Pails in Comparison

Personalized: Customer Strategy in the Age of AI

PIC No. 95: 
• Title: Personalized: Customer Strategy in the Age of AI
• Authors: Mark Abraham and David C. Edelman
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press (Oct. 15, 2024, 288 pages)
• Management Bucket #11 of 20: The Donor Bucket



Welcome to Issue No. 95 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.

STOP Annoying Your Donors and Non-Donors!

This will be my shortest review of a book ever (and I’ll explain why).

If you’re a board member, volunteer, staff member,
or CEO of a nonprofit organization, heed these three words: READ THIS BOOK!

And 16 more words: After you read this book, please, please, please:
CUSTOMIZE your direct mail and online gift solicitations!

There. That’s my review. But stick with me. This blog may be more like a rant (and I apologize in advance). But finally…here’s a book that explains what I was feeling. With all of the customization, personalization, and segmentation software available today—why do nonprofit organizations still overburden the U.S. Postal Service (and my mailbox) with general, boring, and generic appeals for my money? I won’t even mention the emails. (Please…JUST STOP IT!)

On page 52 in my book, Mastering the Management Buckets, I include what I thought was an eye-catching graphic:



Alec! What’s the deal? Did you skip page 52—or just ignore it? Or, as you confess—are you just “lazy and incompetent” and more? (I know. Harsh!)

The thing is—there’s help. You can dramatically reduce your fundraising costs, generate more revenue, and go home earlier if you JUST STOP doing what has never worked. Read Personalized. Read the preface and you’ll be immediately hooked with David Edelman’s stunning story about purchasing solar panels:

“One direct-mail piece, however, caught my eye. It was from a company called Sungevity, and was addressed to me personally. On the outer envelope a message noted ‘We've checked out your house and determined that you could convert at least 25 percent of your energy consumption to solar. A personal URL inside will explain it all.’

Edelman adds, “I opened the envelope, entered the URL on my laptop, and was immediately taken to an aerial Google Earth image of my house with solar panels superimposed on the roof. Beside the image was running text explaining how many panels could fit on my roof and how much energy they would likely generate over the course of a year, given our house’s location, orientation, tree cover, and roof pitch. Using our house's square footage (pulled from Zillow), Sungevity then estimated our annual energy consumption and calculated a ballpark percentage of our household energy use that could shift to solar.”

It gets even better! You must read this at your next fundraising team meeting.

This reminded me of two blogs I wrote for ECFA 10 years ago. Sadly—per the emails and direct mail pieces still clogging my inbox and mailbox—not much has changed. Please…read these, read Personalized, and commit to customizing your asks. Here are just four fundraising mistakes (out of 10) from those blogs:

10 Fundraising Mistakes That Are Easy to Fix: 1 to 5 (Part 1 of 2)
MISTAKE #1: Donor letters that thank every person for their faithful giving—when, in fact, the letter is also sent to non-donors! (Easy Fix: segment your list into donors and non-donors.)

MISTAKE #4: When Mary Smith receives an appeal letter, or a thank you letter, addressed to “Dear Mrs. Smith,” but the CEO calls her by her first name, “Mary,” it’s one more indication that there is a sloppy, undisciplined development approach. (Easy Fix: customize every donor record. Good software will help you do this.)

10 Fundraising Mistakes That Are Easy to Fix: 6 to 10 (Part 2 of 2)
MISTAKE #6: Asking major givers for minor gifts. One size doesn’t fit all. In fact, Mark Dillon believes most ministries have four distinct segments of donors. If so, each segment should be challenged to give at an appropriate, but differing level:
• The Gifted Giver (2-5% of givers)
• The Thoughtful Giver (15-25% of givers)
• The Casual Giver (35-50% of givers)
• The Reluctant Giver (perhaps 33% of givers)

MISTAKE #9: Short letter? Long letter? Wrong question! Roger Ebert, the movie critic, famously said, “No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough.” Ditto board meetings and donor letters. My wife reads every donor letter from one of her favorite organizations—because the letter is well-written, inspiring, interesting, and packed with Kingdom impact. While focused on human crises, the letter never manipulates. She will frequently insist I read the letter. Most other letters (short or long) are tragically boring. Those have a short path: mailbox to waste basket.

Thanks for letting me rant a bit. I’ll close with this true story. 

Last month, I received the generic “Summary of Total 2024 Giving” from an organization we previously appreciated. The “Dear John” letter began: “Thank you so much for your support of [organization name]. According to our records, your total tax-deductible giving for the year 2024 is: $ 0.00.”

Before this letter (aka another lazy communiqué), I’ve never been thanked for NOT giving! Oh, my. I may send Personalized to the CEO.

Please read Personalized. Per the authors, “This book distills the learnings from our work accelerating the personalization, retail media, and AI efforts of hundreds of iconic brands, including the likes of Starbucks, Home Depot, and Google.”

While the book is not targeted to fundraising in the nonprofit space—you’re smart enough to make relevant applications. (For example: don’t thank me for giving to your organization, if I’m not a donor!)

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Donor Bucket, the Customer Bucket, and the Strategy Bucket—plus other buckets/core competencies.

[  ] Giving & Getting in the Kingdom: A Field Guide, by R. Mark Dillon (Read my review.)
[  ] The Third Conversion, by R. Scott Rodin (Read my review.)
[  ] Development 101: Building a Comprehensive Development Program on Biblical Values, by John R. Frank and R. Scott Rodin (Read my review.)
[  ] Joy Giving: Practical Wisdom from the First Christians and the Global Church, by Cameron Doolittle (Read my review.)
[  ] Converted: The Data-Driven Way to Win Customers' Hearts, by Neil Hoyne (Read my review.)
 
To order from Amazon, click on the title for Personalized: Customer Strategy in the Age of AI, by Mark Abraham and David C. Edelman. Listen on Libro (8 hours, 12 minutes). And thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy. For more reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting eNews.

© 2025. John Pearson Associates. All rights reserved.
Pails in Comparison is posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Typepad.com’s privacy policy here.

Mindshift: Transform Leadership, Drive Innovation, and Reshape the Future

PIC No. 83: 
• Title: Mindshift: Transform Leadership, Drive Innovation, and Reshape the Future
• Author: Brian Solis
• Publisher: Wiley (Oct. 15, 2024, 304 pages)
• Management Bucket #3 of 20: The Strategy Bucket

If you're a reader...continue reading!
If you're a listener...enjoy this "AI podcast" created by Google's NotebookLM in just 4 minutes! Listen to a summary of this blog, "Mindshift Review by John Pearson" (10.5 minutes).

Welcome to Issue No. 83 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.

Learn, Unlearn, and Relearn

I can’t praise this book enough! Why? Before you host your next same-old/same-old strategic planning task force meeting—inspire everyone to read this important book.

Start on pages 24-25, where the author bullet-points 17 disruptive trends from 1994 to 2024, such as 2003 (the launch of iTunes) and 2008-2010 (Airbnb and Uber). Yikes! He lists four trends already in 2024 I’d never heard about. Then…this last line on page 25:

“Disruptive trends will only continue to evolve.”

Example: This week, I experimented with Google’s new NotebookLM software and cut and pasted in my short reviews of four leadership books from my eNews, Your Weekly Staff Meeting. Presto! In about five minutes, Notebook LM delivered a chatty podcast between a man and a woman—discussing my four book reviews. Listen here to the 12-minute podcast. (It will blow your mind!)

I tried it again yesterday with my review of Bill Butterworth’s book, Everyday Influence. The podcasters got the humor and responded with this seven-minute podcast. Listen here. Amazing! But is this a trend? (And will humans still be needed?)

Mindshift is next to impossible to review adequately—so I’m just going to bullet-point 20 insights that popped out. (I’ve underlined almost the entire book. Oh, my.) And by the way—the book’s design, graphics, and attention-getting charts are amazing. Mindshift is a joy to read.

#1. ALVIN TOFFLER: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

#2. PLEASERS: “Organizational psychologist Taska Eurich has studied self-awareness, and she’s found that there are two types of self-awareness: internal and external.” The 2x2 chart on page 57 is memorable.
• PLEASERS: High External Awareness and Low Internal Awareness
• AWARE: High External Awareness and High Internal Awareness
• SEEKERS: Low External Awareness and Low Internal Awareness
• INTROSPECTORS: Low External Awareness and High Internal Awareness

#3. TITANIC! In 1912, Captain Edward John Smith “was captaining a brand new ship with a novel design. But he didn’t bring a new mindset to the mission. He apparently didn’t open his mind to the possibility that this massive ocean liner, the largest built at the time, might not maneuver as readily as he was used to. As the treasure hunter Bock Lovett says in the James Cameron blockbuster film about the sinking, Smith had ’26 years of experience working against him.’”

#4. DISCOMFORT. “When we engage in questioning what we’ve learned from our experiences and interrogating our beliefs, we can feel unmoored. Either we can decide to accept that discomfort and sail forward or we can stay tethered to old ways and become obsolete.”

#5. BLACKBERRY? “Just think of all the leaders in business that failed to embrace change: Blackberry, Nokia, Blockbuster, Toys R Us, Borders, General Motors…” and more.

#6. AQUINAS. “Italian Christian theologian and philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas once warned, ‘Beware of the man with one book.’” (Chapter 4, “The Beginner’s Mind,” is must-read.)

#7. MISTAKES. Stanford Prof Carol Dweck contrasts a “Fixed Mindset” with a “Growth Mindset” and includes these values for a growth mindset:
   • “Mistakes help me learn.
   • Is this my best work?
   • Feedback is valuable.
   • I improve with practice.
   • I won’t give up.”
She adds, “Why waste time proving over and over how great you are, when you could be getting better?”

#8. FAILURE. "Legendary basketball coach John Wooden once said that no one is a failure until they start blaming others.”

#9. BE CURIOUS! View the eighth episode of the first season of Ted Lasso to learn “What Ted Lasso Can Teach Us About Curiosity.” Ted Lasso quotes Walt Whitman, “Be curious, not judgmental.” View the three-minute clip here. (Hilarious!)

View this 3-minute clip from Ted Lasso. (LOL!)

#10. HOLY CURIOSITY. “Einstein believed curiosity is one of humanity’s best traits.” He added, “Never lose a holy curiosity.” (There’s that “curiosity” theme again that keeps popping up in my recent book reviews.)

#11. MID-POINT SUMMARY. Brilliant! Halfway through the book, Brian Solis summarizes on one page, in BIG print: “What a journey we’ve been on. Just look at how far we’ve come.” On page 121, he reminds us of 10 themes he’s covered, including:
   • “Together…we’ve learned that the door is opening to a novel economy, and it’s an era that needs new leadership.”
   • Together we’ve… “learned that even though executives might think they do, they don’t always have all the answers.”

#12. SIX STAGES OF MINDSET SHIFTING. Now the fun begins in Chapters 7 to 12: “Receive, Perceive, Weave, Conceive, Believe, and Achieve.” Must-read!

#13. MINDSET LEXICON. Five words: “Trendsight, Trendsighting, Trendscape Canvas, Trendfluence, and Trendspark.” (I mean…how can you not read this book with your team?)

#14. SLOW DOWN! Oh, my. How do we address those looming trends? How do we sleep at night? Brian Solis has two words for us: “Slow down.” (Now he’s meddling! But it prompted me to play this song at the beginning of a meeting I facilitated last week. You guessed it: “Slow Down,” sung by Chuck Girard.)

#15. NO BURDEN. “Early on, as we’re learning not just how to track trends but also how to identify them, letting go of the burden of trying to predict the future. That’s not what we’re trying to do here. We are exploring the trends that might impact our ecosystem. It’s a process of getting smart about the promise or potential of emerging trends. It’s also spending time thinking about how those trends could unfold and what those changes might look like.”

#16. WONDER WALL! Let's do this! The “Wonder Wall” exercise on page 129 is worth the price of the book! Solis writes, “Creating a wonder wall activates your powers of curiosity. It helps you connect the dots between the future you envision and where you are today. The process ignites your childlike sense of wonder and helps you consider the questions with a beginner’s mind and a positive sense of possibilities.” He includes 20 questions he’s found helpful. (Guarantee: You will do a “Wonder Wall” at your next strategic planning retreat.) Here are two questions (“Wondering Samples”) that popped off the page for me:
   • “What WSJ or NYT headline would describe our ideal future state?”
   • “If we don’t transform now, what will our tombstone read and when?”

There are 18 more “sample” questions—examples of questions your team might write on post-it notes and then post on your Wonder Wall—“the visual reflection of the things that stoke your curiosity and the things that you can’t stop thinking about, that are burning inside of you.”

#17. NARRATIVE VS. NUMBERS. The author writes that the three stages of “weave, conceive, and believe” will help to “develop a story for change that sparks curiosity, conversation, and collaboration, ultimately leading to action.” The power of story is explored—very creatively in these chapters (think Pixar’s storytelling approach)—yet with this warning:

Solis mentions Professor Scott Galloway’s research, “Data may be more truthful, but in the battle between narrative and numbers, most of the time humanity picks narrative.” (However, for a slightly contrarian, but very helpful complementary view, read my review of Making Numbers Count, by Chip Heath and Karla Starr.)

#18. WIM (What It Means) EXERCISE. I know you will immediately use this planning tool also. “Think of the WIM exercise as a way of getting to:
   • ...the what,
   • so what,
   • and now what...
of every trend.”

#19. SCENARIO PLANNING. Don’t skip the section on “a common misconception about the nature of scenario planning.” (Learn about IBM’s 1981 estimate that sales of personal computers would peak at 200,000. “Unfortunately, they were a little wrong.” The number was 25 million!)

#20. MAKE YOUR STORY PERSONAL. In Chapter 10, you’ll read about “Connecting Trends to the Human Condition by Making Your Story Personal” and stories that appeal to our deepest emotions: anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. You’ll learn from “the world’s best-known and most respected screenwriting lecturer” as referenced in HBR’s article, “Storytelling That Moves People.” (And you’ll want to get the popcorn and enjoy the classic movie, Monsters, Inc.)

The author notes that “the best stories are about the human condition we all share”—and page 195 includes a graphic with 18 themes you can leverage. The assignment: “Consider how you might tell a story about a trend in a way that shows how that trend can help your audience with these universal aspects of life.”

Reminder: I told you this book is next to impossible to adequately review. I still haven’t done it, so please read this book yourself. (I might write a second review of this book down the road—it’s that good and it’s that important.)

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Strategy Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies.

[  ] Non Obvious Megatrends: How to See What Others Miss and Predict the Future, by Rohit Bhargava (Read my review.)
[  ] Read my blog post, “Strategy Quartet - Summer Shorts on Strategy,” with short reviews of four books, including What Is Strategy? An Illustrated Guide to Michael Porter, by Joan Magretta and Emile Holmewood (Illustrator).
[  ] How to Create Extraordinary Places that Bring People Together, by Kevin Ervin Kelley (Read my review.)
[  ] Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution: A Handbook for Entrepreneurs, by Uri Levine (Read my review.)

[  ] StrategyMan vs. the Anti-Strategy Squad: Using Strategic Thinking to Defeat Bad Strategy and Save Your Plan, by Rich Horwath (Read my review.)
[  ] Thinkpak: A Brainstorming Card Deck, by Michael Michalko (Read my review.)
[  ] Survive, Reset, Thrive: Leading Breakthrough Growth Strategy in Volatile Times, by Rebecca Homkes (Read my review.)
[  ] Breakthrough: Unleashing the Power of a Proven Plan, by Randon A. Samelson (Read my review.)
 
To order from Amazon, click on the title for Mindshift: Transform Leadership, Drive Innovation, and Reshape the Future, by Brian Solis. For more reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. And thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy.

© 2024. John Pearson Associates. All rights reserved.
Pails in Comparison is posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Typepad.com’s privacy policy here.

Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future

PIC No. 75: 
• Title: Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future
• Authors: Mike Maples Jr. and Peter Ziebelman
• Publisher: PublicAffairs (July 9, 2024, 288 pages)
• Management Bucket #3 of 20: The Strategy Bucket



Welcome to Issue No. 75 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.

I Asked AI to Contrast and Compare 2 Books!

It just wouldn’t be right, when recommending this hot-off-the-press book, to pretend I could understood and articulate these important insights on my own. (Right?) I mean, I’ve done one start-up and reinvented a few organizations—but I’m clearly not an AI or start-up guru.

So, taking the advice from Jeremy Kahn’s hot-off-the-press book, Mastering AI: A Survival Guide to Our Superpowered Future—I learned that it’s not cheating to ask AI for help. In fact, it’s recommended! So I did—and I thought you’d appreciate these two “compare and contrast” AI summaries, requested just one day after both books were published.

I asked ChatGPT and Claude the same question:

“In 300 words or less, please compare and contrast the breakthrough ideas from the new books, “Mastering AI: A Survival Guide to Our Superpowered Future,” by Jeremy Kahn, and “Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future,” by Mike Maples Jr. and Peter Ziebelman.

RESPONSE FROM ChatGPT:

**Comparison and Contrast of Breakthrough Ideas in "Mastering AI: A Survival Guide to Our Superpowered Future" by Jeremy Kahn and "Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future" by Mike Maples Jr. and Peter Ziebelman**

"Mastering AI" by Jeremy Kahn and "Pattern Breakers" by Mike Maples Jr. and Peter Ziebelman both explore innovation but through different lenses: AI and startup culture.

**Breakthrough Ideas in "Mastering AI"**:
1. **AI as a Superpower**: Kahn emphasizes AI’s transformative potential, describing it as a tool that can supercharge various sectors from healthcare to finance.
2. **Ethical and Societal Implications**: The book delves deeply into the ethical concerns surrounding AI, including biases, job displacement, and privacy issues.
3. **Human-AI Collaboration**: Kahn promotes the idea of symbiotic relationships between humans and AI, suggesting that the future lies in leveraging AI to augment human capabilities rather than replace them.

**Breakthrough Ideas in "Pattern Breakers"**:
1. **Disruptive Innovation**: Maples and Ziebelman focus on how startups can disrupt existing markets. They outline strategies used by successful startups to break patterns and create new market dynamics.
2. **Founder Mindset**: The authors stress the importance of a visionary founder's mindset, highlighting traits such as resilience, adaptability, and a willingness to challenge the status quo.
3. **Network Effects**: The book discusses the significance of network effects in the success of startups, explaining how startups can leverage these effects to achieve rapid growth and dominance.

**Comparative Analysis**:
- **Focus**: Kahn’s work centers on AI and its broad implications, while Maples and Ziebelman concentrate on the startup ecosystem and disruptive innovation.
- **Scope of Impact**: "Mastering AI" addresses global and societal changes driven by AI technologies, whereas "Pattern Breakers" is more focused on business strategies and market dynamics.
- **Approach to Change**: Kahn advocates for ethical and collaborative advancements in AI, while Maples and Ziebelman emphasize breaking traditional patterns and leveraging innovative thinking within startups.

In summary, both books offer valuable insights into innovation, with "Mastering AI" providing a macro perspective on technological advancements and their societal impacts, and "Pattern Breakers" offering a micro perspective on the mindset and strategies behind successful startups.

RESPONSE FROM CLAUDE:

I apologize, but I don't have specific information about the content of those two books you mentioned. As an AI system, I don't have access to newly published books or their contents unless that information has been included in my training data. My knowledge cutoff was in April 2024, so I wouldn't be able to accurately compare and contrast ideas from books published after that date.

Without having read these books, I can't provide a meaningful comparison of their breakthrough ideas. Any attempt to do so would likely result in inaccurate information.

Instead, I'd recommend:

1. Reading reviews or summaries of these books from reputable sources.
2. Consulting the books directly to understand their key ideas.
3. Reaching out to others who have read both books for their perspectives.

If you'd like, I could offer some general thoughts on AI and startups based on my existing knowledge, but this wouldn't be specific to the books you mentioned. Let me know if that would be helpful, or if you have any other questions I can assist with.

ACTUAL, REAL COMMENTS FROM JOHN (the Live Person!)

Interesting! This is the first time I’ve used Claude and no password was required, but I was required to respond to both an email and a text to my mobile phone. The “warnings” (and fine print) were pretty good and in line with the cautions noted in Kahn’s book. But clearly, Claude has some catching up to do.

The good news: Claude suggests we read books! Read my review of Mastering AI and stay tuned for my “actual” review of Pattern Breakers. And…welcome to the brave new world!

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Strategy Bucket plus other buckets/core competencies. 

[  ] Mastering AI: A Survival Guide to Our Superpowered Future, by Jeremy Kahn. (Order from Amazon and read my review.)

[  ] Decision Sprint: The New Way to Innovate into the Unknown and Move from Strategy to Action, by Atif Rafiq. (Read my three reviews!)

[  ] Rewired: The McKinsey Guide to Outcompeting in the Age of Digital and AI, by Eric Lamarre, Kate Smaje, and Rodney Zemmel (Listen to the “Zoom review” of the book by David Schmidt and John Reynolds and read the review by Dr. Reynolds.)

[  ] Fusion Strategy: How Real-Time Data and AI Will Power the Industrial Future, by Vijay Govindarajan Venkat Venkatraman. (Order from Amazon and watch for my review of this Harvard Business Review Press book published on March 12, 2024).

[  ] The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI, by Ray Kurzweil. (Order from Amazon and watch for my review of this book published on June 25, 2024.)

To order from Amazon, click on the title for Pattern Breakers: Why Some Start-Ups Change the Future, by Mike Maples Jr. and Peter Ziebelman. Listen on Libro (7 hours, 20 minutes). For more reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. 

© 2024. John Pearson Associates. All rights reserved.
Pails in Comparison is posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Typepad.com’s privacy policy here.

Remembering Pat Clements (1945-2024)

Issue No. 73 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog, features a special tribute today to Pat Clements.

Remembering Pat Clements (1945-2024)



Gratefully, we all have moments in our lives when one or more special friends or colleagues hear from God—and then generously give us their counsel, direction, and encouragement. Pat Clements was that person for me—many, many times.

Patrick L. Clements (1945-2024) entered Heaven's gates on May 15, 2024. He was 78. (Read the tribute here.) A stunning “Celebration of Life” was held at his home church in Salem, Ore., on June 15, 2024. (View the video here.)

In 1994, Pat Clements was the board chair of Christian Management Association (now called Christian Leadership Alliance). Pat and the CEO search committee presented a very compelling invitation for us to consider leaving the winter snowstorms and blazing summers of the Chicago area and relocate to Southern California to lead CMA.

At the time, Pat was the president of Church Extension Plan, a financial ministry that serves thousands of churches across the country and grew significantly under his leadership between 1982 and 2016. Pat and his wife, Connie, became friends and were faithful encouragers, donors, and cheerleaders during our 11 years with CMA (1994-2005).

I cannot improve on the perfect tone and tributes to Pat in the “Celebration of Life” service earlier this month by his friends and family. (Joanne and I are blessed to have one son, a daughter-in-law, and five grandchildren. But after viewing the video, I’ve been thinking of asking Pat’s four sons if they would also speak at my memorial service!) The service is a template for God’s faithfulness in the life of a leader and his family.

This Scripture that Pat loved was featured in the celebration: “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭16‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

View the video of the service to see how family members displayed one-word tributes about Pat. Beautiful and so meaningful. The video also highlights Pat's personal mission statement and his core values.

It's quite likely that the people who knew and loved Pat may not be aware of his impact on the lives of so many other leaders across the country and globally (including me). We are forever grateful for his leadership wisdom and practical tools! Examples:

TOOL #10: THE 5/15 MONTHLY REPORT TO THE BOARD
Pat's very practical tool is featured in the book, ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance: Time-Saving Solutions for Your Board, by Dan Busby and John Pearson.

In the book, Dan and I note: “John was blessed a few years back when Pat Clements, board chair at Christian Management Association (now Christian Leadership Alliance), introduced John to a simple, time-saving template. Like clock-work, on the fifteenth of every month, Clements sent his 5/15 Report to his national board. So John borrowed his brilliant idea and customized the template for the board of CMA.”

Pat sold me on the pragmatic value of this communication template. “John, leverage this tool to keep the board informed and inspired between meetings. Once formatted, it takes just 15 minutes to write and 5 minutes to read.” Thus the title: “The CEO’s 5/15 Monthly Report to the Board.”

Since then, I have shared this brilliant template with nonprofit ministry leaders around the world. Dan Busby (1941-2022) felt it was so valuable he selected it as one of the 22 tools in our book, published by ECFAPress. But it didn’t stop there!
   • Pat’s tool is also featured in Lesson 6, “Eliminate Hallway Whining,” in the book, Lessons From the Nonprofit Boardroom: 40 Insights for Better Board Meetings (2nd Edition), by Dan Busby and John Pearson. Read Lesson 6 here.
   • Pat also wrote a guest blog about the tool for ECFA’s “Governance of Christ-Centered Organizations” blog on Dec. 27, 2017. Read “Eliminate Hallway Whining,” by Pat Clements.
   • For a free download of Tool #10 (and other tools), register here on the ECFA website.
   • Read the blog on Tool #10.

TOOL #14: THE ROLLING 3-YEAR STRATEGIC PLAN PLACEMAT
Another tool that Pat leveraged is what he called the “Strategic Plan Poster” (or Placemat). A version of that is also included in the book, ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance.

The big idea: Roll-up your sleeves and gather the strategically-gifted board and senior staff around the table—and create a one-page summary (11” x 17”) of your strategic plan. (Click here to download Tool #14 and read the blog on Tool #14.)

In “The Strategy Bucket” chapter of my book, Mastering the Management Buckets, I begin Chapter 3 by crediting Pat Clements for his ingenious accountability conversations during his CEP years.

“Occasionally Pat Clements stops a team member in the hallway at Church Extension Plan and asks, ‘What are you working on today, Jennifer?’”

Upon hearing Jennifer’s answer, Pat is ready with his follow-up question: “How is that project connected to our Strategic Plan Poster?” (The poster was widely distributed, of course, and visible throughout the office and during both staff meetings and board meetings.) Brilliant!

I’m sure there are more tools, resources, insights, one-liners, and prayers that I will remember in the days ahead. Oh, my. I’m so grateful for the faithful leadership of Pat Clements.

Note: Pat Clements was also the author of two books: Proven Concepts of Church Building and Finance and Financial Freedom: More Than Being Debt Free—Tools for Managing Your Personal Finances.

© 2024. John Pearson Associates. All rights reserved.
Pails in Comparison is posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Typepad.com’s privacy policy here.

Venture Meets Mission: Aligning People, Purpose, and Profit to Innovate and Transform Society

PIC No. 60: 
• Title: Venture Meets Mission: Aligning People, Purpose, and Profit to Innovate and Transform Society
• Authors: Arun Gupta, Gerard George, and Thomas Fewer
• Publisher: Stanford Business Books (Jan. 9, 2024, 280 pages)
• Management Bucket #3 of 20: The Strategy Bucket



Welcome to Issue No. 60 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.

“D” Words and “C” Words and
"The Suit-Hoodie Divide!"

This year I’m recruiting guest bloggers for a music blog, Johnny Be Good. As part of their assignment to review one of 45 songs from the book, Anatomy of a Song, I’m asking each blogger to list three impressions of the book: Good, Better, and Best.

So…I’ll take my own medicine here and give you three options for this hot-off-the-press book, Venture Meets Mission. Here are three ways to read this helpful book:
• GOOD: Scan the book and look at the fascinating charts on pages 59, 63, 87, 112, 152, 178-179, 181 (the Virtuous Cycle), and 184. Suggestion: read more about “the easy button.”
• BETTER: Read Chapter 3, “A Different Compact: Innovating Public-Private Partnerships.” (Warning! After you read this chapter, you’ll want to dive in deeper.)
• BEST: If you care about your nation and want to understand why entrepreneurs and government bureaucrats lock heads (or just ignore each other)—this is a must-read.

At first glance, I didn’t have much hope that this book—though needed—will make a dent in government innovation (an oxymoron?). Then three names came to mind. One friend—a serial entrepreneur—served a stint as his state’s Medicaid director. He did make a dent!

Another friend, Bob Hisrich, who passed away in 2023, was a leading professor in entrepreneurship, and author of more than 35 books and more than 300 articles on entrepreneurship, international business management, and marketing. Hisrich was named one of the top 2% of researchers worldwide in a study published by Stanford University scholars. He was always hopeful about government/business partnerships, especially in Eastern Bloc countries. Maybe this book is important. Read on...

Imagine being in coauthor Arun Gupta's Stanford University class in Washington, D.C., “Valley Meets Mission.” The big idea: “…how entrepreneurial talents can be applied to solve societal problems at scale by collaborating with the government.” Really? Someone is inspiring the next wave of entrepreneurs to be open to innovation and cooperative ventures with government? That’s hard work, but it’s really good news.

Gupta “quips at the start of class that students should not waste their entrepreneurial talents on building Candy Crush 3.0, hoping instead to inspire them to focus those talents at mission-driven for-profit ventures.” (Note: Importantly, nonprofits and NGOs are also part of the mix in this book.)

The authors mention the “suit-hoodie divide” that exacerbates the working relationship between entrepreneurs and government. Amy Zegart, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of Spies, Lies, and Algorithms, notes: “Here in the Valley, people even dress differently than they dress in Washington. They speak a different language. They have a different culture. There’s a different orientation. That’s not to say it’s unbridgeable, but it is in many ways bringing together two foreign cultures.”

They quote her further: “I have said this to my friends at the Pentagon, stop coming to Silicon Valley and using all of your D words. Military officials love to come here and they use words like, destroy, dominate, degrade, defeat.

“These are very popular words in the military. They are terrifying words in the Valley. In the Valley, they like to use C words, create, collaborate, change, and culture.” The challenge—even when entrepreneurs and government hope to align their interest—it’s very hard to find common ground.

Example: Keith Hennessey, former National Economic Council chair notes, “Ask people to finish the sentence, ‘China is a ______ of the United States.’ Policy makers in Washington are likely to fill in: “competitor," "strategic rival," or even "adversary.” Yet, Silicon Valley leaders will say, “supplier," "investor," and especially "market.”

Are you hooked on this book yet? Oh, my. You’ll appreciate:
   • The search for an “easy button”—a great way to discuss the dilemma that “government doesn’t always do the best job of explaining what their problems are, and this can make it difficult to spot how to create solutions.”
   • The chapter, “Misson Venturing: How Entrepreneurs Partner With Government to Create Value and Scale Impact.” Learn about an entrepreneur’s foray into government. Trae Stephens found an “easy button” solution that would save him “a whole day of work every week.” He begged for the funds to buy the software—to no avail. The boss emailed the team, “Someone please tell Trae to get back in the box.”
   • The list of seven characteristics (values and abilities) of entrepreneurs, including “Resilience: the ability to cope with and recover from a crisis or difficulty…”
   • HBS Professor Howard Stevenson’s list of eight key dimensions of entrepreneurial management. (See the list in the book by Hisrich.)

And this: “Months into the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Alex Karp, the CEO of Palantir, sent out an email that demonstrates the tight coupling of emerging technologies and government needs: ‘The power of advanced algorithmic warfare systems is now so great that it equates to having tactical nuclear weapons against an adversary with only conventional ones. The general public tends to underestimate this. Our adversaries no longer do.’” 

Now in 2024, as we make critical decisions in our local, state, and federal elections, I wish we could wave a magic wand and require every political candidate to read this book. You’ll read about the researchers who “found that 90 percent of innovative organizations see failure as a necessity in the pursuit of innovation.” 

Yet, “Imagine if government agencies had to testify in front of Congress for not innovating enough. The culture of these agencies would likely shift from being concerned about only making mistakes and focusing on processes to be being focused on innovating fast enough and producing innovation outcomes.”

Was NASA's three-year Ingenuity helicopter mission on Mars (they pulled the plug on it this week) a success or a failure? You decide.

And this breaking news from the Wall Street Journal on Jan. 25, 2024: "Tech startups get cool reception from Defense Department despite its rhetoric that it will buy more from Silicon Valley."

To give credit where it is due, the authors note that government has exercised its innovative muscles over the years. You may be surprised to learn the origins of innovations like Doppler radar, MRI, microchips, barcodes, and many more. But more must be done.

It won’t be easy. Personally, I recall the time in 2006 that I facilitated a training day for about 40 finance department team members at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Washington, D.C. The topic: “Joy at Work” and decision-making from the book by Dennis Bakke, who was the cofounder of The AES Corporation. Ironically, he was skeptical that government (especially the DEA) could implement the innovative decision-making principles of the book, so he asked me to be the persuader-in-chief that day! I did come away encouraged and so grateful for the high-quality service of the men and women who serve our country.

Dennis Bakke, by the way, would love this book. With a Harvard MBA, he worked at H.E.W. under Elliott Richardson, then in the first energy department under William Simon, then cofounded AES, at the time a "worldwide energy giant with 40,000 employees in 31 countries." Later, Bakke brought innovation to the charter school movement through Imagine Schools. In 1992, he shared "Entrepreneur of the Year" honors, in the category of social responsibility, for the Washington, D.C. area with his AES cofounder, Roger Sant.

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Strategy Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies. 

[  ] Bridgebuilders: How Government Can Transcend Boundaries to Solve Big Problems, by William D. Eggers and Donald F. Kettl (read my review). Listen on Libro (8 hours, 38 minutes).
 
[  ] Corporate Entrepreneurship: How to Create a Thriving Entrepreneurial Spirit Throughout Your Company, by Robert D. Hisrich and Claudine Kearney (read my review)

[  ] Entrepreneurship, by Robert D. Hisrich, Michael P. Peters, and Dean A. Shepherd (read my review)

[  ] Joy at Work: A Revolutionary Approach to Fun on the Job, by Dennis W. Bakke (read my review). Listen on Libro (9 hours, 28 minutes).

[  ] The Decision Maker: Unlock the Potential of Everyone in Your Organization One Decision at a Time, by Dennis Bakke (read my review). Listen on Libro (4 hours, 23 minutes).

[  ] No Way Home: The Crisis of Homelessness and How to Fix It with Intelligence and Humanity, by Wayne Winegarden, Joseph Tartakovsky, Kerry Jackson, and Christopher F. Rufo (read my review)

To order from Amazon, click on the title for Venture Meets Mission: Aligning People, Purpose, and Profit to Innovate and Transform Society, by Arun Gupta, Gerard George, and Thomas Fewer. For more reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. And thanks to the publisher, Stanford Business Books, for sending me a review copy.

© 2024. John Pearson Associates. All rights reserved.
Pails in Comparison is posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Typepad.com’s privacy policy here.

The Future Normal: How We Will Live, Work and Thrive in the Next Decade

PIC No. 35: 
• Title: The Future Normal: How We Will Live, Work and Thrive in the Next Decade 
• Authors: Rohit Bhargava and Henry Coutinho-Mason
• Publisher: Ideapress Publishing (March 7, 2023, 336 pages)
• Management Bucket #3 of 20: The Strategy Bucket
 


Welcome to Issue No. 35 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.

Artificial Intelligence Wrote 6 Verses in 3 Seconds!

First, let me be clear. I did not ask AI to write this review. I was tempted, however, because my limited forays into artificial intelligence have been quite impressive. (Prompt: “Create a nonprofit organization committee charter template.”) Anyway…I wrote this review the old-fashioned way.

But speaking of AI, let’s jump over to Chapter 11, “Augmented Creativity,” where co-authors Rohit Bhargava and Henry Coutinho-Mason ask, “What if artificial intelligence could make humans more creative?” They asked OpenAI’s ChatGPT artificial content creation tool a single prompt, “Rewrite the song ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ to be about AI.”

AI wrote six verses, including this opening:
     “In the midst of the digital age,
      AI rose to the stage,
      A new kind of star was born,
      And the old ways were gone.”

They note, “The lyrics above came back in three seconds. No human, not even the world’s best songwriters, could produce something this quickly. And most people would agree that the lyrics are distinctly passable.”

The Future Normal also mentions IBM. (And speaking of IBM, see my review of Good Power, by Ginni Rometty, former Chairman and CEO of IBM from 2012 to 2020). “Several years ago, IBM’s Watson helped create a ‘cognitive movie trailer’ for Morgan, a suspense-filled horror movie about an artificially enhanced human.” The result: “This combination of human and AI-powered machine reduced the time required to produce a movie trailer from the typical two to three weeks to around 24 hours.”

But…I should back up (like AI would have done) and give you a proper introduction to The Future Normal: How We Will Live, Work and Thrive in the Next Decade. Co-author Rohit Bhargava is also the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller, Non-Obvious Megatrends: How to See What Others Miss and Predict the Future (read my review). So, I could hardly wait to read his latest thinking.

To write this book, the authors approach the future as contrarians—as “now-ists”—and that’s intriguing. They write, “We both felt that we took a different approach than many futurists. Instead of asking what could change the future, we routinely found ourselves asking, ‘What already has?’ and ‘Do we want this change to be a part of humanity’s future?’”

They note, “Indeed, neither of us spends much time looking at futurist scenarios at all. Our energy is focused on the present. As now-ists rather than futurists, we stay on top of business innovations because they so often spark insights into what our future normal will look like. Any new business innovation—whether an entirely new brand or startup, or a new product, service, or initiative from an existing brand—is a bet on the future.

These two very creative “now-ists” clearly love their work! “We have engaged in rich dialogue with uncanny holograms, donned full bodysuits to ‘feel’ virtual wind, and suffered the pitying stares of passersby while wearing Google Glasses in public. We have anxiously strapped ourselves in as passengers of prototype self-driving cars and watched artificial intelligence ‘write’ a full-length article years before it was widely available.”

And this: “For every world-changing innovation we celebrated, another would fail to reach the mainstream or hit an unexpected impasse. The truth is that the future is abandoned, defunded, ignored, or ridiculed just as often as it is realized. So the real challenge isn’t predicting the future but rather predicting what will become normal.”

PLAYLISTS! I love the book’s format and the permission from the authors to jump around the 30 chapters in any order. They add, “At the end of the book in appendix A, we’ve also provided a selection of curated ‘playlists’ to help you zero in on the chapters that will have the greatest impact on your life and your career, no matter what industry you work in.”

For example, the “Government, NGOs & Nonprofits” playlist recommends you focus on 10 of the 30 short chapters, including: Certified Media, Ending Loneliness, Work Constructed, Impact Hubs, New Collectivism, Good Governing, The 15-Minute City, Reflective Cultures, Stealth Learning, and Millions of Microgrids.

The “Future Normal” content is categorized into three major sections (10 chapters per section):
• Part 1: How We Will Connect, Get Healthy, and Thrive
• Part 2: How We Will Live, Work, and Consume
• Part 3: How Humanity Will Survive

The three introductory pages for each of the three major sections include 10 chapter icons and 10 one-line summaries. The authors reveal that the “chapter on augmented creativity also inspired the design of this book. We used AI tools to suggest the various icons you see on the opening page of each chapter. To learn more about how we leveraged AI for this design task, visit our online resources at thefuturenormal.com.”

In Chapter 3, “Certified Media,” the authors ask, “What if all media outlets were required to have images and videos validated before publishing, and how might this affect freedom of speech?” And note that in 2018, “MIT researchers famously reported that misinformation spreads up to 100 times further and six times faster than truth, and political falsehoods spread three times faster than other misinformation.”

Every chapter features numerous stories and at least one “instigator.” In Chapter 22, “Good Governing,” the authors ask, “What if government policies were recognized for actually making citizens’ lives better?” The Instigator: The World Government Summit, “an annual gathering of more than 20,000 government leaders and experts.” Imagine this: “The 2022 annual event featured nearly 1,000 sessions, more than 600 speakers, and over 40 participating organizations. In past years, the event has showcased programs such as Indonesia’s innovative experiment to allow bus riders in the country’s second-largest city of Surabaya to pay for their ride by collecting and submitting five plastic bottles instead of paying with cash.”

In the conclusion, “The Future Will Be Normal,” the authors predict: “The secret to seizing emerging opportunities has always been in bridging these two dimensions—embracing the new, while grounding it in what will not change.” They quote Amazon founder Jeff Bezos who once observed: “I very frequently get the question: ‘What’s going to change in the next 10 years?’ … I almost never get the question—‘What’s not going to change in the next 10 years?’—And I submit to you that that second question is actually the more important of the two.”

BONUS! Click here to view a 22-minute dialogue with the coauthors.

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Strategy Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies. 

[  ]  Non-Obvious Megatrends: How to See What Others Miss and Predict the Future, by Rohit Bhargava (Read my review.)
[  ] The Attacker’s Advantage: Turning Uncertainty Into Breakthrough Opportunities, by Ram Charan (Read my review.)
[  ] Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen, by Dan Heath (Read my review.)
[  ] Barna Trends 2018: What's New and What's Next at the Intersection of Faith and Culture (Read my review.) – Note! As you read this, now five years later, ask “How prophetic was the Barna organization?”

To order from Amazon, click on the title for Future Normal: How We Will Live, Work and Thrive in the Next Decade, by Rohit Bhargava and Henry Coutinho-Mason. For more book reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. And thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy.

© 2023 John Pearson Associates. All rights reserved.
Pails in Comparison is posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Typepad.com’s privacy policy here.

Access Rules: Freeing Data from Big Tech for a Better Future

PIC No. 11: 
• Title: Access Rules: Freeing Data from Big Tech for a Better Future
• Authors: Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Thomas Ramge
• Publisher: University of California Press (April 26, 2022, 220 pages)
• Management Bucket #3 of 20: The Strategy Bucket



 Welcome to Issue No. 11 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—short reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.

Idealistic Utopia or a Feasible Vision?

Oh, my. Just when you thought you were well-read and understood the basic arguments and views on open access for all things digital—along comes an in-your-face book, but with a very refreshing style (examples: lemons, hoaxes, and those liberal Swedes!). But caution—you just may change your deeply-held opinions!

Access Rules: Freeing Data from Big Tech for a Better Future, by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Thomas Ramge, is worth the read—and will likely prompt you to read more. (The 11 pages of recommended reading include both old friends like Clayton Christensen, Thomas Friedman, and Alvin Toffler—plus Peter Thiel’s Zero to One, and other tempting reads on Elon Musk, Bell Labs, innovations, startups, and more.)

CONSIDER THAT…

1) …BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, as a regional postmaster, “put an end to unfair competition in newspaper distribution.” (Follow the book’s argument on why open access—removing unfair competition—will actually enrich and enhance innovation and entrepreneurship; and why “access to information is the foundation of democratic decision-making.”)

2) …GOOGLE AND APPLE (“the Silicon Valley duopoly”) in response to government requests for help during COVID, refused to share data. “Instead the pair took on a role usually played by privacy activists—as evangelists of minimal data use.” The authors add, “Dominant digital platforms exercised a defacto veto over the democratic flow of information.”

3) … “IT IS NO LONGER OIL BARONS or bankers sitting on top of the economic power pyramid but Tim Cook and Satya Nadella, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg…” and others.

4) … “BY 2021, BIG TECH faced antitrust activities by regulators and policy makers across the globe. In the United States, forty-six of the fifty states had sued Facebook, accusing the social media behemoth of anticompetitive conduct.”

5) … IN OUR POST-COVID ERA, the authors argue, “The age of information monopolies is over.”

MORE INSIGHTS!

6) BORING TIMES AND FRENZIED STANDSTILL! “…a sober look at the relevant numbers shows: we live in boring times. In comparison to the last 150 years, the rate of innovation today is alarmingly low. A glance at a range of economic indicators confirms that impression of frenzied standstill.” (Thus, contend the authors, open access to data will jump start a new era of innovation.)

7) TALENT EXIT! In the fascinating chapter, “Schumpeter’s Nightmare,” the authors note, “The companies with the greatest abundance of data they use tend to be the most innovative.” And this: “As a consequence, companies lacking access to data will run out of talent, then ideas, and finally customers and money.”

8) EUROPE’S BIPOLAR DISORDER. Co-author Victor Mayer-Schönberger’s day job is Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at the University of Oxford—thus the book’s insights on how Europe views Big Tech, access rules, and all things digital is instructive. Along with Thomas Ramge, award-willing author of more than 15 books on technology and more, the two add this humorous note: “If a psychologist were to examine Europe’s state of mind regarding its digital present and future, they would possible diagnose a bipolar disorder.”

9) SILICON VALLEY vs ROUTE 128. The authors contrast the early tech companies in the East (aka “Route 128”) as “vertically integrated and hierarchically organized” with no free flow of info—to the West’s style (aka Silicon Valley) of “free and open flows of information, decentralization, and competitive cooperation.” (My brother, Paul, was an engineer at IBM in San Jose—right out of college in 1961; white shirt, tie, and pocket protector. The authors’ analysis of the early Silicon Valley landscape is helpful context.)

10) IDEALISTIC UTOPIA OR A FEASIBLE VISION? Citing President Eisenhower’s bold open access moves during the Cold War (read the last chapter), the authors believe that “nothing prevents policy makers in the United States and elsewhere to do the twenty-first century equivalent—except a lack of understanding of how access rules can turn into a game changer leading to long-term benefits for society.”

Feasible vision? Maybe. Bold vision? Yes.

Stay tuned—and once you have read the thoughtful arguments in this book, I’m guessing you will be more open to reading further on this important issue—pro, con, or somewhere in between. Gratefully, the authors delivered a readable and fascinating journey down the open access highway.

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Strategy Bucket (and other buckets/core competencies):

• Rethinking Competitive Advantage: New Rules for the Digital Age, by Ram Charan with Geri Willigan (read my review)
• Quantum Marketing: Mastering the New Marketing Mindset for Tomorrow's Consumers, by Raja Rajamannar (read my review)
• The Practical Drucker: Applying the Wisdom of the World's Greatest Management Thinker, by William A. Cohen (re: Peter Drucker's prophetic voice about the information age and "What everyone knows is usually wrong." (read my review) 

To order from Amazon, click on the title for Access Rules: Freeing Data from Big Tech for a Better Future, by Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Thomas Ramge. For more book reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. (And thanks to Fortier PR and the publisher for sending me a review copy.)

© 2022 John Pearson Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
Pails in Comparison is posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Typepad.com’s privacy policy here.

The Synergy Solution: How Companies Win the Mergers and Acquisitions Game

PIC No. 7: 
• Title: The Synergy Solution: How Companies Win the Mergers and Acquisitions Game
• Authors: Mark Sirower and Jeff Weirens
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press (416 pages, March 15, 2022)
• Management Bucket #3 of 20: The Strategy Bucket



Welcome to Issue No. 7 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the “little brother” of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—short reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.

“In most organizations, PMI is not a core skill.”

Read just one line in this new book on mergers and acquisitions—and you’re hooked: “In most organizations, PMI is not a core skill.”

PMI (post-merger integration) torpedoes many, many mergers.

But let me back up a bit. A recent Wall Street Journal article trumpeted a radical idea for churches—perhaps smaller churches should merge with larger churches. “A Thriving Church Can Save a Faltering One,” by Ron McCoy, suggests that “a congregation merger might sound radical, but the evidence shows it can work.”

While there have been successful church mergers over the decades, not every merger works. (The egos and the logos are formidable obstacles.) While I have sometimes suggested mergers to clients (both churches and nonprofit organizations), I’ve actually seen few takers. Now I understand why. I had never read a serious book about the art and science of mergers and acquisitions…until now.

The Synergy Solution: How Companies Win the Mergers and Acquisitions Game, by Mark Sirower and Jeff Weirens—while written for the marketplace—has practical wisdom for both nonprofits and for-profits.

The authors warn leaders about the “synergy trap” in proposed mergers and what to do about it. “Our hypothesis is that these systemic failures are the result of a lack of:
   • Preparation
   • Methodology, and
   • Strategy.”

After the helpful introduction, I couldn’t resist reading Chapter 9 next, “Can the Board Avoid the Synergy Trap?” Here they deliver “Tools for the Board” and caution enthusiastic board members to exercise their “primary fiduciary duties of loyalty and care in fulfilling their responsibilities.” The authors urge board members who are considering M&A opportunities, to ask the right questions and have the right discussions “…given that so many bad deals make it out of the boardroom.”

Wow. There is SO much in this robust book. In reminding board members of the common pitfalls of mergers, they note, “As we discussed at length in chapters 6, 7, and 8, a post-merger integration (PMI) is a highly complex process. The pace, importance, and sheer number of decisions that will need to be made for a merger far outstrip the normal rate of decision-making. Combining two organizations with distinct cultures while trying to manage business as usual and protect the day-to-day cash flow is daunting.” And they add this kicker:

“In most organizations,
PMI is not a core skill.”

Whether you’re a board member of a for-profit or a nonprofit, if this short review doesn’t scare you off, then be sure every board member reads this book. The authors have just dramatically increased your chances of a successful merger. But more likely, they’ve helped you say NO to an unsuccessful merger. (Be sure to send them a thank you note!)

PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several favorite books in the Strategy Bucket:

NONPROFITS:
• Well Connected: Releasing Power, Restoring Hope Through Kingdom Partnerships, by Phill Butler (read my review)
• Rooting for Rivals: How Collaboration and Generosity Increase the Impact of Leaders, Charities, and Churches, by Peter Greer and Chris Horst, with Jill Heisey (read my review)

FOR-PROFITS:
• Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It…and Why the Rest Don’t – Mastering the Rockefeller Habits 2.0, by Verne Harnish (read my review)
• Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great (Why Some Companies Build Momentum and Others Don’t), by Jim Collins (read my review)

TO ORDER FROM AMAZON, click on the title for The Synergy Solution: How Companies Win the Mergers and Acquisitions Game, by Mark Sirower and Jeff Weirens. Listen on Libro.fm (12 hours, 7 minutes). For more book reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. (And thanks to Fortier PR and Harvard Business Review Press for sending me a review copy.)

© 2022 John Pearson Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
Pails in Comparison is posted every once in a while. We do not accept any form of compensation from authors or publishers for book reviews. As an Amazon Associate, we earn Amazon gift cards from qualifying purchases. As a Libro.fm Affiliate, we earn credits. By subscribing to Your Weekly Staff Meeting, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Typepad.com’s privacy policy here.