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Fast Company the Rules of Business: 55 Essential Ideas to Help Smart People (and Organizations) Perform at TheirBest

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Overview

From The Rules of Business Rule #1 The first rule of business is the same as the first rule of life: Adapt or die. "What gets measured, gets done." -Peter Drucker Rule #8 Nothing is more overrated than a new idea. Ideas by themselves are worthless. It's what you do with them that matters. "Bet on the jockey, not on the horse." -Malcolm Forbes "Best practices usually aren't." -Christopher Locke, co-author, The Cluetrain Manifesto Rule #49 If it is not right, don't do it; if it is not true, don't say it. "If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room." -Dame Anita Roddick, founder, The Body Shop In THE RULES OF BUSINESS, Fast Company's renowned editor in chief, John Byrne and the writers and editors of Fast Company, distill the major ideas and principles of the world of business into fifty-five essential rules. These rules are elaborated on and enhanced by quotes and insights from over 200 business leaders, practitioners, and thinkers into what is sure to be an essential desk reference for managers, professionals, and executives-to-be.

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Bio of John Byrne

John Byrne gave this response when asked about the National Theatre during his keynote speech at the Changing Lives conference in Moray in May. ' The so-called National Theatre in London seems to be the national theatre of American musicals, as far as I can see. I can ' t recall anything Scottish there, ever. I like the idea of not having a building, but of funding projects and touring them. It might allow bigger productions to go out on tour.

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Filesize

1.18 MB

Number of Pages

256

eBook ISBN

9780385516884

Excerpt from: Fast Company the Rules of Business by John Byrne

Change

The 32-year-old company founder was tired as he sat down for a quick drink. He had done six fund-raising presentations in a row in the conference room downstairs, and the venture capitalists ' still smarting from the burst of the Internet bubble ' had been skeptical each and every time.

That explained his crankiness, and it could have also been the reason why he suddenly attacked the presentation his CEO ' a 30-year industry veteran ' had made earlier in the day.

#1
The first rule of business is the same as the first rule of life: Adapt or die.

' Right there, on his first slide, he wrote, ' Things change. ' How could he say anything that trite '

To his credit, the young hotshot was right. ' Things change ' is about as basic as a business clich ' gets. But to dismiss the point out of hand is to ignore two vital facts:

1. There is a reason that sayings become clich ' s: They ' re often true.

2. The greatest cause of death among established compa ' nies is their inability to adapt to changing circumstances.

Companies have to constantly adapt and change. There is always both a looming threat as well as a massive oppor ' tunity in front of them. To ignore either is inevitably fatal.

Not surprisingly, then, change is a huge leadership chal ' lenge. Altering the direction of an organization is immensely difficult, and the problem is compounded by the fact that the people you depend on to execute the change ' your employees ' may not understand the reason why they have to do things differently. As a result, just when you need them most, they are likely to fight you at every turn.