Leading the Revolution I

Leading the Revolution by Gary Hamel.

I bought and read Leading the Revolution in 2002.  If the Cluetrain Manifesto started kindling the fires of "there is a possibility of changing business as usual," this book threw flame throwers on it.  Leading the Revolution was written for people who want to make a difference in their world and organizations and to show them how to do it.

Like a fine Merlot or exquisite Milwaukee's Best, Leading the Revolution should be sipped.  Consequently, I intend to run a series of mini-reviews on various topics and items over an indefinite period of time.

Strategy Convergence - What happens when an industry centralizes around same practices.  Strategies converge when cases of success get imitated...and imitated.  The picture that I get of this is akin to what happens to isolated villages of people.  Lines blur between brothers, sisters, husbands and wives.  It's not pretty. 

Tribal Wisdom - "Dakota tribal wisdom says that when you discover you're on a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount."  Is there a more profound statement to be found in regards to a business model that doesn't work?  Hamel goes on to say, "Of course you can get a committee to study the dead horse.  You can benchmark how other companies ride dead horses.  You can declare that it's cheaper to feed a dead horse.  You can harness several dead horses together.  But after you've tried all these things, you're still going to have to dismount."  Are these words precious or what?  How many times have you seen your companies continue to ride dead horses?

I prefer to look at strategy convergence and the dismounting of dead horses in my own little world...not that of the company's.  If folks in my industry are reading trade journals to learn new stuff, I'm going to read Oprah.  And maybe, if certain processes aren't working for me, I'm going to bury the horse and create new ones.

Cool Quote

Without radical innovation, a company will devote a mountain of resources to achieve a molehill of differentiation.

Leading the Revolution is a most excellent book.  It is inspiring and timeless (except for the Enron & World Com stuff).