Overview
Executives Love the Idea of vision. And studies have proven the link between a strong vision and sustained growth. Yet when it comes to taking vision from paper to reality, most companies fail miserably. Organizational expert Mark Lipton argues that this costly disconnect -- between believing in a vision and knowing how to create and live one -- exists because today's fast-paced world demands short-term fixes. Pressured to act quickly, executives often make tactical decisions that create larger strategic problems down the road. Without powerful visions to guide them, companies invariably fall back on past ways of doing things rather than embracing the future -- a fatal mistake in today's grow-or-die marketplace.Guiding Growth is a step-by-step guide to implementing a vision process successfully. Based on Lipton's extensive research and consulting work with companies experiencing rapid growth across a range of industries, this book introduces a practical Vision Framework that addresses three core principles: the organization's raison d'etre; a strategy for achieving its "higher purpose"; and the values that define what the organization stands for. Through fresh examples of firms that have developed successful visions, such as Oakley, Whole Foods Market, and The Container Store, Lipton shows how any organization -- from startups to established firms, from corporations to nonprofits -- can use the Vision Framework. Guiding Growth moves beyond token "mission statements" toward powerful visions that guide day-to-day behavior and overall company direction, and reveals how organizations can stay the course, even as they grow.
Synopsis
Executives Love the Idea of vision. And studies have proven the link between a strong vision and sustained growth. Yet when it comes to taking vision from paper to reality, most companies fail miserably. Organizational expert Mark Lipton argues that this costly disconnect -- between believing in a vision and knowing how to create and live one -- exists because today's fast-paced world demands short-term fixes. Pressured to act quickly, executives often make tactical decisions that create larger strategic problems down the road. Without powerful visions to guide them, companies invariably fall back on past ways of doing things rather than embracing the future -- a fatal mistake in today's grow-or-die marketplace.
Guiding Growth is a step-by-step guide to implementing a vision process successfully. Based on Lipton's extensive research and consulting work with companies experiencing rapid growth across a range of industries, this book introduces a practical Vision Framework that addresses three core principles: the organization's raison d'etre; a strategy for achieving its "higher purpose"; and the values that define what the organization stands for. Through fresh examples of firms that have developed successful visions, such as Oakley, Whole Foods Market, and The Container Store, Lipton shows how any organization -- from startups to established firms, from corporations to nonprofits -- can use the Vision Framework. Guiding Growth moves beyond token "mission statements" toward powerful visions that guide day-to-day behavior and overall company direction, and reveals how organizations can stay the course, even as they grow.
Publishers Weekly
Corporate "vision" is one of management theory's less coherent concepts, and this ambitious study attempts to make it a little clearer. Lipton, a management professor and founder of an eponymous consulting firm, argues that growing companies require a vision-a "precise idea of their raison d'etre, strategy and values" that is both inspiring and concrete enough to guide action. His aim herein is to give readers the "nitty-gritty details" of formulating and implementing such a vision. Despite flowcharts, checklists and planning exercises, however, Lipton draws his "vision development process" in strokes that some readers will find too broad-e.g., a company's vision should "describe a future that is more attractive than the present," and its leaders should recognize that diverse viewpoints and debate are essential to vision development. The exemplary vision statements Lipton cites are either blandly generic ("Satisfying all of our stakeholders and achieving our standards is our goal") or spicily generic ("Involve agile, kick-butt teams to strategize, execute, & improve process"). Lipton also covers familiar but laudable ideas from what might be termed the "human potential" school of management, which emphasizes the nurturing of employees' talents and commitment. Drawing on brief case studies of firms like Continental Airlines, 3M, and sportswear maker Oakley (which rewarded one talented worker with a puppy), Lipton encourages businesses to loosen rigid hierarchies, promote egalitarianism, give workers permission to innovate, pay decent wages, avoid layoffs and foster an "almost cult-like" organizational culture. The enthusiastic theorizing about vision may get a bit tiresome, but managers and entrepreneurs will still find much to reflect upon here. (Jan. 28) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.