What Matters Now

An impassioned plea to reinvent management as we know it. (innovationexcellence.com, March 2012) The book is bang up to date highlights recent crises and what we can learn from them (CPO Agenda, April 2012) A thought provoking and relevant book for our time that should inspire change, even if it doesn t prescribe it. (economia.com, April 2012) An interesting and thought provoking read for HR and finance directors. (HR Magazine, April 2012) Plenty to feed those with an appetite for change. (CA Magazine, April 2012) A rarity among business books, What Matters Now has an entertaining, anecdotal style that does nothing to diminish the visionary authority with which Hamel speaks . (I: Global Intelligence for the CIO, April 2012) The book is bang up to date highlights recent crises and what we can learn from them. (CPO Agenda, April 2012) 'Probably one of the most important books you could read this year an invitation to rethink the fundamental assumptions we have about capitalism. (Leadership Now, May 2012)

Noted business thinker and strategist Gary Hamel has been on the faculty of the London Business School for nearly thirty years. He is the founder of the California-based think-tank The Management Lab. His most recent initiative is The Management Innovation eXchange (www.managementexchange.com), a pioneering effort aimed at reinventing management by harnessing the power of open innovation. Hamel is the author of five books and numerous articles for the Harvard Business Review as well as the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, and the Financial Times. He consults widely and has led change initiatives in some of the worlds most prominent companies.

Preface ix Section 1: Values Matter Now 1 1.1 Putting First Things First 3 1.2 Learning from the Crucible of Crisis 9 1.3 Rediscovering Farmer Values 25 1.4 Renouncing Capitalisms Dangerous Conceits 29 1.5 Reclaiming the Noble 35 Section 2: Innovation Matters Now 39 2.1 Defending Innovation 41 2.2 Cataloging the Worlds Greatest Innovators 45 2.3 Inspiring Great Design 55 2.4 Turning Innovation Duffers into Pros 61 2.5 Deconstructing Apple 73 Section 3: Adaptability Matters Now 83 3.1 Changing How We Change 85 3.2 Becoming an Enemy of Entropy 91 3.3 Diagnosing Decline 103 3.4 Mourning Corporate Failure 111 3.5 Future-Proofing Your Company 119 Section 4: Passion Matters Now 135 4.1 Exposing Managements Dirty Little Secret 137 4.2 Putting Individuals Ahead of Institutions 145 4.3 Building Communities of Passion 153 4.4 Reversing the Ratchet of Control 163 4.5 Reinventing Management for the Facebook Generation 171 Section 5: Ideology Matters Now 179 5.1 Challenging the Ideology of Management 181 5.2 Managing Without Hierarchy 193 5.3 Escaping the Management Tax 207 5.4 Inverting the Pyramid 233 5.5 Aiming Higher 243 Appendix: The Half Moon Bay Renegade Brigade 259 Notes 261 Acknowledgments 267 About the Author 269 Index 271