In certain domains there are not so much changes...:-))) Management, management strategy are some of them... OK, I admit, I read, hear interesting new things and, then, when I just pick an „old” book from the shelf, I am just flabbergusted how (almost) everything was already there available what we think being brand new...
Thomas J. Peters (later on we knew him as Tom Peters, the management guru with his international bestsellers) has signed a book in 1982 with Robert H. Waterman Jr. titled „In search of Excellence – Lessons from Americas Best-Run Companies”. This is one of the greatest book of the emanagement literature and from the excerpts you will see how much these are what they had written at that time (43 years ago!!) still absolutely valid today.
They have made a research (interviews, stuffs) partially with McKinsey resources around the best-run American companies. Just a short partial summary will show you what I mean:
„Our findings were a pleasant surprise. The project showed, more clearly than could have been hoped for, that the excellent companies were, above all, brilliant on the basics. Tools didn’t substitute for thinking. Intellect didn’t overpower wisdom. Analysis didn’t impede action. Rather, these companies worked hard to keep things simple in a complex world. They persisted. They insisted on top quality. They fawned on their customers. They listened to their employees and treated them like adults. They allowed their innovative product and service „champions” long tethers. They allowed some chaos in return for quick action and regular experimentation...”
Splendid, indeed, that’s exactly what is needed today, too...:-)))
