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Seduced by Success: How the Best Companies Survive the 9 Traps of Winning

1st Edition
0071509445 · 9780071509442
Don't let success put your company on the road to ruinIn Seduced by Success, Robert J. Herbold, the former Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft, shows you how to avoid the nine traps of success-the “legacy practices” that almost felled such giant… Read More
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Part 1: Sticking with yesterday’s Business Model

Part 2: Allowing Your Products to Slip into Mediocrity

Part 3: Clinging to Your Once Successful Branding After it Becomes State and Boring

Part 4: Ignoring Your business Processes as They Become Cumbersome and Complex

Part 5: Rationalizing Your Loss of Speed and Agility

Part 6: Condoning Poor Performance and Letting Your State Employees Languish

Part 7: Getting Lulled Into a Culture of Comfort, Casualness and Confidence

Part 8: Not Confronting Turf Wars, In-fighting and Obstructions

Part 9: Unwittingly Providing Schizophrenic Communications

Part 10: the Key to Continual Success: A Questioning Attitude

Don't let success put your company on the road to ruin

In Seduced by Success, Robert J. Herbold, the former Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft, shows you how to avoid the nine traps of success-the “legacy practices” that almost felled such giants as General Motors, Kodak and Sony. Herbold, a 26-year-veteran of Procter & Gamble who lived through each trap, gives you proven tactics for preventing arrogance, bloat, and neglect while capitalizing on your accomplishments, sustaining your momentum, and retaining your position in the marketplace.

The nine traps every successful organization must avoid are

  • Neglect: Sticking with Yesterday's Business Model
  • Pride: Allowing Your Products to Become Outdated
  • Boredom: Clinging to Your Once-Successful Branding
  • Complexity: Ignoring Your Business Processes
  • Bloat: Rationalizing Your Loss of Speed and Agility
  • Mediocrity: Letting Your Star Employees Languish
  • Lethargy: Getting Lulled into a Culture of Comfort
  • Timidity: Not Confronting Turf Wars and Obstructionists
  • Confusion: Unwittingly Conducting Schizophrenic Communications

These mistakes cut your business legs off at the knees, destroying your ability to recognize and meet the need for change. Herbold shows you how to avoid these landmines by

  • Continually revitalizing your brands and products
  • Demanding new approaches to “proven” practices
  • Maintaining speed and agility through strong leadership
  • Making sure employees are empowered to achieve and not handicapped by bureaucracy
  • Using an exciting new product to overhaul your culture

For each success trap, Herbold provides illuminating examples of top companies that were seduced by their success-as well as others that managed to maintain and even broaden their achievements. Seduced by Success is the best way to ensure your company sustains its success for the long term.