The Milkshake Moment: Overcoming Stupid Systems, Pointless Policies and Muddled Management to Realize Real Growth [Hardcover]

Steven S. Little (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2008

Growth is the central focus of every business, yet many businesses continually find ways to shoot themselves in the foot. In Milkshake Moment, Steven Little shows you how to identify and overcome the stifling behaviors built into your organization and get you back on track to substantive change and real growth. Read Milkshake Moment and find out how to ditch the pointless policies and stupid rules so you can give your customers what they really want; they'll reward you for it.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Growth. It's the central focus of every organization, the underlying goal of virtually every business project, product launch, non-profit initiative, or community campaign. To grow, an organization must encourage creativity, flexibility, and the overall capacity for individuals to recognize and respond to opportunity at every level. So why, then, do so many organizations, both big and small, continually find ways to shoot themselves in the foot?

In The Milkshake Moment, growth guru Steven S. Little shows you how to identify and overcome the stifling behaviors built into your organization and lead the way toward substantive change and real growth.

Building on the frustrating true story of his inability to order a simple milkshake, Little explains how well-intended systems meant to increase satisfaction can often produce the opposite effect for both customers and employees. The "Milkshake Moment" is that precise instant in which an organization's individuals realize that they are allowed to do the right thing— to serve the interests of others in order to grow the organization—instead of following arcane internal procedures that actually hinder growth. Little clearly demonstrates that only when we remove our own self-imposed barriers can we begin to seize growth opportunities in any organizational setting.

The Milkshake Moment helps you develop both the actions and the attributes of a true growth leader as you learn how to:

• Foster "grow" versus the status quo

• Understand the difference between "the managed" and "the led"

• Break the cycles of conformity

• "Develop" policies that promote growth

• Hone your judgment

• Uncover the BIG secret to service

• Resolve the "people problem" problem

• See your future opportunities more clearly

Packed with fascinating examples of behaviors that drive an organization's growth and those that throw it into reverse, The Milkshake Moment mixes up a refreshing blend of engaging reading and actionable advice on how you can help your organization reach another level.

From the Back Cover

Praise for The Milkshake Moment

"Little gives leaders a crucial reminder not to be their own worst enemies in their quest for growth. You'll never forget the hilarious milkshake story that gives the book its name. This book will help your organization get out of its own way."

DAN HEATH, coauthor of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

"Little's milkshake story is straightforward, compelling, and irresistible. It teaches leaders a hundred vital lessons on growth.

Sip it slowly and enjoy."

ROD BECKSTROM, coauthor of The Starfish and the Spider:The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations

"Little is a gifted storyteller, and his stories always lead to practical ways for organizations to reach another level. The Milkshake Moment is not only a great read, it is truly a call-to-arms for all of us looking for growth in the twenty-first century. Read it today so you can mix it up tomorrow."

JON GORDON, author of The Energy Bus: Ten Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work,

and Team with Positive Energy and The No Complaining Rule: Positive Ways

to Deal with Negativity at Work

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (April 18, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470257466
• ISBN-13: 978-0470257463
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #480,832 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you want your company to overcome stupid systems, pointless policies, and muddled management ..., April 8, 2008

By 

Jeff Lippincott "JLIPPIN" (Princeton, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Milkshake Moment: Overcoming Stupid Systems, Pointless Policies and Muddled Management to Realize Real Growth (Hardcover)

I liked this book. It had the feel of a printed copy of a well-written and well-organized blog. The points made will usually make sense, but sometimes you will have to stretch your mind to get them. Arguably the six sections the book is split into are really chapters. And the chapters are really just point headings in those six sections. The sections and chapters in this book are titled as follows:

I. The milkshake moment
II. Foster "grow" versus status quo
III. Put purpose before profit
IV. Insource crucial judgment
V. Address the "people problem" problem
VI. Care for customers

1. It was a dark and stormy night
2. Half empty or half full?
3. This is not a customer service book
4. A brief history of organizations and man(agement)
5. Toddlers and trust
6. Some shocking behavior
7. Lessons from the cubicle farm
8. The managed
9. The led
10. It's never about money
11. The wizard of westwood
12. Profit pushers
13. NoClu Motors, Inc.
14. Purpose in the plan
15. You gotta serve somebody
16. Edicts made on high
17. Peeves from below
18. Participatory policy making
19. How `bout them promegranites?
20. Come harter or high water
21. The people problem polka
22. Eric's excalibur
23. Why people work
24. Home team drops the ball
25. The big secret to great customer service
26. Even geniuses struggle to serve
27. It takes a hero
28. The future is already here ... some folks just aren't getting the memos

The author says at page 14 of the book "A milkshake moment is a brave individual action, be it big or small, that furthers the cause of growth." This book is designed to help the reader develop the actions and attributes of a true growth/change leader. Organizations (companies) can grow if their leader or leaders encourage creativity, flexibility, and openmindedness of subordinates. They'll grow, change, and improve if they have lots of people who have the capacity to recognize and respond to opportunities. That's the message of this book.

What is this book really about? Well, if you want your company to overcome stupid systems, pointless policies, and muddled management, then consider giving this book a read. Your company will only recognize real growth if it can overcome these things. 4 stars!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delicious Initiative, July 29, 2009

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Milkshake Moment: Overcoming Stupid Systems, Pointless Policies and Muddled Management to Realize Real Growth (Hardcover)

Steven Little explains that "a Milkshake Moment is a brave action, be it big or small, that furthers the cause of growth in an organization. Milkshake Moments materialize when individuals understand the organization's true purpose, honestly believe it is their job to fulfill it, and are given the tools and the freedom to make it happen." These remarks remind me of what William L. McKnight, then CEO of 3M, said in 1924: If you put fences around people, you get sheep. Give people the room they need." In stagnant organizations in which little (if any) room for initiative is provided, Little acknowledges that a would-be growth must possess "the guts to stand up and say, `This idea is contrary to everything we say we believe.'" That's a Milkshake Moment.

My take on this book is that Little has written it for two separate but related audiences: One consists of would-be growth leaders whom he encourages to take whatever initiatives they sincerely believe are required by what their organization's stated values; the other consists of their senior managers who must create and then sustain a culture within the workplace that encourages, recognizes, and rewards Milkshake Moments. These senior managers must also be growth leaders who "clearly communicate an organization's true purpose and grant individuals permission to do whatever can be done ethically to achieve it."

Long ago, Andrew Carnegie hired Napoleon Hill and directed him to interview the world's most prominent businessmen and learn the secret(s) of their success. Carnegie paid him and all of his expenses. He also wrote letters of introduction for Hill who then began a two-year assignment. After completing the last interview, Hill returned to the United States and met with Carnegie to report on what he had learned. He was especially interested in knowing what the businessmen shared in common. Hill's response? They all went "the extra mile."

Contrary to what this book's subtitle may suggest, it is not always possible to overcome "stupid systems, pointless policies, and muddled management to realize growth." In those instances, if the initiatives of would-be growth leaders are discouraged and perhaps even punished, they need to leave that organization and join another. In this context, it is worth noting that during exit interviews of highly-valued employees, one of the major reasons they cite for leaving is a lack of respect for their supervisor and a lack of faith in the organization's integrity.

Little includes dozens of especially interesting stories throughout his narrative to illustrate, indeed dramatize his key points. One of his recurrent themes is the inability and/or unwillingness of senior managers to recognize the nature and extent of damage that results from the "fences" they maintain around the minds, hearts, and souls of those for whom they are responsible. If not exactly the "toxic" leaders that Jeanne Lipman-Blumen and Kenneth Gangel so brilliantly discuss in their books and articles, they are nonetheless barriers to growth and expediters of the stagnation to which Little frequently refers.

I appreciate Little's Snap! Crackle! & Pop! writing style as well as his passion to help prepare would-be growth leaders to cope with what James O'Toole so aptly characterizes as "the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom." I agree with Little that significant growth does not always require major changes. Last year, Toyota implemented more than one million ideas generated by its production workforce. Most involved minor refinements to improve quality or to eliminate waste. I hope that many of those who read this book are owners of small companies or work for such companies. I also hope that they read it carefully and, while doing so, think about all the opportunities they have each day to share a Milkshake Moment with fellow workers and, especially, with customers. My final hope is that those who have such moments also share them with Steven Little by contacting him at www.stevenslittle.com.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book to open your eyes on Processes...and how they can hurt, July 6, 2008

By 

Eric D. Brown "Technology Consultant" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Milkshake Moment: Overcoming Stupid Systems, Pointless Policies and Muddled Management to Realize Real Growth (Hardcover)

This is an interesting, well-written book worth picking up. It's easy to read with short chapters and contains some interesting, and at times funny, insights into the world of processes...especially bad processes (those that bind the hands of employees/organizations).

The book's entire premise is that while processes are necessary and provide value to an organization, you should make sure they allow `wiggle' room for individuals who use those processes. This wiggle room is necessary to allow people to be creative and innovative in how they solve problems. Most organization's don't stress that employees be creative and use processes at the same time...they'd prefer that an employee 'stick to the process'.

For example, the book uses the author's attempt at ordering a milkshake from room service at a fancy hotel. The hotel didn't have milkshakes on their menu and the room service personnel didn't quite know how to handle the request. The author asked if the hotel had milk, ice cream, a bowl and a spoon...the answer was yes. The author ordered these items and made his own milkshake.

The author uses this simple example to point out that the room service personnel were stuck in a process and just because they didn't sell milkshakes, they couldn't provide one and didn't have a `process' in place to get one to the author.

The book provides a good overview of what it means to be process bound, but also steps into the role of trying to teach the reader how to take simple actions to change these processes to follow a more common sense approach.