Tuesday, January 23, 2007
The Personal MBA : Mastering Business Without Spending a Fortune by Josh Kaufman Business schools don’t have a monopoly on worldly wisdom. If you care more about increasing your effectiveness at work than a diploma and a few lines on your resume, the Personal MBA is for you.
What is the Personal MBA?“
You wasted $150,000 on an education you coulda got for a buck fifty in late charges at thepublic library.” — Will Hunting (played by Matt Damon), Good Will Hunting
The Personal MBA (PMBA) is an experiment in educational entrepreneurism. This manifesto will show you how to substantially increase your knowledge of business on your own time and with little cost, all without setting foot inside a classroom.
The PMBA is more flexible than a traditional MBA program, doesn’t involve going into massive debt, and won’t interrupt your income stream for two years. Just set aside some dedicated reading time, pick up a good book, learn as much as you can, and go out and make great things happen.
It’s all about the books
“ If I read a book that cost me $20 and I get one good idea, I’ve gotten one of the greatestbargains of all time.” — Tom Peters
“ The difference between where you are today and where you’ll be five years from now will be found in the quality of books you’ve read.” — Jim Rohn
At the core of the PMBA is a list of 42 books and periodicals. By investing time and effort inusing these resources, you will progressively develop a greater understanding of businessand increase your effectiveness at work. Even if you only read a few, you’ll get a substantialreturn on your investment.
thoughts on traditional mb a programs
“ Whatever be the qualifications of your tutors, your improvement must chiefly depend onyourselves. They cannot think or labor for you, they can only put you in the best way ofthinking and laboring for yourselves. If therefore you get knowledge you must acquire itby your own industry. You must form all conclusions and all maxims for yourselves, frompremises and data collected and considered by yourself. And it is the great object of [oureducational institutions] to remove every bias the mind may be under, and to give thegreatest scope for true freedom of thinking.”— Joseph Priestly, Dedication of New College, London, 1794.
The debate concerning the value of traditional MBA programs is long and involved, and thismanifesto won’t close the issue.a For the sake of brevity, here’s a short Q&A on the pros andcons of business school:
‡ Can a traditional MBA program help you? Yes. You’ll meet a lot of great people and getacquainted with a few professors and corporate HR recruiters who can help you land a new job.You will also sink very deep into debt. If you decide to enroll in a full-time program, the opportunity cost of lost wages and future investable savings is huge.
‡ Will a traditional MBA teach you anything you can’t learn by yourself? Probably
not.Classroom discussion can be beneficial, but there’s nothing presented that you can’t learn bystudying a good book on the subject.
‡ Is a traditional MBA worth the time and money? Sorry — there’s no universal answer. Ifyou’re looking to go into advanced corporate accounting, finance, quantitative analysis,commercial real estate, consulting, venture capital, or investment banking, an MBA or MS in abusiness-related field may be expected or required. In those cases, caveat emptor: once youdecide to attend, the only certainty is that your bank account will be significantly smaller.
If you decide not to go to business school, the Personal MBA is a low cost way to educateyourself about business. (Even business school graduates can benefit greatly from readingthese books.)
Before we get to the list, however, allow me to set a few reasonable expectationsabout the PMBA.
the personal mba is not:‡ A stand-alone venture. You can’t learn about business solely from books — you have tobe willing to go out and learn by doing. Whether you’re working full-time for a company orbuilding your own business, a full 2/3 of your learning will be a direct result of your day-todaywork experiences, which provide the necessary context for understanding what you read.
‡ A mindless replica of a traditional MBA program. The PMBA was created to expose youto a core set of advanced business concepts quickly and effectively. By design, it does not include anything and everything you might come across in business school. If you’re looking for a detailed analysis of the Black-Scholes option pricing model and its relationship to the volatility surfaces of certain financial derivatives, you’re going to be very disappointed.
‡ An impersonal curriculum. You’ll find more material about learning who you are, what you’re good at, and how you can work more effectively with other people in the PMBA than you will in a standard business school curriculum. There’s a reason why these topics are included here: they are skills that will really help you in your life and work.
‡ An infallible educational revelation. It’s perfectly okay if you disagree with one of the selections or think that a critical book has been overlooked. Feel free to make substitutions as you deem necessary. If you’re skeptical about the value of a title you haven’t read yet, I encourage you to borrow the book from your local library and give it a try. If you’re of the same opinion after reading a few chapters, put it down and read something else! (Life is short.)
‡ Easy. Working your way through this list will take time, energy, and persistence. There is nosubstitute for hard work and dedication.
The Selection criteriaThere is no shortage of good books about business, which made this list very difficult tocompile. Here are the five criteria used to select the resources featured in this manifesto:
>> Valuable Content. Does the book contain a lot of useful, practical information about howbusiness works, how you can add value, and why the material in the book is important?
>> Acceptable Time Commitment. Is the book a good educational value for the amount of timeinvested? Can you get the key points of each book in a few hours?
>> Self-Learning Friendly. Is this book designed to keep the reader’s mind engaged? Does theauthor present the material effectively and make the learning process enjoyable?
>> Reference Value. Will this book be a valuable resource to turn to when you need informationon a specific topic? How does the book re-read? Is it a book worth keeping for many years?
>> Comprehensive Set of Resources. Does this list cover a broad range of advanced businessconcepts effectively and efficiently? Is completing the list a realistic goal?
FIND OUT , MORE AT www.personalmba.com
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
contd.
Identity is fixed, transcending time and place, while its manifestations are constantlychanging.
• The Law of Will To truly live, I must express myself fullyEvery organization is compelled by the need to create value in accordance with itsidentity.
• The Law of Possibility and in this regard have much to giveIdentity foreshadows potential
• The Law of Relationship To do so I need others, and am most productive withthose who need me in return.Organizations are inherently relational, and those relationships are only as strong as thenatural alignment between the identities of the participants.
• The Law of Comprehension To establish these relationships, I must first berecognized for who I am.The individual capacities of an organization are only as valuable as the perceived valueof the whole of that organization.
• The Law of the Cycle and it follows then that I will receive in accordance with what I give.
Identity governs value, which produces wealth, which fuels identity.
The Law of Being
Case in point: ALCOA
Mission: To be the best aluminum company in the world.
Background: In the midst of diversification, the company simultaneously sought a return to its core identity - that of an outstanding aluminum company - a leader in its industry.
Lesson: No company that aspires to lead its market or industry can hope to do so without a mission that ties it’s own welfare to that of the society’s.
Communicating this mission fires up employees, giving them the passion for their work, the meaning that transcends mere profit.
How to strip away the layers to reveal Alcoa’s true identity:From reading between the lines of executive speeches, existing company literature, to probing corporate history, this author conducted in-depth interviews and analysis to find out what makes Alcoa what it is.
How to see 55,000 employees as one individual with unique skills and capabilities was anotherquestion.
The unbearable lightness of ‘being’
Alcoa was truly alive in the sense that it’s R & D, engineering and marketing arms were hummingwith energy and life. Alcoa had its heart in a patented process. The company built customersupport by effectively “packaging” information as a means of establishing authority in the field ofaluminum. Enter an Alcoa client’s office and you see shelves filled with a library of customereducation materials.
This author realized that the transformations needed for Alcoa people to be more receptive tochange were technological, product-oriented, market-oriented, and societal.
Value flows upstream.
• No matter where you are on the value chain, as provider of raw materials, manufacturer,or distributor, your identity draws its strength from the contribution you make to the life ofthe end-user.
• When people are aligned with the right organization, they are liberated to become whothey naturally are.Alcoa’s identity action plan was basically diversification and decentralization.A view to leadership
• The characteristics of Alcoa that set it apart were its synchronization, core competencies,and longevity or maturity as a company.
• The synchronization or “grand efficiency” lies in all the different parts of the organizationworking in synch.
• Its integrity lies in the social value it offers while making a profit. (Aluminum is a durableand practical material used in all types of products)
• Endurance refers to its 100-year history through the ups and downs of markets.In essence, companies are alive, and the Law of Being implies that this life can be seen ashaving several levels.
• A human value – referring to the workforce or individuals who make up the company
• A business value – in terms of the company’s distinctive contribution to the marketplacesuch as products and services that flow from and reinforce identity
• A societal value – or how it brings about social improvement in terms of transportation,food preservation, and energy
• An economic value – referring to its stock price value over time, and portfolio turnover.
“All of us also have the capacity to know our own potential – to live rather thanmerely exist.”
The Law of Individuality
Live according to who you are.
Think of this as a test of self-knowledge.
Case in point: Fidelity Investments
Two rooms. One is Ned Johnson’s elegant executive suite full of antique furniture and orientalcarpets, the other is the functional chart room where walls are papered with printouts of DowJones averages, s & p’s and statistics that are the business world’s equivalent to Morse code.
These two rooms were a representation of Fidelity’s identity: clinical accuracy alongside symbolsof prosperity, rational thinking alongside timeless beauty, and the tension between the two roomswas where the Fidelity identity could be found.
It could be outlined in private ownership as a passport to freedom, the focus on innovation andinvention, empowerment through personal judgment, and an organic cellular structure unlikeother rigid organizational structures.
Fidelity’s business is celebrating individuality.Identity action plan:
• All employees must reinforce the one-fidelity approach, emphasizing individualism
• Recruiting people who understand individualism and apply them to all aspects ofcustomer relationships.
• Instituting customer relations awards for outstanding service representatives.
• Turning Fidelity’s investor centers into full-service, storefront investment operations, with knowledgeable staff, touch-screen computers, and educational programs for first-timeinvestors as well as experienced and sophisticated ones.
• Conducting research to find out how many customers had personal computers andmodems then developing an on-line database that would provide daily fund net assetvalues and other fund information to strengthen the bond between the investor and theinstitution.
The Law of Constancy
Case in point: Korn/Ferry International
Here the author faced an executive search firm that was searching for it’s own identity. Hediscovered that the dominant identity was that of its leadership in the form of Richard Ferry, andfor the company to make the transition to Korn/Ferry would require:
• Identifying and codifying the vital characteristics the founder had instilled in thebeginning.
• Simultaneously allowing the individual himself to recede but not to be lost as the firmgrew and evolved.
• Disallowing new managers to devise strategy that turned a blind eye to the past,especially to identity-based strengths that link the past to the future
• Encouraging growth that would add to and refresh the vision of the founder
To be Contd.
• The Law of Will To truly live, I must express myself fullyEvery organization is compelled by the need to create value in accordance with itsidentity.
• The Law of Possibility and in this regard have much to giveIdentity foreshadows potential
• The Law of Relationship To do so I need others, and am most productive withthose who need me in return.Organizations are inherently relational, and those relationships are only as strong as thenatural alignment between the identities of the participants.
• The Law of Comprehension To establish these relationships, I must first berecognized for who I am.The individual capacities of an organization are only as valuable as the perceived valueof the whole of that organization.
• The Law of the Cycle and it follows then that I will receive in accordance with what I give.
Identity governs value, which produces wealth, which fuels identity.
The Law of Being
Case in point: ALCOA
Mission: To be the best aluminum company in the world.
Background: In the midst of diversification, the company simultaneously sought a return to its core identity - that of an outstanding aluminum company - a leader in its industry.
Lesson: No company that aspires to lead its market or industry can hope to do so without a mission that ties it’s own welfare to that of the society’s.
Communicating this mission fires up employees, giving them the passion for their work, the meaning that transcends mere profit.
How to strip away the layers to reveal Alcoa’s true identity:From reading between the lines of executive speeches, existing company literature, to probing corporate history, this author conducted in-depth interviews and analysis to find out what makes Alcoa what it is.
How to see 55,000 employees as one individual with unique skills and capabilities was anotherquestion.
The unbearable lightness of ‘being’
Alcoa was truly alive in the sense that it’s R & D, engineering and marketing arms were hummingwith energy and life. Alcoa had its heart in a patented process. The company built customersupport by effectively “packaging” information as a means of establishing authority in the field ofaluminum. Enter an Alcoa client’s office and you see shelves filled with a library of customereducation materials.
This author realized that the transformations needed for Alcoa people to be more receptive tochange were technological, product-oriented, market-oriented, and societal.
Value flows upstream.
• No matter where you are on the value chain, as provider of raw materials, manufacturer,or distributor, your identity draws its strength from the contribution you make to the life ofthe end-user.
• When people are aligned with the right organization, they are liberated to become whothey naturally are.Alcoa’s identity action plan was basically diversification and decentralization.A view to leadership
• The characteristics of Alcoa that set it apart were its synchronization, core competencies,and longevity or maturity as a company.
• The synchronization or “grand efficiency” lies in all the different parts of the organizationworking in synch.
• Its integrity lies in the social value it offers while making a profit. (Aluminum is a durableand practical material used in all types of products)
• Endurance refers to its 100-year history through the ups and downs of markets.In essence, companies are alive, and the Law of Being implies that this life can be seen ashaving several levels.
• A human value – referring to the workforce or individuals who make up the company
• A business value – in terms of the company’s distinctive contribution to the marketplacesuch as products and services that flow from and reinforce identity
• A societal value – or how it brings about social improvement in terms of transportation,food preservation, and energy
• An economic value – referring to its stock price value over time, and portfolio turnover.
“All of us also have the capacity to know our own potential – to live rather thanmerely exist.”
The Law of Individuality
Live according to who you are.
Think of this as a test of self-knowledge.
Case in point: Fidelity Investments
Two rooms. One is Ned Johnson’s elegant executive suite full of antique furniture and orientalcarpets, the other is the functional chart room where walls are papered with printouts of DowJones averages, s & p’s and statistics that are the business world’s equivalent to Morse code.
These two rooms were a representation of Fidelity’s identity: clinical accuracy alongside symbolsof prosperity, rational thinking alongside timeless beauty, and the tension between the two roomswas where the Fidelity identity could be found.
It could be outlined in private ownership as a passport to freedom, the focus on innovation andinvention, empowerment through personal judgment, and an organic cellular structure unlikeother rigid organizational structures.
Fidelity’s business is celebrating individuality.Identity action plan:
• All employees must reinforce the one-fidelity approach, emphasizing individualism
• Recruiting people who understand individualism and apply them to all aspects ofcustomer relationships.
• Instituting customer relations awards for outstanding service representatives.
• Turning Fidelity’s investor centers into full-service, storefront investment operations, with knowledgeable staff, touch-screen computers, and educational programs for first-timeinvestors as well as experienced and sophisticated ones.
• Conducting research to find out how many customers had personal computers andmodems then developing an on-line database that would provide daily fund net assetvalues and other fund information to strengthen the bond between the investor and theinstitution.
The Law of Constancy
Case in point: Korn/Ferry International
Here the author faced an executive search firm that was searching for it’s own identity. Hediscovered that the dominant identity was that of its leadership in the form of Richard Ferry, andfor the company to make the transition to Korn/Ferry would require:
• Identifying and codifying the vital characteristics the founder had instilled in thebeginning.
• Simultaneously allowing the individual himself to recede but not to be lost as the firmgrew and evolved.
• Disallowing new managers to devise strategy that turned a blind eye to the past,especially to identity-based strengths that link the past to the future
• Encouraging growth that would add to and refresh the vision of the founder
To be Contd.
continuation
Identity is fixed, transcending time and place, while its manifestations are constantlychanging.
• The Law of Will To truly live, I must express myself fullyEvery organization is compelled by the need to create value in accordance with itsidentity.
• The Law of Possibility and in this regard have much to giveIdentity foreshadows potential
• The Law of Relationship To do so I need others, and am most productive withthose who need me in return.Organizations are inherently relational, and those relationships are only as strong as thenatural alignment between the identities of the participants.
• The Law of Comprehension To establish these relationships, I must first berecognized for who I am.The individual capacities of an organization are only as valuable as the perceived valueof the whole of that organization.
• The Law of the Cycle and it follows then that I will receive in accordance with what I give.
Identity governs value, which produces wealth, which fuels identity.
The Law of Being
Case in point: ALCOA
Mission: To be the best aluminum company in the world.
Background: In the midst of diversification, the company simultaneously sought a return to its core identity - that of an outstanding aluminum company - a leader in its industry.
Lesson: No company that aspires to lead its market or industry can hope to do so without a mission that ties it’s own welfare to that of the society’s.
Communicating this mission fires up employees, giving them the passion for their work, the meaning that transcends mere profit.
How to strip away the layers to reveal Alcoa’s true identity:From reading between the lines of executive speeches, existing company literature, to probing corporate history, this author conducted in-depth interviews and analysis to find out what makes Alcoa what it is.
How to see 55,000 employees as one individual with unique skills and capabilities was anotherquestion.
The unbearable lightness of ‘being’
Alcoa was truly alive in the sense that it’s R & D, engineering and marketing arms were hummingwith energy and life. Alcoa had its heart in a patented process. The company built customersupport by effectively “packaging” information as a means of establishing authority in the field ofaluminum. Enter an Alcoa client’s office and you see shelves filled with a library of customereducation materials.
This author realized that the transformations needed for Alcoa people to be more receptive tochange were technological, product-oriented, market-oriented, and societal.
Value flows upstream.
• No matter where you are on the value chain, as provider of raw materials, manufacturer,or distributor, your identity draws its strength from the contribution you make to the life ofthe end-user.
• When people are aligned with the right organization, they are liberated to become whothey naturally are.Alcoa’s identity action plan was basically diversification and decentralization.A view to leadership
• The characteristics of Alcoa that set it apart were its synchronization, core competencies,and longevity or maturity as a company.
• The synchronization or “grand efficiency” lies in all the different parts of the organizationworking in synch.
• Its integrity lies in the social value it offers while making a profit. (Aluminum is a durableand practical material used in all types of products)
• Endurance refers to its 100-year history through the ups and downs of markets.In essence, companies are alive, and the Law of Being implies that this life can be seen ashaving several levels.
• A human value – referring to the workforce or individuals who make up the company
• A business value – in terms of the company’s distinctive contribution to the marketplacesuch as products and services that flow from and reinforce identity
• A societal value – or how it brings about social improvement in terms of transportation,food preservation, and energy
• An economic value – referring to its stock price value over time, and portfolio turnover.
“All of us also have the capacity to know our own potential – to live rather thanmerely exist.”
The Law of Individuality
Live according to who you are.
Think of this as a test of self-knowledge.
Case in point: Fidelity Investments
Two rooms. One is Ned Johnson’s elegant executive suite full of antique furniture and orientalcarpets, the other is the functional chart room where walls are papered with printouts of DowJones averages, s & p’s and statistics that are the business world’s equivalent to Morse code.
These two rooms were a representation of Fidelity’s identity: clinical accuracy alongside symbolsof prosperity, rational thinking alongside timeless beauty, and the tension between the two roomswas where the Fidelity identity could be found.
It could be outlined in private ownership as a passport to freedom, the focus on innovation andinvention, empowerment through personal judgment, and an organic cellular structure unlikeother rigid organizational structures.
Fidelity’s business is celebrating individuality.Identity action plan:
• All employees must reinforce the one-fidelity approach, emphasizing individualism
• Recruiting people who understand individualism and apply them to all aspects ofcustomer relationships.
• Instituting customer relations awards for outstanding service representatives.
• Turning Fidelity’s investor centers into full-service, storefront investment operations, with knowledgeable staff, touch-screen computers, and educational programs for first-timeinvestors as well as experienced and sophisticated ones.
• Conducting research to find out how many customers had personal computers andmodems then developing an on-line database that would provide daily fund net assetvalues and other fund information to strengthen the bond between the investor and theinstitution.
The Law of Constancy
Case in point: Korn/Ferry International
Here the author faced an executive search firm that was searching for it’s own identity. Hediscovered that the dominant identity was that of its leadership in the form of Richard Ferry, andfor the company to make the transition to Korn/Ferry would require:
• Identifying and codifying the vital characteristics the founder had instilled in thebeginning.
• Simultaneously allowing the individual himself to recede but not to be lost as the firmgrew and evolved.
• Disallowing new managers to devise strategy that turned a blind eye to the past,especially to identity-based strengths that link the past to the future
• Encouraging growth that would add to and refresh the vision of the founder
To be Contd.
• The Law of Will To truly live, I must express myself fullyEvery organization is compelled by the need to create value in accordance with itsidentity.
• The Law of Possibility and in this regard have much to giveIdentity foreshadows potential
• The Law of Relationship To do so I need others, and am most productive withthose who need me in return.Organizations are inherently relational, and those relationships are only as strong as thenatural alignment between the identities of the participants.
• The Law of Comprehension To establish these relationships, I must first berecognized for who I am.The individual capacities of an organization are only as valuable as the perceived valueof the whole of that organization.
• The Law of the Cycle and it follows then that I will receive in accordance with what I give.
Identity governs value, which produces wealth, which fuels identity.
The Law of Being
Case in point: ALCOA
Mission: To be the best aluminum company in the world.
Background: In the midst of diversification, the company simultaneously sought a return to its core identity - that of an outstanding aluminum company - a leader in its industry.
Lesson: No company that aspires to lead its market or industry can hope to do so without a mission that ties it’s own welfare to that of the society’s.
Communicating this mission fires up employees, giving them the passion for their work, the meaning that transcends mere profit.
How to strip away the layers to reveal Alcoa’s true identity:From reading between the lines of executive speeches, existing company literature, to probing corporate history, this author conducted in-depth interviews and analysis to find out what makes Alcoa what it is.
How to see 55,000 employees as one individual with unique skills and capabilities was anotherquestion.
The unbearable lightness of ‘being’
Alcoa was truly alive in the sense that it’s R & D, engineering and marketing arms were hummingwith energy and life. Alcoa had its heart in a patented process. The company built customersupport by effectively “packaging” information as a means of establishing authority in the field ofaluminum. Enter an Alcoa client’s office and you see shelves filled with a library of customereducation materials.
This author realized that the transformations needed for Alcoa people to be more receptive tochange were technological, product-oriented, market-oriented, and societal.
Value flows upstream.
• No matter where you are on the value chain, as provider of raw materials, manufacturer,or distributor, your identity draws its strength from the contribution you make to the life ofthe end-user.
• When people are aligned with the right organization, they are liberated to become whothey naturally are.Alcoa’s identity action plan was basically diversification and decentralization.A view to leadership
• The characteristics of Alcoa that set it apart were its synchronization, core competencies,and longevity or maturity as a company.
• The synchronization or “grand efficiency” lies in all the different parts of the organizationworking in synch.
• Its integrity lies in the social value it offers while making a profit. (Aluminum is a durableand practical material used in all types of products)
• Endurance refers to its 100-year history through the ups and downs of markets.In essence, companies are alive, and the Law of Being implies that this life can be seen ashaving several levels.
• A human value – referring to the workforce or individuals who make up the company
• A business value – in terms of the company’s distinctive contribution to the marketplacesuch as products and services that flow from and reinforce identity
• A societal value – or how it brings about social improvement in terms of transportation,food preservation, and energy
• An economic value – referring to its stock price value over time, and portfolio turnover.
“All of us also have the capacity to know our own potential – to live rather thanmerely exist.”
The Law of Individuality
Live according to who you are.
Think of this as a test of self-knowledge.
Case in point: Fidelity Investments
Two rooms. One is Ned Johnson’s elegant executive suite full of antique furniture and orientalcarpets, the other is the functional chart room where walls are papered with printouts of DowJones averages, s & p’s and statistics that are the business world’s equivalent to Morse code.
These two rooms were a representation of Fidelity’s identity: clinical accuracy alongside symbolsof prosperity, rational thinking alongside timeless beauty, and the tension between the two roomswas where the Fidelity identity could be found.
It could be outlined in private ownership as a passport to freedom, the focus on innovation andinvention, empowerment through personal judgment, and an organic cellular structure unlikeother rigid organizational structures.
Fidelity’s business is celebrating individuality.Identity action plan:
• All employees must reinforce the one-fidelity approach, emphasizing individualism
• Recruiting people who understand individualism and apply them to all aspects ofcustomer relationships.
• Instituting customer relations awards for outstanding service representatives.
• Turning Fidelity’s investor centers into full-service, storefront investment operations, with knowledgeable staff, touch-screen computers, and educational programs for first-timeinvestors as well as experienced and sophisticated ones.
• Conducting research to find out how many customers had personal computers andmodems then developing an on-line database that would provide daily fund net assetvalues and other fund information to strengthen the bond between the investor and theinstitution.
The Law of Constancy
Case in point: Korn/Ferry International
Here the author faced an executive search firm that was searching for it’s own identity. Hediscovered that the dominant identity was that of its leadership in the form of Richard Ferry, andfor the company to make the transition to Korn/Ferry would require:
• Identifying and codifying the vital characteristics the founder had instilled in thebeginning.
• Simultaneously allowing the individual himself to recede but not to be lost as the firmgrew and evolved.
• Disallowing new managers to devise strategy that turned a blind eye to the past,especially to identity-based strengths that link the past to the future
• Encouraging growth that would add to and refresh the vision of the founder
To be Contd.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Identity is Destiny
The Big Idea
Is your company suffering from an identity crisis?
Corporate identity goes deeper than simply having a logo design updated, or hiring an agency to
create a snappy tagline and ad campaign. Organizations can achieve their full potential by living
according to their true identity. The core values create a corporate identity that every individual in the organization should believe in and stand up for. A logo design may be updated with every
passing trend, but core values and practices are timeless and transcend the organization.
Who are we? What do we stand for?
Organizations that are rudderless, or going in every direction the wind blows, need to seriously
rethink their core identity. This means you are in business because of something deeper than
profit. If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything. Leaders need to recognize
corporate identity has a lot to do with your company values and everyday practice, more than the hip new brand image.
For a stronger, healthier sense of who you are, read two chapters every night,
and meet your leaders in the morning.
Drawing on years of experience consulting for a wide range of clients such as Fidelity
Investments, Maytag and Alcoa, Laurence Ackerman shares how these organizations developed
their potential to the fullest, with fresh ideas and concrete strategies for maximizing value-creating
potential.
The Identity Credo
I am alive. I am unique. I am immutable, even as I grow and evolve. To truly live,
I must express myself fully, and in this regard have much to give. To do so I need
others, and am most productive with those who need me in return. To establish
these relationships, I must first be recognized for who I am, and it follows then
that I will receive in accordance with what I give.
The Eight Laws of the Identity Credo
• The Law of Being I am alive
Any organization composed of one or more human beings is alive in its own right,
exhibiting distinct physical, mental, and emotional capacities that derive from, but
transcend, the individuals who make up that organization over time.
• The Law of Individuality I am unique
An organization’s human capacities invariably fuse into a discernible identity that makes
that organization unique.
• The Law of Constancy I am immutable, even as I grow and evolve.
To be Contd.
Is your company suffering from an identity crisis?
Corporate identity goes deeper than simply having a logo design updated, or hiring an agency to
create a snappy tagline and ad campaign. Organizations can achieve their full potential by living
according to their true identity. The core values create a corporate identity that every individual in the organization should believe in and stand up for. A logo design may be updated with every
passing trend, but core values and practices are timeless and transcend the organization.
Who are we? What do we stand for?
Organizations that are rudderless, or going in every direction the wind blows, need to seriously
rethink their core identity. This means you are in business because of something deeper than
profit. If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything. Leaders need to recognize
corporate identity has a lot to do with your company values and everyday practice, more than the hip new brand image.
For a stronger, healthier sense of who you are, read two chapters every night,
and meet your leaders in the morning.
Drawing on years of experience consulting for a wide range of clients such as Fidelity
Investments, Maytag and Alcoa, Laurence Ackerman shares how these organizations developed
their potential to the fullest, with fresh ideas and concrete strategies for maximizing value-creating
potential.
The Identity Credo
I am alive. I am unique. I am immutable, even as I grow and evolve. To truly live,
I must express myself fully, and in this regard have much to give. To do so I need
others, and am most productive with those who need me in return. To establish
these relationships, I must first be recognized for who I am, and it follows then
that I will receive in accordance with what I give.
The Eight Laws of the Identity Credo
• The Law of Being I am alive
Any organization composed of one or more human beings is alive in its own right,
exhibiting distinct physical, mental, and emotional capacities that derive from, but
transcend, the individuals who make up that organization over time.
• The Law of Individuality I am unique
An organization’s human capacities invariably fuse into a discernible identity that makes
that organization unique.
• The Law of Constancy I am immutable, even as I grow and evolve.
To be Contd.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
