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The Connected Company
With a foreword by Alex Osterwalder.
The future of work is already here.
Customers are adopting disruptive technologies faster than your company can adapt. When your customers are delighted, they can amplify your message in ways that were never before possible. But when your company’s performance runs short of what you’ve promised, customers can seize control of your brand message, spreading their disappointment and frustration faster than you can keep up.
To keep pace with today’s connected customers, your company must become a connected company. That means deeply engaging with workers, partners, and customers, changing how work is done, how you measure success, and how performance is rewarded. It requires a new way of thinking about your less like a machine to be controlled, and more like a complex, dynamic system that can learn and adapt over time.
Connected companies have the advantage, because they learn and move faster than their competitors. While others work in isolation, they link into rich networks of possibility and expand their influence.
Connected companies around the world are aggressively acquiring customers and disrupting the competition. In The Connected Company, we examine what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, and why it works. And we show you how your company can use the same principles to adapt—and thrive—in today’s ever-changing global marketplace.
The future of work is already here.
Customers are adopting disruptive technologies faster than your company can adapt. When your customers are delighted, they can amplify your message in ways that were never before possible. But when your company’s performance runs short of what you’ve promised, customers can seize control of your brand message, spreading their disappointment and frustration faster than you can keep up.
To keep pace with today’s connected customers, your company must become a connected company. That means deeply engaging with workers, partners, and customers, changing how work is done, how you measure success, and how performance is rewarded. It requires a new way of thinking about your less like a machine to be controlled, and more like a complex, dynamic system that can learn and adapt over time.
Connected companies have the advantage, because they learn and move faster than their competitors. While others work in isolation, they link into rich networks of possibility and expand their influence.
Connected companies around the world are aggressively acquiring customers and disrupting the competition. In The Connected Company, we examine what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, and why it works. And we show you how your company can use the same principles to adapt—and thrive—in today’s ever-changing global marketplace.
438 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
109 people are currently reading
2230 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
January 13, 2013
Having lived my life in and through the network, Dave’s book hits a sweet spot for me. It’s layout, structure and format make it so easy to read and use – a huge plus! First, being a lover of etymology, I love Dave’s elaboration of Product as a Service Avatar on many levels. First, it’s so so true and second, the basis of the word avatar. So, second first – Avatar comes from Sanskrit. Ava means descent, coming down and Tatari means crossing over. Analogies of diving to flesh, energy to matter are spot on. Second, first – product as a service avatar. Think of how we name and use products. Dave reminds us of iron, brush, bottle, ladle, drum – these are nouns and verbs! Think of products as job descriptions (hence, “jobs to be done” per Clayton Christensen) – blender, washer, heater, etc.
Companies must learn to become part of their customers’ lives – part of their network. Most companies today see their role as bringing customers into their network – that’s backwards. So this implies some structural changes. Most current companies are structured for efficiency over effectiveness, for repeatability over adaptability. However, in an increasingly complex and light-speed world, this won’t work too well. If effectiveness matters, than purpose is front and center – otherwise how do you know you’re being effective? So the focus has to be on being mission-driven, assessing your success frequently which means learning which means trying a lot – otherwise known as experimenting. The more we experiment, learn, apply and iterate, the higher probably of achieving the intended outcomes for our customers – our purpose!
Obviously, with a changed structure, a more adaptable structure for this century and for connecting with our customers, the traditional roles and responsibilities may need to change as well. To date, management has been an operating system – the system. Not so much going forward! Dave shows us how management needs to be a support system, a means, not an end, to consistently delivering more and more real and meaningful outcomes. The power of management lies not in its control, but in its connections.
Now, you can say that I’m partial to Dave’s book given my writings on and passion for networking and you’d be right. Perhaps that’s why I find this book so necessary for today’s world – because we need to view our organizations, our companies as part of a network, a connection – there to connect and to facilitate connections. And, yes, I’ll admit, the fact he referenced one of my idols, Albert-Laszlo Barabas sure did help!
Read Dave’s book – get a digital and physical copy because you’ll want to mark it up, pass it around and use it like workbook – at least you should!
Companies must learn to become part of their customers’ lives – part of their network. Most companies today see their role as bringing customers into their network – that’s backwards. So this implies some structural changes. Most current companies are structured for efficiency over effectiveness, for repeatability over adaptability. However, in an increasingly complex and light-speed world, this won’t work too well. If effectiveness matters, than purpose is front and center – otherwise how do you know you’re being effective? So the focus has to be on being mission-driven, assessing your success frequently which means learning which means trying a lot – otherwise known as experimenting. The more we experiment, learn, apply and iterate, the higher probably of achieving the intended outcomes for our customers – our purpose!
Obviously, with a changed structure, a more adaptable structure for this century and for connecting with our customers, the traditional roles and responsibilities may need to change as well. To date, management has been an operating system – the system. Not so much going forward! Dave shows us how management needs to be a support system, a means, not an end, to consistently delivering more and more real and meaningful outcomes. The power of management lies not in its control, but in its connections.
Now, you can say that I’m partial to Dave’s book given my writings on and passion for networking and you’d be right. Perhaps that’s why I find this book so necessary for today’s world – because we need to view our organizations, our companies as part of a network, a connection – there to connect and to facilitate connections. And, yes, I’ll admit, the fact he referenced one of my idols, Albert-Laszlo Barabas sure did help!
Read Dave’s book – get a digital and physical copy because you’ll want to mark it up, pass it around and use it like workbook – at least you should!
October 13, 2012
Summary: A compelling survey and manifesto that unifies a lot of specialized concepts into one organized whole. I really hope we begin to embrace "The Connected Company" not necessarily as Dave Gray has defined and outlined them here, but as a philosophy and hypothesis for further development and exploration by leaders, academics, consultants, professionals, and individuals. The connected company is here and we need to shape it.
I preordered this on Amazon when I read Dave Gray's blog post "Everything is a Service". I forgot about it and one day the book arrived.
It's a flowing read but an involved one. It seems that Mr. Gray, whether intentionally or unintentionally wrote the book utilizing the concepts of his book-- each chapter is organized like a pod. A self-contained thought that in some aspects pretends as if the other chapters do not exist. For example you might see the same citation/excerpt in subsequent chapters rather than referring to the earlier citation. It works here because it allows each concept to build on the other in a modularized fashion.
The takeaways are simple and you've heard many of them before:
The U.S. management theory hails from the philosophy of Taylorism and The Wealth of Nations, a command and control philosophy. However, the shift towards services and the reality that each of our businesses are actually nodes in a connected 'service network' and in a fractal sense are one 'service network' themselves.
These companies that are to themselves networks of people (not 'human resources') need a different approach to being prepared and competing for the new dynamics of competition. Gray encourages, among other things-- pushing knowledge to the edge, smaller team like approaches for getting things done, and on the whole optimizing for adaptation vs. efficiency, or at the very least being more cognizant about the choice.
I have to revisit this text but on first survey this is a classic management text, even though it is not written in the same authoritative tone. Sadly, while this might endear its readers, its design, style and layout may ultimately lead this book to 'preach to the choir' as it departs in tone and style far enough from widely distributed business books like 'Good to Great' that it may find circulation in management hallways challenging.
Additionally this book suffers from survivorship bias, it only refers to the case studies that support the central arguments and ignores those who follow similar practices and are not similarly successful. Personally I do not find this to be a problem because the way Mr. Gray wrote the book its more of a manifesto, and hypothesis than a perspective that is to be taken by the letter and the law.
I preordered this on Amazon when I read Dave Gray's blog post "Everything is a Service". I forgot about it and one day the book arrived.
It's a flowing read but an involved one. It seems that Mr. Gray, whether intentionally or unintentionally wrote the book utilizing the concepts of his book-- each chapter is organized like a pod. A self-contained thought that in some aspects pretends as if the other chapters do not exist. For example you might see the same citation/excerpt in subsequent chapters rather than referring to the earlier citation. It works here because it allows each concept to build on the other in a modularized fashion.
The takeaways are simple and you've heard many of them before:
The U.S. management theory hails from the philosophy of Taylorism and The Wealth of Nations, a command and control philosophy. However, the shift towards services and the reality that each of our businesses are actually nodes in a connected 'service network' and in a fractal sense are one 'service network' themselves.
These companies that are to themselves networks of people (not 'human resources') need a different approach to being prepared and competing for the new dynamics of competition. Gray encourages, among other things-- pushing knowledge to the edge, smaller team like approaches for getting things done, and on the whole optimizing for adaptation vs. efficiency, or at the very least being more cognizant about the choice.
I have to revisit this text but on first survey this is a classic management text, even though it is not written in the same authoritative tone. Sadly, while this might endear its readers, its design, style and layout may ultimately lead this book to 'preach to the choir' as it departs in tone and style far enough from widely distributed business books like 'Good to Great' that it may find circulation in management hallways challenging.
Additionally this book suffers from survivorship bias, it only refers to the case studies that support the central arguments and ignores those who follow similar practices and are not similarly successful. Personally I do not find this to be a problem because the way Mr. Gray wrote the book its more of a manifesto, and hypothesis than a perspective that is to be taken by the letter and the law.
September 7, 2014
The new organization is a network, not a hierarchy. Great argument and well written.
October 12, 2012
Great book. Lots of practical tips, useful concepts and metaphors, as well as interesting stories. This is a roadmap for managers looking to the next big thing in how to design &run companies
Really enjoyed it
April 12, 2013
Some books are great to read from start to finish, with tons of stuff to enjoy, learn or be amazed by, but perhaps not always in the same package. However, this is one those books that has it all, and it was a real delight to read from start to finish. So where do I begin?
First of all, the subject matter for The Connected Company is right at the heart of everything that organisations have to deal with these days; namely, how to adapt the culture of the enterprise to make the best use of a highly connected, fast and fluid business environment.
The book is divided into five parts that discuss, among other things: why do we need a connected company; what does it mean be a connected company; how does it work, and how best to lead such an organisation; plus the immediate steps you can take on the path to becoming a connected company.
Secondly, one of the authors, Dave Gray, is no stranger to lateral thinking and innovative approaches to business challenges. His previous book on Game Storming (also reviewed by yours faithfully) was a treasure trove of game-related techniques to stimulate innovation, and alluded to some of the themes contained in this new book.
The authors’ language and writing style are both accessible and engaging, which makes it easier to grasp some difficult and non-intuitive concepts, as well as making it tougher to put down.
Finally, some key nuggets from this work include:
1.A comprehensive look at how changing customer behaviours and employee expectations are bringing about relentless change to the enterprise.
2.A description of the key features of a connected company and how it works like a constantly learning, podular organism by empowering its workforce to make the right decisions, based on clear principles and vision at the point where it is most needed.
3.It explains how a learning organisation’s culture embraces experimentation and how entrepreneurship is just ‘...a method that anyone can follow’.
4.The difference between a leader and a manager, in context of a connected company, plus several real-world examples of how to take that first step into the journey to becoming a connected organisation, for example with ‘pilot pods’.
Overall, this was a splendid read, and well deserving of its maximum score (10 out of 10), not least because it’ll resonate with all leaders, managers and employees in most organisations that face the constant battle for change.
It is perhaps appropriate to end by highlighting a quote, by Steve Jobs (on page 250), which essentially holds that ‘...you can only connect the dots by looking backwards’ or, to put it another way, innovation is often only understood in retrospect.
Jude Umeh FBCS CITP
First of all, the subject matter for The Connected Company is right at the heart of everything that organisations have to deal with these days; namely, how to adapt the culture of the enterprise to make the best use of a highly connected, fast and fluid business environment.
The book is divided into five parts that discuss, among other things: why do we need a connected company; what does it mean be a connected company; how does it work, and how best to lead such an organisation; plus the immediate steps you can take on the path to becoming a connected company.
Secondly, one of the authors, Dave Gray, is no stranger to lateral thinking and innovative approaches to business challenges. His previous book on Game Storming (also reviewed by yours faithfully) was a treasure trove of game-related techniques to stimulate innovation, and alluded to some of the themes contained in this new book.
The authors’ language and writing style are both accessible and engaging, which makes it easier to grasp some difficult and non-intuitive concepts, as well as making it tougher to put down.
Finally, some key nuggets from this work include:
1.A comprehensive look at how changing customer behaviours and employee expectations are bringing about relentless change to the enterprise.
2.A description of the key features of a connected company and how it works like a constantly learning, podular organism by empowering its workforce to make the right decisions, based on clear principles and vision at the point where it is most needed.
3.It explains how a learning organisation’s culture embraces experimentation and how entrepreneurship is just ‘...a method that anyone can follow’.
4.The difference between a leader and a manager, in context of a connected company, plus several real-world examples of how to take that first step into the journey to becoming a connected organisation, for example with ‘pilot pods’.
Overall, this was a splendid read, and well deserving of its maximum score (10 out of 10), not least because it’ll resonate with all leaders, managers and employees in most organisations that face the constant battle for change.
It is perhaps appropriate to end by highlighting a quote, by Steve Jobs (on page 250), which essentially holds that ‘...you can only connect the dots by looking backwards’ or, to put it another way, innovation is often only understood in retrospect.
Jude Umeh FBCS CITP
September 27, 2012
The first part let me down a bit. It felt incomplete and rushed, lacking detail.
However, the remaining parts are worth it. The message resonated with me, having been in a large corporation my whole career. Learning the six-sigma methodology, which focuses on building a process that can be reliably reproduced the same output, it always bothered me that by reducing variation you're not only cutting out the processes that under perform, but your chopping of the processes that excel.
This book also reinforces the concepts on team communication and the benefits of openness that I've come to understand through my experiences at work in building development teams.
It constantly surprises me how people in large corporations so easily become insular and forget there is a world outside the company where your customers are. So one of the last quotes rang so true, "The only big companies that succeed will be those that obsolete their own products before somebody else does." (This is a bill gates quote, the book uses a similar one from someone else). Our group has been challenged multiple times why we're developing solutions/products that would negate existing revenue streams.
However, the remaining parts are worth it. The message resonated with me, having been in a large corporation my whole career. Learning the six-sigma methodology, which focuses on building a process that can be reliably reproduced the same output, it always bothered me that by reducing variation you're not only cutting out the processes that under perform, but your chopping of the processes that excel.
This book also reinforces the concepts on team communication and the benefits of openness that I've come to understand through my experiences at work in building development teams.
It constantly surprises me how people in large corporations so easily become insular and forget there is a world outside the company where your customers are. So one of the last quotes rang so true, "The only big companies that succeed will be those that obsolete their own products before somebody else does." (This is a bill gates quote, the book uses a similar one from someone else). Our group has been challenged multiple times why we're developing solutions/products that would negate existing revenue streams.
November 25, 2012
This is THE best business book I have read this year. Simply put a great read. The book is a manual for the company of today and tomorrow. Glad I read it before starting on a journey as a entrepreneur. And I will make sure colleagues and friends read it.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
March 8, 2014
I just love to learn about better ways to design and structure an organization.
This book offers a lot of ideias and invites you to think about new ways to organize people around a goal.
I definitely recommend the reading. It is fun and filled with lots of nice drawings.
This book offers a lot of ideias and invites you to think about new ways to organize people around a goal.
I definitely recommend the reading. It is fun and filled with lots of nice drawings.
December 28, 2012
Anyone in a service industry and in education should read this. We should be looking at our work differently. Though there are reasons for developing efficiencies we should be looking toward opportunities and benefits with connected to our customers and others.
January 27, 2019
This book offers an interesting perspective on companies that want to thrive in dynamic environments. The basic idea underlying the book is captured in the following quote: “Connected companies learn faster - they can coevolve with partners and competitors, and they more easily adapt and respond to change. They do this by distributing control to semi-autonomous pods, supported by platforms and connected by a common purpose.” In its presentation of adaptiveness as emerging from a dynamic balance between autonomy and cohesion, one might characterise its basic argument as ‘cybernetic’. The book discusses the strengths and potential weaknesses of the three key organisational elements mentioned - pods, platforms and purpose. 'Platform' in this book means something different than is currently understood by the term. It is not an environment that facilitates matchmaking between users and providers but an infrastructure and a set of rules that supports that delicate balance between cohesion and autonomy within a single community. In the book, these different conceptions of ‘platform’ are blurred. The basic ideas presented in this book are interesting, but the presentation is fairly bland and business book-like.
March 4, 2018
A good overview of how to transform your company to be more fit for the network society. The book is particularly interesting as it contains lots of examples of companies that have turned around in the right direction. There is however a primary focus on large companies which makes it perhaps somewhat less useful for SME scenarios. That's the main reason why I chose to give the book only 4 stars.
May 30, 2020
Reading this book, these are my takeaways:
Connect through purpose
Page 246: A company is healthy and sustainable when its primary purpose is creating value for customers.
Connect through design / architecture:
- Page 4: Lowering the size of coffee machines at coffee houses can help users better connect with workers.
- Page 225: Developing shopping districts can help people connect with each other.
Connect through technology:
- Pages 6, 8 and 259: Using social media such as blogs and Twitter, people connect and share information. When we make buying decisions, we now first go to each other - using various platforms - before we go to companies. We trust each other more than we trust companies.
- Page 81: An open system is continually exchanging information with its environment, taking in information and adjusting based on feedback.
- Page 156: Use platforms to increase the effectiveness of a community.
Connect through services
- Pages 13 and 16: Growth in developed economies will increasingly come from services. Product saturation, information technology and urbanization are driving the move to services.
- Page 219: Support is a key value of https://www.rackspace.com/. Anyone can reach out to anyone to help solve a problem.
Connect through organizational design
- Page 48: Few management levels create connections with users.
- Page 116: If a customer at a http://www.ritzcarlton.com/ hotel has a problem, any employee has the authority to spend up to USD 2,000 to resolve it immediately without asking a manager.
- Page 136: A connected company is NOT a hierarchy. A connected company is autonomous units that operate and evolve independently and are connected to the whole, for example through purpose.
Connect by giving feedback and telling stories
- Page 227: Each person, who works for https://www.gore.com/, gives feedback to 20 people and gets feedback from 20 people.
- Page 234: Leaders give feedback to anyone, i.e. across levels and across departments.
- Page 235: The best stories are stories that inspire and motivate.
Connect by observing and listening to users
- Page 49: Lou Gerstner, former https://www.ibm.com/ CEO, encouraged every manager to go to at least 5 of the biggest customers within 3 months, listen to their needs and initiate action to help customers better.
- Page 95: Akio Morita, founder of https://www.sony.net/, encouraged designers to watch what people were trying to do in their lives and try to find ways to do those things better, easier and cheaper.
- Page 115: Zappos seeks to connect with users by publishing its phone number on every page of its site.
Connect by involving people in innovative ways
- Page 115: To keep only people, who are excited about their work, and promote a user friendly culture, https://www.zappos.com/ offers people USD 3,000 to leave immediately after 4 weeks of training.
- Page 171: Apprenticeships are useful ways to help people learn from each other.
Connect through social networks
- Page 184: Social networks include schools, workplaces, churches, clubs, sports leagues, shopping districts, industry clusters, and industry associations.
- Page 190: Since networks are highly interdependent, success depends on your ability to build strong, trusting, mutually advantageous relationships with other people in the network.
- Page 191: The strength of a platform correlates with people who use it. If participants decide not to use it, a platform can become a ghost town. Example: MySpace. Of strong importance for platform is therefore to share benefits with users.
Connect through purpose
Page 246: A company is healthy and sustainable when its primary purpose is creating value for customers.
Connect through design / architecture:
- Page 4: Lowering the size of coffee machines at coffee houses can help users better connect with workers.
- Page 225: Developing shopping districts can help people connect with each other.
Connect through technology:
- Pages 6, 8 and 259: Using social media such as blogs and Twitter, people connect and share information. When we make buying decisions, we now first go to each other - using various platforms - before we go to companies. We trust each other more than we trust companies.
- Page 81: An open system is continually exchanging information with its environment, taking in information and adjusting based on feedback.
- Page 156: Use platforms to increase the effectiveness of a community.
Connect through services
- Pages 13 and 16: Growth in developed economies will increasingly come from services. Product saturation, information technology and urbanization are driving the move to services.
- Page 219: Support is a key value of https://www.rackspace.com/. Anyone can reach out to anyone to help solve a problem.
Connect through organizational design
- Page 48: Few management levels create connections with users.
- Page 116: If a customer at a http://www.ritzcarlton.com/ hotel has a problem, any employee has the authority to spend up to USD 2,000 to resolve it immediately without asking a manager.
- Page 136: A connected company is NOT a hierarchy. A connected company is autonomous units that operate and evolve independently and are connected to the whole, for example through purpose.
Connect by giving feedback and telling stories
- Page 227: Each person, who works for https://www.gore.com/, gives feedback to 20 people and gets feedback from 20 people.
- Page 234: Leaders give feedback to anyone, i.e. across levels and across departments.
- Page 235: The best stories are stories that inspire and motivate.
Connect by observing and listening to users
- Page 49: Lou Gerstner, former https://www.ibm.com/ CEO, encouraged every manager to go to at least 5 of the biggest customers within 3 months, listen to their needs and initiate action to help customers better.
- Page 95: Akio Morita, founder of https://www.sony.net/, encouraged designers to watch what people were trying to do in their lives and try to find ways to do those things better, easier and cheaper.
- Page 115: Zappos seeks to connect with users by publishing its phone number on every page of its site.
Connect by involving people in innovative ways
- Page 115: To keep only people, who are excited about their work, and promote a user friendly culture, https://www.zappos.com/ offers people USD 3,000 to leave immediately after 4 weeks of training.
- Page 171: Apprenticeships are useful ways to help people learn from each other.
Connect through social networks
- Page 184: Social networks include schools, workplaces, churches, clubs, sports leagues, shopping districts, industry clusters, and industry associations.
- Page 190: Since networks are highly interdependent, success depends on your ability to build strong, trusting, mutually advantageous relationships with other people in the network.
- Page 191: The strength of a platform correlates with people who use it. If participants decide not to use it, a platform can become a ghost town. Example: MySpace. Of strong importance for platform is therefore to share benefits with users.
June 15, 2016
Grandes corporações ainda podem se reinventar para realmente atenderem as necessidades de seus clientes, criando lugares melhores para se trabalhar, liberando e libertando a criatividade e permitindo conexões genuínas.
Uma nova forma de pensar e de lidar com a complexidade!
Uma nova forma de pensar e de lidar com a complexidade!
August 26, 2012
Management book of the year by @davegray > mandatory reading for any incumbent wanting to have a chance in the 21st century hyperconnected economy
September 4, 2012
Good intuitions, but quite generic and fuzzy in the identification of consequences and guidelines.
February 8, 2013
I want to highlight every word. Great insights!
February 16, 2013
Dave is excellent at making complex subjects simple to understand. I enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoy hearing Dave speak at events.
April 10, 2022
Dave Gray connects the dots in “the Connected Company” for organisations that want to stay relevant for their external and internal stakeholders alike, now and in the future.
After a brief description of the context where we all operate in, Gray concludes there is a way to deal with the volatile, ambigue and interconnected world we live in: we need “connected companies”.
I like the idea of the connected company. It offers a clear vision on how we should organise to deal with the complexity and uncertainty we face in a service oriented world. And I love the way that humans are put in the centre of the concept, not data nor technology.
Of course data and platforms are of great worth to make a connected company successful. But it is culture and an network-oriented way to organise that supports people to deal with all the challenges they face.
I loved the Grays take on what networks are all about and how networks are developed; not by power and control, but by insights and by influence. The role of leaders is defined by how and how much they support coworkers doing their job and support learning and experimenting. Leaders should create and run structures that give enough freedom to do the best you can for customers and enough clarity to support a culture of connectedness. A clear vision, mission and goals for the organisation is indispensable for this.
So, how can we start being a connected company? There are 3 ways, according to Gray:
- Steered by top-down leadership
- The organic way
- Pilot pods
Gray covers those 3 strategies in the last chapters and finishes his book with a quote of Jack Welch, who he quotes a lot: “Change before you have to.”
After a brief description of the context where we all operate in, Gray concludes there is a way to deal with the volatile, ambigue and interconnected world we live in: we need “connected companies”.
I like the idea of the connected company. It offers a clear vision on how we should organise to deal with the complexity and uncertainty we face in a service oriented world. And I love the way that humans are put in the centre of the concept, not data nor technology.
Of course data and platforms are of great worth to make a connected company successful. But it is culture and an network-oriented way to organise that supports people to deal with all the challenges they face.
I loved the Grays take on what networks are all about and how networks are developed; not by power and control, but by insights and by influence. The role of leaders is defined by how and how much they support coworkers doing their job and support learning and experimenting. Leaders should create and run structures that give enough freedom to do the best you can for customers and enough clarity to support a culture of connectedness. A clear vision, mission and goals for the organisation is indispensable for this.
So, how can we start being a connected company? There are 3 ways, according to Gray:
- Steered by top-down leadership
- The organic way
- Pilot pods
Gray covers those 3 strategies in the last chapters and finishes his book with a quote of Jack Welch, who he quotes a lot: “Change before you have to.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 22, 2020
Its an outstanding book not just to understand how can one build a new organisation - but also how the world is changing and even if you don’t see it - its happening all around you. Highly recommended for anyone looking to step up to lead, manage or work in a new world organisation.
My favourite concept in the book & which truly hit home was the concept of the Red Queen Race
“named for the Red Queen in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland: “…in our country,” said Alice, still panting a little, “you’d generally get to somewhere else — if you run very fast for a long time, as we’ve been doing.” “A slow sort of country!” said the Queen. “Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!” The challenge of a Red Queen race is that as you evolve, the other organisms in the system, including the environment itself, are also evolving. And the greater the number of coevolving organisms, the faster the rate of change, so you need to run faster and faster just to hold your place. Says complexity theorist Bill McKelvey: “The Red Queen race can only be won by speeding up co-evolutionary processes.”
My favourite concept in the book & which truly hit home was the concept of the Red Queen Race
“named for the Red Queen in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland: “…in our country,” said Alice, still panting a little, “you’d generally get to somewhere else — if you run very fast for a long time, as we’ve been doing.” “A slow sort of country!” said the Queen. “Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!” The challenge of a Red Queen race is that as you evolve, the other organisms in the system, including the environment itself, are also evolving. And the greater the number of coevolving organisms, the faster the rate of change, so you need to run faster and faster just to hold your place. Says complexity theorist Bill McKelvey: “The Red Queen race can only be won by speeding up co-evolutionary processes.”
July 22, 2018
Un excelente libro que comencé a leer pensando que se trataba de otra cosa.
Las compañías conectadas son aquellas que se organizan en unidades independientes y autónomas, pero que viven dentro de una cierta norma que les impone algo de límites.
Puede tratarse de empresas pequeñas, o de empresas corporativas tradicionales, que es lo que me resultó más interesante. Parece que las prácticas son más aplicables en las compañías pequeñas, pero se trazan algunas soluciones interesantes para las empresas grandes, que requieren básicamente de voluntad corporativa. El autor es realista en cuanto a los alcances y las advertencias de la innovación en la gran empresa (lo frustrante que puede llegar a ser), y como sortear las amenazas.
Se habla mucho del concepto de Net Promoter Score, que creo que de aplicarse en grandes empresas, que no forzosamente tienen una cara al público directo, puede tener resultados interesantes.
La orientación al cliente es otra parte medular del libro, pero siempre acompañado a la libertad con responsabilidad que debe darse al empleado, quien debe utilizar su mejor juicio para resolver los retos a los que se enfrenta en el día a día
Las compañías conectadas son aquellas que se organizan en unidades independientes y autónomas, pero que viven dentro de una cierta norma que les impone algo de límites.
Puede tratarse de empresas pequeñas, o de empresas corporativas tradicionales, que es lo que me resultó más interesante. Parece que las prácticas son más aplicables en las compañías pequeñas, pero se trazan algunas soluciones interesantes para las empresas grandes, que requieren básicamente de voluntad corporativa. El autor es realista en cuanto a los alcances y las advertencias de la innovación en la gran empresa (lo frustrante que puede llegar a ser), y como sortear las amenazas.
Se habla mucho del concepto de Net Promoter Score, que creo que de aplicarse en grandes empresas, que no forzosamente tienen una cara al público directo, puede tener resultados interesantes.
La orientación al cliente es otra parte medular del libro, pero siempre acompañado a la libertad con responsabilidad que debe darse al empleado, quien debe utilizar su mejor juicio para resolver los retos a los que se enfrenta en el día a día
July 5, 2018
I read this to supplement an earlier book on scaling and networks which I had found underwhelming. It helped a bit but just slightly.
The prior caveat shows that my reservations with the book are more personal rather than universal. If it is your first time coming across networks then the book is a good primer. Personally I found it a bit shallow on technical details and relied too much on anecdotal evidence rather than real data. Gray cherry picked examples that suited whatever point he was selling that time. It also had tonnes of white noise and self evident points, further worsening its stead was its extensive use of Amazon as a good example when we know of its predatory techniques and hazardous work environment.
This is not a bad book per se it is just that Gray's rendition and content couldn't get past my critical review, I found myself most times disagreeing with what he was saying or seriously questioning his conclusions. The reader should cautiously check out this book and supplement it with other sources.
The prior caveat shows that my reservations with the book are more personal rather than universal. If it is your first time coming across networks then the book is a good primer. Personally I found it a bit shallow on technical details and relied too much on anecdotal evidence rather than real data. Gray cherry picked examples that suited whatever point he was selling that time. It also had tonnes of white noise and self evident points, further worsening its stead was its extensive use of Amazon as a good example when we know of its predatory techniques and hazardous work environment.
This is not a bad book per se it is just that Gray's rendition and content couldn't get past my critical review, I found myself most times disagreeing with what he was saying or seriously questioning his conclusions. The reader should cautiously check out this book and supplement it with other sources.
June 27, 2020
The author of Gamestorming and Liminal Thinking wrote this book in 2012. Another book to give examples from Semco, Morning Star, Zappos and Southwest Airlines. To talk about VHS vs Beta, how Xerox missed the PC and how Kodak could not see it. To use the names of W. Edwards Deming, Frederick Taylor, Taiichi Ohno and John Boyd...
The book talks about "Pods" and Podularization (small teams), agile and customer centricity, edge leadership and social networks. Very few new things for a long and boring book. With beautiful drawings from the authors.
The book talks about "Pods" and Podularization (small teams), agile and customer centricity, edge leadership and social networks. Very few new things for a long and boring book. With beautiful drawings from the authors.
June 14, 2022
I found the book to be written in a straightforward but not very deep-delving way. As such I would recommend it for non-business-minded consultants to have an introduction to this subject matter, “For Dummies”-style. It is a starting point to get the general frame of mind before delving deeper into organizational concepts, business strategy, and other related areas. It does a good job of lifting the veil enough to get newcomers excited about what else is out there to be learned.
More detailed review: https://evolute.be/reviews/connectedc...
More detailed review: https://evolute.be/reviews/connectedc...
April 30, 2018
Reinforces the point quite well that for a company to succeed it has to be a part of the feedback loop, learn, reinvent and never be complacent about success. It's really is always Day 1. Personally I'm going to relook at how I can increase customer touch points and front-line interactions for my team to try and become a more "connected company".
December 3, 2018
I found the book quite compelling. A must read for every hospital administrator. Perhaps they’ll see that their preoccupation with numbers is misleading. Especially as they’re constructed on shaky coatings.
Digitising the hospital supply chain will give them accurate figures based on what caregivers actually use.
Digitising the hospital supply chain will give them accurate figures based on what caregivers actually use.
August 16, 2020
What a book!
Excellent. Uniformly excellent.
The part 3 and 4 are full of insights and advice. This is a book for every leader, manager, employee and executive. I'll keep coming back to it.
Excellent. Uniformly excellent.
The part 3 and 4 are full of insights and advice. This is a book for every leader, manager, employee and executive. I'll keep coming back to it.
December 8, 2017
A very interesting view of organisational design perspectives. Recommended to all digital transformation leaders.
February 24, 2019
Short chapters, with loads of examples. A great book to understand how a business can become connected to its customers by changing the way it is organised and managed.
December 8, 2019
I do believe applying this leads to a well working company. Interesting takeaways.
September 5, 2020
Ein sehr, sehr inspirierendes Buch. Besonders wenn man bedenkt, dass es um 2012 entstanden ist. Die Tipps gelten immer noch. Für mich ein Standardwerk für die moderne Unternehmensführung!
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