Creating Agile Organisations for People, Performance and Profit
Author: Emmanuel Gobillot
Price: £19.99
From: Kogan Page
Contact: www.kogan-page.co.uk
ISBN: 074944830X
The premise for this particular book is that management thinking to date has been directed at the wrong problem.
The author argues that leadership literature’s focus on formal authority and organisational structures has been at the expense of what Gobillot calls the ‘real’ organisation. He defines this as a powerful network of informal relationships which doesn’t appear on any organisational chart.
He backs up this argument with the very plausible premise that real performance management comes from employees fully engaging with organisations which tap into their goals.
The virtues of this book are its lucidity and practical approach. Gobillot sets out a road map for leaders who want to reject formality in favour of seeing what is really happening.
He is very enthusiastic about identifying the patterns of real organisations and depicting, both visually and verbally, the power cliques. This useful information is presented in a lively manner.
The later chapters of the book are excellent, as they set out the steps for connected leadership development. They compensate for the patronising tone of earlier chapters, with their twee examples of individuals at an internet dating agency as typical examples of the modern customer.
Fortunately, the sharp, sassy style and a sense of realism ultimately keeps this book on track.
Relevance? 4 out of 5 stars
Well-written? 4 out of 5 stars
Value for money? 4 out of 5 stars
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