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What Matters Now: How to Win in a World of Relentless Change, Ferocious Competition, and Unstoppable Innovation
Never before have businesses faced a more fractured, contentious, and dynamic environment. Hamel lays out an essential agenda in a world where old nostrums aren't merely useless, but downright toxic. With brutal honesty, iconoclastic thinking, and cutting-edge examples, he outlines a clear approach for leaders everywhere who are eager to move ahead.
This is not a book about one thing. It's not a 250-page dissertation on leadership, teams or motivation. Instead, it's an agenda for building organizations that can flourish in a world of diminished hopes, relentless change and ferocious competition.
This is not a book about doing better. It's not a manual for people who want to tinker at the margins. Instead, it's an impassioned plea to reinvent management as we know it—to rethink the fundamental assumptions we have about capitalism, organizational life, and the meaning of work.
Leaders today confront a world where the unprecedented is the norm. Wherever one looks, one sees the exceptional and the extraordinary:
- Business newspapers decrying the state of capitalism.
- Once-innovative companies struggling to save off senescence.
- Next gen employees shunning blue chips for social start-ups.
- Corporate miscreants getting pilloried in the blogosphere.
- Entry barriers tumbling in what were once oligopolistic strongholds.
- Hundred year-old business models being rendered irrelevant overnight.
- Newbie organizations crowdsourcing their most creative work.
- National governments lurching towards bankruptcy.
- Investors angrily confronting greedy CEOs and complacent boards.
- Newly omnipotent customers eagerly wielding their power.
- Social media dramatically transforming the way human beings connect, learn and collaborate.
Obviously, there are lots of things that matter now. But in a world of fractured certainties and battered trust, some things matter more than others. While the challenges facing organizations are limitless; leadership bandwidth isn't. That's why you have to be clear about what really matters now. What are the fundamental, make-or-break issues that will determine whether your organization thrives or dives in the years ahead? Hamel identifies five issues are that are paramount: values, innovation, adaptability, passion and ideology. In doing so he presents an essential agenda for leaders everywhere who are eager to...
- move from defense to offense
- reverse the tide of commoditization
- defeat bureaucracy
- astonish their customers
- foster extraordinary contribution
- capture the moral high ground
- outrun change
- build a company that's truly fit for the future
Concise and to the point, the book will inspire you to rethink your business, your company and how you lead.
This is not a book about one thing. It's not a 250-page dissertation on leadership, teams or motivation. Instead, it's an agenda for building organizations that can flourish in a world of diminished hopes, relentless change and ferocious competition.
This is not a book about doing better. It's not a manual for people who want to tinker at the margins. Instead, it's an impassioned plea to reinvent management as we know it—to rethink the fundamental assumptions we have about capitalism, organizational life, and the meaning of work.
Leaders today confront a world where the unprecedented is the norm. Wherever one looks, one sees the exceptional and the extraordinary:
- Business newspapers decrying the state of capitalism.
- Once-innovative companies struggling to save off senescence.
- Next gen employees shunning blue chips for social start-ups.
- Corporate miscreants getting pilloried in the blogosphere.
- Entry barriers tumbling in what were once oligopolistic strongholds.
- Hundred year-old business models being rendered irrelevant overnight.
- Newbie organizations crowdsourcing their most creative work.
- National governments lurching towards bankruptcy.
- Investors angrily confronting greedy CEOs and complacent boards.
- Newly omnipotent customers eagerly wielding their power.
- Social media dramatically transforming the way human beings connect, learn and collaborate.
Obviously, there are lots of things that matter now. But in a world of fractured certainties and battered trust, some things matter more than others. While the challenges facing organizations are limitless; leadership bandwidth isn't. That's why you have to be clear about what really matters now. What are the fundamental, make-or-break issues that will determine whether your organization thrives or dives in the years ahead? Hamel identifies five issues are that are paramount: values, innovation, adaptability, passion and ideology. In doing so he presents an essential agenda for leaders everywhere who are eager to...
- move from defense to offense
- reverse the tide of commoditization
- defeat bureaucracy
- astonish their customers
- foster extraordinary contribution
- capture the moral high ground
- outrun change
- build a company that's truly fit for the future
Concise and to the point, the book will inspire you to rethink your business, your company and how you lead.
321 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
101 people are currently reading
1295 people want to read
About the author
Gary Hamel
57 books176 followersDr. Gary P. Hamel is an American management expert. He is a founder of Strategos, an international management consulting firm based in Chicago.
Gary Hamel is Professor of Strategic Management at London Business School. He has researched strategy development in a multinational context.
Gary Hamel is Professor of Strategic Management at London Business School. He has researched strategy development in a multinational context.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
September 8, 2013
Why are business books such as this one so boring? And why are the writers so bad? Gary Hamel has written interesting stuff, but this book is just awful.
Here's the last sentence from page 243, chapter 5.5, "Aiming Higher": "Like a zoo-born lion that knows only its cage, we can't imagine the sweet grasses and blue vistas of an organizational savannah where human beings are actually free to flourish".
I mean - seriously?
Here's the last sentence from page 243, chapter 5.5, "Aiming Higher": "Like a zoo-born lion that knows only its cage, we can't imagine the sweet grasses and blue vistas of an organizational savannah where human beings are actually free to flourish".
I mean - seriously?
June 1, 2020
Someone recently recommended Gary Hamel's What Matters Now and upon cracking open the Kindle version, my first reaction was to double check the copyright date. It might have been written a decade ago with public anger over the 2008 economic crisis in mind, but it could have easily been written in 2020. My second reaction was why does this guy hate bankers and Fortune 500 companies so much? The more I read, however, the more intriguing I found Hamel's revolutionary vision of business management.
Over the past decade a cacophony of angry consumer voices on the Internet has grown louder and louder, sometimes shining a light on a breach of corporate ethics and sometimes calling for boycotts, the breaking up of large companies or the installation of guillotines across Wall St and Silicon Valley. What Matters Now presents certain complaints of the pitch-fork wielding mob as wholly valid that still strike me as questionable. Rather than pile on the bandwagon, my default response to the latest public outrage at Amazon, Google or Facebook etc, is to sift through the details and often the situation turns out to be more complex than what the trending hashtag implies. Yet even in the couple of chapters where I disagreed with his conclusions, Hamel's message is thought-provoking and made for an enjoyable read.
The heart of the book is about flipping the traditional corporate org chart on its head in order to empower innovation. Hamel incorporates several case studies of organizations that have embraced this sort of radical structure:
The book ends with a list of 25 "management moonshots" developed by a panel of 36 management experts. There are a few gems in the list, but it's a bit repetitive. I particularly liked Hamel's take on the obsolescence of traditional 4-year university degree programs:
Over the past decade a cacophony of angry consumer voices on the Internet has grown louder and louder, sometimes shining a light on a breach of corporate ethics and sometimes calling for boycotts, the breaking up of large companies or the installation of guillotines across Wall St and Silicon Valley. What Matters Now presents certain complaints of the pitch-fork wielding mob as wholly valid that still strike me as questionable. Rather than pile on the bandwagon, my default response to the latest public outrage at Amazon, Google or Facebook etc, is to sift through the details and often the situation turns out to be more complex than what the trending hashtag implies. Yet even in the couple of chapters where I disagreed with his conclusions, Hamel's message is thought-provoking and made for an enjoyable read.
The heart of the book is about flipping the traditional corporate org chart on its head in order to empower innovation. Hamel incorporates several case studies of organizations that have embraced this sort of radical structure:
- Morning Star Inc., is the world's largest tomato processor with 400 full-time employees and over $700 million in annual sales. In an industry where annual growth averages 1% per year, Morning Stars profits have grown over 10% yearly for the past twenty years. What's interesting is that there are no supervisors or managers in the entire company. Every employee is responsible for setting their own goals and negotiating a "Colleague Letter of Understanding" an agreement with other employees detailing their specific job description and deliverables for the year.
- Employing 9,000 "associates" (employee owners) in 50 locations around the world, W.L. Gore & Associates manufactures more than 1,000 different products including the Gore-Tex range of high performance fabrics. Each associate decides entirely on their own what they want to work on and where they feel they can make the greatest contribution.
- Ranked "India's Best Employer" in 2009, HCL Enterprise is an enormous hardware manufacturing, systems integration and services company with 77,000 employees operating in 26 countries. In response to declining growth, CEO Vineet Nayar replaced the company's traditional top-down hierarchical structure with a system driven by employee councils and declared "We must destroy the concept of the CEO. The notion of the 'visionary,' the 'captain of the ship' is bankrupt. We are telling the employee, 'you are more important than your manager'
- The 150-year-old Bank of New Zealand broke with tradition and empowered its local branches to set their own local hours, policies and promotional budgets.
- Saint Andrews Church in Chorleywood, England had 500 members and ran several highly polished weekly worship events, but was losing about 10% of its membership per year. "We had a congregation who saw themselves as an audience," recalls assistant vicar Drew Williams. During a remodel that closed the main church building for nine months, he funneled the congregation into "Mission Shaped Communities" or groups of about 12-50 members who would determine a mission on their own to improve the community and how to go about achieving it.
The book ends with a list of 25 "management moonshots" developed by a panel of 36 management experts. There are a few gems in the list, but it's a bit repetitive. I particularly liked Hamel's take on the obsolescence of traditional 4-year university degree programs:
"Despite all their lofty rhetoric about advancing human knowledge, most deans and chancellors seem to believe that the purpose of an elite university is to provide a grand setting in which a small number of carefully screened and highly privileged students can acquire the exclusive credentials they will need to penetrate the ranks of other similarly elite institutions."
August 7, 2023
In less than a dozen pages he lays out his criticism of the current system, and the values needed to improve it. I am impressed - I didn't need to wade through a bunch of fluff to get to his thesis.
Hamel observes that there is little agreement on which companies are the greatest innovators. He divides innovators up into 5 categories - Rockets (which probably won't be on the list next year), Laureates, Artistes, Cyborgs (Google, Amazon, Apple), and Born-Again Innovators (P&G, IBM, Ford). Apples long stream of commanding a price premium gets at least one chapter.
Two companies with very flat structure are profiled, W.L. Gore and Associates is one, another is Morning Star. In both companies, people are motivated to do good work, make good decisions, exercise initiative and be creative. Another company HCL (a company in India) also gets a chapter for Vineet Nayar’s effort to change from a bureaucratic company to one focused on the front line.
The book is divided into 5 sections:
Section 1: Value Matters Now
Section 2: Innovation Matters Now
Section 3: Adaptability Matters Now
Section 4: Passion Matters Now
Section 5: Ideology Matters Now
Followed by Appendix, Notes, Acknowledgments, About the Author and an Index.
Hamel observes that there is little agreement on which companies are the greatest innovators. He divides innovators up into 5 categories - Rockets (which probably won't be on the list next year), Laureates, Artistes, Cyborgs (Google, Amazon, Apple), and Born-Again Innovators (P&G, IBM, Ford). Apples long stream of commanding a price premium gets at least one chapter.
Two companies with very flat structure are profiled, W.L. Gore and Associates is one, another is Morning Star. In both companies, people are motivated to do good work, make good decisions, exercise initiative and be creative. Another company HCL (a company in India) also gets a chapter for Vineet Nayar’s effort to change from a bureaucratic company to one focused on the front line.
The book is divided into 5 sections:
Section 1: Value Matters Now
Section 2: Innovation Matters Now
Section 3: Adaptability Matters Now
Section 4: Passion Matters Now
Section 5: Ideology Matters Now
Followed by Appendix, Notes, Acknowledgments, About the Author and an Index.
September 3, 2012
I finished the book about a week ago and I'm still bit puzzled, what it was all about. There was so many good things presented there and so many good examples around the world, that it takes time to digest it. Maybe the main message there is, that management practices in use are old and these don't help to get the full potential out of the people in companies.
Gary Hamel has found really interesting examples from very different kind of organizations all around the world to demonstrate how management and organizational behaviour can change. There are organizations from churches to small and huge companies in very different industries presented. The main similarity between examples is, that there has been in these organizations few people who have wanted to make a change in how their organization operate.
The book was really interesting and inspiring. It raised a lot of questions and gave some answers. It brought lot of seeds for ideas, but left also many questions to wonder. It was easy to read, but hard to digest.
I really like the way Gary Hamel writes. It's always interesting and easy to read, whatever the subject is. I recommend it for everyone interested in organizational improvement and new management practices. It's an important book which raises questions and thoughts. It's a pleasure to read.
This review was originally published in my blog - here
Gary Hamel has found really interesting examples from very different kind of organizations all around the world to demonstrate how management and organizational behaviour can change. There are organizations from churches to small and huge companies in very different industries presented. The main similarity between examples is, that there has been in these organizations few people who have wanted to make a change in how their organization operate.
The book was really interesting and inspiring. It raised a lot of questions and gave some answers. It brought lot of seeds for ideas, but left also many questions to wonder. It was easy to read, but hard to digest.
I really like the way Gary Hamel writes. It's always interesting and easy to read, whatever the subject is. I recommend it for everyone interested in organizational improvement and new management practices. It's an important book which raises questions and thoughts. It's a pleasure to read.
This review was originally published in my blog - here
December 1, 2014
Ugh! Could. not. finish. The first hour was nothing but soapbox.
September 25, 2016
Pomůcka jak přehodnotit naše zažité domněnky o managementu, smyslu práce a životě v organizacích. Zařazuji do své knihovny. Inspirtivní čtení jak transformovat dnešní organizace a přinutit je inovovat. Doporučuji všem "manažerům" - zboží, které už brzo bude odstraněno z pultů obchodů .) a na závěr malá ochutnávka ...
"Musíme zlikvidovat pojetí funkce ředitele. Představa "vizionáře" a "kapitána lodi" zbankrotovala. My říkáme zaměstnancům: "Jste důležitější než vasi manažeři." Hodnota je vytvářena mezi zaměstnancem a zákazníkem a úkolem managementu je umožnit inovaci tohoto rozhraní. Abychom toho docílili, musíme odstranit systém příkazů a řízení ...(Vineet Nayar o radikální přestavbě managementu)
"Musíme zlikvidovat pojetí funkce ředitele. Představa "vizionáře" a "kapitána lodi" zbankrotovala. My říkáme zaměstnancům: "Jste důležitější než vasi manažeři." Hodnota je vytvářena mezi zaměstnancem a zákazníkem a úkolem managementu je umožnit inovaci tohoto rozhraní. Abychom toho docílili, musíme odstranit systém příkazů a řízení ...(Vineet Nayar o radikální přestavbě managementu)
September 8, 2013
Though I found the first chapter preachie and Gary an excessive sesquipedalian (someone who uses big words), the content and cases Hamel uses are inspiringly convincing.
This book is an excellent addition to your library if you want new ideas that inspire employees, balance innovation and efficiency and sustainable growth.
Other noteworthy books iinclude - The Connected Company, Maverick, The Fifth Element, Tribal Leadership
This book is an excellent addition to your library if you want new ideas that inspire employees, balance innovation and efficiency and sustainable growth.
Other noteworthy books iinclude - The Connected Company, Maverick, The Fifth Element, Tribal Leadership
September 8, 2014
This makes me want to reinvent the way every bureaucracy in the world is structured. A return to putting humans first in your enterprise, and encouraging individual contributions rather than systematized control. If all managers and leaders around the world gave these theories some thought, we'd have a flourishing economy AND some really happy individuals at jobs. I am stoked to be digging in on how to introduce some of this thinking at my work.
September 17, 2012
"A lot to chew on in this book. Loved the Hamel reference to what would be our "Moon Shot" equivalents for reshaping management to align with new realities. Check out www.hackmanagement.com and Mix Tv website for continuing conversations around key questions in the book. Good stuff. (Not for the faint of heart...but you can start with small steps.)"
March 4, 2013
Algo que deja muy en claro el libro “What Matters Now” de Gary Hamel es que la única constante es el cambio. El mundo se transforma a pasos agigantados y muchas de las empresas, líderes, modelos e incluso regímenes sociales cayeron o se alzaron en un transcurso menor a 10 años. La tierra vive una revolución social y un ambiente de descontento que no tiene precedentes históricos comparables. Es por esta razón que el autor desempolva los valores fundamentales necesarios para sobrevivir y prosperar en este nuevo entorno social, cultural, intelectual y económico.
Como lo indica el título lo que ahora importa son los valores fundamentales humanos que permiten a las sociedades, personas y empresas crecer de manera orgánica y certera. Aunque pueda sonar sentimental el libro recuerda al lector que las necesidades humanas se adaptan al entorno, pero sin importar el momento histórico en el que se viven los valores, la innovación, la adaptabilidad, la pasión y la ideología son los que rigen el movimiento y el curso de cada persona y por consiguiente las empresa.
Estos valores son los que permiten que Apple sea la empresa que es hoy pero como dice el autor también son ellos los que impulsaron a Marthin Luther King y a Copérnico y a Augusto Monterroso y todos los líderes sociales, iconos religiosos, intelectuales renombrados, célebres artistas, etc. Para que un miembro social humano pueda alcanzar metas, impulsar cambios o simplemente ser productivo y respetable debe fundamentarse en todos ellos.
El autor lleva de la mano al lector a través de cada uno de estos valores en las páginas de su libro. Los valores, la innovación, la pasión, la adaptabilidad y la ideología tienen su propio capítulo. Estos forman todo el contenido del libro y pueden ser leídos en el orden que se presenta físicamente o se puede saltar capítulos. Cada tema que se aborda es al mismo tiempo independiente de y relacionada con todos los demás. El aprendizaje que se da es por medio de ejemplos actuales y relevantes así como las aplicaciones en el ámbito laboral y su posible desarrollo en cualquier empresa hipotética.
El libro está famado por 5 temas principales de los cuales se desglosan 5 capítulos en los cuales se aborda un aspecto diferente, una nueva aplicación o un ejemplo directamente relacionado con el tema principal. Hamel aborda sistemáticamente el valor del que se habla dejando en claro cómo es realizable en una institución o empresa para impulsar a las personas a la acción.
El tema de los valores viene acompañado de una explicación de la crisis del 2008 así como una disertación sobre como renuncias a las ideas erróneas del capitalismo. La importancia del tema queda subrayada en el hecho de que una empresa si no tiene bien claros sus valores queda a la deriva para ser explotada por las personas que la conforman y explotar a su entorno.
El tema de la innovación habla de cómo esta no es percibida de igual manera y cómo es aplastada en los modelos tradicionales de las empresas. Aquí los puntos que más llaman la atención son: la clasificación que se da a las empresas y cómo Apple trabaja y está formado. Estos capítulos tienen la función de inspirar al lector a innovar no solo en su trabajo sino en todo aspecto de su vida.
El tema de la adaptabilidad es expuesto como un aspecto inevitable del paso del tiempo y la supervivencia. Otro tema que aborda es cómo motivar la compañía para ser adaptable y sobrevivir al futuro incierto.
El tema de la pasión nos habla de cómo generarla a todos los niveles organizacionales. La pasión no debe de ser exclusiva de los altos directores sino que debe de ser engendrada desde debajo de la pirámide. Aquí es donde se trata el ejemplo menos predecible del libro al utilizar la religión, explícitamente una iglesia como modelo para impulsar el cambio organizacional. Así mismo habla de cómo Facebook ha cambiado la manera en la que se debe de trabajar porque las generaciones que tienen acceso a él piensan diferente.
El tema de las ideologías nos habla principalmente de como estas pueden ser cambiadas por modelos en los cuales no existe una jerarquía simplista o los equipos pueden ser auto dirigidos. Finaliza este tema y todo el libro con una serie de reflexiones llamadas moonshots que son los desafíos que deben de afrontar las empresas.
La manera en la que se expresa el autor es coloquial, intenta que el lector se enganche y participe en el proceso de aprendizaje. En muchas ocasiones utiliza paréntesis para dejar en claro su opinión o hacer una broma. De esta manera logra atrapar la atención del lector y hacer la experiencia mucho más atractiva; el sentimiento que le implanta a los capítulos es como el de una cátedra universitaria, con los matices que un profesor le da las lecciones para permitir que los alumnos absorban el conocimiento de forma holística y orgánica.
Todo el contenido tiene muy marcado el punto de vista y las ideas personales del autor, así mismo está desarrollado para todo tipo de audiencias ya que tanto el lenguaje como los ejemplos son comprensibles y simplistas. Éstos están de acuerdo con las necesidades que requiere el tema para ser expresado de manera íntegra y poseen una relación intima con el tema.
A diferencia de muchos libros de administración los ejemplos prácticos no solo girar alrededor de las empresas más conocidas sino. Hamel escoge ejemplos que complementen la idea que los valores fundamentales son aplicables toda organización social poniendo en su libro ejemplos sobre Apple junto con los de la iglesia St. Andrews. Es atractivo e interactivo respondiendo a inquietudes que nacieron con la crisis que se dio en el 2008.
El libro es un trabajo de meditación y reflexión sobre las carencias esenciales que existen en todas las empresas así como modelos y ejemplos de que las cosas se pueden hacer de diferente manera. En ocasiones se puede detectar impulsos motivacionales o por lo menos de cambio ya que los temas son de índole humana y del valor intrínseco que tienen las personas. Por esta razón rompe los esquemas convencionales que plagan los libros técnicos de administración dejando a un lado al CEO o incluso revocándolo de su poder y empoderando a toda la cadena productiva para dar valor no al producto sino a la misma organización.
Aunque muchos puntos parecieran ser obvios o que incluso son atendidos hoy en día el libro ilumina las carencias existentes en el modelo de negocios que seguimos. Así mismo habla de la necesidad de hacer un cambio volcado a la persona desde la persona. Los antiguos monstruos organizacionales podrían ser una cosa del pasado si modelos como los de Morning Star o Gore resultan ser más efectivos y más atractivos para los trabajadores.
El punto principal es que si las empresas y las personas esperan crecer no se pueden seguir haciendo las mismas acciones, creando las mismas empresas o siguiendo los mismos paradigmas. Existe un descontento y desconfiancia generalizada hacia los empresarios que no puede seguir así porque las empresas son los motores sociales y la desmoralización constante del tejido social no lleva al crecimiento económico sino a las revoluciones violentas de las clases desfavorecidas.
Si se abrazan los temas que importan hoy en día se puede dar un cambio radical y ahí radica la importancia de libros como este. Se debe de concientizar y responsabilizar a las personas que toman las decisiones para que apliquen los valores fundamentales y las personas que tienen que implementar las decisiones deben de aplicarlos también para poder crecer y ayudar a la sociedad. Cuando un autor de la estatura de Gary Hamel escribe libros como este invita a la reflexión y al cambio, con el tiempo ideas como las expresadas en el libro pueden ser las que permeen en todos los niveles e impulsen los cambios a nivel empresarial, político y social.
Como lo indica el título lo que ahora importa son los valores fundamentales humanos que permiten a las sociedades, personas y empresas crecer de manera orgánica y certera. Aunque pueda sonar sentimental el libro recuerda al lector que las necesidades humanas se adaptan al entorno, pero sin importar el momento histórico en el que se viven los valores, la innovación, la adaptabilidad, la pasión y la ideología son los que rigen el movimiento y el curso de cada persona y por consiguiente las empresa.
Estos valores son los que permiten que Apple sea la empresa que es hoy pero como dice el autor también son ellos los que impulsaron a Marthin Luther King y a Copérnico y a Augusto Monterroso y todos los líderes sociales, iconos religiosos, intelectuales renombrados, célebres artistas, etc. Para que un miembro social humano pueda alcanzar metas, impulsar cambios o simplemente ser productivo y respetable debe fundamentarse en todos ellos.
El autor lleva de la mano al lector a través de cada uno de estos valores en las páginas de su libro. Los valores, la innovación, la pasión, la adaptabilidad y la ideología tienen su propio capítulo. Estos forman todo el contenido del libro y pueden ser leídos en el orden que se presenta físicamente o se puede saltar capítulos. Cada tema que se aborda es al mismo tiempo independiente de y relacionada con todos los demás. El aprendizaje que se da es por medio de ejemplos actuales y relevantes así como las aplicaciones en el ámbito laboral y su posible desarrollo en cualquier empresa hipotética.
El libro está famado por 5 temas principales de los cuales se desglosan 5 capítulos en los cuales se aborda un aspecto diferente, una nueva aplicación o un ejemplo directamente relacionado con el tema principal. Hamel aborda sistemáticamente el valor del que se habla dejando en claro cómo es realizable en una institución o empresa para impulsar a las personas a la acción.
El tema de los valores viene acompañado de una explicación de la crisis del 2008 así como una disertación sobre como renuncias a las ideas erróneas del capitalismo. La importancia del tema queda subrayada en el hecho de que una empresa si no tiene bien claros sus valores queda a la deriva para ser explotada por las personas que la conforman y explotar a su entorno.
El tema de la innovación habla de cómo esta no es percibida de igual manera y cómo es aplastada en los modelos tradicionales de las empresas. Aquí los puntos que más llaman la atención son: la clasificación que se da a las empresas y cómo Apple trabaja y está formado. Estos capítulos tienen la función de inspirar al lector a innovar no solo en su trabajo sino en todo aspecto de su vida.
El tema de la adaptabilidad es expuesto como un aspecto inevitable del paso del tiempo y la supervivencia. Otro tema que aborda es cómo motivar la compañía para ser adaptable y sobrevivir al futuro incierto.
El tema de la pasión nos habla de cómo generarla a todos los niveles organizacionales. La pasión no debe de ser exclusiva de los altos directores sino que debe de ser engendrada desde debajo de la pirámide. Aquí es donde se trata el ejemplo menos predecible del libro al utilizar la religión, explícitamente una iglesia como modelo para impulsar el cambio organizacional. Así mismo habla de cómo Facebook ha cambiado la manera en la que se debe de trabajar porque las generaciones que tienen acceso a él piensan diferente.
El tema de las ideologías nos habla principalmente de como estas pueden ser cambiadas por modelos en los cuales no existe una jerarquía simplista o los equipos pueden ser auto dirigidos. Finaliza este tema y todo el libro con una serie de reflexiones llamadas moonshots que son los desafíos que deben de afrontar las empresas.
La manera en la que se expresa el autor es coloquial, intenta que el lector se enganche y participe en el proceso de aprendizaje. En muchas ocasiones utiliza paréntesis para dejar en claro su opinión o hacer una broma. De esta manera logra atrapar la atención del lector y hacer la experiencia mucho más atractiva; el sentimiento que le implanta a los capítulos es como el de una cátedra universitaria, con los matices que un profesor le da las lecciones para permitir que los alumnos absorban el conocimiento de forma holística y orgánica.
Todo el contenido tiene muy marcado el punto de vista y las ideas personales del autor, así mismo está desarrollado para todo tipo de audiencias ya que tanto el lenguaje como los ejemplos son comprensibles y simplistas. Éstos están de acuerdo con las necesidades que requiere el tema para ser expresado de manera íntegra y poseen una relación intima con el tema.
A diferencia de muchos libros de administración los ejemplos prácticos no solo girar alrededor de las empresas más conocidas sino. Hamel escoge ejemplos que complementen la idea que los valores fundamentales son aplicables toda organización social poniendo en su libro ejemplos sobre Apple junto con los de la iglesia St. Andrews. Es atractivo e interactivo respondiendo a inquietudes que nacieron con la crisis que se dio en el 2008.
El libro es un trabajo de meditación y reflexión sobre las carencias esenciales que existen en todas las empresas así como modelos y ejemplos de que las cosas se pueden hacer de diferente manera. En ocasiones se puede detectar impulsos motivacionales o por lo menos de cambio ya que los temas son de índole humana y del valor intrínseco que tienen las personas. Por esta razón rompe los esquemas convencionales que plagan los libros técnicos de administración dejando a un lado al CEO o incluso revocándolo de su poder y empoderando a toda la cadena productiva para dar valor no al producto sino a la misma organización.
Aunque muchos puntos parecieran ser obvios o que incluso son atendidos hoy en día el libro ilumina las carencias existentes en el modelo de negocios que seguimos. Así mismo habla de la necesidad de hacer un cambio volcado a la persona desde la persona. Los antiguos monstruos organizacionales podrían ser una cosa del pasado si modelos como los de Morning Star o Gore resultan ser más efectivos y más atractivos para los trabajadores.
El punto principal es que si las empresas y las personas esperan crecer no se pueden seguir haciendo las mismas acciones, creando las mismas empresas o siguiendo los mismos paradigmas. Existe un descontento y desconfiancia generalizada hacia los empresarios que no puede seguir así porque las empresas son los motores sociales y la desmoralización constante del tejido social no lleva al crecimiento económico sino a las revoluciones violentas de las clases desfavorecidas.
Si se abrazan los temas que importan hoy en día se puede dar un cambio radical y ahí radica la importancia de libros como este. Se debe de concientizar y responsabilizar a las personas que toman las decisiones para que apliquen los valores fundamentales y las personas que tienen que implementar las decisiones deben de aplicarlos también para poder crecer y ayudar a la sociedad. Cuando un autor de la estatura de Gary Hamel escribe libros como este invita a la reflexión y al cambio, con el tiempo ideas como las expresadas en el libro pueden ser las que permeen en todos los niveles e impulsen los cambios a nivel empresarial, político y social.
May 22, 2019
Well here are my numbers on these parameters:
Avoiding Redundancy: 2/5
Case Studies: 3/5
Authenticity: 3/5
Readability: 2/5
Practical: 4/5
Quotes: 3/5
Well, the book does nothing new when it comes to present day companies and their vision.
Most of the companies are working under the guidelines which GARY mentions.
Takeaways:
The categorization of companies into chunks depending on the level of innovation.
Case studies of apple.
Cons of the books:
The book relies heavily on Apple and the case studies are what apple did well but nothing on what it is still doing good or what any company is doing good. All the cases are what some company did good (mostly apple) and that's it.
Overall it can be skimmed or skipped through entirely.
You can go for "Simon Sinek on this one".
Avoiding Redundancy: 2/5
Case Studies: 3/5
Authenticity: 3/5
Readability: 2/5
Practical: 4/5
Quotes: 3/5
Well, the book does nothing new when it comes to present day companies and their vision.
Most of the companies are working under the guidelines which GARY mentions.
Takeaways:
The categorization of companies into chunks depending on the level of innovation.
Case studies of apple.
Cons of the books:
The book relies heavily on Apple and the case studies are what apple did well but nothing on what it is still doing good or what any company is doing good. All the cases are what some company did good (mostly apple) and that's it.
Overall it can be skimmed or skipped through entirely.
You can go for "Simon Sinek on this one".
September 25, 2020
Excellent, in parts
Part 3 was my favorite ...
The book is fairly uneven and starts off talking of ethics, morals and challenges of 21st century. It quickly forgets those and talks about resilience of some companies - flexibility, flat systems, distributed setups and more. It then moves into elements of humanocracy and holocracy. It's a book which hasn't yet made up it's mind but overall it still has some meat.
Part 3 was my favorite ...
The book is fairly uneven and starts off talking of ethics, morals and challenges of 21st century. It quickly forgets those and talks about resilience of some companies - flexibility, flat systems, distributed setups and more. It then moves into elements of humanocracy and holocracy. It's a book which hasn't yet made up it's mind but overall it still has some meat.
September 18, 2025
The overall premise is that we need to re-humanise (and de-bureaucratise) organisations.
As to how - there are some good ideas on how to do that here and there are some ideas that sent me to sleep. Literally.
I mean, yeah, sure, I'm a person and all people like some things aha dislike others, but there was more to dislike for me here.
Specifics? Listen, I just can't be bothered right now. That's how the book left me. Not a good sign, right?
But I agree with the overall premise.
As to how - there are some good ideas on how to do that here and there are some ideas that sent me to sleep. Literally.
I mean, yeah, sure, I'm a person and all people like some things aha dislike others, but there was more to dislike for me here.
Specifics? Listen, I just can't be bothered right now. That's how the book left me. Not a good sign, right?
But I agree with the overall premise.
March 2, 2018
I saw Gary Hamel speak a few weeks back and thoroughly enjoyed his talk.
If you're interested in the overall theme of organizational change and development - and the case for progressive (self) management models - Hamel's book is a worthwhile read. I value that he takes a pragmatic view of some innovative ideas while giving clear examples across industries.
If you're interested in the overall theme of organizational change and development - and the case for progressive (self) management models - Hamel's book is a worthwhile read. I value that he takes a pragmatic view of some innovative ideas while giving clear examples across industries.
January 16, 2020
I found this book packed with useful information. I'm planning on possibly having some business classes in college and I found this book really furthered my knowledge. I would definitely recommend this book to anybody who is in the business world or trying to get into it. It talks a lot about how to start and run a high efficient business and the organization of one.
January 13, 2020
A combination of agenda for building organizations, call to better management, and of course exemplary cases, for "NOW"; i.e. the post-knowledge creative economy. There's a lot to chew on in this impassioned PSA for the business community.
July 26, 2018
No that I would disagree with the author but main thoughts can be written more concisely. There are many unnecessary passages which prolonged the book.
May 31, 2019
I can only think of maybe 5 books in my life that I couldn’t finish because of how bad it was. What a complete rambling, pointless, generic waste of time.
November 12, 2019
Un libro verdaderamente útil e increíble para reinventar la Administración y crear empresas más humanas e innovadoras.
December 31, 2019
I've read this book in 2019, and is still up to date. I think Gary Hamel makes a terrific job in deconstructing standard management practices so we can start to construct them again.
February 2, 2020
Anyone in new economy and current business world should read.. a concise and practical advice on what really matters now... great read overall...
March 10, 2020
What matters the most to your business rising into the market at the very particular time.
May 21, 2020
Waste of time
November 12, 2015
This book is NOT for anyone who had trouble accepting radical forms of “management.” It is NOT for anyone who wants a prescriptive proven path. Yet, if you want to learn of exceptional directions that can revolutionize your company (whether it's established or just starting) this will provide fantastic and usable insights. (Do consider Gary's prior book also: The Future of Management.)
The first section (Values) with the entertaining diatribe about current irresponsible behavior, is a bit long... good points, can raise my anger, gave me some new info... but overall, it was not as helpful. Some may need this hard (and long) slap to shake up their perceptions of corporate values. I didn’t, yet I agree with it, and the concepts are important.
The subsequent sections use the separate perspectives of Innovation, Adaptability, Passion and Ideology to explore radically different ways to organize and run a company. I believe the concepts to my core. They highlight fantastic opportunities for those who will pick up the exercise, practice it, become good at it, and constantly uphold the true value in employees, real teamwork, self-management, and more. Gary also highlights how traditional organizations and management structures tend to squash the otherwise natural employees' abilities of intelligence, creativity, and innovation. It’s excellent.
Don't expect an outlined process to make it a formula. Expect instead strong directional concepts and some starting points that you will have to initially apply and work with the team to monitor and constantly adapt, to create something fantastic! The Future of Management and What Matters Now have both made me a fan. Thanks Gary!
The first section (Values) with the entertaining diatribe about current irresponsible behavior, is a bit long... good points, can raise my anger, gave me some new info... but overall, it was not as helpful. Some may need this hard (and long) slap to shake up their perceptions of corporate values. I didn’t, yet I agree with it, and the concepts are important.
The subsequent sections use the separate perspectives of Innovation, Adaptability, Passion and Ideology to explore radically different ways to organize and run a company. I believe the concepts to my core. They highlight fantastic opportunities for those who will pick up the exercise, practice it, become good at it, and constantly uphold the true value in employees, real teamwork, self-management, and more. Gary also highlights how traditional organizations and management structures tend to squash the otherwise natural employees' abilities of intelligence, creativity, and innovation. It’s excellent.
Don't expect an outlined process to make it a formula. Expect instead strong directional concepts and some starting points that you will have to initially apply and work with the team to monitor and constantly adapt, to create something fantastic! The Future of Management and What Matters Now have both made me a fan. Thanks Gary!
June 26, 2015
“What matters now” is the 2nd book after “The future of Management” I read form Gary Hamel. First of all: it is a true Hamel again. It’s fun to read it although I have to admit that I have to look-up a few words in a dictionary in order to grasp the full meaning of what he is trying to convey to me. To use his words, reading it is at times “so gorgeous and lust-worthy that I want to hug or lick” the book. Well, no need for you to comment on that. As I use to read books in trains or in the subway, doing so would provoke an unconvincing and even less impressive impression on the uninitiated witnesses.
Contentwise it gives me the gentle feeling of reading my own – occasionally subconsciously felt – opinion, sometimes furiously expressed by a well-respected Management professor.
Ok, but I am just half-way through. Let’s see what is to come.
... and wow after having read the 2nd half of the book it met my expectations - after the 1st half raised the bar so high already. Well at least one chapter was not exactly targeted at me as I am e.g. less concerned with reorganizing churches. Instructive however was even that chapter. And at times I found myself giggling like a school girl - again causing raised eyebrows and derogatory glances.
It was well worth that - it's a good book.
Contentwise it gives me the gentle feeling of reading my own – occasionally subconsciously felt – opinion, sometimes furiously expressed by a well-respected Management professor.
Ok, but I am just half-way through. Let’s see what is to come.
... and wow after having read the 2nd half of the book it met my expectations - after the 1st half raised the bar so high already. Well at least one chapter was not exactly targeted at me as I am e.g. less concerned with reorganizing churches. Instructive however was even that chapter. And at times I found myself giggling like a school girl - again causing raised eyebrows and derogatory glances.
It was well worth that - it's a good book.
February 8, 2017
Gary Hamel does a good job painting a picture of what management of the future looks like. His book is broken into 5 sections: 1) Values, 2) Innovation, 3) Adaptability, 4) Passion, and 5) Ideology. Though most of his book was really a rehash of a lot of other material out there, I found his section on Passion to be extremely insightful and visionary.
His basic point is that obedience, skill and competency are becoming commodities. The only way to differentiate is to foster creativity and passion. He calls for a different view of management to accommodate this new value. Instead of focusing on how to create obedience and diligence, managers should focus on fostering audacity, imagination, and zeal. By doing so, Hamel suggests decentralization, peer-review, community over hierarchy, thereby putting individuals ahead of institutions, rather than vice versa.
The book is relatively easy to read, reading like 5 mini-books.
His basic point is that obedience, skill and competency are becoming commodities. The only way to differentiate is to foster creativity and passion. He calls for a different view of management to accommodate this new value. Instead of focusing on how to create obedience and diligence, managers should focus on fostering audacity, imagination, and zeal. By doing so, Hamel suggests decentralization, peer-review, community over hierarchy, thereby putting individuals ahead of institutions, rather than vice versa.
The book is relatively easy to read, reading like 5 mini-books.
October 11, 2013
A good and somewhat quick read, easy to take the short chapters on a plane trip. Some very interesting ideas that will be more and more relevant as the 'Gen F' (Facebbok generation) continues it's impact as consumes and ultimately workers/contributors. I don't necessarily agree with all of his conclusions or recommendations, but he is correct that the current hierarchy based, top-down approach to management is ill equipped to survive the quickly approaching and dynamically changing future of business.
I really liked the case studies about business that have flipped the organization on its head, focusing on Employee self-management and self assembly. One of my business partners (a privately held mid-sized software development organization) is in the process of making these types of changes. It will be extremely interesting to see how well it works for them.
I really liked the case studies about business that have flipped the organization on its head, focusing on Employee self-management and self assembly. One of my business partners (a privately held mid-sized software development organization) is in the process of making these types of changes. It will be extremely interesting to see how well it works for them.
December 10, 2015
This is a great management book to read if you are a manager, want to be a manager, or wish you had a better manager. A lot of the management theory is not exactly new, but it makes sense. The old top down paradigm doesn't work and employees need to be empowered yada yada. Hamel gives some good examples of real companies but unfortunately my experience has been with the old style management that seems entrenched in our out of balance world. People like their power, political connections, and money and are not going to share even for the good of the company or country. Wish it were otherwise... Still a good read.
May 15, 2012
Good book, but some weird examples... How can you compare how churches manage change with how businesses manage change?? In my business, there are market forces at work, in a church you have social forces leading to church extinction... if the church goes belly up, there are no shareholders who lose money, very few people lose their jobs, etc. He also takes a crack at atheists for no apparent reason, which I didn't like. But amidst all that nonsense, there is a lot of really good and interesting information.
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