RAM CHARAN | NOEL TICHY
1 Every Leader should read this...then read again!
This is one of my favorite leadership books by two authors with whom I have a great deal of respect for their advice. The premise of the book it that by looking at the entire business landscape affecting your clients, there are larger opportunities in which to solve the client's CEO issues beyond the immediate customer orders. Written with real world examples, some of which were first hand consulting jobs by the authors, the examples are detailed and written so you can relate them to your own work.
I have applied these principles in my own professional work and find the concepts very useful in business growth development efforts. In almost every growth opportunity development session with employees, collegues and clients, the going in premise is that there is not enough budget or too limited a market, thus preventing us from pursuing a given opportunity. Applying the author's concepts to creating the expanded view of the opportunity almost always proves to incite a bigger picture for everyone.
The book may require better book bindings because I refer back to it so often that I will one day wear out the bindings!
Read and Expand the Pond! Highly Recommended.
2 A Good Read!
Ram Charan and Noel M. Tichy make the case that no company, even a very large corporation, should think of itself as a mature company or as part of a mature industry. If you look at the market broadly and take your customer's perspective, you will always find room for growth. First, look at your customers' changing needs and think of how your company can expand beyond its current market. Then, expand that approach throughout the company. The basic message may sound familiar, but Charan and Tichy bring a strong how-to approach to their directions for implementing it in your company. We at getAbstract.com appreciate the utility of their mix of examples, graphs, charts, and workbook, which should prove helpful to executives and company owners.
3 A well-written, very practical recipe for growth and change.
I found this book to be one of the best I have read on the topics of growth and change in some time. This book is devoid of the psychological "fluff" that permeates many other books in this genre. It reads like a practical recipe to be followed by those commited to growth and change. Not at all unlike Welch's annual letters to the shareholders of GE. Whereas the annual letters of others companies drone on and on about what was, surrounded by the fluff of what can be, Welch's letters read like a master plan for action, which can be understood and driven to all levels of the company.
The authors define "desirable" growth from the perspective of shareholders as capital efficient, profitable growth. They then describe a framework for "growing the pond you fish in". Next, they point out the necessity of changing the "genetic code" of the organization so that growth is pursued by leaders at all levels in the organization. They describe a framework for producing this change in the genetic code of the organization. This framework is primarily based on a "teachable point-of-view" developed by the leadership, and constantly reinforced and reiterated through various carefully designed "operating mechanisms". The teachable point-of-view consists of key business ideas, values, emotional energy, and "edge" (on tough calls).
I've read this book twice already, and may read it again. I've started to implement the methodology in my company...so far, so good.
4 Full of insites that can be applied in every business
Every Business is a Growth Business is full of insights that can be applied in every business. The book confirms my philosophy on how to grow businessess profitably. It has a set of valuable applications. Chapter Three, Commonsense and Capital, is a must read for those who want to sharpen their business acumen.
5 Pretty good business book
This book is pretty good for a business book from an MBA perspective, but sometimes it becomes a little hoky and doesn't get down to specifics enough. Overall an interesting read with some good case examples.
