How To Lead A Quest E-Book

Jason Fox

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 392

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

Unlock progress through doubt and uncertainty The biggest threat facing modern business is the sheer complexity of an uncertain future. That, and the fact that everyone is busy. Too busy for progress. Workplace cultures have become cursed with efficiency. And so when it comes to developing strategy, we default to our defaults.We favour quick fixes, easy templates and familiar approaches, developing 'robust plans' that do little to mitigate strategic risk or generate new value. The result? The future comes, and businesses die. But no longer! *cue trumpets* How to Lead a Quest is a book for pioneering leaders - folks who know that enterprise strategy is far too important to condemn to 'smart goals', 'a clear vision for the future' and other such rubbish. Within this book, you'll discover how to: * liberate enterprise leadership and workplace cultures from the curse of efficiency, default thinking and the delusion of progress * explore complex and uncertain futures to find profound insights that mitigate strategic risks and ensure your business model remains viable * create new value and enduring relevance by pioneering into unchartered and unprecedented territory * embed new structures and rituals into your enterprise to build for the future, while still delivering operational excellence today. Not for the faint of heart or short-of-wit, this uniquely refreshing book bravely tackles the paradox that is pioneering leadership. You'll discover how to lead meaningful progress - even if you don't know what the goal or destination looks like.

Leseprobe

How to Lead a Quest

A handbook for pioneering executives

Dr Jason Fox

First published in 2016 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064 Office also in Melbourne

© Dr Jason Fox 2016

The moral rights of the author have been asserted

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

Creator:

Fox, Jason, 1983- author.

Title:

How to Lead a Quest: a handbook for pioneering executives / Jason Fox.

ISBN:

9780730324713 (pbk.)

9780730324744 (hbk.)

9780730324720 (ebook)

Notes:

Includes index.

Subjects:

Creative ability in business.

Success in business.

Business enterprises.

Leadership.

Dewey Number:

650.1

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.

Cover design and illustrations, and internal illustrations by Kim Lam

Author photo by Vuokko Salo

Disclaimer

The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.

Contents

About the Author

Gratitudes

Introduction

LEAD A QUEST

USING THIS BOOK

Notes

Part I: Default Thinking and the Kraken of Doom

1: The Anatomy of Default Thinking

PATTERNS

SYSTEMS

TEMPLATES

NORMS

PRECEDENTS

Notes

2: The Curse of Efficiency

THE PROGRESS DELUSION

TOO BUSY FOR STRATEGY

Notes

3: A Rainbow of Growth and Despair

THE DEFAULT GROWTH ARC

A QUICK NOTE ON STARTUPS

Notes

Summary

Part II: A Quest Beckons

Notes

4: An Alternative Option

A CALL TO ADVENTURE

CIRCUMVENTING THE KRAKEN

THE IMPORTANCE OF PIONEERING

PIONEERING THROUGH PARADOX

TO BUILD CONVICTION, WE MUST EMBRACE DOUBT.

TO MAKE PROGRESS, WE MUST AVOID SUCCESS.

NEW SUPERPOWERS AND THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT

AHOY THE INTRAPRENEUR!

Notes

5: Quest-Augmented Strategy

A FRAMEWORK FOR MEANINGFUL PROGRESS

‘CHANGE IS THE NEW NORMAL'

Notes

6: Here be Dragons

BYO LANTERN

DECOUPLE YOUR WORK FROM YOUR SELF

THE SIREN CALL OF SELF-SABOTAGE

IT'S DANGEROUS TO GO ALONE

WHAT IS THE RIGHT SIZE FOR A TEAM?

IF IN DOUBT …

Notes

Summary

Part III: Cultivating Options

Note

7: An Intuitive Reckoning

WAIT, WHO ARE WE?

AND WHAT IS IT THAT WE DO, EXACTLY?

A CONTEXTUAL HUNCH

Notes

8: Intriguing Incoherence

COHERENCY IN CONTEXT

FINDING FUTURES

FACT OR FUTURE?

FRAMING FUTURES

NOTHING IS TRUE

SEEKING INCOHERENCE

Notes

9: Pathways of Possibility

A QUIVER OF OPTIONS

A GROWING ACUITY

IN ANTICIPATION OF CHOOKS

Notes

Summary

Part IV: Crafting Experiments

Note

10: It's Not About Ideas

COMING UP WITH THE ‘BEST IDEA' IS THE WORST IDEA

A SCIENCE-BASED APPROACH

FORMING A HYPOTHESIS

IT'S ALSO NOT ABOUT SUCCESS

Notes

11: Planning to Fail

FAILURE, AND THE NINE LAYERS OF HELL

YOU WILL BE TESTED

Notes

12: Viable Alternative Options

PACKAGING INTELLIGENCE

COMMUNICATING IN FULL SPECTRUM

Notes

Summary

Part V: Augmenting Strategy

13: Back to the Future

TOWARD COHERENCE

UNENRICHED STRATEGY

GET STRATEGIC ABOUT STRATEGY

Notes

14: Choosing to Choose

MAP YOUR OPTIONS

A BIAS TOWARDS BIAS

BEMUSING BIASES

STOP, START, SAVVY-UP

PICK A PATH

Notes

15: Strategy for Breakfast

BUT CHANGE IS GOOD, RIGHT?

NETWORKED ENTERPRISE GOODNESS

HYDRA DOMINATUS

THE BIGGER QUEST

IT NEEDS TO START SOMEWHERE

Notes

Summary

Part VI: Making Progress

16: Bimodal Beginnings

WORKING ACROSS TWO MODES

NEW TEAMS

FINITE GAMES

PROTECT AGAINST INFECTION

DIAL UP DIVERSITY

MAKE PROGRESS VISIBLE

SPREAD THE INFLUENCE

Notes

17: Meaningful Progress

FINDING A SENSE OF PROGRESS

AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

PROJECTS

Notes

18: Mission Impossible

MISSIONS SERVE A MUST

MISSIONS ARE FOCUSED

MISSIONS ARE FINITE

A FEW CAVEATS

Notes

Summary

Part VII: Pioneering Culture

Note

19: Lost in Translation

FROM CONCEPTUAL TO CONCRETE

STORYBOARDING STRATEGY TO CULTURE

KEYSTONE BEHAVIOURS

Notes

20: Structures, Artefacts and Rituals

STRUCTURES

ARTEFACTS

RITUALS

Notes

21: Contextual Momentum

RITUALS CHANGE THIS.

MOMENTUM IN CONTEXT

YEARLY RITUALS

CHOOSE ‘ONE WORD'

QUARTERLY RITUALS

DAILY RITUALS

WEEKLY RITUALS

MONTHLY RITUALS

DECENNIAL RITUALS

Notes

Summary

Conclusion

Index

Advert

EULA

List of Illustrations

Chapter 3

Figure 3.1: The default enterprise growth arc

Chapter 4

Figure 4.1: Circumventing the Kraken

Chapter 5

Figure 5.1: Quest-Augmented Strategy

Chapter 10

Figure 10.1: The experimental approach

Chapter 11

Figure 11.1: The non-linear flow of Quest-Augmented Strategy

Figure 11.2: Failure and the Nine Layers of Fell

Chapter 12

Figure 12.1: Full-spectrum communication

Chapter 21

Figure 21.1: Contextual momentum

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Part I

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