Customer Reviews

The 2000 Percent Solution: Free Your Organization from "Stalled" Thinking to Achieve Exponential Success

5 star:		(82)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Everyone seems to love this book. Me, I find it long on theory and a bit short on examples. The writing style sounds like reasonable corporate management theory. However the examples are just not very memorable and even quite boring.

Truthfully the authors could have been better served by talking in a language that would reach a wider audience. They over-analyze this stall process like its a big part of organizations today. The big part of succesful organizations is those who encouragement teamwork. This is hardly emphasized here or if it is the dry writing style hides it quite well.

Some good theory yes, but overall The 2000 Percent Solution has a dull dry style that really only delivers at 40%.

I presume to suggest that you first read the authors' more recently published book, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise in which they explain how to achieve "breakthrough gains from unstoppable change." One of the key points in that book it is imperative to understand the nature and extent of such forces as they affect a given organization...then respond accordingly. Another key point stresses the importance of anticipating future changes which inevitably create problems. Each of these problems requires an effective solution. That is, a "2,000 Percent Solution" which enables an organization to get "20 times better and faster results from the same or fewer resources."

The subtitle of this book correctly suggests why the authors wrote it: To "free" organizations from "stalled" thinking so that they can achieve "exponential success." Note the words embraced by quotation marks. Most organizations (especially the larger ones) can easily become captive to basic assumptions and presumptions which are no longer valid...or at least appropriate. As a result, those involved feel obligated to defend the status quo. Their thinking is stalled. Managers become bureaucrats. Because they are defending the status quo, they resist and resent any suggested changes of it. Of course, change does occur: The organization deteriorates. The "best and the brightest" employees leave as do under-served customers.

The reference to "exponential success" is also very significant. The authors correctly believe that, in the absence of Divine Intervention, sustainable success can only be achieved exponentially: building a skyscraper one floor at a time, paving a road to Oz one yellow brick at a time, eating a whale one bite at a time.

Part One explains how you can free your organization from "mind-forged manacles." To do so, you must overcome:

The Stall Mind-Set ["If I ignore it, it will eventually go away."]

The Tradition Stall ["But we've never done it that way before."]

The Disbelief Stall ["I can't believe you suggested that."]

The Misconception Stall ["Wet highways cause rain."]

The Unattractiveness Stall ["It may work but it just doesn't look right."]

The Communications Stall ["I'll get back to you with some feedback when I can."]

The Bureaucratic Stall ["This is highly irregular."]

The Procrastination Stall ["Interesting. I'm going to give it the careful thought it deserves."]

The authors analyze each of these familiar stalls and evasions. Then in Part Two, they suggest (and explain in detail) "Eight Steps" by which to overcome them. This book is "primarily about what to do differently rather than how to do something better than you do it today." Pogo once observed, "We have met the enemy and he is us." Stalling and evading strategies are basic to human nature. We tend to employ one or more of them whenever we feel threatened or confused or inadequate...or because, like Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener, we simply don't want to do what we are asked to do.

I highly recommend this book. The wealth of information and material is carefully organized and lucidly presented. The authors seem to have no illusions whatsoever as to the difficulty of implementing the "Eight Steps." The success of those initiatives will indeed be exponential. My guess is that organizations which have the greatest need for this book will be most resistant to its recommendations. Those involved in such organizations would be well-advised to "think small." That is, select a specific situation in which "unstalled thinking" can have an immediate, obvious, and quantifiable impact. Complete the "Eight Step Process." And then leverage that success to achieve other successes...one "2,000 Percent Solution" at a time.

Obviously, both this book and The Irresistible Growth Enterprise can be read separately and still have great value. As noted previously, I suggest that the latter be read first. I also presume to suggest that both books will have even greater value if read in combination with Peter Schwartz's The Art of the Long View.

"Obstacles are things people see when they lose sight of their goals." Sorry, but I can't wrap myself around this one. If I worked in an organization where I found such symptoms were the rule and not the exception, I would quit. I honestly have not completed the book, because everytime I pick it up again, I just feel that the authors get mired in their contrived circumstances. If their cures aren't mere common sense, then those too feel contrived. Maybe this works for some, but not for me. Thumbs down. -Bc

Being a creature of habit, I put the 2000% Solution on my bookshelf and thought about reading it. Without ever touching it, I was in a "stall". Finally, I read it!

The 2000% Solution offers is an excellent book to help keep processes moving along- both organizationally and personally. In this very entertaining and well written book, Mitchell, Coles and Metz, offered very practical, creative, innovative and thoughtful ways to overcome both simple and complex obstacles. Chapters entitled "Manana" "where many cooks improve the broth", and "the square peg in the square hole" not only ring true in terms of issues I've encountered, but also provide the necessary and rigourous solutions to improve the inherent strength of corporate organizations.

An added benefit is that the 2000% Solution also has real life, personal implications. It's true life skills for productivity an open capacity.

An excellent book

Can I criticize a book that has received so many glowing reviews from a collection of top business leaders? Well...yes. Why? Because someone needs to put a bit of a reality check into this bandwagon.

So this is how it goes. It's a well-constructed book. It's filled with real world examples of processes in business that work and hence are converted to success stories. ...

But here's the problem. For anyone that has worked in the trenches of a business for more than 5 years, you'll feel like you're reading something from a college 101 class. In other words, it's very very intuitive.

In addition to this, being in business for a few years myself has thought me that not everyone really understands the complexities between theories and practice. This explains the difficulty of taking something from the drawing board, to that of making it work. The lessons learned in that process are very valuable and well worth the money we pay for those that can do it.

So what's my problem? In business, the process of constructing solutions is always unique. What works for someone else, will not necessarily work for you. This is why we have the issues of thinking "out of the box". Secondly, knowing that something worked for someone else, and knowing why it worked, are two very important distinctions. Seldom do success stories reveal the details enough for us to understand how such similar processes and ideas could be reapplied in our direction.

So this is where the book greatly fails. It's enough information to make you think you're smart, and to sound smart, which in turn would make you very dangerous if you ever applied this knowledge without having some trench experience under your belt.

This troubles me because I have learned that the answers to success in business lie within the details, and it's these details that get lost when you stand too far away.

So enough with the fluffy feel good books. Search for something that has the courage to educate you in a manner that you can participate as a player.

Hope this helps.

Who knew making huge leaps in achievement could be this easy -- and this fun? The 2000 Percent Solution gives you a simple process for overcoming mind blocks (the book calls them "stalls") and achieving fantastic results. The book gives funny and vivid examples (my favorite is the apes in the cage)which make the book an enjoyable read instead of just another dry essay on management. You'll be kicking yourself because you haven't recognized many of the self-imposed obstacles to progress that the authors describe. I had to read the book more than once to grasp some of the ideas in the second part and I'm sure that I will read it again to get more of the fine points. The best part of the book is that the authors give you this great concept but then they also give you a process to enable you to act on that concept. You'll actually find yourself acting differently instead of just filing the book and then proceeding with business as usual. Read this book and you'll start looking at the world in a whole new light. Suddenly the unattainable seems just around the corner!

I first read "The 2000 Percent Solution" as part of a course for a Rushmore University doctoral program. It sparked in me the desire and determination to get more "bang for the buck" from my efforts, and provided a clear 8-step guide for doing so.

The guide to creating 2000 Percent solutions essentially helps you to see differently, and acknowledge the reality of your personal and organisational biases. It helps you undertake a wider search than you normally would in the quest for a solution. And it doesn't leave you content with the best solution you may have found, but has you project into the future to "see" what the future best practice is likely to be, and then begin now to implement it.

Applying the authors' ideas to my personal circumstances helped free my mind (an ongoing, never ending process) of a number of personal stalls and led directly to the creation of a management training and consulting company. And in spite of limited capital, the momentum of my take-off amazes acquaintances.

I keep my copy of "The 2000 Percent Solution" in my office, within easy reach, because I intend to read it over and over, to create an upward spiral of exponential gains in my life and work.

The skill of creating 2000 Percent solutions is a valuable one. Combined with the ability to engage in continual business model innovation (as taught in "The Ultimate Competitive Advantage" by Mitchell and Coles), it will guarantee business success long into the future.

This book is probably one of the best investments for money that I can think of. I first read it two years ago and I keep on coming back to its guiding principles and simple steps. The magnificent 8-step program has already brought numerous positive changes into my business and personal life.

The book offers practical examples and focuses on real-life action, which is one of the reasons I love it so much. If I had to choose just one book that would be my business resource, I think it would have to be this one.

The authors have established that most organizations perform below their potential due to mind-sets that stall thinking and effective action. Applying "stallbusters" that unclog organizational thought processes, they show how companies can achieve 20 time 100 percent improvement. The first section examines seven causes for ways of thinking that stall organizations and describes stall-busting methods for overcoming these barriers so that an organization can move on toward change. Section two presents an eight-step process for making organizational change happen, aiming at achievable goals that are established to reach theoretical best practice-the most effective best practices that can possibly be accomplished. A different and provocative approach to organizational change. Recommended. Reviewed by Gerry Stern, founder HRconsultant.com, author of Stern's Sourcefinder The Master Directory to HR and Business Management Information & Resources, the CyberSpace SourceFinder, and the Compensation and Benefits SourceFinder.

Like a lot of people, I was initially attracted to all the books about reengineering. Also like a lot of people, I found the results from that approach to business improvement to be disappointing. The 2,000 Percent Solution turns out to be the answer I was really looking for. In the second half of the book, you'll find a series of steps that will allow you to improve any process you have (for developing new products, reducing costs, providing customer service, or whatever you have. These steps are really helpful. I found the so-called 'theoretical best practice' to be a useful way for me to think about starting with a clean sheet of paper to come up with something better. I also liked the idea of continually repeating what is done to improve upon what has just been developed. If you are serious about improving your organization, this is a helpful book for you.