Blindsided
Book

Blindsided

How to Spot the Next Breakthrough That Will Change Your Business Forever

Jim Harris
Capstone, 2002
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9

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Recommendation

In Blindsided, change expert Jim Harris discusses the startling way some major companies got "blindsided" – caught with their antenna down by fast-moving technological changes that undermined their businesses. He fills you in on how change works, and works quickly. Then, as if to make you feel better, he offers practical techniques that superior companies use to avoid being walloped. Harris tells you (consider this a warning) what to do to deal with change. Generally, this is a top-notch, straightforward book, although some corporate histories and guideposts on recognizing change may sound like retreads of other material. Still, Harris provides a guidebook for heeding and handling change. Just ask yourself the questions at the end of each chapter to find out if you need this heads up strategy check. getAbstract suggests that diagnostic dialog to business strategists and executives. Just keep looking behind you while you are reading – someone, or something, may be gaining on you.

Summary

Why Companies Get Blindsided

Polaroid and Kodak were blindsided – caught by surprise by new technology, specifically the rise of digital photography. Even Microsoft was blindsided for a time by the growth of the Web. How did Bill Gates respond? He did a 180-degree turnaround in December 1995 and directed 2,500 programmers to develop programs for the Web. Other major firms that got blindsided include Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks and most telecom companies. These and many other organizations were blindsided because they failed to recognize a breakthrough technology that was going to change their industries totally with new products or services.

To avoid being blindsided, you need to increase your ability to recognize and respond to change quickly and accurately. Rapid change is transforming the economic landscape, although most organizations today act like drivers speeding in a fog. Once, companies could rely on being in stable industries and predictable customers. They could use five year strategic plans. No longer. Now, it takes less than two years to turn an entire industry upside down. Thus, you need to be able to perceive a threat early, and you must diagnose ...

About the Author

"Change guru" Jim Harris heads Strategic Advantage, a management consulting firm specializing in strategic planning and leadership development. His clients include Barclays Bank, Columbia Tristar Pictures, Deloitte & Touche, General Motors, IEEE, Johnson & Johnson, Nortel Networks, Sun Microsystems and the UK Cabinet Office. His book The Learning Paradox, which was published in eighty countries, was nominated for the Canadian National Business Book Award. He is a frequent speaker at conferences worldwide.

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