Chapter Summaries
Introduction
In this brief section, the stage is
set for what is to come by linking shattered dreams and clouded visions with
the timeless language of leadership.
“The only limits are, as always,
those of vision.”
¾ James Broughton, poet and
avant-garde filmmaker.
Chapter
1: Breaking The Ties That Bind: The Psychological Effects Of Downsizing On The
Individual
This chapter underscores the
financial and psychological costs of downsizing to the individual. Key points
are reinforced by relevant quotes and by linking Plutarch's Life of
Alexander the Great to Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Bullets are
used to highlight specific action steps the reader can check off upon
completion.
Chapter
2: Enough Already!
This chapter will help readers
understand that "if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've
always gotten." Simply put, cutting people alone is inadequate. Key points
are reinforced by relevant quotes and by linking Sophocles' Antigone to
the Ohio State Leadership Studies. Again, bullets are used to highlight
specific action steps the reader can check off upon completion.
Chapter
3: Certainty And Control: The Psychological Forces Behind Downsizing
In the first chapter, Maslow's
Hierarchy of Needs is introduced to describe the psychological effects of
downsizing on the individual. Although Maslow's theory provides a sound
explanation for the effects of downsizing on the individual, it does not
provide a sound explanation for the psychological forces fueling the corporate
movement toward downsizing. For this, we need to turn to Henry Alexander
Murray's Manifest Needs Framework. Key points are reinforced by relevant quotes
and a link to Machiavelli's The Prince.
Chapter
4: Downsizing’s Upside: The Creation Of New Industries
Downsizing has created new
opportunities for individuals. While many Americans are shutting themselves up
inside their homes to protect themselves from the harsh, unpredictable
realities of the outside world, still many more are forming businesses of their
own to take control of their own destinies. As in all preceding and subsequent
chapters, with the exception of Chapter 11, key points are reinforced by
relevant quotes and by linking a classical teaching to a relevant modern
leadership theory, in this case, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman and
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. A special section titled "Concept in
Action" is introduced to reinforce the impact of downsizing on new
business development.
Chapter
5: Downside To Downsizing
On the flip side, downsizing has
created new problems for corporations.
In this
chapter you learn:
The
goal of any organization is to create value, not profit.
An
organization's financial measurement system, among others, can aid or hinder
its ability to deliver value to the customer.
Entire
communities are affected by layoffs.
New
technologies have contributed to downsizing.
The last
point is reinforced by a link between Plato's The Republic and Mary
Parker Follett's Principle of Constructive Conflict. Additionally, using the
"Concept in Action" format, a fictitious corporation known as
"Mr. Pasteur's Ice Cream Factory" is developed to provide an example
of how sophisticated information technologies inadvertently can de-skill and
de-motivate an entire workforce.
In search of a quick fix to the
financial performance problem, numerous organizations have indiscriminately
outsourced employees and functions to reduce costs. They've failed to
distinguish between high-value added, low-value added, and non-value added
employees and functions. What's worse, they've misidentified their true purpose
or their true customer.
In this chapter you learn:
Organizations
must know when and what to outsource.
Organizations
must identify and organize around what they do best or what they must do best.
This point revolves around a three-step process and is reinforced by a link
between Henry David Thoreau's Walden and Jim Clemmer’s ‘Focus” and
‘Context’.
Identifying
your core processes means identifying your core customers. Using the
"Concept in Action" format, this point is reinforced by Sears'
venture into retail financial services and its aftermath.
Middle-income Americans are falling
far short of fulfilling their dreams. Why? They've allowed others to control
their destinies. They've left their jobs and career security to chance. They've
failed to take control of their lives and to live their dreams. Since they
didn't, someone else did. It's time for Middle-income Americans to manage their
own job and career security, to seek out the opportunities that surround
change, to develop new skills, and to prepare themselves for industry upswings
and downswings. By doing this, they enhance their employability and make their
futures more secure.
In this
chapter you learn:
All
employees are responsible for their own job and career security.
As
job opportunities disappear at the nation's largest businesses, small
businesses are hiring, providing job growth and energy to keep the economy
going.
What
you can do to enhance your employability. Bullets are used to highlight
specific action steps the reader can check off upon completion.
The
six skills and competencies necessary for long-term career success.
How
to select learning activities to enhance your existing strengths and to reduce
or eliminate your existing weaknesses.
The
importance of industry situation analyses in assessing an industry's long-term
employment potential. This point is reinforced by a link between Plutarch's Biography
of Fabius and Modern SWOT Analysis.
The government has served as our most
visible obstacle to the American Dream. By taxing or subsidizing things it shouldn't,
the government creates the environment for us to borrow more than we save,
consume more than we produce, spend more money than we earn, and redistribute
wealth rather than create it. Jack Kemp, former United States Representative
and founder and co-director of Empower America, a public policy and advocacy
organization, stated it best:
“If you tax something, you get less of it. If you subsidize something, you get more of it.
The problem in America today is that we are taxing work, saving, investment, and
productivity; and we're subsidizing debt, welfare, consumption, leisure, and mediocrity.”
Key points
are reinforced by relevant quotes and by linking Sun Tzu's The Art of War
to Competitive Intelligence. A special "political analysis" section
is introduced to reinforce the long-term impact of Bill Clinton's tax policy on
the deficit, unemployment, inflation, and local school district tax levies and
bond issues.
The key to long-term prosperity is
how quickly America can transform the results of corporate restructuring and
technological advances into a job-creation machine. America has the potential
to create new industries, new jobs, and new products that can compete
effectively in global markets. Isolationism and protectionism aren't the
answers. Among America's greatest assets is our free-market system, which
provides the opportunity for the constant creation of new enterprises and new
jobs.
In this
chapter you learn:
The
government has the potential to unleash the job-creation machine.
What
specifically the government can do to reinvent itself. Bullets are used to
highlight specific action steps the government can check off upon completion.
American
values that served us well in the past can provide a source of competitive
advantage now and in the future.
Key points
are reinforced by relevant quotes and by linking William Shakespeare's King
Lear to William Sandy's Leadership Selection Criteria. Additionally, using
the "political analysis" format, an innovative answer is offered to
America's anti-investment, anti-savings, anti-success, anti-work tax code.
Finally, an “action alert” or “call to action” is issued encouraging the reader
to contact his or her representative with any ideas they like from Chapter 9.
The Saturn Project was initiated in
1982 as a small car project for General Motors. Its goal was to manufacture,
market, and service a car that could beat the Japanese in the small car arena.
Since its incorporation in 1985, Saturn has changed everything . . .
manufacturing . . . marketing . . . service. Saturn has become a symbol of
quality in American manufacturing and an industry standard by which almost
every other automobile manufacturer, domestic or foreign, must measure its
ability to serve its customers. Key points are reinforced by relevant quotes
and by linking Homer's Illiad to the Tuckman Model of Group Development.
Chapter 11: The Challenge Of The 1990’s And Beyond: Attracting, Retaining, And Motivating (ARMing) Quality Employees
Natural resources such as clean air
and water, metals and minerals, and oil and other fuels are not the only types
of resources in short supply. What about human resources -- the people who
supply the organization with their creativity, drive, and talent? We cannot afford
to destroy the creativity, drive, and talent of our precious human resources.
Unfortunately, more often than not, we have done just that. Among the most
critical tasks of a manager are attracting, retaining, and motivating the
people who will best help the organization meet its goals. Without creative,
driven, and talented employees, the organization will either pursue
inappropriate goals or find it difficult to achieve appropriate goals once they
have been set. It's a challenge to attract the appropriate employee. It's an
even bigger challenge to keep such an employee motivated. It's an even bigger challenge still to
retain such an employee. It is, in fact, the challenge of the 1990’s and
beyond.
Chapter 11 is structured somewhat differently from the preceding
ten chapters. Chapter 11 centers on an actual change project initiated for one
of my clients to provide the organization with an action plan to attract,
retain, and motivate the best and brightest employees. Chapter 11 describes
each stage of the ARMing Project, the end results of the ARMing Project, and
the key learnings from the ARMing Project. The general statistical model used
for this change project is detailed in the Technical Appendix to Chapter 11.
Conclusion
This
section targets the three obstacles to the American Dream one last time,
summarizes the main content of the eleven chapters, and makes a final call to
action.
"The
true American Dream not only provides the freedom to use our gifts and talents
to achieve our highest goals, but also the freedom to fulfill our purpose in
life."
¾ David McNally, author of Even
Eagles Need A Push