The Three Tensions: Winning the Struggle to Perform Without Compromise
Every executive will immediately connect with the themes of this important new management book: the conflict between profitability and growth, the demands of the short term and the long term, the inevitable incompatibility of centralization and decentralization. But inThe Three Tensions(Jossey-Bass), consultants Dominic Dodd and Ken Favaro expose the false choices executives make in resolving these issues and the traps and cycles they fall into when they do. In many ways, this is a difficult book because of the stylized framework and vocabulary that the authors have created, and the absence of a single overarching idea such as "excellence" or "reengineering." But the essential insight -- that the solution to these "tensions" lies not in "balance" or "compromise" but in a relentless focus on customer benefit, sustainable earnings and cultural norms -- has the advantage of being both original and wise. —S.P. (Washington Post, February 25, 2007)