From time to time, our thought leaders will mention books that stuck with them for some reason or another and have influenced the way they approach their organization and their own careers. If you are looking for a great gift for a business-minded person, try one of these titles!
Focus: Customer Care
Books:
Customers for Life: How to Turn that One-time Buyer into a Lifetime Customer, by Carl Sewell (and Paul B. Brown)
The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey
Recommended by: Michele Calbi, former VP, Lean Transformation, Navistar.
Michele Calbi spoke at our 2016 American Manufacturing Summit where she discussed “Understanding the Interplay between Human Behavior and the Success of Lean Implementation.” She preached the importance of always keeping your customer in mind, and how this can be a powerful case for change in lean implementation. Not surprisingly, the two books she recommended were all about winning your customer’s trust and keeping it.
Focus: Innovation
Books:
Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid by C.K. Prahalad
Jugaad Innovation by Navi Radjou, Jaideep Prabhu, Simone Ahuja
Reverse Innovation: Create Far From Home, Win Everywhere by Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble
Recommended by: Palani Palaniappan, EVP, Innovation & Development at Terumo BCT.
At our 2017 American Medical Device Summit, Palani Palaniappan spoke about The Democratization of Healthcare Technologies, inspiring the crowd with stories of incredible innovations happening in emerging economies and the lessons developed markets can take from this. The three books he recommended will help companies looking to compete in emerging markets.
Focus: Originality
Book: Originals: How Non-conformists Move the World by Adam Grant
Recommended by: Wendy Kennedy, CTO, Software & Data Delivery, Ultralinq.
Wendy Kennedy told us at the 2017 American Medical Device Summit about some of the bold moves she has made in her career. Lately, she says, she has been inspired by the book Originals by Adam Grant, a book about “how to champion new ideas and fight groupthink.”
Focus: Leadership
Book: From Good to Great by Jim Collins
Recommended by: Dave Oakley, VP, Operations & Supply Chain, Cobham
Dave Oakley was so inspired by Jim Collins’ From Good to Great, he did his whole session at the 2015 American Aerospace & Defense Summit on “Stealing a Page from Jim Collins to Build Results that Last,” demonstrating how companies that have implemented the concepts from this book really have succeeded in becoming great.
Focus: Change Management
Books: Leading Change and The Heart of Change, both by John P. Kotter
Recommended by: Christopher Bell, VP, Quality Systems and Compliance of Emergent BioSolutions
In his session on “Establishing an Effective and Sustainable Quality Culture,” at the American Biomanufacturing Summit, Christopher Bell went through the step-by-step process to leading a change initiative that Kotter outlines in Leading Change and how this has stuck with him. The Heart of Change is a companion piece that details “real-life stories of how people change their organizations.”
Focus: Knowledge Continuity
Book: Continuity Management: Preserving Corporate Knowledge and Productivity When Employees Leave by Hamilton Beazley, Jeremiah Boenisch, David Harden
Recommended by: Lorinda Lewis, Senior Director, Continuous Improvement, Oshkosh Defense
Lorinda Lewis spoke about workforce concerns, recruiting, and retention strategies at our 2016 American Aerospace & Defense Summit. Catastrophic knowledge loss is a chronic threat to organizations today and knowledge continuity, she says, is the new management function. According to the book, continuity management “speeds the ramp-up of new employees, increases productivity, reduces the stress of job change, protects the organization’s knowledge base, improves customer satisfaction, and creates competitive advantage.”
Tell us what great business books have left an impression on you! @generisgp
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