Introduction
Fables and narrations can guide leaders and entrepreneurs to consider new ways to transform their business firms and eventually achieve the outlined goals. The book “That’s Not How We Do It Here! A Story about How Organizations Rise and Fall–and Can Rise Again” offers powerful insights that managers can consider depending on the development stages of their respective companies and the needs of different stakeholders. This discussion focuses on the concept and theme of leadership as Lena applies it in the selected text. The paper also outlines emerging ideas that business firms need to consider if they are to achieve their maximum potential.
Content and Theme Development
The selected book narrates the story of Nadia, an adventurous meerkat, and part of a mature clan. Unfortunately, this clan has encountered new challenges that appear to threaten the existing procedures and rules. The followers are unable to listen to Nadia (Kotter & Rathgeber, 2016). She decides to examine how other smaller clans are handling their emerging changes and problems. He finds a small group that is loosely organized and capable of achieving its goals. She considers the most appropriate strategy to combine the acquired ideas and develop a well-managed clan that is capable of achieving its goals. This analysis examines some of the issues many organizations face and how they cope or encounter additional problems that can affect performance.
The selected theme for this discussion is that of leadership. Lena, the meerkat in charge of the smaller clan, appears to be charismatic and focuses on the best approaches to address emerging challenges. She applies the major attributes of leadership to solve all issues and guide her followers to focus on the targeted aims (Kotter & Rathgeber, 2016). These descriptions resonate with the concepts and problems many companies experience irrespective of their sizes. The emerging idea is that leadership is a powerful strategy for combining various elements and ensuring that desirable outcomes are recorded. This theme, therefore, forms the background of this discussion presented below.
Points and Arguments
The studied book uses the presented clans to offer powerful comparisons between large and small organizations. Small firms, according to the text, tend to start at the very bottom and implement practical ways to address challenges. They will consider all possible definitions and practices that can support the delivery of positive results. The workers are in a learning experience and focus on some of the best initiatives to adapt and guide all stakeholders to remain energetic. These attributes resonate with those of Lena’s small clan (Kotter & Rathgeber, 2016). However, successful and large companies develop complex structures and policies that are capable of affecting the recorded level of innovation and speed (Kristandy & Aldianto, 2015). The leaders and followers will be reluctant to embrace emerging ideas. The emergence of dramatic changes in their respective industries could affect their survival. These descriptions reveal that large organizations will be like Nadia’s clan.
The drought described in the book echoes some of the disruptions and environmental challenges that organizations could face. For instance, the external business environment has different forces that tend to force companies to do what is right and focus on the best ways to achieve their potential. For instance, emerging technologies could disrupt organizations relying on traditional ways of doing things (Calderon-Monge et al., 2017). New policy guidelines and changing consumer demands could also be the equivalent of the drought described in the selected book. Leaders need to consider the nature of such problems and respond to them accordingly if positive results are to be recorded.
When problems emerge, organizational leaders should think outside the box and consider evidence-based ways to identify emerging trends and opportunities that can take the targeted business to the next level. For instance, Lena examined the recorded drought and guided all followers to become more innovative and energetic (Kotter & Rathgeber, 2016). She focused on the concept of adaptability to guide all members of the clan and ensure that positive results were recorded within a short period. The meerkats can change and respond to all emerging challenges in a professional manner (Kotter & Rathgeber, 2016). The lessons gained include the ability to focus on problems and identify superior ways to address them, involve all individuals, and promote the idea of innovation. Companies that embrace these attributes will find it easier to address all recorded predicaments, bring all workers on board, and eventually support the delivery of positive results.
Established organizations have unique ways of responding to emerging concepts and ideas. Without proper leadership, some individuals might identify such insights as inappropriate and incapable of supporting the established business model. This negative response echoes Nicholas’s negative response to Ayo’s idea. Most of the workers will be unwilling to embrace new concepts by remaining adamant (Calderon-Monge et al., 2017). However, smaller and organized companies will embrace new ideas and rely on them to develop innovative strategies. The ultimate aim is to ensure that they develop superior practices for doing what is right and eventually improving the level of organizational performance (Kristandy & Aldianto, 2015). This example is similar to Lena’s ability to encourage Tamu and the other colleagues to experiment with new concepts and ideas, apply them in different settings, and focus on the wider picture.
When hazards strike, organizational leaders can become more practical and innovative. They need to identify the nature of the disasters and consider what lessons they need to learn. This knowledge will prepare them for the recorded problems and identify evidence-based approaches to achieve their intended aims. For example, the book describes how Lena guided members of her clan to use farm worms from elephant dung as a food source (Kabeyi, 2019). With continuous innovation, workers in a given organization will identify emerging options to deliver positive results and address all existing problems.
New opportunities and ideas have the potential to guide organizational leaders to achieve the outlined goals promptly. However, some barriers will exist that make it impossible for established companies to record positive results. First, a chaotic working environment might exist that discourages innovators and leaders from pursuing similar aims (Kotter & Rathgeber, 2016). This weakness will make it impossible for the team members to collaborate and present revolutionary concepts to transform the nature of competition. Second, the established leadership style might be bureaucratic whereby leaders take along to formulate decisions and share with the intended stakeholders (Kotter & Rathgeber, 2016). Such a gap will make it impossible for the involved individuals to present new opportunities that can eventually support improved organizational performance.
Fortunately, leaders can solve most of these barriers by remaining involved, removing hierarchies, and communicating efficiently. The manager needs to establish a better culture, solve existing differences, and provide incentives for identifying new options while equipping the targeted followers with adequate resources (Kabeyi, 2019). The consideration of such attributes will ensure that all workers are aware of the intended goals. The promotion of new strategies and the consideration of emerging factors in the external environment will ensure that the firm is capable of achieving the intended business aims.
The studied book offers powerful comparisons and descriptions that describe the hazards associated with complexity and size. When companies grow, new structures, protocols, and systems emerge that compel workers to focus on their departments and goals. They might rely on established procedures to complete their duties and deliver the intended goals. However, the recorded complexities make it impossible for different individuals to present new ideas and changes since they are viewed as inappropriate or unnecessary (Schotthöfer, 2017). However, the model becomes hazardous since the organization will be unprepared for external challenges. Most of the individuals will be less innovative and might fail to change with the times when disasters strike. These developments are similar to the ones Lena’s clan recorded when heavy rains struck (Kotter & Rathgeber, 2016). The community lacked adequate measures to address such challenges and support the delivery of desirable results within the stipulated period.
The case of Nadia reveals how managers can salvage their organizations even when there are looming threats. In the beginning, her clan possessed some of the best procedures and initiatives that made it successful. However, the emerging disaster had become a new reason for introducing new practices. Nadia had to combine the lessons gained from Lena’s clan to make the society more functional. Leaders of companies could consider similar initiatives to identify what is working and acquire new ideas for promoting innovation and ensuring that positive results are recorded (Sanyal & Hisam, 2018). Lena’s clan, therefore, can become the best model for guiding more firms to introduce superior network systems and hierarchies that have the potential to deliver sustainable systems.
Since companies are usually different, the combination of emerging ideas and knowledge can result in superior and relaxed models that have the potential to support organizational performance. Workers and leaders can collaborate, share ideas, and consider emerging strategies that can deliver positive results (Yuliansyah et al., 2017). Managers of emerging and established companies should, therefore, follow the aspects outlined to form superior business models that can eventually revolutionize organizational performance (Yi et al., 2019). On the other hand, individuals who ignore some of these insights will become less competitive and less sustainable. Their companies will also find it hard to succeed and meet the changing demands of the targeted customers.
Conclusion
The above discussion has identified powerful lessons and ideas that managers and entrepreneurs should borrow from the selected book. Leaders who embrace such concepts will solve emerging challenges and ensure that their respective firms are prepared for possible challenges that might emerge. The case of Lena could become a powerful model for promoting innovation and empowering businesses to transform their strategies in market environments that are becoming more complex and competitive. Such initiatives will guide more corporations to meet the demands of all workers and customers and eventually achieve their organizational aims.
References
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Kabeyi, M. J. B. (2019). Corporate governance in manufacturing and management with analysis of governance failures at Enron and Volkswagen corporations. American Journal of Operations and Information Systems, 4(4), 109-123. Web.
Kotter, J., & Rathgeber, H. (2016). That’s not how we do it here!: A story about how organizations rise and fall–and can rise again. Penguin.
Kristandy, S., & Aldianto, L. (2015). Factors that influence students’ decision in starting-up service franchise business in Bandung. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 169(1), 318-328. Web.
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Schotthöfer, P. (2017). International advertising law: Problems, class, and commentary. Wolters Kluwer.
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