CDS Professional Reading List: Instiutional and Organizational Excellence

In this definitive and revealing history, Henry Mintzberg, the iconoclastic former president of the Strategic Management Society, unmasks the press that has mesmerized so many organizations since 1965: strategic planning. One of our most brilliant and original management thinkers, Mintzberg concludes that the term is an oxymoron -- that strategy cannot be planned because planning is about analysis and strategy is about synthesis. That is why, he asserts, the process has failed so often and so dramatically. Mintzberg traces the origins and history of strategic planning through its prominence and subsequent fall. He argues that we must reconceive the process by which strategies are created -- by emphasizing informal learning and personal vision -- and the roles that can be played by planners. Mintzberg proposes new and unusual definitions of planning and strategy, and examines in novel and insightful ways the various models of strategic planning and the evidence of why they failed. Reviewing the so-called "pitfalls" of planning, he shows how the process itself can destroy commitment, narrow a company's vision, discourage change, and breed an atmosphere of politics. In a harsh critique of many sacred cows, he describes three basic fallacies of the process -- that discontinuities can be predicted, that strategists can be detached from the operations of the organization, and that the process of strategy-making itself can be formalized. Mintzberg devotes a substantial section to the new role for planning, plans, and planners, not inside the strategy-making process, but in support of it, providing some of its inputs and sometimes programming its outputs as well as encouraging strategic thinking in general. This book is required reading for anyone in an organization who is influenced by the planning or the strategy-making processes.

In the second edition of the best-selling "Becoming a Strategic Leader", Richard L. Hughes, Katherine Colarelli Beatty, and David L. Dinwoodie draw from the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) acclaimed Leading Strategically program to offer executives and managers a comprehensive approach to strategic leadership that reaches leaders at all levels of organizations.This thoroughly revised edition concentrates on practical tools for producing impact right away. The authors place special emphasis on three essential strategic components: discovering and prioritizing strategic drivers, which determine sustainability and competitiveness; leadership strategy, which ignites the connections between people critical to enacting the business strategy; and how to foster the individual and organizational learning that is foundational to sustained performance. The authors and other leadership development professionals have used the distinctive and systematic approach described in this book with great success in CCL's Leading Strategically program. The second edition also contains improved self-assessments that help to align the book lessons learned with the programs current practices. Readers will find fresh suggestions about developing the individual, team, and organizational skills needed for institutions to become more adaptable, flexible, and resilient. These are critical strategic attributes in a time of ever more rapid change, greater uncertainty, and globalization.

Persuade others to do what you want--for their own reasons. If you need the best practices and ideas for making deals that work--but don't have time to find them--this book is for you. Here are 10 inspiring and useful perspectives, all in one place. This collection of HBR articles will help you: - Seal or sweeten a bargain by uncovering the other side's motives - Conquer faulty assumptions to make the right deals - Forge deals only when they support your strategy - Set the stage for a healthy relationship long after the ink has dried - Make promises you can keep - Gain your adversaries' trust in high-stakes talks - Know when to walk away

A strategic leader is essentially the leader of any organization and someone who has to steer the company in times of change, whilst motivating and inspiring their team. Strategic Leadership from the renowned leadership expert John Adair encourages leaders to focus on tomorrow rather than yesterday. It explores the nature and origin of strategic leadership, transferable skills and the art of inspiring others. It then describes the role itself and broad functions of that role such as building and maintaining a team, achieving a common task and motivating and developing the individual. It moves on to assess the skills you need to be effective, and the seven generic functions that make up the role of strategic leader which include providing direction, strategic thinking and planning, building partnerships and developing tomorrow's leaders. Full of checklists, summaries and historical examples, Strategic Leadership will encourage you to ask the right questions whilst defining the role and skills of a strategic leader.