Month: December 2014

In the decade since the first edition of their book was released, the ferocity of competition in existing industries and the pressures on costs and profits have only intensified, according to authors W Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne in the latest incarnation of their best-selling book, “Blue Ocean Strategy Expanded Edition”. That is why there is a rising call for creative new solutions and such an allure in the idea of escaping from cut-throat  “red ocean” markets into competition-free “blue ocean” market space.

My full review of the book is available at my business book reviews website.

It requires courage to voice your vision, to stand up for it, and to battle the resistance you’ll inevitably face in return, because an effective vision by definition has to be original, and therefore to some degree be provocative, maybe even slightly controversial, according to Rob-Jan de Jong in his book Anticipate: The Art of Leading by Looking Ahead. That is one of the reasons why leaders are often reluctant to espouse a compelling vision, and yet vision casting is one of the key components of effective leadership.

My full review of the book is available at my business book reviews website.

Unfortunately, the history of the human species suggests that all too often groups fail to live up to their potential. Many groups turn out to be foolish; they bet on products that are doomed to failure; they miss out on spectacular opportunities; they develop unsuccessful marketing strategies; their investments and strategies go awry, hurting millions of people in the process, according to Cass Sunstein and Reid Hastie in their book Wiser: Getting Beyond Groupthink to Make Groups Smarter.

My full review of the book is available at my business book reviews website.