Leading for Innovation: And Organizing For Results [Hardcover]

Frances Hesselbein (Editor), Marshall Goldsmith (Editor), Iain Somerville (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0787953598 | ISBN-13: 978-0787953591 | Edition: 1st

In this second volume of The Drucker Foundation's Wisdom to Action Series, twenty-seven remarkable thought leaders help today's leaders meet the challenge of releasing the power of innovation. Leading for Innovation brings together Clayton M. Christensen, Jim Collins, Howard Gardner, Charles Handy, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, C. William Pollard, Margaret Wheatley, and other thought leaders to offer you practical guidance on leading your organization to a new dimension of performance. This unprecedented collection explores the unique qualities required to lead innovators, and shows you the way to develop a culture that promotes innovation.

The contributors encourage you to take the time to think about innovation and describe how you must abandon practices that no longer work for advancing the practice of innovation. Filled with specific examples of the hands-on work needed to make innovation a reality for leaders and their organizations, Leading for Innovation offers a wealth of thoughtful and incisive essays that will help leaders everywhere take their organizations and communities to a new level of excellence.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This is the second volume in the publisher's Wisdom to Action series. As in the previous volume, the editors gather a collection of articles written by well-respected businesspeople from around the world. The articles focus first on the heart of innovation--people, that is--and progress to discussions of the environment, leadership, and business practice. Adopting Peter F. Drucker's definition of change--that it "creates a new dimension of performance"--is offered as step one in innovation. Then various speakers chime in on theory ("assume people are creative," says Margaret Wheatley) and, more importantly, offer practical advice. Several CEOs (from Novartis, Schwab, and ServiceMaster, among others) explain the value of good works, how to create a culture supporting innovation, and the actual processes that encourage new drug discoveries. Much food for thought has been gathered between the covers of this provocative book. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"..a cut above most such anthologies.." (Director, January 2002)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 299 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1st edition (October 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787953598
• ISBN-13: 978-0787953591
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #496,394 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended!, February 8, 2002

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Leading for Innovation: And Organizing For Results (Hardcover)

Some 23 experts on management from academia and the private sector share their ideas on how you can take that bloated bureaucracy and turn it into a nimble and innovative machine. The book offers no quick fixes, as illustrated by the authors' observation that innovation is a culture, and not an event. Of special interest is the included list of practices that squelch innovation. We [...] recommend this book, which was inspired by management science pioneer Peter F. Drucker, for executives and all devoted students of the management arts.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really great leadership writing, November 14, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Leading for Innovation: And Organizing For Results (Hardcover)

Most collected volumes have a few good essays and then you can take or leave the rest. But all of the essays in this book are more than worth the price of the whole book. I was blown away by the depth of wisdom and insight in this collection. You get Charles Handy, Margaret Wheatley, Clayton Christensen, Jim Collins, and Rosabeth Moss Kanter.

I'm always pressed for time and I loved how each one of these essays offered me something I could use in my daily work. There are so many things that can get in the way of being an effective leader and this book helped me think in new ways and look at my organization-an myself-in a new way.

I get the Drucker Foundation's journal, Leader to Leader, and always get great stuff out of it. This collection met all of the expectations I had of a book from the Drucker Foundation.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! Collected Genius on Innovation, October 19, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Leading for Innovation: And Organizing For Results (Hardcover)

The Drucker Foundation has done it again. Gathered a remarkable collection of thought leaders (see the list below) and asked them to write on a critical issue -- leading innovation.

Each chapter is short and easy to absorb, but the collection provides a powerful set of ideas about how leaders can make innovation happen in their organization, whether it's a business, a nonprofit, or a government.

Get a copy for yourself, and one for your boss!

International Thought leaders
James Burke, Jim Collins, Arie de Geus, Max De Pree, Charles Handy, Margaret J. Wheatley

Academics
Clayton M. Christensen (Harvard Business School), Howard Gardner & Kim Barberich (Harvard School of Education), Rosabeth Moss Kanter (Harvard Business School), Dorothy Leonard (Harvard Business School), Henry Mintzberg (McGill University), Jeffrey Pfeffer (Stanford Business School), Walter Swap (Tufts University) Dave Ulrich (University of Michigan)

Corporate leaders
John Kao (Idea Factory), Robert E. Knowling, Jr. (Internet Access Technologies), Ann Livermore (Hewlett-Packard), Bill Pollard (ServiceMaster), David S. Pottruck (Charles Schwab), Daniel Vasella (Novartis)

Consultants
M. Kathryn Clubb, Marshall Goldsmith

Government
William J. Bratton (former Chief of NYPD), Stephen Goldsmith (former mayor of Indianapolis)