Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win » (Reprint)

William C. Taylor is a cofounder and founding editor of Fast Company. During his tenure, the magazine won numerous awards (including two National Magazine Awards) and earned a passionate following among executives and entrepreneurs. He writes the "Under New Management" column for the New York Times and has published essays and CEO interviews in the Harvard Business Review.

Meet the innovators and upstarts who are inventing the future of business. Their unconventional ideas and groundbreaking strategies can become your business plan for the twenty-first century a better way to lead, compete, and succeed.

Business as usual is a bust. In industry after indus-try, the old guard is cutting back and losing ground. Meanwhile, organizations that were once dismissed as upstarts, as wildcards - or mavericks - are making waves and growing fast. There is a reason: In an age of hypercompetition and nonstop innovation, the only way to stand out from the crowd is to stand for something truly original.

That's the lesson behind the companies, executives, and entrepreneurs you'll meet in Mavericks at Work.They are winning big in business by rethinking the logic of how business gets done. They have devised exciting new answers to the timeless challenges facing organizations of every size and leaders in every field: how you make strategy, how you unleash new ideas, how you connect with customers, how your best people achieve great results.

Who are these mavericks? They are break-the-mold business units inside giants such as IBM and Procter & Gamble, as well as high-profile innovators such as HBO and Pixar. They are Internet banks and gold mines, fashion retailers and advertising agencies, funky sandwich shops and hard-charging computer programmers. Together, they are creating an inspiring agenda that every business can put to work.

Their success demonstrates that:

-Being different makes all the difference
-Sharing values beats selling value
-The company with the smartest customers wins
-Nobody is as smart as everybody
-Character counts for as much as credentials
-Great leaders are insatiable learners

Whether you're a young professional setting out on your career, a senior executive looking to make your organization grow, or an entrepreneur building a company from scratch, Mavericks at Work will help you think bigger, aim higher, and win more decisively.

Introduction: The Maverick Promise     xi
Rethinking Competition
Not Just a Company, a Cause: Strategy as Advocacy     3
Competition and Its Consequences: Disruptors, Diplomats, and a New Way to Talk About Business     31
Maverick Messages (I): Sizing Up Your Strategy     53
Reinventing Innovation
Ideas Unlimited: Why Nobody Is as Smart as Everybody     63
Innovation, Inc.: Open Source Gets Down to Business     89
Maverick Messages (II): Open-Minding Your Business     117
Reconnecting with Customers
From Selling Value to Sharing Values: Overcoming the Age of Overload     129
Small Gestures, Big Signals: Outstanding Strategies to Stand Out from the Crowd     157
Maverick Messages (III): Building Your Bond with Customers     181
Redesigning Work
The Company You Keep: Business as if People Mattered     193
People and Performance: Stars, Systems, and Workplaces That Work     221
Maverick Messages (IV): Practicing Your People Skills     253
Maverick Material     263
Endnotes     285
Acknowledgments     303
Index     307