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Why do some people seem to attract talent wherever they go, and grow talent from the oddest places? Why are other leaders constantly churning through staff who go on to do better things elsewhere?
Liz Wiseman’s heavily researched look at Multipliers vs Diminishers takes a good hard look at why some people make the best of everything and others never seem to figure it out. Along the way, there are often surprising findings about what makes great leaders great.
Why we love this book
The examples, although mostly anonymous, seem to hit home as relevant again and again. Wiseman also illustrates the flywheels of Multipliers and Diminishers extremely well – why what they do well or terrible makes things happen again and again. She also looks at different versions of awesome, describing Multiplier types such as The Talent Magnet, The Challenger and the Debate Maker as well as their Diminisher opposites like The Empire Builder, The Know-It-All and The Decision Maker. She doesn’t pigeon hole one style as great, but draws great parallels between the successful styles.
Any criticisms
Hard to think of any on this one. I couldn’t put it down the first time I read it. I guess it would be nice to know who all the anonymous examples are.
Written in 1984, The Goal is a management classic. Written in a unique fictional narrative form, it mixes principles critical to any manufacturing or distribution business with the personal life story of the main character, Alex Rogo. Alex handles serious marital issues while he seeks to save his company’s plant from closing in his hometown. Along the way, Alex enlists the help his friend and mentor Jonah to change the way he looks at his business.
Why we love this book
Anyone who focuses in the weeds on increasing percentage margin deal by deal, or focusing too much on the efficiency of every machine or business unit in their facility will benefit from reading this. The core of the book is about identifying and planning around bottlenecks, which is more professionally called “The Theory of Constraints”. Along the way this creates a shift in mentality from what financial statement oriented cost accountants call cost of goods sold to a different way of looking at growing a business.
As the book lays out, what’s most important is increasing overall throughput (producing and selling the most product) in the form of incremental contribution margin dollars while reducing costs and reducing inventory spend. It’s a great reset away from getting lost in the weeds of percentages. At the end of the day we take dollars to the bank, not percentages.
Any criticisms
At this point the book is 40 years old, and the way they get the numbers to solve their problems has changed significantly. Also, while the personal life part of the book may be charming for some, it also roughly doubles the length of the book and may frustrate others. However, the business principles are as relevant today as they were 40 years ago.
David Epstein explores the other side of specialist vs generalist in sports then applies that to business. Recognized as one of the best business books of the year in 2019, Epstein argues that broad specialization in the early stages of one’s career is a critical foundation to growth later on when one eventually specializes.
Why we love this book
The stories and the flow of the book are extremely engaging. Especially in small and lower middle market businesses, being able to wear multiple hats, or at least to have an understanding of multiple areas, is critical to success. In larger organizations, too much specialization early on can also lead to executives that don’t understand the big picture and how all the pieces of an organization fit together. Epstein makes very compelling arguments not so much against Malcolm Gladwell’s often quoted 10,000 hour rule, but about the timing of when that deep dive should happen in a career.
Any criticisms
Sports analogies hit the mark with some but not with everyone. Epstein is a sports writer originally, so it’s natural he would draw some parallels. The concepts flow pretty well, but some may not buy into the sports analogies. Also, when the specialist vs the generalist is warranted is explored but the conclusions are a bit fuzzy at times.
Key to developing engaged employees that are bonded to your organization is developing a belief that the organization serves a greater purpose than just putting dollars and cents in the owners’ and employees’ pockets. If you want a great teaser on this book and it’s primary concepts, Simon Sinek’s 18 minute TED talk is an excellent primer.
Why we love this book
The book itself is like a motivational shot of adrenaline. The breakdown of Why-How-What that’s laid out is an excellent framework to keep in mind when developing mission and strategy to be developed by leadership and communicated to employees. Along the way, key concepts like tipping points, adoption curves and culture building are laid out well in easy to understand terms.
Any criticisms
Start With Why starts with Apple. Yes, we get it. Nobody has done company culture and brand building better than Apple in the past 20 years. If you’re an Apple fanboy/fangirl this will instantly connect you to the concepts. If you haven’t drank the Apple brand punch, it might not connect as well. Also, although they give fair warning, it’s easy to read this book and want to change the way everyone at your organization feels about the company in the next week. It takes time and is truly a bottom up endeavor.