The Bounty Effect: 7 Steps to The Culture of Collaboration
Innovator Rosen (The Culture of Collaboration)adds a second book to his series further to assert how businesses must move away from a "command and control", or "legacy," "culture" toward a collaborative one. The book's title refers to the exigent circumstances such as a terrorist attack, a global slowdown, or a changing industry that usually force a company's cultural change. Rosen declares that while the control method might have worked in the Industrial Age, it does not work in today's Information Age. He explains the seven change steps involved: plan, people, principles, practices, processes, planet, and payoff, with each step covered in its own chapter. Real-world examples from both big and small companies tell the story. For instance, the events of 9/11 forced U.S. intelligence agencies to share information, whereas they hadn't before. In the 1940s, the Walt Disney Company produced a nontraditional organization chart that focused on the film production process rather than on supervisory chains. The author acknowledges the difficulties in a transition of this magnitude but also summarizes the benefits: "more motivated employees, an enhanced organizational reputation, and incredible value". VERDICT: For those in positions to bring about organizational change in a business, this book provides many useful examples. Leigh Mihlrad, National Insts. of Health, Bethesda, MD --Library JournalOur culture is changing in the way we live, work, and interact, yet most organizations today operate on a command and control mentality. In his book, Rosen, an internationally recognized collaboration and communication strategist, presents seven steps to establishing a collaborative culture within an organi-zation, moving away from the Industrial Age mentality to one better suited for the Information Age. Each chapter is dedicated to a particular step in establishing collaboration: Plan, People, Principles, Practices, Processes, Planet, and Payoff. Rosen also addresses eight common myths about collaboration that inhibit organizations from transforming their internal cultures in order to prosper in the Information Age. While many think that the bounty effect occurs mainly in organizations, Rosen argues that collaboration moves well beyond organizational boundaries, as it applies to neighborhoods, communities, and government. Collaboration creates greater value, enhances achievement, and produces sustainable business models; the question then becomes how quickly can an organization free itself from the Industrial Age and operate to its maximum capacity in the Information Age. Rosen reveals how organizations have been afraid to make the requisite changes and shows that there is a more fruitful path. --Publishers Weekly