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http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/1846686016/
http://www.amazon.com/Uncommon-Sense-Common-Nonsense-ebook/p... (more reviews)
Book Description
Publication Date: May 3, 2012
This is a book for managers who know that their organisations are stuck in a mindset that thrives on fashionable business theories that are no more than folk wisdom, and whose so-called strategies that are little more than banal wish lists.It puts forward the notion that the application of uncommon sense - thinking or acting differently from other organisations in a way that makes unusual sense - is the secret to competitive success. For those who want to succeed and stand out from the herd this book is a beacon of uncommon sense and a timely antidote to managerial humbug.
Contents
Preface to the second edition
Introduction
PART 1 Winners and losers
Firms outperform their competitors by aiming to be different, not better
Winning is a singularity, whereas losing conforms to a pattern
Losers look to competitive benchmarks rather to their own imagination for their model of success
Losers define strategy as cost competitiveness and seek efficiency through cost reduction
Success is best measured by added value, not profit
The best benchmark is the competition, not the plan
Winners are motivated more by meeting a need than a target
The difference between winners and losers is less their aims and more their methods
The greatest threats to corporate performance are internal, not external
It is better to be first than it is to be better
Losers are typified by the “catch up” strategy of “a better product at a lower price”
Incompetence explains performance differences better than competence
Markets are self-structured to produce few winners and a long tail of losers
Success is its own multiplier
Most marketing efforts serve only to reinforce the status quo
PART 2 Strategy and tactics
A strategy is not a plan of attack but an idea under study
The measure of a strategy is not its ambition but its truth
The greatest barriers to competition are not structural or economic, but personal or cognitive
Wealth-creating actions are driven more by curiosity than by targets
Effective strategy is as likely to flow from action as to lead to action
Strategy belongs more naturally to the crowd than to the professional
The true strategist resembles an experimental scientist rather than a clairvoyant planner
There cannot be a method of strategy just as there cannot be a method of science
Plans deliver greater value if they are propositions to be tested rather than commitments to be met
Strategic breakthroughs are more likely to arise from adhocracy than a formal planning process
Our understanding of strategy owes more to capital markets than to product markets
Most discoveries in business are the result of accident rather than design
Creative people give themselves more time to solve problems
An organisation’s “bullshit quotient” is directly proportional to its disregard for the truth
Strategy is more dependent on courage and humility than talent and charisma
Competition compensates for its own wastefulness by the pace of innovation that it spawns
PART 3 Organisation and management
The horns of the managerial dilemma are the need to be in control and the need to be continuously learning
The primary role of management is to motivate employees and to co-ordinate their activities
Six operating principles underpin the managerial model of most organisations
The dark side of the standard model of management is increasingly constraining performance
Six global forces are reducing the need for management
The internet is disintermediating management
The double bind is the defining condition of organisational man
Paranoia is the dominant mood of management
The need for extraordinary management suggests a poorly designed organisation
Managers need to better exploit the benefits of heterarchy
Catalytic mechanisms point the way forward
Everything important happens “at the edge of chaos”
Companies underestimate the power of intrinsic motivation
Tapping the collective intelligence of the organisation creates value
The smallest changes – if well chosen – can have the biggest effects
The spectre of bankruptcy serves to tame “animal spirits” more effectively than the restraints of the regulator
Morality is not possible without the freedom afforded by the market
PART 4 Biases and remedies
New problems call for new methods
The logic of business decision-making should emulate the logic of scientific discovery
Statements of corporate values trivialise ethics and demean employees
Change programmes deliver greater change when focused on weakness of will rather than clarity of intent
Business is increasingly equated with being busy
There are greater returns on simplicity than on scale
Progress results from wise insights rather than great designs
Many strategic decisions would be better made by a plebiscite than by an elite
Firms underestimate the collective wisdom of their employees
Firms would benefit from becoming more open societies
Most of the important things are happening at the periphery
A sense of fairness is what holds an organisation together
The pace of progress would be accelerated by greater corporate disclosure
Visualising the connection between decisions and outcomes enhances the quality of management
All progress emanates from the freedom to make mistakes in the pursuit of organisational learning
Conversations, rather than meetings, are the units of organisational effectiveness
Good conversation is founded upon good manners
Listening without judging enables organisational learning
Learning how to learn more effectively is the challenge of our times
PART 5 Applications and examples
The challenge of Discovery
The future and strength of the Discovery process
The subversive nature of the Discovery process
The Discovery process depends on an open agenda
The important flavour of unpredictability and ambiguity
Emotional engagement is crucial
Final words
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Jules Goddard is a Fellow of the Centre for Management Development at London Business School, where he has taught competitive strategy and creative marketing for 30 years. He is also a Research Associate of the Management Lab at London Business School and was previously Gresham Professor of Commerce
Tony Eccles is Visiting Professor of Strategic Management at Cass Business School, City University, having previously been Professor of Strategic Management at London Business School, In his career he has consulted with many international organisations and been a television presenter MsSVig
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/1846686016/
http://www.amazon.com/Uncommon-Sense-Common-Nonsense-ebook/p... (more reviews)
Book Desc
Publication Date: May 3, 2012
This is a book for managers who know that their organisations are stuck in a mindset that thrives on fashionable business theories that are no more than folk wisdom, and whose so-called strategies that are little more than banal wish lists.It puts forward the notion that the application of uncommon sense - thinking or acting differently from other organisations in a way that makes unusual sense - is the secret to competitive success. For those who want to succeed and stand out from the herd this book is a beacon of uncommon sense and a timely antidote to managerial humbug.
Contents
Preface to the second edition
Introduction
PART 1 Winners and losers
Firms outperform their competitors by aiming to be different, not better
Winning is a singularity, whereas losing conforms to a pattern
Losers look to competitive benchmarks rather to their own imagination for their model of success
Losers define strategy as cost competitiveness and seek efficiency through cost reduction
Success is best measured by added value, not profit
The best benchmark is the competition, not the plan
Winners are motivated more by meeting a need than a target
The difference between winners and losers is less their aims and more their methods
The greatest threats to corporate performance are internal, not external
It is better to be first than it is to be better
Losers are typified by the “catch up” strategy of “a better product at a lower price”
Incompetence explains performance differences better than competence
Markets are self-structured to produce few winners and a long tail of losers
Success is its own multiplier
Most marketing efforts serve only to reinforce the status quo
PART 2 Strategy and tactics
A strategy is not a plan of attack but an idea under study
The measure of a strategy is not its ambition but its truth
The greatest barriers to competition are not structural or economic, but personal or cognitive
Wealth-creating actions are driven more by curiosity than by targets
Effective strategy is as likely to flow from action as to lead to action
Strategy belongs more naturally to the crowd than to the professional
The true strategist resembles an experimental scientist rather than a clairvoyant planner
There cannot be a method of strategy just as there cannot be a method of science
Plans deliver greater value if they are propositions to be tested rather than commitments to be met
Strategic breakthroughs are more likely to arise from adhocracy than a formal planning process
Our understanding of strategy owes more to capital markets than to product markets
Most discoveries in business are the result of accident rather than design
Creative people give themselves more time to solve problems
An organisation’s “bullshit quotient” is directly proportional to its disregard for the truth
Strategy is more dependent on courage and humility than talent and charisma
Competition compensates for its own wastefulness by the pace of innovation that it spawns
PART 3 Organisation and management
The horns of the managerial dilemma are the need to be in control and the need to be continuously learning
The primary role of management is to motivate employees and to co-ordinate their activities
Six operating principles underpin the managerial model of most organisations
The dark side of the standard model of management is increasingly constraining performance
Six global forces are reducing the need for management
The internet is disintermediating management
The double bind is the defining condition of organisational man
Paranoia is the dominant mood of management
The need for extraordinary management suggests a poorly designed organisation
Managers need to better exploit the benefits of heterarchy
Catalytic mechanisms point the way forward
Everything important happens “at the edge of chaos”
Companies underestimate the power of intrinsic motivation
Tapping the collective intelligence of the organisation creates value
The smallest changes – if well chosen – can have the biggest effects
The spectre of bankruptcy serves to tame “animal spirits” more effectively than the restraints of the regulator
Morality is not possible without the freedom afforded by the market
PART 4 Biases and remedies
New problems call for new methods
The logic of business decision-making should emulate the logic of scientific discovery
Statements of corporate values trivialise ethics and demean employees
Change programmes deliver greater change when focused on weakness of will rather than clarity of intent
Business is increasingly equated with being busy
There are greater returns on simplicity than on scale
Progress results from wise insights rather than great designs
Many strategic decisions would be better made by a plebiscite than by an elite
Firms underestimate the collective wisdom of their employees
Firms would benefit from becoming more open societies
Most of the important things are happening at the periphery
A sense of fairness is what holds an organisation together
The pace of progress would be accelerated by greater corporate disclosure
Visualising the connection between decisions and outcomes enhances the quality of management
All progress emanates from the freedom to make mistakes in the pursuit of organisational learning
Conversations, rather than meetings, are the units of organisational effectiveness
Good conversation is founded upon good manners
Listening without judging enables organisational learning
Learning how to learn more effectively is the challenge of our times
PART 5 Applications and examples
The challenge of Discovery
The future and strength of the Discovery process
The subversive nature of the Discovery process
The Discovery process depends on an open agenda
The important flavour of unpredictability and ambiguity
Emotional engagement is crucial
Final words
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Jules Goddard is a Fellow of the Centre for Management Development at London Business School, where he has taught competitive strategy and creative marketing for 30 years. He is also a Research Associate of the Management Lab at London Business School and was previously Gresham Professor of Commerce
Tony Eccles is Visiting Professor of Strategic Management at Cass Business School, City University, having previously been Professor of Strategic Management at London Business School, In his career he has consulted with many international organisations and been a television presenter MsSVig