The Three Tensions: Winning the Struggle to Perform Without Compromise (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) [Hardcover]

Dominic Dodd (Author), Ken Favaro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 16, 2007 | Series: J-B US non-Franchise Leadership (Book 41)

A manager argued that he could either increase his business unit's margins or its sales, but not both. His chief executive reminded him of the time when people lived in mud huts and faced the stark choice between light and heat: punch a hole in the side of your hut and you let the daylight in but also the cold, or block up all the openings and you stay warm but sit in darkness. The invention of glass made it possible to overcome the dilemma—to let in the light but not the cold. How then, he asked his manager, will you resolve your dilemma between no sales or no margin improvement? Where is the glass?
—From the Introduction

"To win, leaders have to push their companies beyond trade-offs. They must find strong growth at premium returns, not one or the other. They must deliver great results today and build for the future at the same time, not push for earnings that can't be sustained. The Three Tensions is about having both at the same time, more of the time. I recommend it to any manager serious about winning."
—James Kilts, former chairman, CEO, and president, The Gillette Company

"Leadership can't be just about telling people what you expect of them. The Three Tensions sets out a range of helpful tactics leaders can adopt to really engage their people in the search for good performance on many fronts."
—Andrew Cosslett, chief executive, InterContinental Hotels Group PLC

"The Three Tensions speaks to fundamental management issues, perhaps the most fundamental. Managers looking for new ideas on how to improve performance will find it very stimulating. I found my own thinking very much influenced by it."
—John Roberts, professor of economics, strategic management, and international business, Stanford Business School

Editorial Reviews

Review

Every executive will immediately connect with the themes of this important new management book: the conflict between profitability and growth, the demands of the short term and the long term, the inevitable incompatibility of centralization and decentralization. But in The Three Tensions (Jossey-Bass), consultants Dominic Dodd and Ken Favaro expose the false choices executives make in resolving these issues and the traps and cycles they fall into when they do. In many ways, this is a difficult book because of the stylized framework and vocabulary that the authors have created, and the absence of a single overarching idea such as "excellence" or "reengineering." But the essential insight -- that the solution to these "tensions" lies not in "balance" or "compromise" but in a relentless focus on customer benefit, sustainable earnings and cultural norms -- has the advantage of being both original and wise. 
—S.P. (Washington Post, February 25, 2007)

Review

"To win, leaders have to push their companies beyond trade-offs. They must find strong growth at premium returns, not one or the other. They must deliver great results today and build for the future at the same time, not push for earnings that can't be sustained. The Three Tensions is about having both at the same time, more of the time. I recommend it to any manager serious about winning."
—James Kilts, former chairman, CEO, and president, The Gillette Company

"Leadership can't be just about telling people what you expect of them. The Three Tensions sets out a range of helpful tactics leaders can adopt to really engage their people in the search for good performance on many fronts."
—Andrew Cosslett, chief executive, InterContinental Hotels Group PLC

"The Three Tensions speaks to fundamental management issues, perhaps the most fundamental. Managers looking for new ideas on how to improve performance will find it very stimulating. I found my own thinking very much influenced by it."
—John Roberts, professor of economics, strategic management, and international business, Stanford Business School

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (January 16, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787987794
• ISBN-13: 978-0787987794
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #774,786 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Best business book ever, February 8, 2009

By 

Dan Bergevin (danbergevin dot com) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Three Tensions: Winning the Struggle to Perform Without Compromise (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) (Hardcover)

This book addresses all of the most important issues a business will face. It is deep yet easy to read. It is theoretical yet easy to apply. Managers of all companies, large or small, in good times or bad, will find strategies and tactics that can be immediately applied to correctly value their businesses, grow customer benefits, and overcome the tensions that tear most companies apart.

If you want to think and act on a higher level than you are now, buy this book immediately.

4.0 out of 5 stars Revealing look at corporate performance, February 21, 2008

By 

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

This review is from: The Three Tensions: Winning the Struggle to Perform Without Compromise (J-B US non-Franchise Leadership) (Hardcover)

Dominic Dodd and Ken Favaro explain how companies try to solve the conflicts between competing business goals by making unnecessary compromises, and then get trapped in the never-ending spin of "the corporate cycle." Their book shows how to resolve three central "tensions": whether to grow or profit, whether to take a short view or a long view, and whether to favor individual units or the larger firm. Their case histories detail how leading companies (Cadbury Schweppes, Gillette and Nokia) thrived by resolving their tensions - and how other major corporations (General Motors and Coca-Cola) lost ground by not heeding them. Dodd and Favaro's "customer benefit" mantra is simple but appealing, and their writing is pretty sharp. The authors make their case using Russian proverbs, metaphors such as "the mud hut conundrum" and amusing anecdotes of managers caught on the tension treadmill. Their "new way of thinking" sometimes evokes a motivational speaker at the local Holiday Inn, but the authors readily concede that carrying out their advice isn't easy. They quote some blunt wisdom from corporate executives to add a needed dose of real world gravitas. getAbstract recommends this useful analysis to managers who are trying to balance equally worthy priorities.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have For All Managers, November 1, 2007

By 

Knowledge is Power - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Three Tensions: Winning the Struggle to Perform Without Compromise (Your Coach in a Box) (Audio CD)

This most interesting audio book explores the problems that all managers face when trying to balance profitability and growth....great results now or later...as well as other conflicting trade offs. The authors present helpful ideas that all managers can use based on research into the 20 year performance of over 20 CEO's of major corporations. It's a fascinating study that is a must have for any executive who wants to come out a winner.