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Title: Surfing the Edge of Chaos: The Laws of Nature and the New Laws of Business by Richard T. Pascale, Mark Millemann, Linda Gioja ISBN: 0-609-80883-4 Publisher: Three Rivers Press (CA) Pub. Date: 26 December, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (8 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Shoddy science research
Comment: "Businesses...can learn a great deal from nature (p 3)". I wholeheartedly agree, but unfortunately this book does not deliver.
The business research appears well done, but the science reserach that is supposedly it backing up is abysmal. The impression this book has left me is that the writers started with their theories and then handpicked some scientific anecdotes and (sometimes erroneous) generalities to support some of their claims, while other claims (like the Law of Requisite Variety) have no substantiation from the life sciences attempted. This is a backwards approach; I would have liked to see the authors examine the scientific research and then see what the business implications are.
Three examples of erroneous generalities:
1. Endemic island organisms just "tweaking the status quo" (in reality, this is where the greatest diversity happens; its the 'weedy' organisms like starlings and dandelions that adapt by just 'tweaking'). (And I will try to ignore the goof about the dodo being from the South Pacific).
2. The idea that cooperation and altruism are major forces that organisms "seek" (in reality, these have been discovered to be incidental effects).
3. Equating the idea that 'every molecule in the human body replaces itself via genetic instructions' with the idea that 'human and corporate bodies are rejuvenated by fresh and varied genetic material'. Those are two very opposed statements.
There is so much biological research that has major implications for organizational research that is lacking here: Memetics and primate social systems are two in particular.
To conclude: The authors apparently have a poor grasp of the biological sciences, so that means their attempts at backing up their claims with biological reserach is suspect at best.
Rating: 5
Summary: Read this or be left in the dust!
Comment: Its funny. I was reading the review following this one and the person was saying how he could NOT find anything worthwhile to apply to his business. He must not have even picked up the book!
I think there are plenty of great lessons within the book. Its not only a book about strategy, but a new framework to think in terms of. The world has changed greatly in the last 20 years and a lot of the old management frameworks have less significance. Complexity science is the new way to think and this book does a fantastic job of relating the "complex" topic to business. And the rules apply to all areas of the organization: strategy, organizational design, etc. If you want to be prepared to lead the complex globlal organizations of tomorrow, then this is a must read.
Rating: 2
Summary: What's the use?
Comment: My criticism can be boiled down to a single line, this one. I read this kind of books hoping to find useful ideas for my business. Here I can't find any.
Maybe I should look for the purely intellectual interest, I don't know. My best advice is this: if you read to find recipes, read something else. Read this only out of curiosity.
And yet again, I was just curious about the US Army chapter but got little out of it - gruelling experience, after-action review, and all that - we did it in volleyball and basket training twenty years ago ... what's the big deal?
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Title: Peak Performance: Aligning the Hearts and Minds of Your Employees by Jon R. Katzenbach ISBN: 0875849369 Publisher: Harvard Business School Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 2000 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Leading at the Edge of Chaos: How to Create the Nimble Organization by Daryl R. Conner ISBN: 0471295574 Publisher: Wiley Pub. Date: 22 September, 1998 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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Title: The Fifth Discipline by Peter M. Senge ISBN: 0385260954 Publisher: Doubleday Books Pub. Date: 15 January, 1994 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Critical Social Theory: Prophetic Reason, Civil Society, and Christian Imagination (Guides to Theological Inquiry) by Gary M. Simpson ISBN: 0800629167 Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishers Pub. Date: 01 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World Revised by Margaret J. Wheatley ISBN: 1576751198 Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers Pub. Date: 15 January, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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