efficiencies by corporations, small businesses, universities and governments.
It is a tour de force of how to inspire and manage innovation. And this is the great value of Elaine Dundon's work -- she presents "how" to inspire and manage innovation based on real experience and valuable research. I highly recommend this book.
Customer Reviews:
Pragmatic Look at Idealized Design Makes This a Useful Management Resource.......2007-02-21
When I took a personality test at work years ago, I was identified categorically as a "designer", someone who envisions the ideal result and gets pleasure in developing the road map to make the ideal into a reality. Idealized design founder and former Wharton professor in systems theory Russell L. Ackoff, along with co-authors Jason Magidson and Herbert J. Addison, have elevated my natural inclination into a management philosophy that drives transformative change while remaining true to a company's defined objective. Their primary thesis is that organizations need to be clear on their optimal business outcome and then work backwards to achieve it. This is a major jump ahead of standard process re-engineering since idealized design does not start with a base of falsity about success. At the same time, the concept represents a new way of thinking that may take a while to be embraced by those who must implement it.
In focusing on the idealized vision, Ackoff and his colleagues concisely spell out how many obstacles, often self-inflicted, are eliminated and go as far as identifying the preventative measures that represent a major sea change to a company. What makes the eminently readable book particularly useful is the wide-ranging variety of case studies presented which show empirical evidence of idealized design in action. Most inspiring is Ackoff's own example of working with Bell Labs in the 1950's with the intent of redesigning the telephone. The company was applying then-common practice in looking at making incremental improvements in the standard telephone features - the dial, coaxial cabling and multiplexing. However, by looking at what the management team wanted to achieve as a whole, Ackoff was able to lead the effort toward more revolutionary items such as touch-tone phones, call waiting, call forwarding, conference calls, voice mail, and what was then the beginning of the mobile phone.
From this seminal case study come several contemporary applications of idealized design including fascinating looks at subjects ranging from the redesign of Paris for the future to a drastic overhaul of the current health care system to General Motor's launch of the OnStar system. The most useful chapters are the three most thorough case studies presented - Energetics as an example of the private sector, the Academy of Vocal Arts for non-profits, and the White House Communications Agency as a specific application within the perceived constraints of the U.S. government. The case for idealized design is executed with a minimum of polemics, and the book offers practical information on how best to implement such change in currently vision-blocked companies.
Useful Approach.......2006-11-25
"Idealized Design" by Russel Ackoff (primarily), Jason Magidson, and Herbert Addison emphasizes identifying the best solutions for the common business and non-business obstacles and ailments we face in management, work, life, and society as a collective whole.
In "Idealized Design" there are several case studies examined in the private, non-profit, and governmental public sector. Therefore, this book may be useful for readers in many different organizations.
The authors' concepts were reinforced in several case studies. Some of the case studies such as the the study on the General Motors OnStar system seem realistic, while the United Nations organizational proposal appears a bit lofty. One example, is the two seat mini-urban car suggested. a very small mini-car car with two seats: one in front, and one in back. The likes of a giant go- kart. Is this ideal? Why not just design, construct, and use public transportation systems? Less fuel needed and expended (reduced emissions), less parking space allocated, reduced insurance costs, wasted time, and less stress.
Perhaps the suggestion of the mini-car is due to the fixation on car ownership and use for commuting in the high-density populated cities, burbs, and edge cities of America. This fact alone is a major obstacle in designing and implementing the most efficient "idealized design" to rectify this dilemma. However, an obstacle to a potential solution (of more public transportation)is the fact that getting Americans out of their cars is extremely difficult. Hence, the notion of the narrow mini car with two seats becomes more plausible because it is a car. But is it the answer or partial answer to the fundamental problem related to car-reliance? No. It's a temporary band-aid. Perhaps this is a bit too "idealized" in it's design. Anything can be idealistically designed. But what percentage of these designs are implemented?
Los Angeles and Orange County, and numerous other metro regions continue to attempt to lessen congestion by....building more highways. Yes, the new highways are needed. But they are soon filled up again based on statistical studies. And, the population of almost all metro/suburban regions in the U.S. will rise dramatically in the coming decades.
As for the process of solving problems, there are six steps or phases, applied to these new designs and concepts in this book:
1) Formulate the Problem 2) Ends planning 3) Means Planning 4) Resource Planning 5) Design of Implementation 6) Design of Controls
Insights and potential solutions into the Health-Care system and government are also examined. A real issue that affects almost all of us, or people we know. However, political forces and interest groups can cloud six-step process of providing solutions to problem, in issues such as this.
One point in "Idealized Design" commonly touted today is the necessity to constantly think of ways to adapt technology and innovation to improve our lives. More commonly, the impetus is to improve an organization's profit margin and competitiveness.
One concept advocated is 'flattening hierarchies' in organizations in our ever-changing business world because of technological innovations in communication, and the escalation of global competition.
Designing for an idealistic end-result is quite noble. It needs to be done. Sometimes these results are achieved, oft-times they are not.
Yet the planning and designing needs to be done. We, as a society, or as a small or large private or public organization, must always look for the most optimal ways to solve problems, overcome challenges, achieve goals, and make the conditions we live in the best we can.
A good book.
Interesting Reading besides the Good Ideas.......2006-07-15
When I first picked up this book I was expecting to see some kind of treatise on industrial design. Here would be new coffee pots, new cars or computers or something like that. Instead, it's not on that at all, but on the designs of business organizations, of new product development, of new technologies.
All in all, it presents a concept, a way of thinking that numerous companies have successfully used, primarily to get themselves out of trouble. You don't think in terms of change when things are going well. It's a way of looking at the set of interacting threats and opportunities and making some sense out of the mess. It tends to be oriented to what can we do right now, with current technology, that does not require too much predicting of the future.
The book has a broad set of case studies. One of my immediate problems is with the future of a non-profit theatre with which I am associated. There's a case study on a non-profit.
There's a case study on the General Motors OnStar system which is a success within a corporation that continues to lose market share and profits. A company like GM must have successes in it's departments, but what happens if the company itself fails?
Some of their case studies are really optimistic. For instance their re-design of the United Nations sounds pretty good from a standpoint of world security. But it has a few problems, for instance, the United States would not be allowed to join.
Some of their projects are pretty far out, like the small Urban car. This is a small, two seater with the people sitting fore and aft. (How will young men and young women make out?)
All in all, a good concept for working on tomorrow's crisis today, just like the sub-title says. It offers a procedure for analyzing a companys situation that can work when properly applied and is a very interesting read. It's interesting enough that reading it on your next plane trip is a good option.
How to adapt when you are facing the situation of adapt or die.......2006-07-13
In the modern world, you can send information around the world in less than a second. This has leveled the playing field across the globe, helping to create the growing rift in the earning power of Americans. The income of the upper half of the U. S. population continues to advance at a steady rate, but that of the lower half continues to decline. Even worse, the number of hours in the average work week continues to increase. All of this means that the old style of management that worked so well for so many years for American companies is now obsolete. The operative phrase is simple, "Adapt or die (quickly)!"
It is no longer reasonable to spend an extensive amount of time examining a problem from all sides, slowly working towards a consensus and then incrementally implementing the solution. One must be able to identify problems, create solutions and then execute them all within a very short time. This requires organizations to reorganize into flat hierarchies of decision making. The point of the authors is that this can and should be done in the design of everything the company does. This strategy of design extends to how the company is organized regarding the communication between personnel, to their relative locations in space, to how the products are built, how they are marketed, delivered and finally to how customer relations are handled.
Their phrase is idealized design, which is simply to design everything so that substantial changes are easy to implement. The explanations are done through a series of case studies, which are drawn from many areas of business, service and manufacturing. Two case studies are outside the business sector, one describes a non-profit academy for vocal arts and the other the White House communications agency. Clearly the most difficult task was that faced by the people in the White House communications agency. Theirs is a task where even the most apparently innocuous of errors can have dramatic consequences. Their schedule is often timed to the minute, and the wrong camera angle or the wrong word can give great offense to someone where offense is the last of all desired results. Implementing change in that environment is extremely difficult, after all you cannot ask the president to take a week off so that you can retool.
I was impressed by the information and advice offered up in this book, and I base this on two reasons. The first is that for almost everyone, the current reality is that they will have no choice. Nothing concentrates the mind like survival. Secondly, the advice is sensible, workable and can be applied across the entire organizational spectrum. I strongly recommend this book for all people who are major decision makers in their organizations.
Dispel Tomorrow's Crisis Today.......2006-06-24
Every organization faces interacting threats and opportunities. It is, perhaps, simplistic to argue the ideal solution to these problems is to imagine the ideal solution and then work backwards to today.
The authors refer to this six-step process as "idealized design."
* Idealization
1. Formulate the problem. Understand your organization's Achilles heel by preparing a systems analysis, an obstruction analysis, describe your organization's future without change and then project a scenario if nothing is done.
2. Ends Planning. This is the heart of the process. Once you understand where you are and where you want to be, identify the gaps.
* Realization
3. Means Planning
4. Resource Planning
5. Design of Implementation
6. Design of controls.
The authors include a chapter for government and another on the health-care challenge. They offer humane, effective and intriguing solutions to what often appears to be intractable problems.
"Nothing is more damaging to a new truth than an old error," wrote Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, the German cultural figure. For many of us, it is easier said than changed. Idealized design offers a powerful tool for revolutionary thinking. Adding its tenets into our individual and organization thinking will help us adapt to today's environment of rapid change.
Book Description
Drawing on his 20 years of pioneering research and work with some 400 top companies, Robert offers today's executives guidance in strategy formulation, implementation, and deployment. Filled with examples drawn from the experiences of today's commercial leaders and interviews with CEOs of companies in a variety of industries, this updated edition of a revolutionary and inspiring best seller offers a sure-fire process of strategic thinking that's been tested and refined in the "war rooms" of America's most successful corporations.
Download Description
In this updated edition of his groundbreaking best-seller, author Michel Robert stresses strategic thinking as today's most powerful management tool and the key to a winning, growth-oriented strategy.
Customer Reviews:
A good overview.......2006-02-21
You will not be able to defeat your competitors by imitating them, says Michel Robert founder and president of Decision Processes International, Inc. Instead you must find something that you do better than your competitors, something different. Michel Robert has created a step-by-step method you can use to create a winning business strategy based on what you do best, not what your competitors are doing.
1. Identify your company's driving force. The driving force of your company can be either a skill set, a kind of technology or a specific market segment. All decisions, including product development, customer to target and markets to enter are based on your driving force.
2. Write a short business concept. The business concept should address the specific types of products/services, customers, market segments and geographic markets to which your strategy applies, and how the company will add value to these products/customers. The business concept should also have a tone of growth and a direction for the future of the organization.
3. Identify and nurture the skills or areas of excellence needed to implement your strategy. An area of excellence is something your company does better than anything else it does, and better than anything the competitors do. Your areas of excellence must be aligned with the driving force of your company.
4. Identify the critical issues you must address to implement the strategy. Address critical issues for implementation in four areas: Structure, Processes/Systems, Skills/Competencies, and Compensation. Create operational and strategic plans for improvement. Make sure you budget enough resources to make everything happen.
Robert also provides tips on how to anticipate and manage the strategies of your competitors.
· Make sure that your strategy puts you in a position to control or influence your market.
· Identify your competitors as well as their driving forces and strategies.
· Attack your competitor's strategy by diluting, diminishing or neutralizing their areas of excellence.
Thickest Marketing Brochure ever!!!.......2005-09-01
This book is the thickest marketing brochure I have ever read. The case studies was interesting BUT it is all about trying to get you to use the authors (very expensive I'm sure) services to "guide" you through the process. On page 173 there is an example where some CEO told Michel Robert that he is the only person in the room that would stand up to him (to the CEO that is) or something to the likes of it - get over yourself mate.
Gets the job done.......2003-11-06
I first read "Strategy Pure & Simple (I)" back in the early '90s, just before embarking on my first strategic planning job. Since then, I have managed strategic planning and implementation processes at a total of six different operational subsidiaries of two very large financial services groups.
As a financial controller and later a CFO, I have read a great many other books and articles about strategy and planning. Most of those were actually quite interesting, but when it came down to setting up and managing a actual, real-life planning process, I always turned back to Strategy Pure and Simple, because it is just GOOD ENOUGH.
- It includes all important issues that must be addressed during planning;
- more importantly, it reminds you of staying focused on those issues that happen to be key to your company (given its market, own caracteristics, timing, resources, etc.);
- still more importantly, it insists on interaction between the planning team and the management team, and helps with examples of visual aids and cues;
- it really helps a lot in communicating with line and senior managers during the planning process, getting them involved, assuring buy-in, and finally ensuring that the plan, when finished and approved, actually is implemented by those in charge. And, in the end, that is certainly what matters most.
I have now joined a new company in another industry, and have to manage yet another strategic planning process. Well, the best I can say about Strategy Pure & Simple is, I have fished out my 1993-vintage copy, and look forward to using it once again.
Are you so stupid that you need this book?.......2002-07-04
This book is like any other drivel about corporate strategy - figure out what you do well, do more of it and cut the rest. Sounds great when you grossly oversimplify your business. Know what really works? Fire anyone who is stupid, lazy, or unproductive.
PS- If Michel Robert is so smart, why can't he learn English?
Another clone.......2002-01-10
Unfortunately I bought this book after "The Power of Strategic Thinking" that I found full of very interesting ideas, insightful and thought provoking.
If I only knew that it has almost no differences with "Strategy Pure and Simple" I would've never done it. The book is written by copy-and-paste method. There are whole pages and chapters there that were not even worded differently - direct citations from the previous book. The only enhancement - pictures in "The Power of Strategic Thinking" look more silly but are actually the same.
There are probably some fans of Mr.Robert who buy all his books as collectible items but to me it seems like cheating - the same product under new cover. Total disappointment. It also brings doubts about all `true stories' Mr.Robert tells about his successes with 300 companies.
Book Description
Can your company manage -- even encourage -- turbulence in ways that actually strengthen its competitive stance? Absolutely. In this work, top organizational psychologist Stanley Gryskiewicz argues that challenges to the status quo can be catalysts for creativity, innovation, and renewal and shows leaders how they can keep their company on the competitive edge by embracing a process he calls Positive Turbulence. Developed through the author's work with many of the world's leading companies over the course of thirty years, Positive Turbulence delivers proven methods for creating an organization that continuously renews itself through the committed pursuit of new ideas, products, and processes.
Customer Reviews:
Stay Innovative.......2001-08-17
Positive Turbulence is a very practical guide to keeping your organization moving at a healthy pace and continuing to innovate in order to compete in today's ever-changing marketplace. The theories included can be easily applied and related to any organization with Positive or Negative turbulence. It's a fluid read that's over before you know it.
Pract
Strategy & Competition
| Management & Leadership
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Toyota Talent
The Toyota Product Development System: Integrating People, Process And Technology
Product Development for the Lean Enterprise: Why Toyota's System Is Four Times More Productive and How You Can Implement It
Inside the Mind of Toyota: Management Principles for Enduring Growth
Outside Innovation: How Your Customers Will Co-Design Your Company's Future
