The World's Best Book Summaries
Why do large organizations struggle to innovate? How can you sustain innovation in your organization as it grows? Maintaining innovation is a major concern for organizations as they grow. According to Safi Bahcall, the author of Loonshots, it’s possible to balance growth with continued innovation. The key, he says, is to balance stake with rank. Here’s how organizations can keep innovating no matter how big they grow, according to Safi Bahcall.
As you strive to shape the culture of your organization, what should you expect? How flexible should you be? Does every employee need to be on board? In his book What You Do Is Who You Are, CEO and venture capitalist Ben Horowitz discusses three cultural challenges that leaders face as they seek to shape their organization’s culture. He explains that they must deal with the fact that culture is both aspirational and actionable, culture is always evolving, and culture is universal. Continue reading to learn more about these challenges.
What are the major obstacles to innovation in organizations? Why do innovative ideas get shot down? According to Safi Bahcall, the major obstacle to innovation is disbelief: Groundbreaking innovative ideas are often dismissed as crazy and overly ambitious. He calls such ideas “loonshots” (loonshot = loony + moonshot). In addition, innovation-focused companies may fall into traps that keep them from innovating successfully. Here are three traps that kill innovation.
What is Toyota’s leadership style? What do Toyota leaders value? In The Toyota Way, Jeffrey Liker explains how Toyota manages its people. He covers how Toyota shows respect for its employees, promotes leaders from the inside, prioritizes teamwork, and extends relationship-building to the whole supply chain. Keep reading to learn more about Toyota’s leadership style.
Does your company culture need improvement? If so, where should you start? What practical steps can you take to make lasting change? In the book What You Do Is Who You Are, Ben Horowitz shares three cultural leadership lessons taken from the story of Shaka Senghor. Senghor demonstrated transformational leadership when he served in prison. Horowitz discusses three lessons from Senghor’s story: take advantage of teachable moments, start necessary changes from the top, and meet daily to model changes. Keep reading to learn how to improve company culture.
In what ways are the traditional project management methods flawed? How does the Scrum method overcome those flaws? In his book Scrum, Jeff Sutherland compares the Scrum method to more traditional management methods, such as the Waterfall method. Sutherland points out that these traditional methods don’t work well because they’re based on unrealistic optimism, whereas the Scrum method is based on flexibility and reality. Let’s take a look at Scrum vs. traditional project management methods.
How can companies encourage innovative thinking? What can you, as a leader, do to inspire creative ideation that translates into a useful innovation? According to Safi Bahcall, the author of Loonshots, companies focused on innovation should separate innovators from implementers. This is because innovation tends to occur in a climate that’s highly unstructured. Successful implementation, however, needs order and structure. Here’s how to encourage innovation in your organization.
Where does Toyota’s cleanup process begin? What is the 5S implementation plan? In The Toyota Way, Jeffrey Liker says that the heart of Toyota’s approach to efficiency is the concept of kaizen, or continuous improvement. To begin kaizen, you have to start with the 5S implementation plan to reduce waste. Let’s go through the steps of the 5S implementation plan in detail.
Should you invest in index funds? Are they better than mutual funds? In The Wealthy Barber, David Chilton argues that the best thing you can do to reach financial success is to invest 10% of your income in mutual or index funds. Then, sit back and take advantage of the compound interest. He explains what index funds are and why he believes they are a better investment than mutual funds. Keep reading for index fund advice from Chilton and others.
How often do you take the pulse of your company’s culture? Do you have a system to diagnose and solve problems? CEO and venture capitalist Ben Horowitz says you must keep assessing and improving your organization’s culture to ensure that it continues to serve your vision. He draws insights from Shaka Senghor’s story to pinpoint ways to keep a critical eye on your culture, root out the problems, and ultimately improve your organization. Here’s Shaka Senghor’s story and how to assess the culture in your company.