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Just Start: Take Action, Embrace Uncertainty, Create the Future
 
 

Just Start: Take Action, Embrace Uncertainty, Create the Future [Kindle Edition]

Leonard A. Schlesinger , Charles F. Kiefer , Paul B. Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Review

"For readers stuck in neutral gear, this book, written by seasoned experts, creates the impetus to move forward." -- "Library Journal"

"This is a must-read to increase the level of innovation in your organization. You'll leave this book being able to take immediate action to learn how to innovate in a way that is right for you." - Wayne L. Delker, Senior Vice President - Chief Innovation Officer, Clorox

"Schlesinger, Kiefer, and Brown's "Just Start" is a distilled, step-by-step, proven method for how to create something new in uncertain environments." - Tom Watson, Dean, Omnicom University, and Cofounder and Vice Chairman Emeritus, Omnicom Group Inc.

"This book is one huge step in the right direction for anyone compelled to forge a dynamic future in uncertain times." - Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church, and President of Board, Willow Creek Association

""Just Start" is a uniquely practical book that helps prepare the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders and will equip them with the key frameworks for success." - Marina Kim, Executive Director, Ashoka U

"In "Just Start", the authors take what the research tells us about those who have succeeded the most in volatile environments--serial entrepreneurs--and applies their lessons to the rest of us. They provide a practical, step-by-step method to navigate through complex and uncertain environments, bounce back from setbacks, and overcome obstacles. A must-read for anyone struggling with uncertainty." - Steve Mariotti, Founder, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship

Product Description

How to succeed at work and life—in an increasingly unpredictable world

In a world where you can no longer plan or predict your way to success, how can you achieve your most important goals? It’s a daunting question. But in today’s environment, where change is the only constant, it’s a question everyone must answer. This is true whether you are an innovator or an entrepreneur, a manager or a newly minted graduate.

The first step, say the authors of this book, is this: “Just start.” In other words, take action now and learn as you go.

Written by a trio of seasoned business leaders, Just Start combines fascinating research with proven practices to deliver a reliable method for helping you advance toward your goals—despite the uncertainty that is all too common today. Babson College President Leonard Schlesinger, organizational learning expert Charles Kiefer, and veteran journalist Paul B. Brown share their own deep and varied experiences and draw from a source where striving amid constant uncertainty actually works: the world of serial entrepreneurship. In this world, people don’t just think differently—they act differently, as well.

Using this novel approach, Just Start will help you:

• Determine the best strategy and tactics when the future is uncertain
• Minimize financial risk in every decision you make
• Attract like-minded people to what you want to do (and learn why this is important)
• Understand why “Act. Learn. Build (so you can) Act again” is the best course of action when facing the unknown

So throw out your forecasting tools and shrug off that nagging frustration that comes with constant uncertainty. Just Start distills for you the very essence of what makes people successful in today’s volatile environment. This book is your guide to achieving your goals—whether your project is professional or personal, or somewhere in between.

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 470 KB
  • Print Length: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press (28 Feb 2012)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B0078XFQWE
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • X-Ray: Not Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #93,018 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars For once a book does what it says on the cover 15 July 2012
By Alan
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Over the years I've read lots of books with theories about change, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship. None of them have been 'wrong', but most of them have been particular biases of the authors and somehow disappointing. This at least has the benefit of starting from looking at what entrepreneurs actually do.

The basic proposition is not complicated. That entrepreneurs start with a fuzzy desire (read instinct, hunch, intuition) and aim for action rather than a detailed discussion or business plan. In other words, rather than trying to plan their way into the confidence to act, for them or their investors, they just start acting, using the resources they have around and never bet in each step more than they are willing to lose in order to learn something - whether the product or proposition works, what the customers think, how the competition will respond. Its the rapid cycling of action in small steps, learning along the way, which differentiates this style of operation from the more usual business approach of lots of planning, trying to decide the whole solution up front, and then implementing it.

To pick 2 famous examples from the UK which aren't in this US centric book, Alan Sugar didn't start aiming for a property empire and a TV show - he started by selling car aerials from the back of a van and grew. Similarly, Richard Branson didn't go to uni to get an MBA and create an airline, but he did start selling records mail order to earn money and then discovered he was good at it and took his basic business model to other sectors.

The advice in this book is deceptively simple. Its not the theory that will change things - its if you start acting on the advice. I took up the opportunity of their online learning program based on the book. Little new theory beyond the book contents, but lots of challenge from the coaching group I joined. When there is a simple model and its all about action, there are few places to hide if you don't Just Start.

For me at least, this unlocked new and immediate possibilities I'd just not been seeing before. You don't have to want to be a billionaire for this book to be useful. Even if you just feel like there must be more than life seems to be delivering for you at the moment, and you want to revitalise your current job or find new opportunities elsewhere, this might be just what you need.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Robert Morris TOP 100 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
Although there is much to be said for the value of Steven Wright's observation, "Early birds may get the worm but the second mouse always gets the cheese," the fact remains that competition in today's global business world has become more intense and less certain that at any prior time of which I am aware. Hence the appropriateness of the reference in this book's subtitle to taking action, embracing uncertainty, and creating the future. With the assistance of Paul Brown, Leonard Schlesinger and Charles Kiefer introduce "a step-by-step proven journey [by which business leaders can] navigate through uncertain environments." And as the results of recent research conducted by reputable firms such as Gallup and Towers Watson clearly indicate, an organization's workplace is one of them: On average, less than 30% of the employees in a U.S. workplace are actively and positively engaged. The others are either passively engaged ("mailing it in") or actively disengaged, undercutting efforts to achieve the given objectives.

Throughout the course of their lively and eloquent narrative, Schlesinger and Kiefer achieve their own objectives which include explaining how to

o Use predictive reasoning to prepare for an uncertain future
o Use initiatives to determine what works, what doesn't, and why
o Why desire has "overwhelming importance"
o Determine what is - and isn't - an acceptable loss
o Build on what you learn from both successes and (especially) setbacks
o View the future as a continuum
o What "creaction" is and how to maximize and leverage its advantages

Most of the best business books are research-driven and that is certainly true of this one. As Schlesinger and Kiefer explain, they share in this book was revealed during decades of refining a method that is much easier to describe than to execute: Summon sufficient determination to achieve the given results (whatever they may be) and then (1) act quickly with the means at hand, (2) stay within the range of acceptable loss, (3) get others actively and productively involved, and (4) evaluate the results and build on what has been learned from them. This is almost the same method followed by Thomas Edison and his colleagues in their research laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey.

As for the term creaction, it is a word Schlesinger and Kiefer created (creacted?) by combining "creation" and "action." That is, "it boils down to this: the future may or may not be like the past, but you don't have to a spend a lot of time wondering how it will play out if you plan to shape (i.e. create) it."

I commend Schlesinger and Kiefer for their skillful use of several reader-friendly devices in Chapters 1-9, notably the "Just Start" exercises and the end-of-chapter "Takeaways" sections. These will facilitate, indeed expedite frequent review of key points in weeks and months to come. In the Epilogue, they provide FAQ material and I presume to suggest that it be read first, even before the Introduction, before diving into the abundance of information, insights, and counsel. Why? It provides a brilliant overview of why and how results-driven, serial entrepreneurs thrive best in uncertain environments...and what lessons can be learned from them.
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Amazon.com: 4.5 out of 5 stars  37 reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Can You Predict the Future? 15 May 2012
By John Chancellor - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
I've helped create and/or review hundreds of business plans. Invariably they all involve lots of assumptions about the future. I tell anyone working with a business plan that the plan is only as good as the assumptions. And generally the assumptions are the best guess of whoever prepared the business plan.

Unfortunately most of these plans did not come close to meeting the goals set forth in the business plan. So the question becomes: Is there a better way for entrepreneurs to get their business off the ground than the time honored business plan? The answer, according to the authors of Just Start is just that. Get started.

One of the recurring themes of the book is "If you can't predict the future - and increasingly you can't - action trumps everything." The authors go on to say, "you need to act your way into creating the future you want."

But they are not advocating helter-skelter action. They are not suggesting that you start taking action without some structure. What they are suggesting is that you do a lot less thinking about things and take some actions which will produce measurable results. Whenever you take action, you gain some knowledge that you did not have before. Use that knowledge to guide your next steps.

There is a well thought out structure to their advice. Before you jump in and start taking action, ask and answer these four questions:
1. It is feasible, is it within the realm of reality?
2. Can I do it, is it feasible for me?
3. Is it worth doing? Is there a market for it? Does it make sense to put in all this effort?
4. Do I want to do it?

The fourth question is the most important. You need to measure your level of desire for the project.

After you assess your level of desire, the next step is to act quickly with the means at hand. What can you do with your current resources? Next determine your acceptable loss level. How much time, money, energy are you willing to lose on the project? You must determine this on the front end.

After you take action you will gain some additional insights. From those insights, you need to build on what you have learned. The final step is to bring other people into the process.

While I have highlighted the steps, there is a lot of additional very helpful information about the process. The authors go into detail about what to do, how to do it and the results you are looking for.
There are also sections which deal with how to use these concepts in a larger organization as well as your personal life. Those sections are interesting but not on the same level as the information for entrepreneurs.

The book is based on lots of research and experience but it is written in a breezy conversational style. You will immediately grasp the concepts and how to apply them to your entrepreneurial projects. This book could save you a lot of time, money and energy in developing your next new business/project.

If you have an entrepreneurial spirit, by all means add this book to your toolkit. If you know someone who longs to be an entrepreneur, this is the place to start.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Get Better Results 24 April 2012
By Paul M. Bauer - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
In his NYT column today, David Brooks talks about how our education system is geared to train students to compete: jump through ever-demanding academic hoops, become expert in one area, build on the current wisdom. Then they move into business where the goal is to beat the competition. Except by this time, they only know what everybody else knows; they've lost their creative problem solving abilities, their curiosity and willingness to explore. Just Start can serve as a good road map to return to the effective methods of learning of early childhood and the accompanying results and joy they can bring. And that road map can make us all more effective in exploring and solving the big problems that so far have refused to succumb to the predictive methods we normally apply. GIve yourself an edge: read Just Start!
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars UNCERTAINTY IS HERE TO STAY 24 April 2012
By Carol - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Just Start fills a gap in the recent literature about the complexity of the world we face today.

I have been using the US Army's concept of VUCA - volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous - in business for a few years now. But it has always been hard to explain to people how to "implement" when VUCA hits and they can't rely on prediction. The concept makes total sense to everyone, but it was never actionable.

Discovering Creaction has filled this gap, and the nature of the Creaction process works even when your VUCA gets VUCAed!!!

Here is my summary of Creation as the antidote to VUCA:

When Volitility strikes - assess your affordable loss and keep moving.
When Uncertainy is rampant - Understand your desire, let it be your rudder.
In the face of overwhelming Complexity - Act quickly with the means at hand, learn like crazy, and build your way forward.
And when you are surrounded by Ambiguity - bring other people along, use their Creaction to co-create something completely new.

Just Start is written to be usable for everyone: college students, executives, boomers deciding to retire, and teams working to collaborate. So, pick up a copy and Just Start!!
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What exactly is Creaction? Well, to start, it is based on acting and creating evidence, as contrasted with thinking and analysis &quote;
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Act. Learn (from that action), and Build (off that learning), and act again. &quote;
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If you can’t predict the future—and increasingly you can’t— action trumps everything. &quote;
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