Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/56529
Bookshelf Peter Weill and Jeanne W. Ross help run an MIT program for executives who don't specialize in information technology, and at some point they bluntly tell participants that manag- ers get the technology they deserve. They ask, "If you change strategies often, or don't clarify how you want to operate the firm, or abdicate IT decisions and move rapidly from one project idea to the next, how can any organization excel in using IT?" It's a ques- tion they repeat in their book IT Savvy. Fortunately, they have some advice for the clueless or frustrated managers who don't know how to make technology a source of com- petitive advantage. First, they must fix what's broken, including replac- ing patched-together "legacy" sys- tems. Second, they must construct digitized platforms that standardize and automate underlying processes. Third, they must use the digital platforms to track customers' buy- ing habits, streamline operations, empower people, enable innovation, and otherwise drive value for the firm. Not easy, maybe, but worth the effort: Their research shows that "IT-savvy firms are 20 percent more profitable than their competitors." Reason enough to start the digital revolution. (Harvard Business Press, $29.95) The old model of the paternalistic corporation that offers loyal workers lifelong employment is gone forever, says David M. Noer in Healing the Wounds, but getting to a new model will require a brutally painful journey. Massive staff reductions lead to grief, depression, and anger—what Noer 70 BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2009 calls "layoff survivor sickness"—among those who have kept their jobs. Executives who don't help their remaining staff through the bleak times will find themselves with an office full of unproductive, risk- averse employees, Noer says. "This is the team the company is fielding to compete in a global marketplace where innovation and creativity are the only true competitive advantage." Noer, a professor at Elon University, insists that companies must first allow employees to deal with the grief, then help them develop a new attitude about work, one in which they are more empowered and self-reliant. He admits that some readers will find his premise too touchy-feely, but anyone who's been through a reduction in force will recognize the players in his pages. And anyone who has already broken out of the old corporate routine will realize Noer has identified the new paradigm—and the new workers who will be needed. (Jossey-Bass, $27.95) Many of us feel envious and inadequate when we hear stories about ordinary people who do extraordinary things. But in The Leap, Rick Smith insists that everyone can make strides toward personal greatness by following a simple three-part plan. First, find your "primary color," the intersection of your strengths and passions. Second, bring that color to bear on an idea that is "big, selfless, and simple"— discovering a cure for a rare disease, revamping a large national organization, bringing the homeless into the workforce. Third, let the "spark sequence" happen, as one small incident or investment feeds into the next until an idea is suddenly in combustion. Smith rejects the classic picture of successful visionaries as daring loners who reinvent themselves; his view is of quieter, more determined individuals who feel their way forward and often don't let go of familiar jobs until they're established in their new careers. He writes, "Good is not the enemy of great; it is the starting point to great fulfillment." His is a rare book that's both comforting and inspiring. (Portfolio, $24.95) Managing any employee is a challenge, but the toughest ones to oversee are the brilliant, gifted, wayward ones who bring great value to an organization. In Clever, Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones describe these difficult employees and how to give them subtle but necessary direction. The authors, both of the London Business School, identify some of these clever folks as surgeons, video game designers, and even college professors, who need the infrastructure of an organization around them but often feel disdain for anyone who attempts to lead them. Organizations need them, too, say the authors: "We would argue that they are the most valuable people the organization has." Goffee and Jones profile clever employees as independent, obsessive perfectionists with strong egos—and they paint an equally fascinating picture of the leaders who must try to keep them