Just Start

Just Start

How to improve the agility of his or her organization in times of crisis and unpredictable change? 

Author(s): Leonard A. Schlesinger, Charles F. Kieffer, Paul B. Brown

Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press

Date of publication: 2012

Manageris opinion

This book is based on the conviction that in times of crisis and unpredictable change, many traditional operating practices become irrelevant. Based on the example of many entrepreneurs, the  authors derive the “Creaction” method, which recommends rapid and repeated test-and-learn cycles in which people take action, learn from their experience and make required adjustments in real time. To minimize the risks of taking action in low-visibility situations, the authors suggest establishing and managing acceptable loss frameworks. Within the limits of this framework, people are then free to take initiative. The attitude toward failure is deeply reconsidered; mistakes become the result of testing and an opportunity for learning, rather than an end to a process. Entrepreneurs are thus able to take initiative rapidly, make adjustments and remain in close touch with market expectations.

Although this book was primarily written for entrepreneurs, it could benefit anyone whowants to improve the agility of his or her organization.