Quick and Nimble Lessons from Leading CEOs on How to Create a Culture of Innovation

by Bryant, Adam

• ISBN13: 9780805097016
• ISBN10: 0805097015
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2014-01-07
• Publisher: Times Books

Summary

More than two hundred CEOs reveal their candid insights on how to build and foster a corporate culture that encourages innovation and drives results

In Quick and Nimble, Adam Bryant draws on interviews with more than two hundred CEOs to offer business leaders the wisdom and guidance to move an organization faster, to be quick and nimble, and to rekindle the whatever-it-takes collective spark of a start-up workplace, all with the goal of innovating and thriving in a relentlessly challenging global economy. By analyzing the lessons that these leaders have shared in his regular "Corner Office" feature in The New York Times, Bryant has identified the biggest drivers of corporate culture, bringing them to life with real-world examples that reflect this hard-earned wisdom.

These men and women—whose ranks include Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn, Tony Hsieh of Zappos, Angie Hicks of Angie's List, Steve Case of Revolution (and formerly AOL), and Amy Gutmann of the University of Pennsylvania—offer useful insights and strategies for creating a corporate culture of innovation and building a high-performing organization that unleashes the passion and energy of its employees.
As the world shifts to more of a knowledge economy, the winners will be companies that can attract and retain the best and brightest employees by creating an environment where they can grow, contribute, and feel rewarded. Through the wisdom of these leading chief executives, Quick and Nimble offers a keen understanding of leadership, recruiting, and the forces that shape corporate culture and a clear road map to bring success and energy to any organization.

Author Biography

Adam Bryant is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Corner Office: Indispensable and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs on How to Lead and Succeed. He writes the popular “Corner Office” feature in The New York Times’s business section and has served as the newspaper’s senior editor for features, deputy national editor, and deputy business editor. He was previously a senior writer and business editor at Newsweek. He lives in Westchester County, New York.

Table of Contents

List of Interviews      xi
Author’s Note      xvii
Introduction      1

Part One SETTING THE FOUNDATION      7
     1. Why Culture Matters      9
     2. A Simple Plan      18
     3. Rules of the Road     31
     4. A Little Respect      51
     5. It’s About the Team      66
     6. Adult Conversations      82
     7. The Hazards of E-mail      97

Part Two TAKING LEADERSHIP TO THE NEXT LEVEL      105
     8. Play It Again and Again      107
     9. Building Better Managers      115
     10. Surfacing Problems      132
     11. School Never Ends      147
     12. The Art of Smarter Meetings      158
     13. Knocking Down Silos      173
     14. Sparking Innovation      187
     15. Can We Have Some Fun?      221
     16. Alone at the Top      230

Conclusion      243
Acknowledgments      249
Index      253