Book Reviews:
In selecting a book reviewer for CEOeffectiveness.com it was important to find someone with CEO experience who was knowledgeable and current in their understanding of technology and had a strong background in business and science. We wanted a person who could evaluate books like companies, against a backdrop of business and societal trends that influence if not determine desired futures. In addition, this person had to appreciate the relationship between CEO self-knowledge, an energized work force and delighted customers as interdependent parts of a system for achieving excellence. That person is John Morrow. In addition to meeting all of the requirements above John shares our goal of reviewing books that offer CEOs sound action guidelines that can increase their effectiveness in creating excellent companies.
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Opposable Mind: Winning Through Integrative Thinking
Reviewed by John Morrow
The Opposable Mind by Roger Martin is nothing short of a road map for getting to the best solutions for what may seem to be impossible problems. Martin first explains the way exceptional leaders think, then shows the reader how to train themselves to do the same.
Through real life examples and detailed analysis Martin demonstrates that when it comes to solving problems, "there is no right answer, just the best answer available right now." The trick, he explains, is how to make sure you are evaluating the correct information in the correct light.
Martin challenges the reader to examine the logic behind their beliefs. He explains how to let go of old methods of problem solving and replace them with integrative thinking, which he defines as "the ability to hold two opposing ideas in your mind at once, and then reach a synthesis that contains elements of both, but actually improves on each."
In the chapter "Mapping the Mind", Martin helps the reader understand their own current system for problem solving by examining their personal stance, tools, and experiences, all of which guide how they make decisions (what Martin calls a Knowledge System). He challenges the reader to see their current reality as an imperfect model, i.e. as one view of many possible views. Using this technique for self examination, the reader comes away with an understanding of how they currently solve problems.
Armed with this self knowledge, Martin explains that the reader will now be open to consider possible solutions that they may have previously ignored and be more likely to synthesize a workable solution to a seemingly impossible problem.
(Roger Martin is dean of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. He is the author of four books, and is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review.)
John Morrow, president of Morrow Consultants, is a business growth strategist who helps business owners and CEOs achieve long-term sustainable growth. www.morrowconsultants.com
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Creating Competitive Advantage: Give Customers a Reason
to Choose You Over Your Competitors.Reviewed by John Morrow
In Creating Competitive Advantage, Jaynie Smith addresses the question that every customer ultimately considers: "Why should I buy from you instead of your competitor?" Smith makes a strong case that successfully answering this crucial question must be "the foundation of all your strategic and operational decisions". When companies fail to answer this question in a way that is relevant and compelling to customers, Smith contends that they also fail to achieve their growth potential.
Smith explains that in her experience most companies are not aware of their competitive advantages. She says that many companies think they know why customers buy from them, but few actually know what potential customers really consider to be important benefits. Furthermore, companies fail to consider whether potential customers even perceive them as the best provider of those benefits. Through numerous real-world examples, Smith shows how understanding and resolving this "dangerous disparity" can unleash unrealized growth.
Creating Competitive Advantage is built around four themes:
- Understanding the importance of competitive advantage
- Discovering or creating your company's competitive advantages, i.e. those things that your company does better than the competition, and that are highly valued by customers
- Making potential customers aware of your competitive advantages
- Strengthening your competitive advantages and creating new ones (since every competitive advantage will eventually be copied and eroded away by competitors)
Creating Competitive Advantage is a book that I highly recommend to business owners as an excellent introduction to the subject of competitive advantage. Although the book does not (and could not) cover all facets of this vast subject, it does an excellent job of providing a practical framework for understanding, discovering, evolving, and successfully communicating your company's advantages. Consider this book a must-read for business owners.
John Morrow, president of Morrow Consultants, is a business growth strategist who helps business owners and CEOs achieve long-term sustainable growth.
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Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.
Reviewed by John Morrow
In his latest book, Drive, Daniel Pink makes the case that when it comes to motivating employees, there is a "huge mismatch between what science knows and what business does". For starters, Pink contends that the practice of using financial incentives to increase the productivity of workers engaged in tasks requiring problem solving, inventiveness, and conceptual understanding can actually have just the opposite effect. Since a major and growing proportion of the U.S. workforce is engaged in this type of work (software developers, engineers, medical researchers, scientists, lawyers, and architects to name just a few), the implications of the ideas presented in this book are profound for their potential impact on future economic growth.
Drive is divided into three sections. Section I is a detailed discussion of why our current reward and punishment system of motivation no longer works, and why it must be replaced if businesses are to compete in an environment where value is derived more and more from innovation and problem-solving ability. To back his claim, Pink points to numerous studies, conducted over several decades, all of which revealed that financial incentives and other carrot/stick approaches to motivation actually reduce productivity, creativity and innovation.
Section II explains what type of motivation does work to promote productivity in this new work environment. Calling upon studies funded by organizations such as the Federal Reserve, Harvard Business School, the University of Chicago, MIT, and the London School of Economics, Pink makes a convincing argument that in order to produce a high level of creativity, workers must find a task to be interesting, challenging and rewarding for its own sake, not because they are told "if you do that, then I will give you this". He goes on to describe three element of a work environment that promote highly productive, creative behavior. Those elements are: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Pink defines autonomy as the freedom to decide when, where, how, and with whom we will work. Mastery occurs "when the challenges we face are ... matched to our abilities", and we are able to continually improve those abilities. Purpose means that we seek to do work that has a cause that is worthwhile and bigger than ourselves.
Pink refers to Section III as a "toolkit". This section provides advise, examples, and further reading for those wishing to more fully explore and implement the ideas presented in Drive.
I found Drive to be an engaging and thought-provoking read. The studies presented from numerous reputable researchers and organizations left little doubt that the ideas presented in the book are backed by sound scientific evidence. While reading the book, I also realized that I have personally witnessed the effects that autonomy can have on software development and engineering projects. A number of years ago I was involved with a company that established a "pre-project" period where engineers and software developers were allowed to experiment with the tools, methods, and various approaches that they might use on a project --before they were required to commit to a final project plan. The participants loved this approach, and even though it only addressed the "how" element of autonomy, it greatly increased the energy level of the project team, and reduced false starts and schedule over-runs once the actual project was underway.
Drive's revelations also left me pondering the challenge that businesses will face in making the change from a culture of carrot and stick motivation to one that embraces the motivation necessary for promoting innovation and creativity. Yet as the U.S. continues to transition from industrial-age jobs to knowledge-based jobs, it would seem that our future competitiveness may depend on the success of making this cultural shift. Drive will most certainly help to raise awareness of these important issues.
John Morrow, president of Morrow Consultants, is a business growth strategist who helps business owners and CEOs achieve long-term sustainable growth.