Beating the Global Odds : Successful Decision-Making in a Confused and Troubled World

by Laudicina, Paul A.; Ambani, Mukesh

• ISBN13: 9781118347119
• ISBN10: 1118347110
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-10-09
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Managers and leaders are buried beneath an avalanche of data and obligations made possible by our interconnected world. In the 38 countries where AT Kearney operates, this has caused leadership and decision-making strategies sto be tymied and delayed. As a result, people (and organizations) everywhere are feeling disoriented, bewildered, and even paralyzed. The causes range from the proliferation of product choice to the relentless "information smog" of 24/7 always-on email and social media. The results include not just overload, but a degraded ability to think and act decisively. This book sets out the four guiding principles that will lead us out from under the avalanche and into a more productive future: simplify, decrease, innovate, and plan.

Author Biography

Paul A. Laudicina is the CEO, chairman of the board, and managing partner at global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, and the founder and chairman of the firm's Global Business Policy Council. With over forty years of professional experience in government, research, business, and at the United Nations, he has worked with leaders from all backgrounds across a broad range of strategic, corporate, and public policy issues. The author of World Out of Balance, one of the top business books of 2005, Laudicina was named to Consulting magazine's annual ranking of the "Top 25 Most Influential Consultants" in 2005 and 2007.

Table of Contents

Foreword xi

Introduction Seizing the Future Is (Fortunately) Not a Game of Chance 1

Chapter 1 Global Brain Freeze 13

Nonstop Overstimulation Brings Disorientation

Chapter 2 Fast and Fickle 27

The Ever-Shorter Half-Life of Everything

Chapter 3 Rudderless World 45

Angry Populism, Incapacitated Government, and Stray Capitalism

Chapter 4 Lighten the Load and Make

It Sesame Street Simple 73

Chapter 5 Repair Your Social Fabric 87

Why Relationships Always Trump Transactions

Chapter 6 Don’t Wait for the Next Big Thing 101

Chapter 7 Open the Aperture 125

Widen Your Lens, But Do So with Discernment

Chapter 8 Turning Pixels into a Clearer Picture 147

Applying Scenario Thinking to Make a Better Future Possible

Epilogue: The Next Chapter 177

Afterword 181

Selected Bibliography 187

Acknowledgments 191

About the Author 195

Index 197