mavericks of tomorrow
Two contrarians. Two counter-intuitive thinkers.
One, truly a colossus in the arena of management.
The other, a Quentin Tarantino of economics, who senses the extraordinary in the ordinary. Indeed, the duo - Sumantra Ghoshal and Steven Levitt - are dream-catchers, filtering conventional wisdom and showing us a new way to dream.
Ghoshal is a must-possess for every manager wanting to be different. In Sumantra Ghoshal On Management: A Force For Good, editors Julian Birkinshaw and Gita Piramal have brought out a 378-page book that distills the work of a man that many regard as an inflection point in management literature.
His books, Managing Across Borders and The Individualized Corporation, have become management classics. The first, co-authored by Christopher Bartlett, argues for a transnational strategy that seamlessly combines size, speed of response in local markets, and ability to disseminate knowledge across the globocorp. The second, also co-authored by Bartlett, puts the individual at the epicentre of the organisation, even arguing that the organisation must be built around him.
Birkinshaw’s and Piramal’s tribute gives a composite picture of management’s finest story-teller, the metaphors he formulated, the ideology he happily subscribed to, and the multiple disciplines he crisscrossed to give management a humane touch.
When Ghoshal passed away in March, 2004, the apostle of empowerment still hadn’t completed his preaching. But his rule-breaking ideas, or conversations, published with co-authors still challenge management paradigms. Interestingly, Ghoshal even changed the writing construct: he preferred a partner for writing books, believing that two can always distill the essence of a conversation better than one.
The other pick, Freakonomics, which has just come out as a paperback, is like an iPod: radical, refreshing, with zero fog-index. The book focuses on a young economist, Steven Levitt, and his weird, but absolutely convincing, ideas about day-to-day issues.
Like Ghoshal, Levitt is a keen observer and has an infectious mind. Even as he sees an elderly homeless man with torn clothes begging, the curious Levitt doesn’t fail to notice the beggar’s headphones in his car’s rear-view mirror.
Like Ghoshal, Levitt marries curiousity, data, and lateral rethinking to produce absolute stunners. Here are some of the questions that Levitt answers: Why do drug-dealers still stick with their moms if they make piles of money? Why do blacks jeopardise their kids’ careers by giving them certain names?
How corrupt is sumo wrestling? And, of course, how does a beggar sport $50 headphones?
If you have been wowed by The Tipping Point, Blink, and The Wisdom of Crowds, then don’t miss Freakonomics. Written by journalist Stephen J. Dubner and economist Levitt, the book has no unifying theme but a common thread of surprise in its dazzling discoveries about mundane things that never amazed us. So, next time you see a beggar or a sumo wrestler, start thinking. And reading Levitt.
One, truly a colossus in the arena of management.
The other, a Quentin Tarantino of economics, who senses the extraordinary in the ordinary. Indeed, the duo - Sumantra Ghoshal and Steven Levitt - are dream-catchers, filtering conventional wisdom and showing us a new way to dream.
Ghoshal is a must-possess for every manager wanting to be different. In Sumantra Ghoshal On Management: A Force For Good, editors Julian Birkinshaw and Gita Piramal have brought out a 378-page book that distills the work of a man that many regard as an inflection point in management literature.
His books, Managing Across Borders and The Individualized Corporation, have become management classics. The first, co-authored by Christopher Bartlett, argues for a transnational strategy that seamlessly combines size, speed of response in local markets, and ability to disseminate knowledge across the globocorp. The second, also co-authored by Bartlett, puts the individual at the epicentre of the organisation, even arguing that the organisation must be built around him.
Birkinshaw’s and Piramal’s tribute gives a composite picture of management’s finest story-teller, the metaphors he formulated, the ideology he happily subscribed to, and the multiple disciplines he crisscrossed to give management a humane touch.
When Ghoshal passed away in March, 2004, the apostle of empowerment still hadn’t completed his preaching. But his rule-breaking ideas, or conversations, published with co-authors still challenge management paradigms. Interestingly, Ghoshal even changed the writing construct: he preferred a partner for writing books, believing that two can always distill the essence of a conversation better than one.
The other pick, Freakonomics, which has just come out as a paperback, is like an iPod: radical, refreshing, with zero fog-index. The book focuses on a young economist, Steven Levitt, and his weird, but absolutely convincing, ideas about day-to-day issues.
Like Ghoshal, Levitt is a keen observer and has an infectious mind. Even as he sees an elderly homeless man with torn clothes begging, the curious Levitt doesn’t fail to notice the beggar’s headphones in his car’s rear-view mirror.
Like Ghoshal, Levitt marries curiousity, data, and lateral rethinking to produce absolute stunners. Here are some of the questions that Levitt answers: Why do drug-dealers still stick with their moms if they make piles of money? Why do blacks jeopardise their kids’ careers by giving them certain names?
How corrupt is sumo wrestling? And, of course, how does a beggar sport $50 headphones?
If you have been wowed by The Tipping Point, Blink, and The Wisdom of Crowds, then don’t miss Freakonomics. Written by journalist Stephen J. Dubner and economist Levitt, the book has no unifying theme but a common thread of surprise in its dazzling discoveries about mundane things that never amazed us. So, next time you see a beggar or a sumo wrestler, start thinking. And reading Levitt.
posted by vinay kamat at 6:02 AM
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