Old Dogs, New Tricks

In today's dog-eat-dog world of competition and ongoing change, people in every position -- especially senior managers and executives (the "old dogs") -- must learn to work as great groups and creative coalitions rather than as "lone wolves" or charismatic individuals. They must learn the relatively "new tricks"of collaboration and innovation. But often these people react to change and innovations as threats to their authority and security and lock their organizations into archaic programs end obsolete processes. They become like the proverbial "dog in the manger" that neither enjoys the position it has nor allows others to enjoy it, and their companies become "dog tired" and sluggish. Bennis's latest book, in the tradition of Managing People Is like Herding Cats, shows how to leverage the talent of senior managers into faster, better, and more profitable organizations through creative collaboration. Moving from the authoritarian model of "control, order, and predict, " to a new paradigm of "acknowledge, create, and empower, " these organizations continually reinvent themselves to address new markets and capitalize on new technologies and expertise.