Customer Reviews

Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It's often hard to tell, when reading a book like this one, whether the authors have really hit on an important insight grounded in solid evidence and research, or instead invented a marketable idea and cherry-picked instances and examples that "prove" their point. Although perhaps the passage of time is the only way to tell for sure, I argue "Mavericks at Work" really has seized on something important. That makes this a valuable read, not only for current and wannabe-future business leaders, but for anyone who ... well ... works for a living.

William Taylor and Polly LaBarre argue that the real head-to-head competition in business today isn't process versus process, or even idea versus idea, but rather "values system versus values system." The business leaders who inspire them and who, they argue, are leading the way into the future, are the ones who have rethought the very idea of business, the market, and both internal and external collaboration. A big part of their book applies the model of open-source software and technology-development to the business, and describes how various corporations have harnessed technology and the world's intellectual resources to solve business problems.

But the technological angle is only part of what makes someone a "maverick at work." Another major focus of the book is on companies that have created an energetic and innovative corporate culture that truly inspires employees and delights customers. Herb Kelleher's Southwest Airlines is always the darling of this sort of analysis, but Taylor and LaBarre also introduce us to Commerce Bank in New York, Anthropologie, the GSD&M advertising agency, and others. These places, the authors argue, are changing what "work" means, and so creating not only customer and employee loyalty, but also (and therefore) business success.

The word *maverick* derives from Texan rancher and politician Sam Maverick, who allowed his unbranded cattle to roam semi-wild instead of branding them and penning them in fenced-in ranges. That sort of independent spirit describes the companies and business leaders profiled in this book. It remains to be seen whether theirs is the way of the future, but Taylor and LaBarre have made a solid (and energizing!) case that it is.

The role of Mavericks within the world of business is a seductive area for study, and here two founder journalists for Fast Company take us on a whirlwind tour of some outstanding examples; some well known and others making for fresh and inspiring copy for the jaded business reader. There's an underlying theme here - that old school business methods will lead to financial quagmires. In that context the likes of Ford (yesterday's hero company in books like Built to Last) look like today's losers.
From this readers point of view the authors may have logged thousands of hours researching their subject but still took the easy route: pointing to dozens of examples of successful maverick firms in order to posit that these people have the attributes, the corporate cultures, the sense of difference, that make them true winners. But it would be just as valuable to find Mavericks Who Failed - and I wonder if these original minds could also teach us something. I think this is biased sampling.
Make no mistake, this book is inspiring - but in making it case it reads mostly like an affirmation for today's managers who want to shake off the dust from 90s buisness excess. The writers swing the pendulum too far, and as an instructive business book I found it underplays the other factors that make for the business successes identified here: systems, (the man from Procter & Gamble would have had systems drummed into him) cash-flow, customer service and also the obscene element of luck that business writers too often forget about. Much as they like to be, managers - whether Jack Welch or Steve Jobs - are not masters of the universe.

(Also available as CD)

Anytime I hear the word "Maverick," I think either Tom Cruise in the movie Top Gun (before his couch-jumping days on Oprah) or a rebellious outcast in the workplace--so of course I was drawn to this book. The lime-green cover calling to me from the airport bookstore didn't hurt either.

Authors Taylor and Labarre, former editors of Fast Company magazine, encourage us to "think bigger, aim higher, and win more decisively" by following the maverick methods of 32 organizations including Southwest Airlines, Cranium (makers of popular board games), Commerce Bank, Craigslist, and others highlighted in this book. Their goal for Mavericks At Work is to open the reader's eyes, engage his imagination, and equip him with the tools to act boldly by sharing "next" rather than "best" practices relevant for the 21st century. After reading this book, I believe they've succeeded.

In 12 chapters, the authors discuss the value of disruptive points of view. By shunning traditional strategies, maverick companies like Cranium and Southwest Airlines have completely revitalized mature industries in order to reconnect with customers. The authors also highlight the value of open-source innovation in helping companies like Goldcorp tap into new ideas from external sources. Subsequent chapters emphasize the importance of innovation networks, continuous learning, emotional branding, and the power of people. The Appendix offers valuable resources for follow-on reading.

The writing is engaging and upbeat although I found it very difficult to follow the flow of the content and organization of this book. Chapters didn't transition smoothly so I had to re-read previous sections in order to figure out how the next chapter applied. It's possible that this follows the "maverick" style the authors are promoting. In other words, the authors are practicing what they preach by challenging the reader through a non-linear and original thought process. Still, Mavericks At Work is the treatise on how to be unique and profitable in a sea of copycat competitors.

This book is for corporate executives, entrepreneurs, or anyone desiring to break the mold by applying unconventional ideas and unusual strategies in order to reshape an industry, revitalize products and services, or even reinvent one's own perspective.

Armchair Interviews says: Highly recommended.

"Mavericks at Work" hit a home run for me. I love to think and act like a Maverick. I love to do "work that matters". This book introduced me to others who think like I do and have found business success. Thanks!

"Mavericks at Work" starts off with great a great introduction and keeps on going. I love the quote from Alan Kay (introduction): "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." Why does business spend so much time trying to figure out what the competition will be bringing to the market place instead of trying to "invent the future"? Why not invent the market? Then you don't have any competition!

My favorite chapters were Chapters 1, 3, 4, and 10.

Chapter One - "Not Just a Company, a Cause: Strategy as Advocacy." This chapter does a great job of explaining why YOU need to create a Cause, not just a company. Causes make raving fans. Raving fans bring profits

Chapter Three - "Maverick Messages (1): Sizing Up Your Strategy". Take notes on this chapter, you will be glad you did. The authors give five questions every company should ask when sizing up your strategy.

Chapter Four - "Innovation Inc.: Open Source Gets Down to Business". Do you need some "innovative" ideas on how to get your company to embrace innovation as a way of life? This chapter shows you how. Don't be shy about putting some of these ideas to work.

Chapter Ten - "The Company You Keep: Business as if People Mattered". Great chapter on TALENT! Business today needs to put Talent at the top of the agenda for every strategy meeting, every business plan, every performance review, etc... All company's say that their people are their most important asset. Few prove it through their actions. This chapter shows some organizations that know and act as if People Matter and the payoff are increased profits.


Larry Kevin Adams
Author of "Selling: Powerful New Strategies for Sales Success".
theactionator.com

Like a host of the new "psychosocial" business books, Mavericks at Work describes what it takes to have a breakthrough corporate success in the new millennium. The focus is not so much on the business styles of the 50's and 60's, as illustrated by the work of, say Peter Drucker, but rather it focuses on the new gestalt of branding through an intense devotion to customer service. By examining companies from the large scale of Proctor & Gamble and the World Bank, as well as new upstarts like Craigslist and ING Direct to open source communities like Wikipedia and TopCoder, authors William Taylor and Polly LaBarre take a new approach to finding out what the basis of the new energy and focus of companies who's products or services allow them to differentiate themselves and pull away from the pack. As veterans of the cutting edge business magazine Fast Company, the authors are well suited to have the inroads and knowledge in witnessing what works (and what doesn't) for the new breed of entrepreneurs or those within established enterprises trying to re-write the rules of business in the new world order. In addition, the pair operate one of the best follow-on websites we've seen featuring outtakes from the book, a blog, podcasts, interviews and information about their 'Mavericks Live' special events around the country [...]. A must for anyone thinking about Business 2.0. - Tim Devine

Many of us who have grown up in the corporate world believe that the resources we "control" determine our future success. What Taylor and LaBarre have proposed is that perhaps control has out lived its impact. No longer is it sufficient to expect that employees will do a great job just to get a paycheck. Or that customers will buy your better, newer, more effective or cheaper product - at least not for long. According to the authors and the examples they expose, the walls that defined the corporation are quickly coming down. Control may be a thing of the past. Employees who believe in what you are doing will become a force stronger than any formerly commanded and controlled unit. Customers will remain fiercely loyal to a brand that provides them with more than just plain function. And success for your company resides in how effectively you can motivate both to help you find the opportunities to deepen that relationship. As I read the book, I often found myself wondering if this was just another fad. Some of what the authors espoused seemed a little new age for the buttoned down business person in me. But then I wondered did I really believe that things like open source and second worlds - would ever exist in the minds of corporate strategists?.

This is not a bad book. Its an easy read. The language is clear and the concepts that are being explained are done so in a manner that will appeal to all. However, lately I have been noticing that business books , such as this one, need to do what they ask us readers to do - namely they should innovate the subject matter they are talking about.

This book does not contain any new information that has already not been expressed in other books such as 'good to great' or 'built to last' or 'the future of management'. All this talk about being a dare devil and thinking outside the box has been done to death. The open source chapters in this book are talking to the same concepts that have been touched upon in the past in books such as 'Number crunchers' and 'Competing on Analytics'.

The only good thing in this book were some new examples of companies which have in the past gone against the grain of standard thought in an industry and have made it to the other end with aplomb and fanfare.

I think I am going to stop paying my hard earned dollars on business books as vague as this.

For people who seriously want to consider looking into the new research that talks about strategy, marketing etc should look at research papers in the local library or online. I am a firm believer that is where people can get some real cutting edge information ... theorie which will not be coming to the world of business for a while yet !

What good is a book full of insightful and exciting information if it's too boring and complicated to read? This book gets to the point and does it in an entertaining way. Awesome details on what makes great companies stand out in an overcrowded me-too, over-supplied world. Thank God for authors who not only want to make a great point but want to do it in a plain and easy to read manner. Best book I've read in years!

I generally rate business book by two factors: How many pages I've highlighted by folding them over and whether it causes me to stop and think about how the content applies to my world. Mavericks at Work scores very high on both points.

Here are some of the more interesting excerpts I flagged as I read this one:

* Southwest didn't flourish just because its fares were cheaper...Southwest flourished because it reimagined what it means to be an airline.

* If you want to renew and re-energize an industry...don't hire people from that industry.

* If your company went out of business tomorrow, who would really miss you and why?

* The most effective leaders are the ones who are the most insatiable learners, and experienced leaders learn the most by interacting with people whose interests, backgrounds and experiences are the least like theirs.

* We must begin all things in ignorance...otherwise we never start at the beginning.

* The next frontier for making products more emotional is to turn them into something social -- to create a sense of shared ownership and participation among customers themselves.

* Why would great people want to work here?

You could (and probably should!) spend hours thinking about the answers to those two questions (If your company went out of business... and Why would great people want to work here?). I also found the authors' thoughts on the use of ad-hoc teams to build new products/services within an existing business, and thereby avoid The Innovator's Dilemma, to be very helpful.

The authors have a very readable style and provide loads of examples from companies and executives they interviewed for the book. Highly recommended.

This is a business book thankfully written by people in the business of writing. The writers' lexicon and grammatical use well exceeds that ordinarily used by the "big names" in corporate America who too often attempt to engage in writing about business. This is comforting.

This book is basically cut into four components: (1) business should be contrarian; (2) group thinking far surpasses the thoughts of individuals; (3) businesses succeed when they increase/improve customer relations; and (4) businesses are only as good as their employees.

The premise is that the successful businesses of the future must not follow the success stories (models) of the past. Instead, if the business has an asset of value -- e.g. technology, personal service industry -- and implements the above-recited four components, it may succeed. The authors imply that if same business uses the old model, it shall fail.

The book warns America that it could fail if we continue with the model of yesterday. Then we thankfully discover that the model of yesterday is not used by many American business as this book is chock full of "new model" success stories -- from which the authors decipher what made such business succeed, and from such introspection the above-recited four components are derived.

The book is laced with war stories of the successful business and how their successes prove the authors' theory to be accurate. To an executive, reading about the other businesses should be engaging.

Amazingly, one constant theme of the success stories is about the modern advantages -- computers and the use of the same. The authors could appeal to the IT readers by lacing the same stories with detailed analysis of the computer advantages created by these business leaders. This may not be for all, but when I finished this book I realized the visionaries of this book knew a great deal about the use and importance of computers and thrust their savvy about the same to great advantage in achieving what their competitors did not.

I am not a big fan of nonfiction. But, this book was well written. It managed to catch my attention as well as any 4-star fiction novel.