Don't get stuck in the rut

Malaysian Business,  Sep 16, 2005  by Reviewed by Joanna Sze

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

`Why Good Companies Go Bad and How Great Managers Remake Them'

By: Donald N Sull

Publisher: Harvard Business School Press

Pages: 200

Price: RM67.80

`YOU got to know when to hold `em, know when to fold `em, know when to

walk away and know when to run ...,' so croons Kenny Rogers. This often

sums up the dilemma managers face in running their companies.

Leadership, author Donald Sull says, is all about selecting, making,

honouring, and sometimes remaking commitments. But the main point is not

so much making the wrong commitment but rather about making a highly

successful one ... and getting stuck in the mould.

Sull uses the buzzword `active inertia' to describe managers' reliance

on what worked before to tackle new challenges. He also talks about the

risk factors and diagnostic tests of active inertia, using comparative

case studies of companies that made it and those that didn't.

I take comfort in Sull's rationalisation for what he calls the `cover

curse'. The `curse' he says, `does not indicate a lack of editorial

insight ... (but) results from a flawed assumption about the longevity of

success.' By the time a company's success formula has won critical

acclaim, managers should be rethinking it, rather than gold- plating it

into a dogma.

Sull then moves on to the antidote - the three steps of making effective

transforming commitments - selecting an anchor to guide the commitment,

taking concrete actions to secure the anchor, and realigning the rest of

the organisation - and the seven deadly sins of such commitments. Some may

find the book to be a little more than a history guide, but it remains an

interesting and engaging read.

Copyright 2005
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.