Living Strategy: Putting People at the Heart of Corporate Purpose [Hardcover]

Lynda Gratton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 4, 2000

For corporate strategy to live and work, people have to understand strategy, and strategy makers have to understand people. They need a living strategy. "This insightful book has been the publishing event of the last few months - and rightly so...It's rounded off with a workbook - this makes an already reasonably priced book into even better value. If you want to tap into the current thinking and breathe life and purpose into people development, then make sure that you grab a copy." Training Magazine "People are our most important asset", "We are a knowledge based company", "All we have is our people", are statements we increasingly hear, and statements which are all to often unsubstantiated by reality. For many people the actuality of organizational life is that they do not feel they are treated as the most important assets and they do not feel their knowledge is understood or used. The arguments for the central role of people can play in the creation of sustainable competitive advantage are compelling. Each of us has our own set of stories about how people have made a real difference to their business. Living Strategy demonstrates that the companies who will be most successful in the 21st century will be those that are capable of gathering and bonding talented, creative people, who are excited and motivated, who trust the company and are inspired by what they do. It places the behavior of individual employees at the center of wealth creation. This book shows executives how to design strategies that have meaning and purpose for people, without whose commitment they remain drawings on the wall chart. It will show line managers how to implement strategy and carry their people with them. It will bring strategy to life for businesses because it will bring strategy to life for people. Living Strategy puts forth three basic tenets that differentiate people from money and technology: we operate in time, we search for meaning, and we have soul. These tenets are then used as the basis for putting human capital at the center of corporate strategy. We operate in time Our current behavior is influenced by the memory of the past and by the beliefs of the future. Human development progresses through a shared sequence as skills and knowledge may take years to develop and attitudes and values area resistant to rapid change. We search for meaning We strive to interpret the clues and events around us, we actively engage with the world, to seek a sense of meaning - to understand who we are and what we can contribute. Over time groups of people create collective viewpoints, a sense of shared symbols, which may be events or artifacts are important in creating a sense of meaning. We have a soul Each of us has a deep sense of personal identity of what we are and of what we believe in. We can trust and feel inspired by our work - and when we do we are more creative. We can dream about possibilities and events. We can choose to give or withhold our knowledge - depending on how we feel. Living Strategy takes the reader through the why and the how of thinking and acting differently to increase the performance of their business, and create organizations, which have meaning and soul. Contents * The need for a fundamental shift in our thinking * The first tenet: we operate in time * The second tenet: we search for meaning * The third tenet: we have soul * Bridging from theory to reality * Creating a vision * Scanning for capability and identifying the gap * Creating a map of the system * Bridging from dreams to reality * Building human capital

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A growing number of managers around the world have come to recognize that human capital is rapidly replacing physical and financial capital as the key source of competitive advantage. The challenge is to come to grips with the "how to"s" of linking their people strategy with their business strategy. Conceptually robust, yet highly practical, Professor Gratton"s book will be extremely useful in establishing this link." Sumantra Ghoshal, Robert P. Bauman Professor of Strategic Leadership, London Business School "Gratton"s thoughtful and creative work breathes life into the role of people in organizations. It helps executives clearly see why people matter and how to create organizations that accomplish both people and organizational goals. Gratton has been a thought leader in the people (HR) profession for years; this work now shows all managers how to better understand and use people. The book will become a classic for HR professionals and a toolkit for line managers." David Ulrich, Professor of Business, University of Michigan "This insightful book has been the publishing event of the last few months - and rightly so. ... It's rounded off with a workbook - this makes an already reasonably priced book into even better value. If you want to tap into the current thinking and breathe life and purpose into people development, then make sure that you grab a copy." Training Magazine "How refreshing to discover a book with new answers on how to be successful, where you find the logic inescapably true. We have for too long attributed success to the skills of tech leader. Reading this book brings home how important it is to involve all the people in an organization." Knowledge Management

From the Back Cover

"People are our most important asset." "We are a knowledge-based company." "All we have is our people." These are statements that we hear ever more frequently from more and more companies. Yet too many of the people who populate our companies, the reality of organizational life is that people do not feel they are treated as the most important assets and they do not feel their knowledge is understood or used.

The only route to improved performance is by placing your human resource at the center of your strategic decision-making. Living Strategy shows you why and how to design strategies that have meaning and purpose for people, without whose commitment they remain drawings on the board-room wall chart. It argues that a new management agenda is crucial and shares the three tenets of human organizational behavior. The six-step Living Strategy journey guides the reader through the implementation of a strategy that will not only grow your organization but also create a business of which you can be proud.

For corporate strategy to live and work, people have to understand strategy, and strategy makers have to understand people.

In this ground-breaking book, Lynda Gratton shares for the first time the "why" and "how" of putting people at the heart of corporate strategy. If companies want to increase their business performance, they need to recognize and develop the soul of the organization: they need a Living Strategy.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Financial Times Prentice Hall; 1st edition (May 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0273650157
• ISBN-13: 978-0273650157
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,610,414 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "People are at the centre of business success", July 6, 2000

By 

Turgay BUGDACIGIL (Istanbul, Turkey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Living Strategy: Putting People at the Heart of Corporate Purpose (Hardcover)

"My purpose...is simple: to share with you the experiences of three companies (HP, Glaxo Wellcome, and Motorola) and to review the wider body of research which together have convinced me of the prime role of people in organizational success. But that only raises the 'so what' question...so what if people are at the centre of organizational success? I believe that putting people at the heart of organizational success has implications on 'how we think' about organizations and 'what we do' within them. The first part of this book addresses the question of how we think about organizations if we put people at the heart of corporate purpose. For me it raises three basic tenets of being human: we operate in time, we search for meaning, and we have a soul. With this comes a set of nine organizational and managerial capabilities that support these tenets. The second part of the book addresses the question of what we can do to create living strategies that place people at the centre. Over the years I have refined a six-step process that puts people at the heart of corporate success. This, together with the workbook that follows, provides a frame for you to move from this as rhetoric to action-based reality" (pp.3-4).

In this context, Lynda Gratton firsty introduces the three tenets and the nine capabilities of new agenda as follows:

I. First tenet: we operate in time

* Past beliefs, hopes and commitments influence our current behavior: the 'memory of the past'.

* Current behavior is influenced by beliefs about what will happen in the future: the 'memory of the future'.

* Skills and knowledge take many years to develop.

* Human development progresses through a shared sequence.

* Attitudes and values are resistant to rapid change.

Capabilities:

1. Build visionary capabilities.

2. Develop scanning capabilities.

3. Create strategic capabilities.

II. Second tenet: we search for meaning

* We strive to interpret the clues and events around us, we actively engage with the world to seek a sense of meaning, to understand who we are and what we can contribute.

* Symbols, which may be events or artefacts are important in creating a sense of meaning.

* Over time groups of people create collective viewpoints, a sense of shared meaning.

Capabilities:

4. Develop diagnostic capabilities.

5. Create systemic capabilities.

6. Build adaptive capabilities.

III. Third tenet: we have a soul

* Each of us has a deep sense of personal identity of what we are, and of what we believe in.

* We can trust and feel inspired by our work-and when we do we are more creative.

* We can dream about possibilities and events.

* We can choose to give or withold our knowledge-depending on how we feel.

Capabilities:

7. Develop emotional capabilities.

8. Create trust-building capabilities.

9. Capability to build the psychological contract.

According to Lynda Gratton, to understand 'how' of putting people at the centre of corporate strategy, firstly we must understand 'why' this is crucial. Therefore, at the first stage she explores these tenets and capabilites as briefly mentioned above (more detailed discussion see Part II pp.25-94). At the next stage,to create a living strategy she developes a six-step process (build a guiding coalition, imagine the future, understand current capability and identify the gap, map the system, model the dynamics, and bridge into action) which goes from building commitment to moving into action (more detailed discussion see Part III pp.97-210). Finally, she presents a workbook to provide an opportunity to consider the philosophy and practice of a living strategy (see Part IV pp.213-229).

Highy recommended.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What % of people in your organisation really feel inspired?, June 12, 2001

By 

Patrick Merlevede (Eeklo, Vlaanderen (Belgium, Europe)) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Living Strategy: Putting People at the Heart of Corporate Purpose (Hardcover)

Ask the question above to managers of an organization and the answer will be "about 15%". According to a study by Lynda Gratton, Author of "Living Strategy", many of us are working in companies where neither our colleagues nor we feel inspired. A 1996 study showed that the percentage ranged between 19 and 8% for companies such as HP, GlaxoWellcome, Citibank, ... Similarly, less than 20% of people feels that the top management is well informed about what people at lower levels think and do. Answers to other questions are better but still: When questioned on integrity, 70% people at the best company of the tested group believed their employer has high integrity, whereas this figure dropped to less than 35% an the least "integer" company of this leading edge research consortium. It's the author's aim to create inspirational companies, which build hope, trust and excitement. When you see the figures above, this clearly is needed. In fact, I discoveed this book when a customer asked me to help them to work on their "integrity".

The least this book will do is serve as an eye-opener. Given what I came accross in companies, that by itself is already important. I have to agree with the author that very few companies understand the relationship between increases in revenue and employee emotions.

The approach the author presents for "tackling" this enormous task clearly has its advantages over "older" models of managing human resources. However, I recommend to complement this book with messages you'll find in Peter Block's "Flawless Consulting Fieldbook & Companion" and in David Cooperrider's "Appreciative Inquiry: Rethinking Human Organization". In these 2 books you'll find inspiration for better ways of implementing the path Lynda Gratton shows us. For that reason, my rating is limited to 4 stars. Still, you need to buy it to understand the "Why" of the path and to have an additional "drawing".

Anyway, start putting people at the heart of corporate purpose!

This review was written for the 7EQ.com Newsletter (Vol.4,n°4). Patrick Merlevede is co-author of "7 Steps to Emotional Intelligence"