Business @ The Speed Of Stupid: Building Smart Companies After The Technology Shakeout [Hardcover]

Dan Burke (Author), Alan Morrison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 16, 2001

Reading the headlines, one could easily conclude that many of today's technology-driven ventures are dying because of a lack of funds or a shortage of business opportunities. But what really lies at the root cause of their demise is a technocentric disregard for strategy and general management principles.Business @ the Speed of Stupid brings to light many of the myths that stymie unwary investors, entrepreneurs, and managers who are seeking to turn a profit in the digital economy. It highlights why smart entrepreneurs buy into dim-witted business beliefs and exposes the "big lies" that have crippled so many companies. With ultimate know-how, verve, and humor, Dan Burke and Alan Morrison reveal why brilliant engineers don't always make brilliant business leaders, how innovation is far less important than customers and quality, and that, yes, you do need to be profitable to survive on the Web. Bringing realism and experience to the table to counteract the lingering technology industry hype, Business @ the Speed of Stupid explains how to survive and profit in the next phase of our technology-driven economy.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Business @ the Speed of Stupid is Dan Burke and Alan Morrison's plainspoken prescription for healing the disorders that inevitably develop when unprepared executives rush headlong into high-tech projects. Geared to those reeling from today's techno-shakeout, it starts with 10 troubled corporate scenarios that are colorfully illustrated by anonymous examples drawn from the pair's consultancy practice. In the book's first part, they use them to identify complications that arise when a perceived need for speed gets in the way of serious preparation--such as those stemming from an ill-advised push to launch a flashy new Web site, integrate existing software from numerous departments into a single system, dive wholeheartedly into e-commerce, develop an intranet--and then offer an assessment of the missteps, along with suggestions for avoiding them. ("Never underestimate the difficulty of managing the conflicts between artists and engineers," they write in a chapter called "Mars And Venus." "Both are necessary but solve different problems. You must know which problems are the most important to solve if you are to create the proper team mix and resulting authority structure.") In the second part, they describe tackling the overall problem with their Executive Thought Framework, designed to foster "appropriate and targeted" technology decisions. --Howard Rothman

From Library Journal

Burke and Morrison, founding partners of Executive Thought, an executive management consulting firm, have written this book to provide insight into the mistakes that companies make when trying to introduce technology into their business. Profiling anonymous companies with whom the authors have consulted, the first ten chapters outline both the players and the projects (e.g., developing a corporate web site or implementing a technology-based marketing plan) and conclude with an analysis of what went wrong and what should have been done to increase the chance of success. The second half of the book presents the authors' framework for helping executives through the thought process of project development. The framework is a loosely connected set of generalizations drawn from the authors' experience, but it does provide a pragmatic set of guidelines that can help businesses avoid some of the pitfalls associated with new technology. Recommended for corporate and academic libraries. Stacey Marien, American Univ., Washington, DC
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 16 and up
  
• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; 1st edition (October 16, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738205427
• ISBN-13: 978-0738205427
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,449,384 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A comedy and tragedy in every chapter!, April 8, 2002

By 

Steve the bass tard (Earth USA NY Buffalo) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Business @ The Speed Of Stupid: Building Smart Companies After The Technology Shakeout (Hardcover)

To Dan & Alan.
I wanted to thank you for writing such a good book. Now I understand that I am not the only techie who has to experience these frustrations, and that makes me feel a little better, but I will feel even better when I have implemented the teachings in the second half of the book.

I loved the title! The title of the book caught my eye, because I had heard about a book titled "business at the speed of light(?)", and being a bit of a rebel, I laughed when I read the title and thought "that's the truth". After a few scans of various pages, I wanted to buy it. And I am not disappointed yet.
I would not feel stupid telling someone to read this book based on it's title, and if you do, then you may need to get out the environment you are currently in. Everyone needs to lighten up a lot. That theme is illustrated several times in this book.

Dan & Alan, please send me an email when your site is revised (ExecuThought.com), I would like to find other tech people to converse with about your thoughts and lessons in this book, and I think your online dicussion board would be an excellent place to do it.

Again thanks for the book, I haven't enjoyed reading a "business" book like this since reading the "E-myth revisited". Each chapter is a comedy, adventure and tragedy wrapped in a valuable lesson.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thought provoking, March 3, 2002

By 

Katherine Elizabeth "Why things get lost - S ... (Richardson, TX United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Business @ The Speed Of Stupid: Building Smart Companies After The Technology Shakeout (Hardcover)

Although most of this book consists of scenarios where you say "well of course...", they are excellent, focused examples of the points made. I wish the title were different; I can't imaging handing this to someone and saying "here, you should read this". But most IT people should!
Great book, easy to read.

5.0 out of 5 stars Still Relivant in 2005, May 5, 2006

By 

Jeff Staddon - See all my reviews

This review is from: Business @ the Speed of Stupid: How to Avoid Technology Disasters in Business (Paperback)

This book was written in the shadow of the 2000 Internet bust. So, why write a review in 2005? My answer, memories are short. As the economy continues to expand people will again become courageous and begin to try new technologies. Much of it will turn out great, but a lot is bound to be the same stupid mistakes made half a decade ago. . .

You may think that because you are in a non-internet company, you are safe. Two words: you're not. Technology is already integrated in every business-even the mom-and-pop outfits depend on it. To remain competitive requires increasingly skillful use of technology. In 2000, the technology experts bombed. In 2005 it's everyone's turn.

This book is a great way to jump-start your move towards making good technology choices--by examining bad ones. The teaching method employed in this book is to tell stories, then explain what went wrong. Most chapters are organized along those lines and stand quite well by themselves. Thus, it's easy to simply read a chapter, set the book down for a few days and pick it up for another chapter. (I like books that cater to a busy schedule!) As such it's easy to read and the narrative format brings the drier aspects analyzing business technology to life. Currently I see that it's selling used-with shipping for under $5! I'll give that 5 stars!