There are dozens of books, articles and entire consulting firms that offer a formula for “permanent corporate greatness” (or should it just be “permanence”?) Adam Hartung distinguishes himself from the pack in three significant ways. One, he looks at non-technology companies and industries as well. He relates many examples from traditional industries e.g. Dow, Pizza Hut and even Singer (of sewing machine fame!), in addition to the more familiar examples from tech companies like IBM, Microsoft, Xerox etc.
Second, he devotes fully half the book to “if corporate mortality is a reality, what can you do about it?” He details out a series of actions that leaders can take, and the pitfalls associated with each.
Third, he doesn’t shy away from saying that this is not easy, it can take multiple years, and your plans may very well fail. To become a “Phoenix Principle Organization” requires more than a change of strategy, or even a change of mindset. There are some hard actions to be taken, including changing the behaviors, structures and even cost relationships. Anyone who has ever tried to convince a senior executive to shut down a multi-million dollar business will understand how hard this is (I have some scars from one such battle).
There are several other things in the book that I heartily agree with - such as the fact that sports analogies are at best simplistic and most likely very inaccurate. Hartung also takes issue with prominent thinkers (such as Collins, Hamel, Prahald etc) who advocate focus and core competence.
All in all, a very useful read for senior executives. If you haven’t run a business - however small - or had significant interactions with those
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