Friday, January 06, 2006
"In search of Excellence" Tom Peters & Bob Water
People and the organisations are not ' rational' in the ways strategy, business, and organisations are typically taught. It's dangerous to force a simplicstic, and misguided rationality on the way we manage. You cannot just manage " by the numbers."
Second, most of the management systems that treat people as " factors of production " , as the cogs in an industrial machine, are inherenetly demovitating. Leaders need to set people free to help, not try to harness them.
Third, the world is a confusing place , full of ambiguity. The hardest thing to manage is the " soft stuff", especially, culture. What's different about the top performers ?
A bias for action. Just as you don't learn anythin in science without experimenting, you don't learn anything in business without trying, failing, and trying again. Next , stay close to the customer. The rule may explain an incredibly long history of successes. Autonomy and entrepreneurship. Even if you are big, act small. Organisations are simply collections of people, and people don't relate well to big, abstract entities. Productivity through people. What esle counts in an organisation except people ? Hands -on, value driven. The top companies make meaning, not just moey. Stick to the knitting. Except for one or two notable exceptions, nothing screws up a successful business more than a hyperfast growth. Simple form, lean staff. Install a simple, and workable structure.
Amazon page on the book, here :
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060548789/qid=1136535869/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-6198030-2943218?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
Second, most of the management systems that treat people as " factors of production " , as the cogs in an industrial machine, are inherenetly demovitating. Leaders need to set people free to help, not try to harness them.
Third, the world is a confusing place , full of ambiguity. The hardest thing to manage is the " soft stuff", especially, culture. What's different about the top performers ?
A bias for action. Just as you don't learn anythin in science without experimenting, you don't learn anything in business without trying, failing, and trying again. Next , stay close to the customer. The rule may explain an incredibly long history of successes. Autonomy and entrepreneurship. Even if you are big, act small. Organisations are simply collections of people, and people don't relate well to big, abstract entities. Productivity through people. What esle counts in an organisation except people ? Hands -on, value driven. The top companies make meaning, not just moey. Stick to the knitting. Except for one or two notable exceptions, nothing screws up a successful business more than a hyperfast growth. Simple form, lean staff. Install a simple, and workable structure.
Amazon page on the book, here :
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060548789/qid=1136535869/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-6198030-2943218?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
