The fly sheet of the book had some complimentary remarks by well-known writers such as "We must abandon our outdated management systems, style and beliefs. But How? ..." and "The social contract between corporation and worker has unraveled. Loyalty has disappeared. How do you motivate employees who are little more than mercenaries?" and "In the future, there will be two types of organizations: those that are agile and responsive and those that will be swallowed up in an avalanche of change." and "'Creating the Resilient Organization' provides practical tools and proven methods for creating the agile, flexible enterprises necessary to survive and prosper." These comments made me feel that this book could have considerable value for my organization.
Pointing out that the latest management fads such as TQM have failed because they do not address the core processes involved in transforming yesterday's bureaucratic organization into tomorrows responsive enterprise, Deevy makes the case for radical transformation by answering three questions:
- What is it about traditional work organizations that limits their ability to be competitive in a fast-paced business environment?
- What cultural or systemic changes must be made in order to regain competitiveness?
- How can we most effectively transform older bureaucracies into responsive high-performing enterprises?
The first three chapters deal with the first question while the remaining 14 chapters deal with the three secrets of treating employees; creating the resilient organization; leadership and middle management; the "Blitz" strategy for change; building support for change; promoting innovation and strategy; and unleashing the entrepreneurial spirit.
Having taken to heart Covey's advice to "Start with the end in mind", I turned to chapter 7 with the subtitle "Begin with a vision for the future" with its opening remark from a hard-nosed business man: "This vision stuff is not going to add to the bottom line" and the author's comment "Ask any business leader what his or her vision is for the future of the company and you are likely to get a quick summary of the strategic plan." Yet a clear, practical, motivating vision that is clearly communicated is the first requirement for building a high-performance organization. Unfortunately George Bush with his comment about the "vision thing" gave the impression that vision is wishful thinking rather than business reality. Properly handled, vision drives performance, motivates, formulates practical guidelines, sets direction - in fact vision is the foundation for rapid-response management and is the first step in the process of building a high-performance enterprise.
The second step is deciding where to position the organization in the market place and then and only then can you introduce RapidResponse management. We have only to reflect on Churchill's leadership in WW II and many business success stories since then to accept that leadership is the core requirement. CEOs like Lee Iacocca and Jack Welch are respected for their "slash and burn" approach to management, although most such executives perceive themselves as practitioners of participatory management. However, many fail to distinguish between management (doing things right) and leadership (doing the right things). Most organizations have abundant management but little leadership. The author warns us that changing a mature company into a RapidResponse enterprise requires leadership attributes that are in scarce supply. One of the first steps is to let go of Theory X stereotypes that label workers as intrinsically lazy and unmotivated and start to recognize the potential of staff at all levels. Creativity can be found at every level, irrespective of academic credentials or job title. Pat Riley transformed a mediocre professional basketball team into world class competitors simply by helping them realize their potential.
With so many books in the market place and with so many advisors claiming to have a magic wand, it is difficult to know where to turn and who to trust. Moreover, your problem may be different from my problem and the book that is good for you may not be the book that is good for me. I go back to the book jacket. "Analysts predict that as many as 6 million businesses will perish in the next five years for failure to adapt to the sweeping changes that affect how they do business. The businesses that will survive will be those that successfully transform themselves into "RapidResponse" organizations - companies that recognize and act on potential dangers and opportunities more quickly than their competitors.' Success today has the seeds of failure tomorrow if it instills complacency - in fact we have to plan to make ourselves redundant as soon as possible. If we don't then certainly the competition will. So I find it difficult to believe that anyone could not profit from studying this book; for some it may even mean survival.