Limited Practical Use
The general overall structure of the first half of this text is sound and provides some food for thought to individuals trying to understand the psyche of creators and practitioners. Where this book shines is that it correctly points out that there are those that create, those that implement, and those that sustain any given idea, and that to be successful, a company needs a good dose of the second variety.
However, the second half of the book spends a lot of time trying to determine what made the best business theorists popular and this information is limited in a practical sense. It appears that there is some regret by the authors that they aren't considered "stars" and way too much time is spent trying to determine why "reengineering" became a negative term and how their pioneering thought should have been the standard. Unfortunately, these tangential aspects are a significant portion of the reading.
The section on knowledge management is a bit out of place, but it is a great topic in and of itself. More time should have been devoted to why KM is an important part of a company's ability to create. In summary, the book is O.K., but you might want to wait for the paperback or find it used.
A pragmatic guide of shaping organizational innovation
Ideas are a major ingredient of innovation; Davenport & Prusak has done a great job in illustrating the dyanmic of ideas in organizational context, as well as how managers & leaders can effectively capitalize on business & management ideas. There are a couple sections in 'What's The Big Idea' that I enjoyed very much: An interview with Steve Kerr, and a list of the top 200 business gurus (with the underlying ranking mechanism) in the appendix.
Enjoyable read for the idea practictioner and inspiring guru
This book was a great read discredited in chapter 8. The authors did a fantastic job summarizing what makes ideas work in an organization and the business model of business gurus. Their writing style was very readable, entertaining and enjoyable making this a good read that is easily recommendable. However, in chapter 8 they speak to close to their history and represent a view of knowledge management that may not be shared by all readers. One sentence highlighting that in a chapter that is otherwise represents their bias is not enough. Also, in chapter 9, the questions presented to an idea practictioner were leading. I will however find myself quoting the book so it is still a recommended read to broaden your thought leadership and success in pushing ideas forward. For the consultant make sure you complement this book with something that allows you to capture the client's view of value.
Excellent read
A most interesting and delightfully opinionated book is the latest offering from Tom Davenport and Larry Prusack. Easily digested, this book attempts to `out-meta' the competition in the game of management idea mindshare, by giving a framework by which other ideas are evaluated for their applicability to your organization. `He who owns the process wins' is an oft-quoted cliché at ManyWorlds.com and this book makes a good claim for the process. But more seriously, it does introduce some important (dare I say new) thinking into the faddish and/or fatigued of management ideas. The most critical of those is that of the `idea practitioner' - the role of the unsung heroes in organizations that translate the guru's missives from on high to that of the real-world working business. They are defined as `individuals who use business improvement ideas to bring about change in organizations'. And to help you seek out these people in your company, Davenport and Prusack helpfully profile a number of real idea practitioners across a range of companies such as BP, Clarica, World Bank, BIC and many others. But chances are that if you are attracted to this book, you are probably an idea practitioner yourself, even in latent form.
The idea practitioner is an idea filterer who possesses the key skills of `translation, harmonization and timing' and applies them to new ideas around the organization. It's the skill of knowing when to introduce an idea, to maximize its impact and benefit to the organization.
What's the Big Idea? examines the lifecycles of ideas, internal and external adoption rates as well as describing the categories of gurus. These include academic gurus (think Michael Porter), consultant gurus (think Adrian Slywotzky), practicing manager gurus (think Jack Welch) and journalist gurus (think Tom Stewart). Of course these categories are blurred but the distinction is useful. An interesting step would be to consider what type of guru your company seems most interested in. My guess would be that hard asset companies are likely to be swayed by practicing manager and consultant type gurus, high growth companies by journalist gurus and very large enterprises by academic gurus.
But the problem with being an idea practitioner is while you may be rewarded by a good profile in Davenport's next book, you may not be appreciated for your network and filtering skills by your own organization. Indeed, pursuing your interest in ideas may only be tolerated once you have proved yourself in more operational roles. Even so, such an idea driven route can be career limiting, since in every idea you sell to the organization, there will always be an ounce of personal credibility that has to go with it. But by taking the core of the idea, the `zeitgeist' and perhaps even innovating a little on top of it to make it more acceptable to your organization, you can build on the foundation of initiatives before it.
Which is just as ideas themselves do. In every idea, the authors would argue, there is a kernel of good practice that should be adopted. The problem is that there is often so much emotion wrapped up around a guru, or a leading company or the idea itself is that this kernel is often ignored or dismissed. But gurus themselves are also guilty of this practice. They often battle against each other, dismiss others' ideas or do not give credit to their sources, teams or inspiration. Sounds just like the local management corporate politics wrestled with in 90% of companies, doesn't it? Thus the role of idea practitioner becomes all the more important to the corporation, navigating both the external and internal battlefields.
Overall, a highly recommended read .Additional highlights including a non-partisan ranking of the top 200 business gurus (contrast that with our traffic based rankings on ManyWorlds.com) and an interview with the immensely smart Steve Kerr, previously CLO at GE and now at Goldman Sachs, on how he `idea practitions'.
Great Message -- But Mavericks are Targets in a Sick Culture
Thomas Davenport is now officially one of my "heroes" by championing the cause of us "idea introducers" and "boundary spanners". Unfortunately, being one of these people myself, I find that companies with an unhealthy culture (and with the associated weak/passive H.R. dept that perpetuate this sickness), ultimately cannot innovate.Their Mavericks (also known as "the man in the brown suit") get laid-off, fired, or strategically bumped out of the way. And instead, go along to get along behavior is rewarded, crafty executives who change jobs ever 2-3 years (i.e. they quit BEFORE they get fired) swoop in long enough to go for the low-hanging fruit and then leave before they ever really build anything, and in the meantime the uninvolved & uncommitted (the ones who kept their head down and did what they were told) get promoted based on seniority & politics instead of competence & contribution.
So as I contemplate Davenport and Friends' latest book offering, I am moved to share this simple truth:
Unhealthy culture eats: strategy for breakfast, the project schedule for lunch, troublemaker and soon to be laid-off maverick employees for dinner, and all remaining discretionary funds in the annual operating budget 6-months early for a midnite snack.
We can talk until the cows come home about the latest and greatest ideas for maximizing the productivity of knowledge workers -- but the $500 question is: WHEN will executive management start treating culture management as a fiduciary responsibility?
Until this happens, NOTHING else will happen -- except for the razorblade ride down to zero margins. Also, 80% of all new jobs are in companies with less than 25 employees. For the larger companies in the business landscape who think that they're going places -- there's a MESSAGE there.
I really appreciate Davenport's perspective on things; and he's always been a good collaborator with other leading minds. Davenport's focus has now shifted away from I.T. and K.M. and full tilt into Human Capital and Organizational Effectiveness. AMEN! It's about time! I'm an I.T. veteran of 20+ years who is SICK of living and working in a cess-pool of low morale by staff in tandem with displacement of responsibility by executive management.
CIO's everywhere sit up and take heed -- the goldmine that you seek is NOT in integration of your processes or technology; those are merely 2nd & 3rd order consequences of what's really important -- and this your Human Capital / workforce capability.
...
Focus FIRST on organizational effectiveness or else find yourself on a downward spiraling path to failure because the culture and the organizational defensive routines are stronger than any 1 executive's resolve. Heed this advice or else "CIO" really does mean "career is over".
(12 reviews)
