$27.95
Customize It
Hardcover
250 pages
ISBN 9780787987794 Published Jan. 2007
Jossey-Bass
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Posted Dec. 10, 2007 3:25 a.m. by delicious
In International Bestsellers - 800 CEO Read Blog
So, there I was waiting patiently in line to go through the first of 3 security checkpoints at the airport. It was the first time I was traveling overseas with my mom, which I may not do again, but that's only because I lost her during the trip to Mexico. It turns out she was just getting a tattoo, but I digress.
Anyway, I was doing the 'patiently waiting' thing and all....kind of looking forward to be getting pulled aside and asked all 'those questions'. You know the ones, like why are you going here in this country and what not. I wanted to feel like a James Bond villain. I wanted to be That Guy that everyone sees that gets pulled out of the line and forced to go through various searches: body, luggage and then maybe brought in to a separate room for further dialysis. There would be search dogs and maybe even extra guards.
There was nothing, not even a raised eyebrow.
Alright, I know I'm being odd, but I did expect something. You see, I just recently broke my wrist, had metal put in to keep the bones together and the doctor said that the security alarms would go off at the airport. And when it didn't I was saddened. Made me think though. Like why didn't it? Are they doing their job right? If they're not catching me and my gimpy wrist, what else are they missing?
They are probably missing what books people were reading last month overseas and/or across the borders from us. Here they are:
3-D Negotiation - Australia
Wikinomics - Canada
The Boston Consulting Group on Strategy - France
The Starbucks Experience - Barbados
The Three Tensions - Mexico
Oh, and if you're going anywhere this holiday season, I hope you make it through it safely! And try not to lose your mother, if she goes with you!
Links From My Inbox - 1/29/07
Posted Jan. 29, 2007 6:56 a.m. by todd-sattersten
In Strategy - 800 CEO Read Blog
- Joel Spolsky reviews Dreaming In Code
- The Los Angeles Times ran the Financial Times' review of Purpose over the weekend.
- WSJ's Carol Hymowitz has a Q&A with The Three Tensions author Ken Favaro [sub. needed].
Business Books for January: Intro
Posted Jan. 15, 2007 8:00 a.m. by todd-sattersten
In Lists - 800 CEO Read Blog
January is a big month for business books. There are at least a dozen books that have come out in January (or late December) that are worthy of consideration. The list below is a starting point. Which ones you will end up reading will clearly depend on your time and preferences. We have covered some of these titles in Jack Covert Selects and I plan to write about others as the month progresses.
Business books for January 2007:
- Running With The Bulls Without Getting Trampled by Tim Irwin
- The Three Tensions: Winning the Struggle to Perform Without Compromise by Dominic Dodd and Ken Favaro
- Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Other Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
- 12: The Elements of Great Managing by Rodd and James Harter
- Know-How: The 8 Skills That Separate People Who Perform From Those Who Don't by Ram Charan
- Payback: Reaping The Reward of Innovation by James Andrew and Harold Sirkin
- Words That Work: It's Not What You Say, It's What People Hear by Frank Lutz
- Accelerants: 12 Strategies to Sell Faster, Close Deals and Grow Your Business Faster by Michael Boylan
- Ego Check: Why Executives Hubris is Wrecking Companies and Careers and How To Avoid The Trap by Matthew Hayward
- Greating Great Employees: Turning Ordinary People Into Extraordinary Performers by Erika Andersen
- Exceeding Customer Expectations: What Enterprise, America's #1 Car Rental Company, Can Teach You About Creating Lifetime Customers by Kirk Kazanjian
- A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder by Eric Abrahamson and David Freedman
- The Mormon Way of Doing Business: Leadership and Success Through Faith and Family by Jeff Benedict
- What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful by Marshall Goldsmith
- Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything by Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams
P.S. You can keep up with stuff like this on the 800ceoread New Releases Blog.
Jack Covert Selects: The Three Tensions
Posted Jan. 12, 2007 3:17 a.m. by jack
The Three Tensions: Winning the Struggle to Perform Without Compromise by Dominic Dodd and Ken Favaro, Jossey-Bass, January 2007, $27.95, Hardcover, 256 Pages, ISBN 0787987794
800-CEO-READ has experienced considerable growth over the last four years. We are very fortunate, but our success has presented us with options we have never had to consider before. Many of our strategy discussions end with trade-offs after struggling to decide between one thing or another. A new book that studies these tensions that many companies deal with caught my attention.
How often have you been in a meeting and heard this kind of comment, "We really need to invest in the long-term, but we'll never make our quarterly earnings." Or maybe the statement was, "Growth is our primary focus, but we can't sacrifice profitability." Or how about, "We are going centralize all appropriate functions, but continue to give divisions autonomy in decision making." Do you hear all the "buts" in those statements? These types of contradictory statements, these three tensions, confuse people and create harmful cycles of alternating emphasis. The focus of this book is to change the conversation on business strategy from "but" to "and".
Authors Dominic Dodd and Ken Favaro have found a common bond (the "and") for each pair of competing forces. When companies want both growth and profitability, they should focus on rewards customers get from them. The bond between short-term and long-term is the earnings created without taking from next quarter or next year. If a company wants to take actions that benefit the whole as well as the individual parts, the development of synergic resources and capabilities is essential.
I can't do justice to the book in such a little space. I didn't get into the measurement aspect to their philosophy or how management fads seem to move back and forth between these same tensions. You need to read the whole book to appreciate the depth of the material. There is something new here and worthy of a spot in your 2007 reading list.
