cover image WHOOSH: Business in the Fast Lane

WHOOSH: Business in the Fast Lane

Tom McGehee, . . Perseus, $25 (208pp) ISBN 978-0-7382-0402-4

In this short, engaging, but ultimately frustrating book, McGehee, a consultant with Cap Gemini Ernst Young, broadly sketches a strategy for remaining competitive in business in coming years: constant, radical innovation through breaking down barriers between an employee's achievements and those of the company. His advice boils down to these recommendations: "a leadership style that emphasizes freedom, not control... an understanding that success means creating the new and not replicating the old" and a "work style that values individual expression and collaborative work [rather than conformity and individual work]." While these concepts are sound and presented clearly, they're practically clichés in the management world. Managers who want to know how to make their organization into what the author calls a "Creation Company," one that understands its past successes and builds off of them instead of maintaining the status quo, may find the book short on nuts-and-bolts advice. McGehee is a lively writer who has extensive experience with large organizations, such as British Petroleum, Johnson & Johnson, Genentech and American Airlines, but this book won't mark his breakout. (Sept.)