Customer Reviews

Mission Possible: Becoming a World-Class Organization While There's Still Time

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Mission Possible... is a book about surviving today and recreating your organization for tomorrow. The authors use the analogy of a sand castle which faces the incoming tide. Does one leave it alone to face certain destruction and hope that it doesn't happen for a while; or does one take immediate action to build barriers along the beach for protection, which may or may not help; or does one plan for the future by redesigning the structure as well as relocate the castle? People are the key to an organization's success and the way a leader can best encourage them towards this goal is to allow them to become involved in improving the present or inventing the organization's tomorrow. It's all about the journey and the understanding of what is possible.

I used this for a reading assignment for a class and found it to be interesting. It certainly is easy to read and while others may find it's message too simple, I feel that it is the simple message that gets across easily and stays with you the longest.

Ken Blanchard, one of the most successful business authors of all time, teams up with Terry Waghorn in this clear, concise guide to surviving and prospering in a time of great change. The authors show you how to guide your business through the present while simultaneously preparing for and implementing changes for the future. This well-balanced book, which focuses as much on vision, intuitive processes and thinking as it does on nuts-and-bolts strategy, is a valuable guide for working and leading in the twenty-first century. We [...] recommend this book for everyone in business, and find it particularly essential for leaders, managers, and business owners.

I've read several books by Blanchard. I like his approach on behavioral side of management. I bought this book, expecting to find just that. Since most of the "visionary" books deal with the organization or system perspectives, I always want to know about the "human" side. But I don't find the answer from this book. The contents are too light to provide any answer to the issue. Unlike some good books on the similar topic such as James Martin's Cybercorp which tells you in very details on how you should prepare for the future, Mission Possible does not give me anything comparable

This is Ken Blanchard's idea of how to propel your company securely into the future by dividing up your talent pool into two self-chosen groups - the P(resent) Team and the F(uture) Team. Aside from their regularly assigned positions, employees would commit themselves to one of these teams based on their own personal preference. Ken says you have adminstrators and producers that gravitate toward the P team and innovators and integrators that belong on the F team. These teams are overseen by a balanced Steering Committee that adopts the best of both teams. A patchwork of recycled ideas.

Interesting but non-riveting.

Four Stars

Buy the book because there is far too much useful information to take in at even two listenings. Although it starts as typical `heard it all before' the last two sides are remarkable in their depth and panorama. There is advice and guidance for everyone here. We need to ask questions of our customers and competitors. How would our customers redesign our company? Three steps: vision - picture of what we need to become to better serve existing customers, prepare - what is the shortest path from where we are to where we need to be, deliver - change organisation to match vision. Customer facing people need to be empowered to solve problems on the spot, not refer to their managers. Your organisation is evaluated by how quickly it can respond to customer needs and problems. The person they care about is are the ones they talk to and they want top service from these people. Making all your people your business partners is a way of raising financial awareness and therefor cutting costs (story of 5c margin in restaurant). Divide into cost centres and profit centres. What is the strategic reason for performing the function of the cost centres? Should the work be outcourced? Should be spending more time managing profits not costs. Profit results from keeping needs of customers and employees paramount. 4 key managerial roles: producing - technical skills in field, make things happen, implementing - planners and administrators, maintain order and control, innovating - entrepreneurs, future looking and integrating - motivators, good at teamwork. Also 4 mismanagement styles: lone rangers - producers who cannot delegate, bureaucrats - implementers who focus on administration, process and rules, arsonists - innovators who never follow through or implement the ideas of others, super followers who cannot provide direction. In times of change are leaders willing to: relinquish `parental control; look at both long and short term; supply resources and support; communicate and remove obstacles; help others overcome uncertainty and fear; admit that they do not have all the answers. Control kills learning, invention and commitment. Bossidy - burning platform principle, people `jump' only when they see flames themselves. Leaders need to help people see the flames. Long term provides focus not on survival but the future. When in doubt communicate more, not less. Nelson Mandela - "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us." In order to help people manage change we need to keep everyone informed so they know what is in it for them. Change means that people feel awkward about needing to act differently, they focus on what they will lose, (what you resist, persists), they feel alone, they feel overwhelmed if there is too much change so they need to experience some successes before taking on more change. Readiness for change varies. Although people feel that they need more resources to do more - we have to do more with less. Need to keep everyone encouraged by catching people doing something right, but leaders need sufficient self-esteem to help others feel good about themselves. Discipline required managing perpetual churn (whitewater). Catch yourself doing something right - managing your self-talk. What do you want to be doing? Our problem is not what we see, but what we see with. At the brink of the 21st Century we cannot see the future with 20th Century spectacles.

I should have come to this site and read the reviews before purchasing the book. It was very disappointing. The chapter headings were interesting, and some were good insights. However, the author spent too much time around elaborating too many of the sub-points. There were also little case studies. Felt like the book could be condensed a lot more.