Bigger Isn't Always Better: The New Mindset for Real Business Growth [Hardcover]

Robert M. Tomasko (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 20, 2006

"You want your business to grow. But don't confuse growth with expansion. To be sure, increased size can be an important component (or fortuitous by-product) of business success, but companies that expand too much, too quickly, or too myopically may soon find themselves too big for their britches. What, then, is real growth? Simply put, it's progress, and it is based on moving the business beyond the self-imposed limits that have come to define and constrain it. Good "growers" know that true success is fueled by imagination, not by a stream of mergers, stock price manipulations, or clever accounting. These individuals share seven characteristics that enable them to foster real, sustainable growth. Bigger Isn't Always Better reveals these traits, why they are effective, and how to apply them in your organization. The book shows how successful companies and growers: * Know where to look * Know what they want * Tell the truth * Create tension to generate forward movement * Win hearts and minds * Master momentum and bounce * Know when to let go, and share the wealth Distilling a decade of research and personal interviews on three continents, author Bob Tomasko illustrates the seven traits with examples from companies-large and small, well known and less so-that have profited through innovative strategies that focus on genuine growth opportunities instead of the appearance of growth. Profiles include: Darcy Winslow, who helped testosterone-fueled Nike grow by creating a range of products for women that opened a new and profitable market Chris Mottern of Peet's Coffee, which carved a niche by slipstreaming around the wake created by Starbucks Roger Enrico, the Pepsi veteran who created The Pepsi Challenge and established Pepsi as the Coke of snack foods Bill Greenwood of Burlington Northern, which found a way to turn truckers, the railroad's most difficult competitors, into its best customers Al Bru, who got health-conscious consumers to embrace Frito-Lay's snack products by eliminating trans fats Carlos Gutierrez, who restored Kellogg to a growth path by eliminating its fixation on volume Bigger Isn't Always Better also offers stunning examples of the failure of the Big-Is-Good philosophy, including the ill-fated Hewlett-Packard/Compaq merger and its highest-profile casualty, CEO Carly Fiorina. After years of cutbacks, growth is in again. But instead of assuming that an inflated business can dominate a market through sheer size or manufactured numbers, the new model shows how engaged growers use positive psychology to drive robust and sustainable growth. Combining real-life stories, thorough scientific research, and insightful analysis, Bigger Isn't Always Better shows how your organization can move forward-without tripping over its own feet."

Editorial Reviews

Review

Washington Post: "...chock full of good tips and sound advice for managers of any sized operation."

Review

"""An important, wise, and practical book, free of glib jargon and business homilies. Tomasko cites lively, current examples showing how to uncover hidden opportunities, and offers original and unpretentious advice on how to master the concept of growth on your own terms."" --

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Senior Associate Dean and Lester Crown Professor of Management Practice, Yale School of Management; author of The Hero's Farewell

""Bob Tomasko’s premise that corporate ‘supersizing’ does not necessarily correlate with true growth is not only insightful but also dispels much of the traditional dogma of the business world. Rather than theorize, he provides real-world examples and convincingly establishes his case. If you have ever pondered the best ways to grow a company -- what works and what doesn’t -- you will truly enjoy Tomasko’s book.""

—J.J. Finkelstein, President & CEO, RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals

""The quest for growth at any cost has led many a great organization down an unhealthy path. In outlining both the psychological and economic underpinnings of growth, Bob Tomasko has given us an insightful and useful antidote to the overly simplistic ‘how-to’ guides. A worthwhile read!""

-- Len Schlesinger, Vice Chairman & Chief Operating Officer, Limited Brands

""Tomasko's richly documented book punctures a well-entrenched myth: that growth is only a numbers game. With compelling stories and an intriguing set of scientific evidence, he introduces a totally new paradigm, i.e., that sustainable growth comes mostly from learning how to spot and exploit untapped market opportunities. His new corporate heroes – the ‘growers’ – are formidable corporate transformation agents. Upon reading Tomasko's book, one can't help looking around in our organizations to detect hitherto hidden ‘growers’ and turn them loose to rejuvenate our businesses"" -- Jean-Philippe Deschamps, Professor of Management, IMD, Lausanne (Switzerland); co-author of Product Juggernauts"

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 17 and up
  
• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: AMACOM (January 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814408664
• ISBN-13: 978-0814408667
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #186,834 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What is your mindset?, February 27, 2006

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bigger Isn't Always Better: The New Mindset for Real Business Growth (Hardcover)

What we have in this volume is a brilliant explanation of what "real business growth" is, and, how to achieve and then sustain it. Tomasko suggests seven characteristics which "growers" share. They are guided and informed by a mindset which recognizes that real growth "is about reaching full potential, not maximum size. It means progress, not excess; it is fueled by imagination, not expansion." He devotes a separate chapter to each of the seven common characteristics. In Part 1, he describes what growth is and isn't, then in Part 2, he explains what growers do. They know what they need to know and where to locate it. They know what they want to achieve and tell the truth when pursuing it. They initiate creative attention to generate and sustain forward movement, meanwhile winning hearts and minds of others involved. They master what Tomasko characterizes as "momentum with bounce." They know when to let go, agreeing with Jason Jennings that "if it's DOA, bury it." And they "share the wealth" when collaborative effort achieves the given objectives.

The more "growers" there are within a given enterprise, the more likely that it will achieve "real business growth." Hence the importance of recognizing and supporting them, of course, but also doing so with regard to prospective "growers" as well. Every effort should be made to accelerate their development. When paraphrasing one of the exemplary growers, psychologist Martin Seligman, Tomasko observes that "business is not just about fixing what is broken. It is about taking what is best in an enterprise and nurturing its further development. Leading this kind of growth requires a very different mentality from that needed to manage ongoing activities. The best growth champions are not the people who are in charge of today's successful organizations. What makes best sense for sustaining the status quo is often irrelevant or counterproductive for surpassing it." When Reginald Jones selected his successor as GE's next CEO, he urged Jack Welch to "Blow it up!"

While re-reading this book, as is my custom, I highlighted key passages. In this instance more than 100 which caught my eye. Here are two representative excerpts.

When knowing where to look for growth opportunities: "Blinders from existing business models or getting caught up in the hot concept (convergence, deregulation, Internet-means-that-everything-is-different, and so on) will also limit our ability to see the market clearly. When we see something new, we seldom stop to appreciate it for what it is. Instead, evolution seems to have trained us -- hard-wired our brains -- to slot things into categories or explanations that are derived from our past experiences. In pigeonholing things this way, wee run the risk of filtering out what it is that makes the novel news." (page 119)

However, "As Picasso once noted: `Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.' The trick is to plan the movement from old to new in a way that does not lead to mindless destruction and chaos. This means starting out with the grower's clear idea of somewhere better to end up, and knowing what is wanted with as much clarity as what is not wanted. That's how real growth happens. This kind of growth, of course, has little to do with getting better or prevailing over others." (page 238)

In this book, Tomasko shares brilliant insights in combination with practical recommendations which can help his reader to develop and then sustain a new mindset, "an internal logic system, the model that you carry around in your head." With meticulous care, Tomasko explains how and why a mindset gives birth to our beliefs and assumptions, how it determines what facts we notice and what we make of them. "And even more important, it determines what [we] do as a result." I continue to be amazed by those decision-makers whose mindset causes them to follow the same course of action which had repeatedly failed before... and then expect different results. That doesn't make any sense, does it?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How growth-oriented business goals can kill the golden goose, April 12, 2006

By 

D. Donovan, Editor/Sr. Reviewer "California B... (California, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bigger Isn't Always Better: The New Mindset for Real Business Growth (Hardcover)

Robert M. Tomasko's BIGGER ISN'T ALWAYS BETTER: THE NEW MINDSET FOR BUSINESS GROWTH draws some important distinctions between growth and expansion. While increased size is desirable, too often companies grow too quickly and many may ultimately see their demise in their very growth-oriented goals. Real growth lines in progress and knowing how to link success to strategic plans and logical organizational changes - the types of changes BIGGER ISN'T ALWAYS BETTER covers in chapters which probe growth cycles, judgement calls, and knowing how to access opportunity for its real-world applications.