Who Really Matters: The Core Group Theory of Power, Privilege, and Success (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Back in the early 1980s, when writing mission statements was just an infant management fad, a division of the Exxon Oil Company held an employee..." (more)
Key Phrases: integrated learning base, core group theory, fiduciary view, United States, New York, Jack Welch (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The old saw "the customer comes first" is a flat-out lie, argues Kleiner, a contributing editor at strategy+business magazine and the author of several business books, in this fresh look at the structure and politics of business. He contends that "a depressing number of business corporations have evolved into organizations with one primary purpose: To extract wealth from all constitutions (not just the shareholders, but the employees, customers, and neighbors as well) and give it essentially to the children and grandchildren of some of its senior executives." Such corporate selfishness works because the key decisions in are being made by the "Core Group"-executives or employees whose needs and desires determine company behavior. Others within an organization immediately sense who is in the Core Group and adjust their behavior accordingly; "Day after day, in all the small decisions we made, all the employees contributed to keeping these individuals more or less at the center of the Core Group." Using examples of individuals and companies, Kleiner shows how employees can better understand the mechanisms of the Core Group to advance their careers; sometimes, he says, if they lack the respect of Core Group members, they might even conclude that leaving their current position is more advantageous. The book also provides executives with strategies for managing unions, shareholders and others in a time when recent scandals have tarnished the image of big corporations. Not just another bit of conventional business wisdom, this volume should prove most beneficial to experienced managers who are accustomed to holding workshops and seminars on change.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

?Art Kleiner has uncovered a central truth about the way organizations work. His concept of the Core Group clarifies one key reason why rational people often act in seemingly irrational ways within the confines of an institution. Like any deep insight, it
makes explicable what had previously been mysterious.?
?Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and coauthor of Built to Last

?Fresh, pragmatic, wise and eminently accessible . . . Who Really Matters cuts through our needlessly complex views of organizations and brilliantly reveals what?s at the core of both their promise and dysfunction. Kleiner?s astute and grounded analysis makes it possible for all of us who work within or around organizations to be more skillful and successful while maintaining our personal values and purposes.
?James Flaherty, founder of New Ventures West and author of Coaching: Evoking Excellence in Others

?Seminal idea, brilliantly presented, and wonderfully useful.?
?Warren G. Bennis, author of Geeks and Geezers

?Provides a much needed new perspective on leadership, power, and authority in showing clearly how Core Groups unconsciously guide and control organizations. This is a must read for all managers and would-be leaders.?
?Edgar H. Schein, Sloan Fellows Professor of Management Emeritus, MIT Sloan School of Management

?This original and carefully-argued text suggests how to penetrate the apparent and
understand the real driver of corporate conduct. Most important are the practical suggestions for how to effect change. This addition to the conventional wisdom should be part of everyone?s library?buy it!?
?Robert A. G. Monks, shareholder activist and author of Corporate Governance and The New Global Investors

-- Review

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Currency/Doubleday; 1st edition (October 14, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385484488
• ISBN-13: 978-0385484480
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #127,870 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reforming, Expanding and Redirecting the In Crowd, October 14, 2003

By	Professor Donald Mitchell "Jesus Makes Me a P... (Boston) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

Ever since sand box days, we have grown accustomed to observing that there is an envied "in" crowd and an "out" crowd consisting of everyone else in the group. It feels great to be in the "in" crowd and not so great otherwise. Mr. Kleiner has taken that basic characteristic of human social behavior and examined it to propose how we can improve our organizations in both the profit and nonprofit sectors of the economy. You'll read about companies mostly, but there are also government agencies, labor unions and schools in the book.

The suggested improvements are aimed both at those who are in the "in" crowd and those who are attempting to influence them, whether these are part of the "out" crowd or the management consultants who are hired to assist. One of Mr. Kleiner's central theses is that most people don't know how to join or influence the "in" crowd because they don't understand how it works in their neighborhood. Who Really Matters contains 11 superb diagnostic exercises to hone your skills in "in" group analysis and influence. Almost everyone will find these exercises to be helpful.

The book is vividly written. I found myself remembering dozens of "in" groups that I have observed. The examples and arguments brought me right back into those circumstances as though they still existed. Feel business books I read have that sort of visceral effect on me.

Mr. Kleiner argues that management consultants have a sixth sense about the "in" crowd because that is how we add clients. I have been just as often hired by an "out" crowd as an "in" crowd, but it certainly is clear in the first few minutes which is which. I agree that most people in both crowds lack the basic skills to influence the direction of the "in" crowd in positive ways. Regardless of the topic of an assignment, I usually find myself helping my clients learn these skills. In the future, I will also suggest that clients read this book who need help in those areas.

The book's central theme for reformation is one that I heartily endorse from my own research and experiences. Make the "in" crowd as inclusive as possible, establish a "noble" purpose that is practical to make the group more socially productive, and eliminate organizational pressures to do anything else.

Please do realize that this book is based more on thoughtful personal observation than on deep scholarly measurement and analysis. I found many of the arguments compelling, though, simply because they resonated so strongly with my own experience.

If you want to better understand more about the "in" crowd phenomenon, you will probably enjoy Dr. Jane Goodall's books about chimpanzee behavior. You'll find her observations about the chimpanzees sounds a lot like the "in" and "out" crowds.

I have a few nits to pick in disagreeing with this otherwise fine book. Mr. Kleiner feels that having an organization be responsive to all stakeholders is impractical. Self interests are too greatly at odds, and reconciliation takes too much time. Yet our firm's research shows that the most successful organizations strive to do as much of this as possible. Education Management, Paychex and Xilinx are excellent examples. For instance, the current successes in improving environmental protection in the United States almost always use the method of putting all the stakeholders into a room and not letting them out until they find mutually acceptable solutions. In most cases, these solutions are less expensive and provide more protection than government regulations require.

Mr. Kleiner also argues that having financial independence is one important way to have more ability to influence the "in" group. My experience is that financial independence for the "out" group members just increases the likelihood of someone leaving an organization when they don't like the direction the group is taking. The result is often catastrophic for the organization. Instead of financial independence (which helps the individual certainly), I have noticed that when an "out" group member operates from principled values that the organization respects in an objective way the "in" crowd in any legitimate enterprise is very supportive. The mistake that most "out" group members make is to try to simultaneously do some organizational knife fighting with an opponent over personal agenda items. That approach negates the power of principles, and nothing happens except blood is spilled.

Finally, I think Mr. Kleiner missed an opportunity to apply his theory to highly effective nonprofit organizations. Habitat for Humanity International and Earthwatch International would make fine examples of inclusion of everyone into pursuing a noble purpose.

Few people, however, will fail to benefit from this book. Buy it, read it, live it and share the book with others.

I also highly recommend The Fifth Discipline, The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook and the Dance of Change. Mr. Kleiner assisted with the writing of the first, and is the editorial director of the latter books.

After you finish this fine book, do something to include others in your "in" group, direct your group into a more noble purpose, seek to help all stakeholders and eliminate distractions from these initiatives. I'm sure you'll feel great as you do this, pushing goodness forward in new ways.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous book, November 6, 2003

By A Customer

This book is fascinating on (at least) two different levels. First, it is the most useful self-help book I have ever read. Second, it is a very interesting psychological portrait of organizations, and those who run them and run from them. In this sense, it is not unlike other tales from the analyst's couch that I have read and enjoyed.
Self-Help Book
Who Really Matters is an effective self-help book for those of us who have trouble negotiating life in and with organizations and those who run them. Kleiner starts with the premise that certain core groups run organizations and it is only by understanding and dealing with those in these core groups that one can understand and deal with the organization. This insight was not news to me but what Kleiner does with the insight is remarkable and I learned a tremendous amount about organizations and myself thorugh Kleiner's lively case histories of organizations and those within organizations. Through the case studies, a clear picture of the psychology of the leaders (or core groups) of organizations emerges. Kleiner prompts the reader to question himself about his own past and present experiences with core groups and organizations. He also helps the reader recognize patterns within orgqanizations that indicate that the organization (or you within the organization) will be successful or his headed towards inevitable disaster. In this way, I emerged with a much clearer picture of how power operates within organizations and of my own reactions to that power and how those reactions serve (and disserve) me.
I found particularly helpful his list of the differnt kinds of capital an individual could amass in order to be in a strong position vis a vis an organization -- reputational (keep your name known in the field in general); relational (friends all over); financial (you can figure that one out), etc. He then discusses what the different kinds of capital will do for you vis a vis the corporation. I also found helpful his discussion of the glass ceiling. Most women I know, including myself, have difficulty asking employers for money. Kleiner explains why asking for too much money is rarely frowned upon within orgnaizations and why waiting for the organization to give you that which you "deserve" is rarely in an individual's self interest. The book is the best and most useful self-help book I have ever read.
Psychological Case Studies Are Always Fun to Read
The second way in which the book is terrific is that it is essentially a psychological analysis of organizations, how they operate, who operates them and how we react to the "organization," the core group running the organization and those without the core group. I am not someone who has read much on businesses, mostly because I always thought such books are boring. This is definitely not a boring book. It puts the personal elements of business in the open and makes the business world much more accessible for liberal arts types like me.

19 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Does this Concept Really Matter?, February 9, 2004

By	Jeffery Steele (Taipei, Taiwan) - See all my reviews

Core Group theory is a vague notion that is as well-meaning in its intentions as it is blurry in its specifics. The theory's basic goal is clear enough: the empowerment of workers who feel their work is neglected by their company. Ultimately, however, the author, Art Kleiner, has a far more ambitious aim than simply reordering business organizations, envisioning a world (unions, schools, the body politic, etc.) developed along his Core Group theory.

The book's problems begin immediately with the introduction of the Core Group theory. What is it? Kleiner claims it is the people in an organization who matter - the ones with power. But how can it be applied to a particular company or organization? Is the president of the company part of its Core Group? Probably, Kleiner says, but don't assume it. What about his secretary? Possibly. What about the head of an important division in an organization? Maybe. Is it the people in the organization with the best titles or those who make the most money? Not necessarily. Can someone be part of the Core Group one month and then out of the group the next month? Yes. At one point, Kleiner even says the Core Group exists "in people's hearts and minds."

In other words, Core Group theory is a subjective notion. This lack of substance haunts the rest of the book. The people who matter in an organization are the people who matter. Period. Even if you are part of an organization, you can't be sure who matters. As Kleiner makes clear in the beginning of the book, you can't even be sure about your own status. You might think you matter, and indeed for a while you might matter, only to discover later on that you don't.

Despite this muddled beginning, Kleiner soldiers on as if he has given the reader something concrete to grasp. He mentions the history of some companies as examples to highlight his theory, but it's clear that with a theory this flexible, there is no company's history that can't be explained with it. Whatever decisions the company makes are due to the Core Group dynamics. If it appears that something the company did can't be explained by the Core Group theory, then you simply don't understand who belongs to the Core Group. There's a circularity to the theory that makes it impervious to any empirical proof.

Ignoring those difficulties, Kleiner moves on to give a solution to those left outside the Core Group: develop a shadow Core Group. Given that you can't be sure who is in the Core Group and who is not, this seems rather dangerous. I'm not aware of any organization that would look kindly upon an informal group set up within it that second guesses, however nicely, the formal organization's power structure. Kleiner acknowledges the difficulties, but says that with "a certain finesse, a fair amount of relationship and reputation equity, a willingness to experiment....Most of all, it takes...time and commitment that people generally do not invest in organizations." In other words, Kleiner believes that a shadow Core Group must be far more talented in their organizational and people skills and more dedicated to the company than the Core Group itself. This seems highly unlikely to happen.

I don't think Kleiner is really interested in looking at real-world organizations as they are so much as he's interested in dreaming up some catch-all theory to turn organizations (and ultimately the world) into what he wants them to be. And why not? There's a certain appeal to his theory. Almost everyone who's worked in an organization has at some point felt his or her talents and efforts were neglected by those in charge. Unfortunately, the real-life solution to such a problem was to either work harder and make the organization notice you, or cozy up to someone in the in-group. Kleiner's solution of making everyone part of the in-group sounds nice, but its pleasantness is of the same variety as fluffy talk of wanting everyone to be rich or happy.