Review: Leading the revolution

I just finished reading Leading the revolution by Gary Hamel.

When I started this blog with "innovation" in the blog title, I just had the disruptive innovation in mind -- the kind that is the preserve of startups. When I picked up this book, I expected it to belong to this category of innovation.

But this book is all about innovation at large players, market leaders, incubments...
And Prof Hamel has done an excellent job of hammering the fact that these cos. must innovate to survive in future. He has also outlined a path to imbibe the innovative spirit in an organisation. The example about innovations at Cemex -- a mexican cement company -- was an eyeopener. Really, you can innovate anywhere and this will lead to a sustainable advantage.

I dont regret spending time reading this book though -- it shows why so many large companies are stagnating and reinforces the fact that this is why startups have a window of opportunity at all. While reading this book, I was thinking that if large organisations really start implementing this action plan, startups will be doomed. The same thought is echoed by Steve Jurvetson, MD, DFJ in one of the quotes from people praising the book.

All in all, this book is a must read for all budding entrepreneurs, specially the chapters 7, 8, 9. If you are short of time you will do well just to read the examples of UPS and Cemex and section IV of the book. UPS' statement that "we are a technology company with trucks versus a trucking co. with technology" is very powerful statement to ponder over.