Seduced by Success: How the Best Companies Survive the 9 Traps of Winning - Hardcover

Herbold, Robert

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0071481834 ISBN 13: 9780071481830

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education, 2007

Synopsis

Don't let success put your company on the road to ruin

In Seduced by Success, Robert J. Herbold, the former Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft, shows you how to avoid the nine traps of success-the “legacy practices” that almost felled such giants as General Motors, Kodak and Sony. Herbold, a 26-year-veteran of Procter & Gamble who lived through each trap, gives you proven tactics for preventing arrogance, bloat, and neglect while capitalizing on your accomplishments, sustaining your momentum, and retaining your position in the marketplace.

The nine traps every successful organization must avoid are

• Neglect: Sticking with Yesterday's Business Model
• Pride: Allowing Your Products to Become Outdated
• Boredom: Clinging to Your Once-Successful Branding
• Complexity: Ignoring Your Business Processes
• Bloat: Rationalizing Your Loss of Speed and Agility
• Mediocrity: Letting Your Star Employees Languish
• Lethargy: Getting Lulled into a Culture of Comfort
• Timidity: Not Confronting Turf Wars and Obstructionists
• Confusion: Unwittingly Conducting Schizophrenic Communications

These mistakes cut your business legs off at the knees, destroying your ability to recognize and meet the need for change. Herbold shows you how to avoid these landmines by

• Continually revitalizing your brands and products
• Demanding new approaches to “proven” practices
• Maintaining speed and agility through strong leadership
• Making sure employees are empowered to achieve and not handicapped by bureaucracy
• Using an exciting new product to overhaul your culture

For each success trap, Herbold provides illuminating examples of top companies that were seduced by their success-as well as others that managed to maintain and even broaden their achievements. Seduced by Success is the best way to ensure your company sustains its success for the long term.

About this title

Synopsis:

The former COO of Microsoft reveals the secrets to staying great. Success can be a serious business vulnerability! General Motors, IBM, Kodak, Rubbermaid - these are just a few examples of top companies that became complacent and bloated. To sustain their success, they should have been uncovering fresh approaches, improving their products and services, and staying lean and agile. In "Seduced by Success", Robert Herbold shows you and your company how to become successful and stay that way by avoiding the nine biggest success traps. The book features multiple examples of successful companies that succumbed to problems as well as examples of companies that overcame them.This provocative, thought-leading guide explains why "defending yesterday" is a prescription for failure. You'll learn how and why both you and your organization must constantly experiment with new ideas, processes, and business models to remain relevant.

The nine traps which every successful organization must avoid are: Neglect - Sticking with yesterday's business model; Pride - Letting products and services become second rate; Boredom - Clinging to your once successful branding; Complexity - Letting processes run the business; Bloat - Losing agility; Mediocrity - Allowing subpar performance to persist; Lethargy - Nurturing a retirement home culture; Timidity - Permitting turf battles and infighting; and, Vagueness - Schizophrenic communication.

From the Back Cover:

Praise for

Seduced by Success

“Bob Herbold gets to the heart of why successful organizations and individuals often go into a tailspin, and how this can be avoided. His thorough reviews of specific companies we all know make this a very useful book, and I highly recommend it.”-Indra K.Nooyi, President & CEO, PepsiCo, Inc.

“This book rings painfully true....Bob Herbold demonstrates with clinical precision that a company's fall from grace can frequently be traced back to its time of greatest achievement. Before you get too depressed, however, take heart-he also gives you all the tools you need to avoid that ignominious fate.”-Sir Martin Sorrell, Chief Executive Officer, WPP Group PLC

“It's very instructive to read the detailed case studies showing how some successful companies lose their way, while others remain successful. Through these rich examples, Bob Herbold shows how to sustain success.”-Koh Boon Hwee, Chairman, DBS Group Holdings/DBS Bank, Asia

“Seldom do you find a book with as many powerful, useful reminders that help you face up to reality and deal with problems. I strongly urge you to read it.”-Grant L. Kelley, Principal & CEO, Colony Capital Asia

About this edition

• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0071481834
• ISBN 13: 9780071481830
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336