From Stupid to Smart Business @ the Speed of Stupid: Building Smart Companies After the Technology Shakeout By Dan Burke and Alan Morrison Perseus Publishing, 2001, $26 Everyone loves a good failure story. A book full of them is even better. The consultant authors of Business @ the Speed of Stupid base their chapters on real-life technology endeavors that failed?though names are changed to protect the stupid. Burke and Morrison adeptly cover the major issues surrounding a good idea gone bad, focusing primarily on the myth that technology can solve every problem. Also highlighted are cases in which the people involved in implementation completely failed to communicate?which Burke and Morrison point to as one of the key factors in technology venture failures. Misalignment as a factor in failure isn’t revolutionary thinking, but the authors manage to make their tales amusing and educational. However, their own endeavor slides toward failure with the inclusion of their “always/never” tables, which offer hard and fast dos and don’ts that make the reader wonder why, if the rules for attaining success are that black and white, any company fails at all. Burke and Morrison compensate for their simplified suggestions with anecdotes about management misunderstandings and consultant failures that any project leader could relate to and learn from. Business @ the Speed of Stupid is a useful guide on how to avoid falling victim to technology hype and myth. -Stephanie Viscasillas Where There’s a Will Will and Vision: How Latecomers Grow to Dominate Markets By Gerard J. Tellis and Peter N. Golder McGraw-Hill, 2001, $27.95 Although the new economy promotes the fast and furious, the authors of Will and Vision give the winning prize?long-term brand recognition?to the slow and steady. Companies don’t have to be first; they just have to be better, hitting the market with an innovative spin. A lot of us assume that today’s superbrands were the pioneers in their field, but being first with a great idea doesn’t equal automatic success and endurance, the authors claim, citing their 10-year investigation of late market entrants, including Netscape’s Navigator and Procter & Gamble’s Pampers. The writers make a convincing point, but some of their arguments come across as nitpicking?sure, King C. Gillette didn’t invent the safety razor, but give the guy’s company credit as the first out with a disposable version. Forget the questions the book raises, and use its case studies and chapter on finding and committing financial resources as tips to convince the higher-ups of your next brilliant, innovative idea. -Sarah JohnsonCIO Best-Seller List 1. Jack: Straight from the Gut by Jack Welch Warner Books, 2001 2. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…and Others Don’t by Jim Collins HarperCollins Publishers, 2001 3. Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life by Spencer Johnson The Putnam Publishing Group, 1998 4. Fish! A Remarkable Way to Boost Morale and Improve Results by Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul and John Christensen Hyperion, 2000 5. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey Simon & Schuster, 1990 Source: Data from December 2001, compiled by Amazon.com, Seattle Related content brandpost Who’s paying your data integration tax? Reducing your data integration tax will get you one step closer to value—let’s start today. By Sandrine Ghosh Jun 05, 2023 4 mins Data Management feature 13 essential skills for accelerating digital transformation IT leaders too often find themselves behind on business-critical transformation efforts due to gaps in the technical, leadership, and business skills necessary to execute and drive change. By Stephanie Overby Jun 05, 2023 12 mins Digital Transformation IT Skills tip 3 things CIOs must do now to accurately hit net-zero targets More than a third of the world’s largest companies are making their net-zero targets public, yet nearly all will fail to hit them if they don’t double the pace of emissions reduction by 2030. This puts leading executives, CIOs in particul By Diana Bersohn and Mauricio Bermudez-Neubauer Jun 05, 2023 5 mins CIO Accenture Emerging Technology case study Merck Life Sciences banks on RPA to streamline regulatory compliance Automated bots assisted in compliance, thereby enabling the company to increase revenue and save precious human hours, freeing up staff for higher-level tasks. By Yashvendra Singh Jun 05, 2023 5 mins Digital Transformation Robotic Process Automation Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe