Do Lunch or Be Lunch: The Power of Predictability in Creating Your Future

by Howard H. Stevenson, Jeffrey L. Cruikshank, Mihnea C. Moldoveanu

People join organizations to bring about a desired future. But to succeed, they must be able to predict the behavior of those around them. This title presents an argument for predictability as the most powerful of management tools. It says that - it's mutual predictability that helps people (and organizations) eat - not get eaten.

294 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1997

Reviews

[Danielle Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has stayed with me since I read it. I have friends who loved it and friends who didn't. It is that kind of read. The theme revolves around the implications of choice when I am afraid the outcome is too unpredictable. This helps business leaders understand why sometimes team members are frozen and unable to proceed.

[Ming · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Three Predictive Phases (observation, calculation and action) and the Three Tools for each Predictive Phase (simplifcation, categorization and generalization)

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books. Although one of my colleagues disagrees, I found Do Lunch or Be Lunch to be both mind-opening and a good read. The key premise underscores how "projectability" (the authors concept) of an event's outcome on various scales (say impact {good or bad} and cost {high or low} and how people and markets will react and hence make decisions based upon how they interpret the associated risks of each decision.

My favorite concept from this book is: " It isn't what you know....it is when you know it." Very true. Very true indeed.