How Extraordinary Companies Pursue Radical Continuous Change
By Jason Jennings
Portfolio Hardcover
256 pages; $26.95
Best-selling author and highly in-demand business speaker Jason Jennings begins The Reinventors with a somewhat jarring statement: Eventually, every business will become irrelevant. He points to Blockbuster and K-mart as prime examples of the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality that exists in business thinking today. And, he also points out that nearly two-thirds of the Fortune 500 Companies from the year 2000 were off the list by 2010. Of course, many brands have achieved long-term success, and Jennings argues that those long-standing brands exist only because they embraced radical reinvention. For those companies that embrace the premise, Jennings boils down his reinvention strategy to a few key strategies: Abandon All Ego: relying on reputation and conventional thinking yields conventional results; Take Lots of Small Chances: When venturing into new realms, small bets are best since they allow companies to see what works and what doesn't without putting it all on the line; and, Be Frugal: fix problems and affect change using the resources available. And finally, get everyone in the company on the same page. If not, whatever action a leader takes is destined to fail.
