cover image Practically Radical: Not So Crazy Ways to Transform Your Company, Shake Up Your Industry, and Challenge Yourself

Practically Radical: Not So Crazy Ways to Transform Your Company, Shake Up Your Industry, and Challenge Yourself

William C. Taylor, Morrow, $27.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-06-173461-8

As the business world becomes increasingly competitive, global, and adoptive of new technologies, companies worldwide are constantly searching for answers about how to best evolve to meet their customers’ needs and to stay abreast of their competitors. Taylor (Mavericks at Work) asserts that change is the name of the game; he takes us on an inside look at 25 companies that have grown ever more adaptive to not merely survive but thrive in today’s challenging environment. Taylor’s book is intended to guide leaders in launching fresh initiatives and rethinking “the logic of leadership itself as they work to rally their colleagues around an agenda for renewal.” The work achieves its promise with actionable prescriptions and meaningful examples, such as how organizations like the Girl Scouts have redefined their brand and revitalized their mission, how Zappos has reimagined retail and service, and why, like IBM, leaders must constantly challenge the status quo by examining the self-reflection and commitment to innovation. An engaging and briskly written read, this will captivate and benefit business people interested in change and innovation. (Feb.)