Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5.0 out of 5 stars
How to run an enterprise in "a warp-speed world", 30 Aug 2006
In this volume, Warden and Russell propose "a new way of running an enterprise in a warp-speed world." Those who have already read Sun Tzu's The Art of War will soon realize that Warden and Russell also read it and, indeed, read it with great care. They agree with Sun Tzu's emphasis on the importance of speed, applying maximum force at an opponent's point of vulnerability, and preparation. (Re the last point, Sun Tzu insisted that every battle is won or lost before it is fought.) Given Warden and Russell's military background, it is understandable why they would frame their ideas within a military context and invoke military nomenclature. They assert that what they offer -- the Prometheus Process - "is a mindset and a method for rapid, decisive strategic action." However different military history's most successful leaders have been, all of them had this same mindset.
Why Prometheus? Because he realized that "man could prevail against stronger, faster adversaries only if he could outthink them; thus his first gift to mankind was forethought, the capacity to think ahead." Later, he realized that forethought alone was insufficient; man needed something else: fire, "a source of energy and light so important that the gods kept it for themselves." So Prometheus stole it and gave it to man. In this volume Warden and Russell explain how forethought and fire (passion) "fuel high-performing organizations. Those whose leaders "think strategically and execute passionately have the ultimate competitive advantage - the power to spark their own success, illuminate the future, and ignite the energy of all of their stakeholders." In other words, the spirit of Prometheus is to create the future rather than await it with fear while others create it. Warden and Russell explain how to plan and then execute initiatives which are guided, informed, and sustained by that spirit. To them, winning in "FastTime" requires leaders to decide what they want their organization's future to be, and then make it happen faster than the rate of changes in their organization's competitive environment.
They offer a step-by-step plan which begins with "designing the future" in terms of its environment, what it will look like, which guiding precepts are needed, and what the "measures of merit" will be. They explain how to select appropriate "targets" for ultimate success, how a campaign to achieve success can proceed with parallel campaigns which are organized and coordinated for success, and then how to "finish [the campaign] with finesse." In essence, this is the Prometheus Process which, as Warden and Russell note, occurred to them as a benchmark for "a new solution for doing business in the hyper-speed age" as they observed the Desert Storm air campaign in January of 1991.
I was especially interested in what Warden and Russell have to say about several core concepts which are relevant both to the business world and to the military. For example, "Prime Directives" which are so important that violation of them is intolerable. They define an organization and everyone involved in it, top to bottom. Prime Directives imply a promise and a commitment: "This is who we are, this is what we do, and this is how we do it." For years, all GE executives carried with them a laminated card on which "Jack's Rules" were listed. Warden and Russell recommend no more three or four. "If a rule is considered important, but violating it is not grounds for dismissal, then it does not rise to the level of a Prime Directive. It is something more temporary - a Rule of Engagement. Like Prime Directives, Rules of Engagement are there to be followed, but they may change over time when circumstances warrant. Rules of Engagement are useful in establishing boundaries for behaviors and decisions within a specific operations context."
A commitment to the entire Prometheus Process is probably not appropriate for all organizations at each stage of their development but the mindset that underlies its insight and power seems to me appropriate for decision-makers in any organization. Warden and Russell correctly stress the importance of seeing with absolute clarity the desired future, whatever its specific nature may be, then creating that future faster than the rate of change within the given organization's competitive environment. They advocate what they call "Instant Thunder," a high-velocity initiative (or a combination of coordinated initiatives) requiring strategic thinking, a sharp focus, and especially, speed. A winning strategy and an integrated plan to execute Instant Thunder will enable an organization to create its own rules (terms of engagement) rather than be limited by rules dictated by others.
With regard to "Centers of Gravity," every organization has them. Warden and Russell correctly emphasize the need to understand what they are and how they operate, then leverage them to maximum advantage. However, in today's business world change is the only constant. The nature and extent of a given organization's Centers of Gravity will therefore change continuously, and sometimes unexpectedly because of external circumstances.
It is certainly possible to win in FastTime but also to lose. For many organizations, harnessing the competitive advantage of Prometheus - to think strategically and execute passionately -- may well prove to be the difference between success and failure.
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