NEW BOOK
“Renovate Before You Innovate: Why Doing the New Thing Might Not Be the Right Thing,” by Sergio Zyman, Portfolio, $24.95
What you’ll learn: Zyman speaks with been-there-done-that authority on the book’s topic–he was Coca-Cola’s chief marketing officer when New Coke fizzled.
From his view, innovation means launching a new line of business, while renovation means doing a better job of what one does best–building the core business.
When companies reach maturity, sales and profits flatten. One answer is innovation and the acceptance of its increased risk, but Zyman sees that as the choice of managers without vision. Renovation doesn’t come with success guarantees; nor is it riskless, but it does keep management on familiar turf.
–Jim Pawlak, BizBooks
NEW BOOK
“The Enthusiastic Employee: What Employees Want, and How Companies Can Benefit by Giving It to Them,” by David Sirota, Louis Mischkind and Michael Meltzer, Wharton School Publishing, $26.95
What you’ll learn: Years of research involving 2.5 million employees and 237 companies boils down to this: Management action/inaction drains enthusiasm and motivation from its workforce.
Management demotivates by treating workers as expendable assets–and then blames the troops for not wanting to go the extra mile.
How else does management get in the way of motivated employees? Management resists change. “Stop-that-do-this” makes it look like management doesn’t know what needs to be done. Gaps in communication lead to knowledge gaps that cause wheel reinvention. They manage numbers, not people.
–Jim Pawlak, BizBooks
