O’Reilly news

The New How--New from O'Reilly Media: Building Business Solutions through Collaborative Strategy

Many management gurus claim "people matter," but still relegate strategy to an elite set of executives who focus on frameworks, long presentations, and hierarchical approaches. Business strategy typically has been planned by corporate chiefs and then dictated to managers to carry out. The New How turns that notion on its head.

"Too often business executives, managers and strategists talk down to or ignore the very people who can help achieve results and positively impact the bottom line," Nilofer explains. "Yet, organizations collaborate best when rewards are based on organizational success and less on individual accomplishments.

And after many years of working with Apple, Adobe, HP, and many other companies, Nilofer discovered the secret sauce: the best way to create a winning strategy is to create connections among employees at all levels across the enterprise, enlisting their participation in creating strategy they not only believe in, but are also equipped to implement.

In The New How, Nilofer provides a roadmap for today's corporate directors, executives, and managers, showing how they can transform their traditional, top-down approach to strategy planning and execution into a collaborative process that has proven to be significantly more effective.

• Enhance performance and outcomes by deflating the "air sandwich" between the execs in the boardroom and their employees
• Acquire practical knowledge about how to encourage and enhance collaborative processes across your enterprise
• Discover that successful strategy is founded in effective idea selection--a pile of good ideas doesn't necessarily build good strategy
• Create company strategy and link it to targeted execution, using the practical models and techniques provided
• Work together with a shared understanding of the most effective ways to achieve true collaboration

Advance Praise for The New How
"How are you going to get rid of your Air Sandwich if you don't even know what it is? Provocative and practical at the same time."
--Seth Godin, Author, Linchpin

"The New How is informative and provides exciting insights because the suggestions are practical and doable. Merchant gets the new reality--leadership fails not so much from flawed strategy as it does from failed processes of engagement from those responsible for implementing the strategy. In high-performing organizations, everyone acts like a leader, and they own the strategy and take actions to ensure its success. If you care about making a difference, read this book."
--Barry Posner, Author, The Leadership Challenge

"Collaboration is a powerful, competitive weapon: this book shows you how to use it to win markets."
--Mark Interrante, VP Content Products Yahoo, Inc.

"In a world in which the pace of change is ever quickening, collaboration, not control, is the route to a successful organization. This book tells you how to make your organization collaborative. And Nilofer Merchant's writing is a model of clarity."
--Barry Schwartz Author, The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less

"Want to transform your organization into a collaborative enterprise? Nilofer Merchant provides insightful and practical strategies in The New How."
--Padmasree Warrior, CTO Cisco Systems, Inc.

"Merchant's book is a practical guide for the journey from strategy to implementation. The collaborative tools described here can help companies reach strategic success--and avoid pitfalls along the way."
--Tom Kelley, General Manager, IDEO, and author, Ten Faces of Innovation

For a review copy or more information please email peyton@oreilly.com Please include your delivery address and contact information.

Nilofer Merchant, CEO, strategist, and author, is a leading authority on creating business strategy to achieve success. She has honed her unique, collaborative approach to solving tough problems while working with and for companies including Adobe, Apple, Nokia, and HP.

Additional Resources:
For more information about the book, including table of contents, index, author bios, and cover graphic, see: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/9780596156251

For blog updates from the author and more information about The New How, see:
http://www.the-new-how.com.

To see an Ignite presentation from Nilofer, visit:
http://bit.ly/niloferignite.

About O’Reilly

O’Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O’Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying “faint signals” from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.

Email a link to this press release