Unlike other books, Revival of the Fittest is packed with practical advices on how to manage change: from how to choose transforming commitments to what are the considerations for its shareholders. This book does not tell readers what to do as the author realizes that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions but rather gives guidance to those who want to make change happen. What is most interesting to me is his method of pairing firms in the same industry who had been affected by the same change and yet one prospered and the other failed. This gives an idea on what constitutes success and failure under different circumstances. The pairs include many firms across the globe in different industries, such as: Goodyear versus Firestone (U.S.A.), Samsung versus Daewoo (Korea) and Lloyds TSB versus National Westminster. (U.K.).
This is a book about how to transform an organization and more. In short, what one learns from the book is not only about managerial commitments but also personal ones. The book closes with three simple questions about commitment: (1) what is the right thing to do?, (2) what hinders you? and (3) why wait?.
Revival of the Fittest is built on persuasive and powerful arguments that become actionable through the mechanisms/exercises he identifies.
I'm passing the book to each member of my company's executive team - I've said that it's a must read.
I hope that the incumbent set in our industry doesn't read this. Applause for their "active inertia" while the sharp blade of significant innovation gets them in the soft underbelly. So much of the framework was relevant even for early stage organizations like ours - recognizing the active inertia enables us to take greater chances in seeking collaborative arrangements with these potential competitors. Revival of the Fittest and other recent research-based books including Creative Destruction demonstrate that change in industry after industry comes from outside the firm - and significant innovation comes from the margin of the industry. I particularly enjoyed learning how the "success formula" for an organization often mutates into blinders and millstones - early insights and truths become shibboleths.
I read business books constantly - this one is a keeper!
Contrary to the following review, Sull's wise reflections, his acute hindsight, on what separates mid-course corporate successes from failures is full of insights, though not quick-fixes or one-size-fits-all makeovers.
Rather, Sull provides an array of diagnostic tools for managers, helping them isolate the "active inertia"--a term he has coined and that is gaining currency among business theorists--and sift through the vast horizon of possibilities and risks managers in crisis must face.
A multi-disciplinary work with a global perspective, Revival of the Fittest is both informative and potentially transforming.