Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will: Lessons in Mastering Change - The Principles Jack Welch Is Using to Revolutionize General Electric.

New York, NY HarperBusiness, 1994. Paperback First Ed thus; First Printing indicated. First Ed thus; First Printing indicated. Very Good+ in Wraps: shows indications of very careful use: just a hint of wear to the extremities; mild rubbing to wrapper covers; the backstrip has sunned fairly heavily, blanching the titles, though they remain legible; the pages have tanned considerably, due to aging; there is a faint crease near the lower front corner; the binding is square and secure; text clean. Remains close to 'As New'. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 8vo. 459pp. Includes: The Handbook for Revolutionaries. Trade Paperback. 'Control Destiny or Someone Else Will' is deeply insightful and comprehensive examination of GE's transformation. It contains detailed, valuable lessons for all those interested in Jack Welch and his GE, as revolutionaries. The authors write, "The old way, exemplified by Henry Ford's production line, calls for top managers to analyze the work that needs to be done, then devise rules even an idiot can follow. Managers, divorced from the actual work, become bureaucrats, while their frustrated subordinates tighten the bolts...The new way-GE's way-breaks the intellectual framework that defines the limits of traditional management...Instead of seeking better ways to control workers, Welch says he aims to liberate them. As he explains, that goal is based on self-interest: The old organization was built on control, but the world has changed. The world is moving at such a pace that control has become a limitation. It slows you down. You've got to balance freedom with some control, but you've got to have more freedom than you ever dreamed of".At this point, after outlining basic characteristics of old and new ways, Noel M.Tichy describes the difference between them in terms of sports: 1. Old Way-Machine Age: Hierarchical, control-focused, and bureaucratic. He notes, "The old GE resembled a football team: Each player had carefully prescribed roles, yielding a carefully orchestrated pattern. The coach called all the plays. Even the strategic-planning guidebook that governed GE policy were like the playbooks in football." 2. New Way-Information Age: Networks, flexibility, knowledge, and creation. He notes, "The New Way GE is like hockey; roles are blurred, play flows uncontrollably from one side of the rink to the other, there are no timeouts, players adjust to new situations almost every moment and think for themselves while looking out for the team as a whole." In this context, throughout the book, Tichy and Sherman show GE's process of corporate transformation as three-act drama. This is a business classic for all revolutionaries of the new century.