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Outsmart!: How to Do What Your Competitors Can't
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Companies that outsmart the competition look for dramatic growth, while incumbent businesses are content with incremental growth.
- GenresBusinessNonfiction
208 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 25, 2008
Outsmart! : How to Do What Your Competitors Can’t
Jim Champy
Financial Times Press
Previously, Champy argued in Reengineering the Corporation (1993) that "companies need to change radically and be managed from a process perspective," in Reengineering Management (1995) he contended that "leaders had to change their way of thinking before they could change their organizations," and then in X-Engineering (2002) he made the case that "process change must extend outside the company walls to suppliers, customers, and business partners." What we have in his newest book is a brilliant research-driven analysis of eight results-driven companies that he and his associates selected from among about 1,000 high-velocity businesses with growth rates about 15%. More specifically, they examine their revenue producing ideas that are "neither hypothetical nor based on esoteric technologies. They don't require hundreds of millions of venture capital dollars or the vast sums from stock offerings to implement. " Champy then makes an especially important point: "Rather, they are strategies that any business leader can easily and immediately understand."
These are the eight exemplary companies that have outsmarted their competition, not only surviving but growing, gaining more of the supply of their customers, forcing their rivals "to adapt or die": Sonicbids, MinuteClinic, Smith & Wesson, Shutterfly, S.A. Robotics, Jibbitz and Crocs, Partsearch, and SmartPak. Few of those who read this book will recognize most of them by name. (I recognized only Smith & Wesson and Crocs.) Champy devotes a separate chapter to each. All of them "have found the holy grail of strategy: an unmet customer need." One of his recurrent themes is "learn by doing," noting that "each example in this book is unique, and none of these companies has a formula you can follow without changes to how you operate." He devotes most of his attention to the "what" and "why" of successful competition, then steps aside and allows the CEOs of the exemplary companies explain in their own words the "how" of what they did (and didn't do) to outperform their rivals. Their efforts were guided and informed by Peter Drucker's advice to know where you are, where you want to be, and how to get there. Advice such as this from a wide variety of sources (including the CEOs of the exemplary companies) is seamlessly integrated within Champy's narrative. This is not an operations manual; rather, a manifesto. Its central idea? Adapt or perish.
Jim Champy
Financial Times Press
Previously, Champy argued in Reengineering the Corporation (1993) that "companies need to change radically and be managed from a process perspective," in Reengineering Management (1995) he contended that "leaders had to change their way of thinking before they could change their organizations," and then in X-Engineering (2002) he made the case that "process change must extend outside the company walls to suppliers, customers, and business partners." What we have in his newest book is a brilliant research-driven analysis of eight results-driven companies that he and his associates selected from among about 1,000 high-velocity businesses with growth rates about 15%. More specifically, they examine their revenue producing ideas that are "neither hypothetical nor based on esoteric technologies. They don't require hundreds of millions of venture capital dollars or the vast sums from stock offerings to implement. " Champy then makes an especially important point: "Rather, they are strategies that any business leader can easily and immediately understand."
These are the eight exemplary companies that have outsmarted their competition, not only surviving but growing, gaining more of the supply of their customers, forcing their rivals "to adapt or die": Sonicbids, MinuteClinic, Smith & Wesson, Shutterfly, S.A. Robotics, Jibbitz and Crocs, Partsearch, and SmartPak. Few of those who read this book will recognize most of them by name. (I recognized only Smith & Wesson and Crocs.) Champy devotes a separate chapter to each. All of them "have found the holy grail of strategy: an unmet customer need." One of his recurrent themes is "learn by doing," noting that "each example in this book is unique, and none of these companies has a formula you can follow without changes to how you operate." He devotes most of his attention to the "what" and "why" of successful competition, then steps aside and allows the CEOs of the exemplary companies explain in their own words the "how" of what they did (and didn't do) to outperform their rivals. Their efforts were guided and informed by Peter Drucker's advice to know where you are, where you want to be, and how to get there. Advice such as this from a wide variety of sources (including the CEOs of the exemplary companies) is seamlessly integrated within Champy's narrative. This is not an operations manual; rather, a manifesto. Its central idea? Adapt or perish.
May 27, 2009
Visionary companies that changed the marketplace
Is your company an “incumbent” firm, stuck in the mud and going nowhere? Or is it a bold, visionary enterprise, able to see and exploit new business opportunities that incumbent firms miss or are too frightened to pursue? In his new book, business guru Jim Champy, co-author of Reengineering the Corporation, discusses how visionary “smart firms” seize the future while incumbent firms let it pass them by. Even while cautioning that surely some middle ground exists, getAbstract warmly recommends this book, and its fascinating case histories. You’ll want to read it if you are responsible for strategy and growth at your firm.
Is your company an “incumbent” firm, stuck in the mud and going nowhere? Or is it a bold, visionary enterprise, able to see and exploit new business opportunities that incumbent firms miss or are too frightened to pursue? In his new book, business guru Jim Champy, co-author of Reengineering the Corporation, discusses how visionary “smart firms” seize the future while incumbent firms let it pass them by. Even while cautioning that surely some middle ground exists, getAbstract warmly recommends this book, and its fascinating case histories. You’ll want to read it if you are responsible for strategy and growth at your firm.
June 7, 2011
I gave this just 2 stars because it was part of a series and that was not clean when I purchased. I did enjoy what the author had to say and I felt that I learned some things that I could apply to my business and life but again I really just felt that it was lacking and what it was lacking was the rest of the "series". I also won't go as far as to say it contains information on what to do that our competitors can't. I think that to a degree that some of this just requires common business sense.
August 4, 2014
Desde Leader Summaries recomendamos la lectura del libro ¡Aventaja!, de Jim Champy.
Las personas interesadas en las siguientes temáticas lo encontrarán práctico y útil: liderazgo, estrategia y modelos de negocio.
En el siguiente enlace tienes el resumen del libro ¡Aventaja!, Cómo ver lo que nuestra competencia ignora y construir un modelo de negocio altamente rentable: ¡Aventaja!
Las personas interesadas en las siguientes temáticas lo encontrarán práctico y útil: liderazgo, estrategia y modelos de negocio.
En el siguiente enlace tienes el resumen del libro ¡Aventaja!, Cómo ver lo que nuestra competencia ignora y construir un modelo de negocio altamente rentable: ¡Aventaja!
June 11, 2015
Good read on outsmarting competitors
Champy examines several companies that outsmarted their competitors, based on interviews. He then tries to break down why each was successful into items that can be implemented.
Champy examines several companies that outsmarted their competitors, based on interviews. He then tries to break down why each was successful into items that can be implemented.
August 29, 2010
A must read for anyone entering a field with lots of competition. There is always a way to set yourself apart. Take a look at some of the ways the companies in this book did it. Great work, Jim!
September 5, 2010
Pretty good insights - definitely one that makes you examine your work more thoroughly.
May 28, 2011
Starts strong, dragging a little 3/4 in, but has been sparking ideas along the way. Good material but not sure if the author or the reader is the one that brings a somewhat pedantic tone.
March 29, 2013
A must-read book on competition for knowledge workers who want to be in executive role and entrepreneurs.
Read
February 11, 2016Looks at a subset of companies that have found a need in the market and launched and maintained successful companies.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews