Leading the Revolution (Hardcover)

Leading the Revolution is not a calm analysis of what will or won't work in a post-industrial world. Instead, it's an impassioned call for revolutionary activists to shake the foundations of their companies' beliefs and move from a linear age of getting better, smarter, and faster, to a nonlinear age of becoming different. While in the past incremental improvements in products and services were accepted as good enough, Hamel shows that true innovation is the demolition and re-creation of an entire business concept. He blows apart the popular myth that innovation lies solely in the hands of dot.com dynamos like AOL and Amazon by scrutinizing the examples of such "gray-haired revolutionaries" as Enron and Charles Schwab, companies that have managed to reinvent both themselves and their entire industries, time and again.

After an in-depth examination of what business-concept innovation involves (for starters, it's "based on avoidance, not attack"), Hamel goes on to motivate his readers to see their own revolutionary future, and train them in the art of being an activist. As he puts it in various headings, be a novelty addict, be a heretic, know what's not changing, surface the dogmas. And then get out there and transform your ideas into reality. Not simply a round-up call, Hamel's book provides would-be activists with an intelligent, comprehensive plan of action. He illustrates each imperative with examples of real-life corporate rebels, such as John Patrick and David Grossman at IBM, Ken Kutaragi at Sony, and Georges Dupont-Roc at Shell. His message is the same to "old" and "new" companies alike: "Industry revolutionaries are like a missile up the tail pipe. Boom! You're irrelevant!" So join the revolution and avoid the explosion.

Hamel writes in a clear and compelling voice, preaching with passion but supporting what he says with detailed, experiential evidence. Each chapter is packed with probing questions and inspirational examples that aim to dig through the apathetic corners of your mind and throw hand grenades into any creative synapses still slumbering. Even the alternative (read innovative) design of Leading the Revolution will jolt you into a new level of awareness and imagination. Indeed, the only problem you might have with this book is an increasing desire to put it down before the end, get out there into the wild world of the activist, and start living the revolution. --S. Ketchum

From Publishers Weekly
A fixture in the Harvard Business Review, and the man who introduced the phrase "core competencies" into the business lexicon, Hamel urges everyone, including managers of old-line companies, to lead a business revolution by fully implementing e-commerce, participating in cooperative techniques such as joint ventures, engaging in "co-oppetition" (selective cooperation between competitors) and taking advantage of the general upheaval in the marketplace. Hamel, a consultant on the faculty of both the London School of Economics and the Harvard Business School, makes his case forcefully and clearly: the "gale of creative destruction [theorized by economist Joseph Schumpeter] has become a hurricane. New winds are battering down the fortifications that once protected the status quo." The solution, he argues, is simple: imagine the kind of future you want for your company, then go out and create it. Businesspeople have to rethink everything they've ever learned, he argues, because firms will either become revolutionaries or will become irrelevant. In addition to cheerleading for change, Hamel fills his book with examples of companies large (Enron) and small (Sephora) that have seized huge competitive advantages by changing either their mission or the way business is done in their industry. Some of Hamel's fansAand they are legionAmay be disappointed by this volume, however, because it co clearly echoes Hamel's earlier writings. Even so, his powerful presentation may well spur to action those not already familiar with his work. 150,000 first printing; $250,000 ad/promo. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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