Read the Damn Book
Call me a geek but I love reading about leadership and management concepts, whether it is the thinking of Julius Caesar or the authors of today’s best sellers. The best of course are those that have staying power such as ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne. Their thinking about the advantages of and strategies for pursuing emerging, uncontested markets is a staple of modern management thinking and I fully subscribe to their views. Today however, the concept of blue oceans is so pervasive that even the most unread of the management world fling out hollow advice about blue oceans as if it were some magic incantation. Profitability down? No worries, just pursue a blue ocean strategy. Product development challenges? Pursue a blue ocean strategy. The thermostat in your office doesn’t work? Pursue a blue ocean strategy …
Dear bottom-dwelling fad-chasers: please stop talking, or at least read the book(s) before giving any more advice of this sort. Our task as business leaders is not to blindly apply the latest strategy fad, but rather to know when best to apply the various strategies at our disposal. As Robert Persig said in the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, “most people ask what is new. My interest is in what is best.”
Ty Shattuck, the idea whisper
