Case of the Bonsai Manager

Gopalakrishnan R

Description

The Case of the Bonsai Manager is the perfect antidote for every manager who feels they are not achieving their full potential. Effective leadership is not just about hard facts but also about listening to, and using, your intuition. Using anecdotes from Nature and the world of management, R.Gopalakrishnan explores how you can be more intuitive, inclusive and humane. The revised and updated edition of this best-selling book, with its easy to read anecdotal style, adds additional material to re-enforce the key messages including a NEW Self-Help Workbook.

Sujets

• Gestion et management

Informations

• Publié par: Penguin Books Ltd
• Date de parution: 06 août 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9788184750041
• Langue: English

Extrait

R. Gopalakrishnan

THE CASE OF THE BONSAI MANAGER
Lessons for Managers on Intuition
Foreword by Ratan N. Tata. Afterword by R.A. Mashelkar
Contents
About the Author
Praise for the Book
Preface to the Revised Edition
Foreword by Ratan N. Tata
Introduction
Section I: Analysis and Intuition
1. Reflections on Arabia
Intuition from the edges of analysis
Section II: The Leader s Intuition
2. What Intuition Is
The idea of the BRIM
3. Developing Intuition Through the BRIM
The value of anecdotes
4. Learning What is Not Taught
The nature of management
Section III: Intuition Through Varied Experiences and Relationships
5. The Stunted Crocodile
Learning from varied experiences
6. The Snail and the Lobster
Learning from threats
7. Blue Tits and Robins
Learning through sharing
8. The Falcon and the Arab
Learning through coaching
Section IV: Intuition Through Contemplation and Reflection
9. Arribada of the Turtles
Renewing leadership
10. Rich Ecosystems Through Interdependence
Less resource promotes cooperation
11. March of the Penguins
When groups are wiser
12. Birth of the Butterfly
The inevitable pain of change
Section V: Intuition Through Perceiving Beyond the Obvious
13. Antennae of the Cave Cricket
Sensing and touching
14. Homing Pigeons
Listening to the inaudible
15. The Intelligently Stupid Vervet
Folly of missing the context
16. Eye of the Fly
Effective, rather than efficient, leadership
Epilogue
Footnotes
Preface to the Revised Edition
Epilogue
Afterword by R.A. Mashelkar
References
Self-Help Workbook
Acknowledgements
Follow Penguin
Copyright
PORTFOLIO
THE CASE OF THE BONSAI MANAGER
R. Gopalakrishnan has been a professional manager for forty-two years. He has a wealth of practical managerial experience, initially in Unilever and more recently in Tata. He has lived and worked in India, the UK and Saudi Arabia, and has travelled extensively all over the world.
He began his career in 1967 as a computer analyst with Hindustan Lever after studying physics in Kolkata and electronic engineering at IIT Kharagpur. He has attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. He worked initially in computer software, later in marketing, before moving to general management. During his Unilever career, he was based in Jeddah as chairman of the Arabian subsidiary; later, he was managing director, Brooke Bond Lipton India and then vice chairman with Hindustan Lever. He has been president of the All India Management Association.
Currently, he is executive director, Tata Sons, based in Mumbai. He also serves on the boards of other companies.
He is married with three children.
Praise for the Book
The book is exceptional. It convinces the reader that Nature is a great source for intangible knowledge . . . R. Gopalakrishnan is a formidable writer and a manager - Economic Times
One of the most refreshing and useful books on management that I have read in many years. I hope many managers will read it and that it will be taught in business schools - Business Today
Insightful business books and management thinking have been hitherto dominated by writers from the West. R. Gopalakrishnan has bucked this trend in writing about a difficult topic in a way that demonstrates highquality thinking both in terms of ideas and in their delivery - Telegraph
An absorbing book about a subject that has begun to come in the public space only in the last twenty years . . . warmly recommended for both aspiring and practising managers who wish to meaningfully impact the times we live in - Sunday Herald
The book is very thoughtful as well as thought-provoking. I learnt a lot from each and every chapter of this wonderful book -Dr Vijay Kelkar, chairman, Finance Commission of India
I read The Case of the Bonsai Manager this week and really enjoyed it. It is an excellent book-highly readable with a great deal of wisdom for managers of all ages -Professor Phil Rosenzweig, IMD Lausanne
Thank you for writing a classic book-so intuitive, so informative, so instructive and so inspirational -Dr N.H. Athreya, director, MMC School of Management
Reader-friendly and engrossing . . . will compel a pause for introspection -Ashok Ganguly, chairman, Firstsource Solutions
Has the knack of drawing lessons from day-to-day occurrences . . . eminently readable -J.J. Irani, director, Tata Sons
Autobiographical, perceptive, educative, and immensely readable. It makes emotional intelligence intelligible -S.L. Rao, former director general, NCAER
The book weaves three strands. The first is examples from Nature and this is a unique feature. The second is management situations, many personal. The third is management challenges . . . a refreshing book -Arun Maira, chairman, The Boston Consulting Group, India
The intuition versus analysis dilemma is one which all but the most arrogant manager faces -Nihal Kaviratne, CBE, former chairman, Unilever Indonesia
Preface to the Revised Edition
In the period since Penguin launched The Case of the Bonsai Manager , I have learned a lot as a first-time author-how a book is written and marketed, how to listen to feedback about a book, and how to continuously scout for further knowledge and insights on the topic. This learning has provided me with additional thoughts, which are inspired by my personal journey, both emotional and rational, after the publication of the book.
I was happy when Heather Adams of Penguin applauded the sales of the book and suggested an updated version. The suggestion spurred me to add some more pages. I have discovered new insights on the subject and learned about other knowledge that supports the ideas in the book.
I feel that these insights are worth sharing with new readers.
A rewarding experience
It has been my fortune to receive several positive comments about the impact and utility of the book; naturally there has also been some fair criticism.
An interaction with one reader was personally rewarding, so I wish to narrate it. I have masked the identity of the protagonist, whom I shall call Peter.
Peter had been a manager in Tata for several years and had reached a fairly senior and responsible position in one of the group s companies. He had served the same company for over two decades; his comfort and expertise were both in the industry of that company s business. He had a reputation of being a competent and promising manager among his bosses and peers. In short, his professional life was on a roll.
One day he called on me to talk about a career move. I was aware that Peter had been under consideration to work in a senior position in another Tata company, which was operating in a totally different industry domain. Such cross-industry moves are generally not easy to succeed in, nor have they been common within Tata, particularly at very senior levels. I was quite intrigued as to why Peter would want to make the transition when he had everything going right for him in his own company.
Peter sat across my table and started to explain his enigmatic decision.
I enjoy my packed schedule of work and my day, I get along with my colleagues and bosses and I have even earned suitable promotions periodically. I was reading The Case of the Bonsai Manager one evening-and that got me thinking, he said. Even as my jaw fell in incredulity, he insisted that although there were several reasons for his decision, the book was certainly an important influence.
I have another ten to fifteen years of professional work ahead but would I continue to enjoy the work? I realized that I was in a zone of total comfort. I was not really learning anything quite so new through each day s work. I could almost predict what could happen next and how to respond to issues as they came up. A chilling thought crossed my mind-was I about to become a bonsai manager? he said.
A conversation with his wife and some deep reflection on the surrounds of his job role within the company confirmed in his mind that indeed he might well be in too much of a comfort zone. In a few years it would be too late to make a change. He felt it was just about the right time to explore a change of industry within the Tata group.
The rest fell into place rapidly. Being a thoughtful person, he figured out what it would take to succeed in another industry, watched for an opportunity and grabbed a new role in a sister company. So I have come to you for two reasons, he continued. First, I wish to thank you for the ideas in the book because they caused me to think completely afresh. Second, I seek your good wishes for success in this challenging change.
As a fellow professional, I was truly delighted for a colleague. As a writer, I was thrilled that the book had influenced such a train of thinking in a person who was as talented as Peter.
There have been two persistent and excellent issues raised by readers on reading the book:
First, was there not a methodology or process that I could recommend to the reader to help him or her improve intuition? I have tried to address this question through the addition of a self-help workbook.
Second, is the idea of relying on intuition not unscientific and irrational? I have tried to respond to this question through an essay in the epilogue.
A view from a scientist
It is true that intuition is somewhat emotional and not quite rational.
For example, The Economic Times polled its readers * to respond to the question, Do emotions play a role in your investment decisions? As many as 58 per cent of the readers responded with a yes.
Another survey conducted jointly by the Institute for Study of Secularism in Society and Culture, Trinity College, Connecticut and the Hyderabad-based Centre for Enquiry reported in June 2008 that 1100 Indian scientists in 130 universities and laboratories were asked questions about their belief in God, life after death and so on. These scientists responde