Long-time readers of this blog know I have an affinity for business books. Okay. Affinity is too loose a word. ADDICTION is more appropriate.
{Hi. I’m John Moore and I’m addicted to business books.}
Just because I’m addicted to business books doesn’t mean I enjoy every biz book I read. Too often I slog through lousy biz books hoping to mine a few knowledge nuggets. Unfortunately, most biz books fail to help me generate new ideas, nor do they give me a new perspective on a business topic. So when a business book comes along that delivers smart ideas and unique perspective, I get excited.
Jeffrey Pfeffer’s WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? – Unconventional Wisdom about Management has me excited. It’s a fast-paced book that’s laced with knowledge nuggets making me a smarter business thinker and doer.
Here are some of the knowledge nuggets Pfeffer shares that has this marketer thinking …
WHAT?: Get Smarter by Taking Small Risks
SO WHAT?: “Companies are a lot like children—none are born knowing all they need to know, and relatively few are born smart. Most acquire intelligence by learning basic tasks and skills, mastering them, and then moving on to learn more tasks.” (p. 32)
“Relatively few companies actually embrace the management practices that are required to help them get smarter (p. 33). Learning and innovation also require letting people make mistakes.” (p. 36)
“The irony is that even as companies want to become learning organizations, they don’t want to be places where people can learn new things—because that requires putting people in positions where they do tasks they don’t do very well.” (p. 36)
WHAT NOW?: “The principle is simple—learn and fail on a small scale. But that ethos requires accepting that novelty and innovation are invariably accompanied by setbacks and failures. And embracing such a way of operating requires letting people fail—maybe even encouraging them to fail.” (p. 37)
WHAT?: Working Longer Hours is a Fallacy
SO WHAT?: “Companies often make long hours sort of a loyalty test. Employees are expected to put their work and their employer first, and one way of demonstrating their commitment is by forgoing leisure and family.” (p. 69)
“Contrary to myth and much conventional wisdom, European companies can and do compete successfully in global product and service markets, even with vacation and workweek policies that put their U.S. competitors to shame.” (p. 71)
WHAT NOW?: “It’s time for the U.S. companies that have made late nights and short weekends a test of loyalty to come to terms with the myth that long hours and no vacations are good for the bottom line.” (p. 73)
WHAT?: We Overemphasize Strategy
SO WHAT?: “There I sat at yet another board meeting, listening to the chief executive drone on about sales strategy and product strategy as he pointed to slick slideware filled with analyses of potential markets and buzzwords about our competitive positioning in the design visualization software market.
Then it dawned on me—almost no one in the room, including the person talking, had actually visited a customer or, for that matter, even used the company’s product in their own work.” (p. 166)
WHAT NOW? “Instead of sitting in meetings and spending time preparing fancy PowerPoint presentations, develop your strategy adaptively, by using your company’s best thinking at the time, learning from experience, and then trying again, using what you have learned. Under almost all circumstances, fast learners are going to outperform even the most brilliant strategists who can’t adapt.” (p. 170)
Worthwhile stuff!
WHAT NOW? Well ... stop reading this and start reading Jeffrey Pfeffer’s WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?
As a long time reader of your blog - I appreciate your addiction - It has saved me hundreds (o,k, thousands) of hours and dollars!
Posted by: 218Matt | November 01, 2007 at 09:58 PM
218Matt ... hey now, stop being an "enabler" to my biz book addiction. Ha. Seriously, I'm glad to help you make better biz book buying decisions.
Posted by: johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy) | November 01, 2007 at 10:48 PM
Pfeffer's book -- and advice -- are certainly impressive. Of all his ideas, the one I find mowst interesting is the notion of risking small to learn. It is important to remember that EVERY idea seems great to someone in authority and that same idea seems appallingly stupid and risky to someone else. You never KNOW and in the heat of battle, you have to make decisions. To repeat you NEVER KNOW and, more important, YOU SHOULDN'T KNOW -- only the customer has the right to KNOW whether your idea is a good one. So test early, often, and affordably. In our consulting, we've often pinted out that someone thought that Harley-Davidson Wine Coolers was a good enough idea to invest in and, indeed, introduce. YOU NEVER KNOW until you test. After all, you don't think anyone would want to go to a movie or a theme park all about a talking animated mouse do you?
Posted by: John Rosen | November 12, 2007 at 09:40 PM
You'll be happy to know that Pfeffer was just named one of the top 50 business thinkers on the planet. You can check out the list here: http://thinkers50.com/
Posted by: Christine Flanagan | November 16, 2007 at 12:44 PM