Synopses & Reviews
PRAISE FOR
BEATING THE GLOBAL ODDS"As countries, companies, and individuals seek to solve the calculus for sustainable growth, this brisk and compelling volume by one of the world's foremost business strategists couldn't have come at a better time."
Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company
"A tour de force. Great leaders, and those who aspire to leadership, should focus on and absorb the important lessons of Beating the Global Odds."
Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman and founder, World Economic Forum
"By drawing on a huge diversity of sources, by encouraging us all to become 'discerning omnivores,' and by applying the sum of his own peerless experience, Paul Laudicina helps us understand not just what needs to be done but also how to do it."
Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP
"Laudicina blends ... the insights he gained from successfully turning around one of the most respected consulting firms with the best lessons management theorists and social scientists have to offer ... an indispensable bookcrisp, original, easy to read, practical, and inspirational all at the same time."
Moisés Naím, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment; author, The End of Power: Why It's Easier to Get, Harder to Use, and Nearly Impossible to Keep
"Beating the Global Odds shows us how to turn the desire to win into actionthrough concrete, pragmatic, realistic advice."
Kevin Roberts, CEO Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi
"A concise and gripping breviary for the knowledge economy of the twenty-first centurythe distilled wisdom of a thinker and a doer, a rare breed in the boardrooms of the world."
Josef Joffe, Editor, Die Zeit, Hamburg; Senior Fellow, Stanford University
"Beating the Global Odds is a timely wake-up call for today's CEOs, who must work harder than ever to seize the opportunities and manage the acute risks."
John Quelch, Dean, China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), Shanghai
Synopsis
Managers and leaders are buried beneath an avalanche of data and obligations made possible by our interconnected world. In the 38 countries where AT Kearney operates, this has caused leadership and decision-making strategies sto be tymied and delayed. As a result, people (and organizations) everywhere are feeling disoriented, bewildered, and even paralyzed. The causes range from the proliferation of product choice to the relentless "information smog" of 24/7 always-on email and social media. The results include not just overload, but a degraded ability to think and act decisively. This book sets out the four guiding principles that will lead us out from under the avalanche and into a more productive future: simplify, decrease, innovate, and plan.
Synopsis
The how-to guide to overcoming the information overload and getting back to workThe proliferation of information and social networking has placed extreme demands on the time and attention of business managers and leaders around the world. Contending with the 24/7 news cycle and an endless barrage of emails has stymied leadership and decision-making strategies among those at the top, but a solution is at hand. One Giant Leap Forward: A Blueprint for Progress in a Paralyzed World sets out the four guiding principles designed to lead readers out from under the information avalanche?simplify, decrease, innovate, and plan?and back to work.
The exponential growth of knowledge and the increasing diversity of ways to deliver and access it have limited our ability to act, and this book responds to the information overload. Written by Paul Laudicina, Managing Officer of A.T. Kearney Global Management Consultants, One Giant Leap Forward is the first step for anyone looking to take back his or her business.
- Presents a practical, realistic response to the challenges of infinite information facing today's business leaders
- Explains the four key principles for a more productive future: simplify, decrease, innovate, and plan
- Written by Paul Laudicina, Managing Officer of A.T. Kearney Global Management Consultants
One small book, One Giant Leap Forward is the ultimate guide to tackling information overload head on, and coming out on top.
Synopsis
The Answer to Global OverloadContending with the 24/7 news cycle and an endless barrage of choices and information has stymied leadership and decision-making strategies among those at the top. But we all know, this is not a just a problem for the elite. The broad-based reaction to this chaotic, unmanageable assault has been to retrench, and to focus on immediate, controllable decisions. In the process, we lose sight of the horizon. More dangerous still, is the shift we’ve seen from value creation to wealth creation, where information technology 1.0 has enabled a transaction-based society in which the “deal” is more important than the value it drives or the relationships it is based on. On our current path, the odds of a better future are slim.
What we need is a new value proposition.
Beating the Global Odds is the answer to the dangers of too much of a good thing. There’s no going back, but there is the opportunity to set things right. In this book, Paul A. Laudicina, Managing Partner and Chairman of the Board of global consulting firm A.T. Kearney, provides a fast-paced and engaging tour of how we got to this point and what we can do about it.
Drawing on examples from everything from world history and current media to anecdotes from his vast network of CEOs and the world’s most innovative thinkers, Laudicina helps bring our world of seemingly fuzzy and disconnected pixels into sharp focus.
The result is a compelling case for change and call to action—not only for global leaders but also for everyone who struggles with the question of how we can inspire and seize a better future… how we can beat the global odds.
Synopsis
More than any other time in human history, it's possibleeven necessaryto be plugged in to what's going on 24/7. But while the widespread proliferation of information can yield great benefits, the overall result has been a drastic decrease in original thinking, fresh innovation, and much-needed leadership, and a move towards a more fragmented society. This book is here to help, showing you how to cut through the clutter and regain your focus as you confront the challenges of the future.
The ultimate road map to building a better, more cohesive, and more coherent tomorrow, for your business, your world, and yourself, Beating the Global Odds: Successful Decision-Making in a Confused and Troubled World is designed to help business leaders and readers overcome the confusion of the twenty-first century and start working together with clear purpose.
Change is essential, and in this book, A.T. Kearney CEO Paul Laudicina takes a behind-the-scenes look at the people and institutions that are thinking big to repair the international social fabric and help pave the way for a better future so that you can follow in their footsteps. Showing you where to look for new insights and ideas, how to widen your lens, and why you need to master scenario planning in order to make sense of today's world, Laudicina presents a comprehensive and insightful look into the information overload threatening businesses everywhere and how you can fight back.
Emphasizing the importance of staying true to your core values as you work to build a more focused life for yourself and your company, Beating the Global Odds shows how the future is yours for the making.
About the Author
Paul A. Laudicina is the CEO, chairman of the board, and managing partner at global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, and the founder and chairman of the firm's Global Business Policy Council. With over forty years of professional experience in government, research, business, and at the United Nations, he has worked with leaders from all backgrounds across a broad range of strategic, corporate, and public policy issues. The author of World Out of Balance, one of the top business books of 2005, Laudicina was named to Consulting magazine's annual ranking of the "Top 25 Most Influential Consultants" in 2005 and 2007.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Seizing the Future is (Fortunately) Not a Game of Chance
“Coalface” Credentials
A Quick Tour of This Book (and Why I’m Emphasizing the Renaissance of Scenario Planning)
What’s Different, What Never Changes, and a Tale of Two Cities
Chapter 1 Global Brain Freeze
Nonstop Overstimulation Brings Disorientation
More Has Become (Much) Less
Think Pinball, Not Roulette
Disorientation and Decision Analysis
Chapter 2 Fast and Fickle
The Ever-Shorter Half-Life of Everything
Lumbering Giants
Watch out for Those Tuning out and Checking Out
Chapter 3 “Rudderless World”
Angry Populism, Incapacitated Government, and Stray Capitalism
Tea Party, Occupy Movements: Birds of a Feather?
Privatizing the Gains, Socializing the Losses
The Three Deficits
“Inescapable Trilemma”?
The Case for Values-Based Leadership
Chapter 4 Lighten the Load and Make It Sesame Street Simple
Sesame Street Simple
Cockpit Confusion
Chapter 5 Repair Your Social Fabric
Why Relationships Always Trump Transactions
The Three-Line Whip
“The Pause Principle”
All in the Family
Chapter 6 Don’t Wait for the Next Big Thing
Innovation: Slowing down or Speeding Up? (I think the latter)
Knowledge “Hatcheries”
Offer a Prize
Fighting Complexity with Complexity
Coming Soon: Information Overload, Tamed and Ready to Serve You?
Chapter 7 Open the Aperture
Widen Your Lens, But with Discernment
Vary Your Information Diet
Be Wary of Conventional Wisdom and the “Usual Experts”
The Problem of Being Right Too Early
Tap into “Remarkable” People and Places
Chapter 8 Turning Pixels into a Clearer Picture
Applying Scenario Thinking to Make a Better Future Possible
“Powerfully Imagined and Rigorously Researched”: The Structure of Scenario Thinking
Counterfactuals and Other Futures Thinking
Envisioning the Future to Inform the Present
The Coming Chinese Commonwealth?
Pulling It All Together, and Getting Ready to Beat the Global Odds
Epilogue
The Next Chapter
Afterword
Selected Bibliography
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Index