Breaking Bad Habits: Defy Industry Norms and Reinvigorate Your Business

by Freek Vermeulen

Have you ever wondered why most newspapers are so large? Or why management consultants work such long hours? Or why hotels still insist on having check-in desks? Ask anyone in these industries, and their answer will be the "That’s the way we’ve always done it." "Best practices" may be widespread, but that doesn't mean they're effective. In many instances the opposite is best practices can be outdated, harmful, and a hindrance to innovation. These bad practices are all too common in organizations, and managers and executives can be blind to their pernicious effects. Since they've worked in the past, or have been adopted with success by other firms, their purpose or effectiveness is rarely questioned. As a consequence, these practices spread and persist. In Breaking Bad Habits , Freek Vermeulen, a strategist with a keen eye for the absurd, offers the tools to identify these practices and rid them from your organization. And, most of all, he presents a compelling case for how eliminating popular but outworn ideas, processes, and strategies can create new opportunities for innovation and growth. Brimming with examples of norm-defying organizations in an eclectic range of industries--including IVF clinics, hotels, newspapers, and a famous London theater-- Breaking Bad Habits will make you rethink your long-held beliefs about industry norms while encouraging you to reinvigorate your business by breaking out of the status quo.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Management, Leadership

272 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 24, 2017

Reviews

[Manoj Saha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provides a good insight into what "bad habits" businesses develop and how to avoid those traps - it provided some real good reasons and approach for restructuring the business and also on balancing exploration with exploitation in terms of innovative ideas and revenue generation - a balance that many organizations fail to achieve.

[Fahasa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever wondered why most newspapers are so large? Or why management consultants work such long hours? Or why hotels still insist on having check-in desks? Ask anyone in these industries, and their answer will be the same: "That's the way we've always done it."

"Best practices" may be widespread, but that doesn’t mean they're effective. In many instances the opposite is true: best practices can be outdated, harmful, and a hindrance to innovation. These badpractices are all too common in organizations, and managers and executives can be blind to their pernicious effects. Since they've worked in the past, or have been adopted with success by other firms, their purpose or effectiveness is rarely questioned. As a consequence, these practices spread and persist.

In Breaking Bad Habits, Freek Vermeulen, a strategist with a keen eye for the absurd, offers the tools to identify these practices and rid them from your organization. And, most of all, he presents a compelling case for how eliminating popular but outworn ideas, processes, and strategies can create new opportunities for innovation and growth.
https://www.fahasa.com/

[Kiroo Magdy · Rating 4 out of 5]

كسر العادات السيئة ليس في الحياة كمجمل لكن الكتاب يتحدث عن كسر العادات السيئة كمؤسسات في سوق العمل
من أروع الأمثلة المذكورة بالكتاب : الجرائد الورقية الضخمة وعن عمل الكاتب كمستشار لاحد الجرائد واقتراحه تصغير الورق والاحتفاظ بالمحتوي والتنسيق قوبل بالرفض والضحك لماذا ؟ لا احد يعرف السبب
بحث الكاتب عن الاسباب حتي وجد قانون من القرن ال 18 بتخصيص ضرائب لكل صفحة مما اضطر المسئولين وقتها لتقليل الصفحات بانتاج الورق الكبير المتعارف عليه حتي اليوم رغم صعوبة تصفحه !

اهم دروس الكتاب
الكثير من الثوابت المعمول بها في حياتنا وفي عملنا ليس لها أساس او اساسها كان ملائم لفترة ما مثل الصفحات الضخمة للجرائد بسبب الضريبة علي كل ورقة
اكسر الثوابت اللي ملهاش اساس
متمشيش وسط القطيع لو مش عارف هدفه

[Rick Yvanovich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Go with the flow, follow the crowd, its how we do things around here, industry best practices ... all mantras one hears on a regular basis.

The authors debunk all these and show how for many, the industry best practices are actually bad practices rather than good ones.

Innovation, the willingness to change and although it was not mentioned challenging the "why" we are doing what we are doing (or rather pointing out there is no why) are the concepts the authors bring to the fore.

Tie this book in with Simon Sineks Start with Why and the puzzle rapidly falls into place.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book -- crisp, witty writing and lots of insights about how to rethink your business. There aren't too many business school professors who can write this engagingly. Vermeulen has a knack for using fun stories to convey insights from rigorous research.

[Theodore Kinni · Rating 3 out of 5]

A contrarian look at conventional wisdom about ideas like benchmarking, and the hidden innovation opportunities to which that gives rise--occasionally insightful.