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Churchill's Adaptive Enterprise: Lessons for Business[ebook]
[9781895186208] |
$29.95 $17.95 |
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| Displaying 1 to 6 (of 7 reviews) |
Result Pages: 1 |
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| by Tony Redmond, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, HP |
Date Added: Tuesday 08 April, 2008 |
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As this book clearly shows, the notion of an Adaptive Enterprise is not a new concept. Perhaps it's a new term, but the ability of gifted individuals to respond to changing conditions with out-of-the-box thinking and innovative approaches to lead enterprises to solve hard problems has always been a hallmark of brilliance. Churchill wasn't the only brilliant mind working on the problems posed by global warfare and material shortage in World War II and he made mistakes along the way, but the important thing is that Churchill learned from both triumphs and mistakes and adapted his tactics along the way to eventual success.
Rating:  [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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| by John Matlock |
Date Added: Tuesday 08 April, 2008 |
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We certainly live in a time of change. And it seems that even the rate of change is increasing. In this fascinating book, Mr. Kozak-Holland draws comparisons between the problems that Churchill faced in assuming leadership of the British Government at the start of World War II and the modern business world.
The changes in the military situation facing England were quick and sudden. The changes in the business world only slightly less so. Consider, for instance, the marketplace for cameras. In a matter of very few years, the shelves at your local discount store basically no longer have film based cameras.
The author discusses a technique called Adaptive Enterprise that Churchill used in modifying the way an organization behaves in the face of change. The comparisons are very interesting to a history buff, and have direct applicability if you are manufacturing buggy whips when Henry Ford comes along.
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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| by Charles Ashbacher |
Date Added: Tuesday 08 April, 2008 |
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In May of 1940, England faced enormous odds. Since the previous September, the German armies had handily conquered Poland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium and the combined armies of Britain and France. France had surrendered and although the bulk of the British army was rescued from Dunkirk, nearly all of their military equipment was now in German hands. Furthermore, the Italians had entered the war on the German side and the German alliance with Russia seemed firm, as both sides had so much to gain by maintaining it.
Now essentially devoid of significant allies and low on supplies, the only hope the British had to carry out the fight was to make more efficient use of what they had. Therefore, the British carried out one of the greatest improvements in managerial operations ever achieved. Winston Churchill selected the right people for all positions, relying almost solely on talent rather than political or social position. His only concessions to political necessity were in allowing some leaders of the political opposition to have high government posts. For example, Clement Attlee was appointed Deputy Prime Minister during the war years. The direness of the times allowed Churchill and his appointees' great range in their actions and power. Fortunately for the British side, they were men of sense and effectiveness.
In this book, the actions of Churchill and his wartime staff are used as a set of demonstration cases for how effective adaptation can be in the business world. Despite the serious differences in the circumstances, after all, no business staff is really battling for its very life, the analogies work. Kozak-Holland does an excellent job in toning the circumstances down to a set of fundamental business circumstances. It has often been said that we must learn from history, this is a book where several lessons can be learned from history and in this case not all of the lessons are direct.
As Churchill showed, a strong will is necessary but not sufficient for success. You must be willing to delegate responsibility and be willing to let the people do their job without micromanaging. When the circumstances warrant it, you must be willing to fire people and also to hold the line against firing people even though others believe that they should be removed.
There is a great deal of business management knowledge that can be learned from this book. It has been said many times that the modern global business competition is just the next generation of warfare. While that is certainly debatable, the points of the debate are not about the fact, just about how far the analogy can be extended. As can be seen here, there are many similarities between modern total war between nations and competition between businesses.
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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| by Steve Neiderhauser |
Date Added: Tuesday 08 April, 2008 |
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There must be some kind of way out of here say the joker to the thief.
-- Jimi Hendrix
Today's business gurus evangelize the benefits of story like a TV evangelist on a book tour. Still, there are few authors who use story to teach business strategy. Enter Mark Kozak-Holland who uses the stories of history to teach the lessons of the adaptive enterprise. Long after you've read and forgotten strategy concepts taught in standard text books, you'll find yourself remembering and applying adaptive enterprise concepts through the stories in Churchill's Adaptive Enterprise; stories that breathe life into the sense and respond organization.
In Churchill's Adaptive Enterprise, author Mark Kozak-Holland shows how to create an adaptive enterprise by using lessons from World War II. In spite of Britain's stunning defeat at the Battle of Dunkirk, and her subsequent limited resources to wage war, Churchill was able to stave off German occupation and give America time to join the war, by making an entire country agile.
The author writes of how the German Luftwaffe believed they were on the verge of wiping out Britain's Royal Air force, and yet, Churchill, through a sense-and-respond network was able to make 50 British fighters seem like hundreds, and demoralize the German air command. Indeed, Churchill had his watchtower.
From a story perspective, this book is brilliant. First, the author didn't try to make up his own story, or worse, create a fable to teach the adaptive enterprise. No, that could of been a disaster. Why? Because Churchill's stand against Hitler is an archetype that is almost impossible to improved upon. I mean, even Spielberg, if he wanted to... would find it difficult to produce a better protagonist and antagonist than Churchill and Hitler. And that's why Saving Private Ryan is the story that it is. It's a story within the context of a larger story.
Second, the book provides a business case for agile.
Finally, if you're brilliant, you'll tell the Churchill stories to each other, so you change your corporate culture. And when your customers start to brag about your products and how you run circles around the competition, you will have differentiated your product in a way that others can't match. What's more, you'll now have your own stories to tell each other and new employees, keeping your adaptive organization alive and well.
To be successful in life or war, you need to be flexible... adaptive. Churchill was a socially adept animal -- He knew how to change and evoke change from others. Within Churchill lived a transformation machine. His mad writing skills were not bestowed upon him like the Queen's crown. In grammar school, when the teacher criticized his writing, he studied and practiced grammar patterns for hours. Later in life, when asked about his facile writing skills, he credited the grammar exercises for his renowned ability to turn a phrase.
Yep, Churchill was one hep, adaptive cat. When others were silent, he gave inspiring speeches; when others embraced rigid processes, he created agile frameworks; when others worried about the fate of England and fled to Canada, he calmed the masses; when others sought shelter during the bombings, he ventured boldly into the firestorm.
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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| by Dr. Tami Brady |
Date Added: Tuesday 08 April, 2008 |
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4.0 out of 5 stars Churchill's Adaptive Enterprise, Oct 7 2007
By Dr. Tami Brady "Whole Health Therapist" (Calgary, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)
I truly believe that in order to move forward, we have to look back at our history. I believe the same is true of business. One of the best ways to solve problems and create innovative strategies is to look at those in our past who succeeded in these areas.
Churchill is a model for adaptation and problem solving. His business was Britain which was faced with two overwhelmingly difficult challenges: keep the British economy stable while also keeping the country safe from German invasion. In order to be successful in these endeavours, the leader had to focus his resources wisely to stay one step ahead of the enemy.
Despite it's usefulness as a model for business problem solving, Churchill's Adaptive Enterprise is a somewhat difficult book to read. The text is filled with IT and business terms so the average business person will need to flip to the glossary in the back of the book frequently to fully comprehend each concept. Moreover, many of the historical examples require somewhat in-depth knowledge of Churchill's exploits. I suggest reading the appendix at the back of the book before moving onto the regular text.
Rating:  [4 of 5 Stars!] |
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| by Reader Views (William E. Cooper) |
Date Added: Tuesday 08 April, 2008 |
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Mark Kozak-Holland has written one of the best and most fascinating management, leadership, and business books I’ve read. As a retired Chief of Police with two graduate degrees, and one who teaches graduate school courses, as well as being the author of my own book “Leading Beyond Tradition,” I found this to be a “can’t put it down” book. It is a literal page turner, comparing Winston Churchill’s incredibly complex set of problems at the outset of and during World War II with today’s management issues, then providing legitimate and very well thought out solutions.
It is about the tremendous change the world and our organizations are facing and the need for being agile and adapting to frequently changing conditions. It is about getting the right people in, the wrong people out, and the right people in the right places. It is about having a vision and a strategy for achieving it; it is about change management. The examples used are incredibly profound and clearly applicable to today’s business needs and environment. This book is a must-read and should not only be in every manager’s library, but should be a university text book and part of every library. I strongly recommend Mr. Kozak-Holland’s book. Well done sir.
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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| Displaying 1 to 6 (of 7 reviews) |
Result Pages: 1 |
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