Books like Forbes best business mistakes by Bob Sellers

In his book, The Innovator's Dilemma [3], Professor Clayton Christensen of Harvard Business School describes a theory about how large, outstanding firms can fail "by doing everything right." The Innovator's Dilemma, according to Christensen, describes companies whose successes and capabilities can actually become obstacles in the face of changing markets and technologies. ([Source][1]) This book takes the radical position that great companies can fail precisely because they do everything right. It demonstrates why outstanding companies that had their competitive antennae up, listened astutely to customers, and invested aggressively in new technologies still lost their market leadership when confronted with disruptive changes in technology and market structure. And it tells how to avoid a similar fate. Using the lessons of successes and failures of leading companies, The Innovator's Dilemma presents a set of rules for capitalizing on the phenomenon of disruptive innovation. These principles will help managers determine when it is right not to listen to customers, when to invest in developing lower-performance products that promise lower margins, and when to pursue small markets at the expense of seemingly larger and more lucrative ones. - Jacket flap. [1]: http://web.mit.edu/6.933/www/Fall2000/teradyne/clay.html

"Beth Comstock, the former Vice Chair and Chief Marketing Officer at GE, and their long-time head of business innovation and change initiatives, tackles the one issue that keeps managers, executives and leaders up at night at every corporation in America and throughout the world--how to stay nimble, adapt faster and constantly evolve in the face of almost daily change and disruption. In Imagine It Forward, Beth Comstock, the former Vice Chair of GE, describes her twenty-five year efforts to be an instigator of change at every level of business. When she first moved from NBC to parent company GE in 1998, she was ignored as a woman in a man's world, treated as an outsider because she didn't have a business background, and ignored as a mere PR person. But CEO Jeff Immelt realized even then that the industrial giant, like so many businesses, had to change fast in order to stay relevant in a world where Google and later Facebook and an explosion of internet companies were transforming how goods and services were marketed, made, and sold. In a deeply personal journey filled with practical takeaways from two plus decades of initiating change at the top levels of corporate America--from the Ecomagination initiative that transformed the way GE worked with their customers, to the company's famed FastWorks methodology designed to bring new products more quickly to market--Comstock lays out the challenges, opportunities, tools and practices needed to embrace change, whatever industry you are in, and make it part of every management decision"--

Business revolves around making decisions, often risky decisions, usually with incomplete information and too often in less time than we need. Executives at every level, in every industry, are confronted with information overload, less leeway for mistakes, and a business environment that changes rapidly. In light of this increased pressure and volatility, the old-fashioned ways of making decisions--depending on intuition, common sense, and specialized expertise--are simply no longer sufficient. Distilling over thirty years of groundbreaking research, Winning Decisions, written by two seasoned business advisers and world leaders in behavioral decision studies, is a comprehensive, one-of-a-kind guide to the proven methods of making critical business decisions confidently, quickly--and correctly. Decision-making is a business skill which managers often take for granted in themselves and others--but it's not as easy as some might think. The authors, whose expertise has been sought out by over a hundred companies, including Arthur Andersen, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, and Unilever, contend that decision-making, like any other skill, must be developed and honed if it is to be used effectively. Winning Decisions offers step-by-step analyses of how people typically make decisions, and provides invaluable advice on how to improve your chances of getting your next big decision right the first time. The book is packed with worksheets, tools, questionnaires, case studies, and anecdotes analyzing major decisions made by organizations like British Airways, NASA, Shell Oil, and Pepsi. Some of the proven, straightforward techniques covered in Winning Decisions include how to: Reframe issues to ensure that the real problem is being addressedImprove the quality and quantity of your options Convert expert yet conflicting opinions into useful insights Make diversity of views and conflict work to your advantage Foster efficient and effective group decision-making Learn from past decisions--your own and those of othersWith Winning Decisions, managers and other professionals now have access to a proven set of skills and strategies they need for making the right decision, right away.From the Hardcover edition.

Drawm from around the world and throughout the ages, The 75 Greatest Management Decisions Ever Made is an eclectic, eccentric, slightly irreverent, and thoroughly entertaining collection of management decisions that changed the world. Some you probably know about, some will surprise you, others are controversial, but all are thought-provoking. You'll discover the answers to questions such as:* What does Benjamen Franklin have in common with today's executive search professionals (a.k.a. "headhunters")?* What was Elvis Presley's most savvy career move?* What does a slave named Shem (who lived in 1000 BC) have to do with modern advertising?* Why on earth is the "New Coke" fiasco of 1985 named one of the 75 Greatest management decisions ever made?You'll read about:INDUSTRY INVENTORS: It's one thing to come up with a great business idea; it's quite another to change the face of the business world. Henry Ford, Apple, and Sears Roebuck are among those taking a bow.THE NAME GAME: Deciding to call your business IBM rather than Computing, Tabulating & Recording Co. can make the difference between mere success and global action.LUCKY FORESIGHT: Intuition, gut feeling, instinct. Call it what you will, it plays a huge role in decision making, even though you may not acknowledge it to the rest of the board. Forget analysis; back your gut.GETTING ON: Career management is highly fashionable, but what are the decisions that can really inspire career moves? Machiavelli or bust?COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: There are more ways to leave your lover than to establish genuine competitive advantage. But some decisions have manaaged to do just that, keeping companies ahead of the game.THE HALL OF INFANY: There is always a flip side. For every triumph, there are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of failures. We all fail, but some failures have been more memorable than others. The Hall of Infamy provides a timely reminder.You will also read about: Marketing Magic, Leading by Example, Getting On, Bright Ideas, and People Power

Leadership Strategies and Secrets of Seven Extraordinarily Successful CEOsWhat the Best CEOs Know looks at the careers of this generation’s top CEOs, examining the beliefs and actions that propelled each to the top of the corporate world. By exploring what they did, why they did it, and what might have happened had they done it differently, this remarkable book turns the wisdom, strategies, and tactics of these business-world icons into a step-by-step handbook for the pursuit and achievement of breakthrough corporate leadership—at any level, in any industry.Praise for What the Best CEOs Know:“For those without the time to keep up with the flood of CEO biographies, this is the thinking man’s encapsulated summary. Krames distills the core insights from the elite of business leadership in our time. He captures the powerful insights rather than the conventional wisdom, and he simplifies without dumbing down. But most of all, he presents a provocative, engaging read that will stretch the thinking of any practicing manager.”—Christopher Bartlett, Thomas D. Casserly, Jr. Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Graduate School of Business“By capturing the unique traits and strategies of these seven leaders, Krames gives aspiring CEOs a valuable blueprint for success in an increasingly tough global market.”—Klaus Kleinfeld, President & CEO, Siemens CorporationMichael Dell ... Bill Gates ... Lou Gerstner ... Andy Grove ... Herb Kelleher ... Sam Walton ... Jack Welch ...What the Best CEOs Know goes beyond theory and guesswork to look at how seven contemporary business icons carved their own paths to the pinnacles of corporate achievement. This no-nonsense guide isolates and examines the specific skills and styles that contributed to each CEO’s well-documented achievements. Its straightforward, sometimes startling, but always battle-tested guidelines for achievement include:How Bill Gates trusted the instincts of his employees and successfully transformed Microsoft into a leading Web driver and innovator How Andy Grove fostered awareness in his troops—what he calls paranoia—to sense threats and turn them to Intel’s competitive advantage How Michael Dell created a computer juggernaut by placing customers at the epicenter of his enterprise How Jack Welch created a learning infrastructure, aligning rewards with results to make GE an organization that harnessed the ideas and intellect of every employee Herb Kelleher’s rules for creating an exceptional small company culture, even as Southwest grew to more than 30,000 employees Along with subject interviews and expert analyses, What the Best CEOs Know features interactive What Would (the CEO) Do? case studies, Assessing Your CEO Quotient self-tests, and other innovative features to help you apply these traits and strategies to your own career. Contributions from CEOs and leading business theorists, including Philip Kotler, examine the CEOs from different viewpoints and add insights to particular concepts. Each chapter concludes with additional suggestions for adapting and implementing industry-specific ideas to improve your own organization.