To understand this company's success, first understand its DNA, 31 Jul 2008
I read this book when it was first published in 2004 and recently re-read it, curious to know how well Jeffrey Liker's explanation of Toyota's management principles and lean production values have held up. My conclusion? Very well.

No good purpose would be served by merely listing the 14 management principles, out of context. Liker devotes a separate chapter to each, carefully explaining not only what it is but also how it guides and informs everyone at all levels and in all areas of the Toyota organization. What Liker also accomplishes, and what cannot be adequately summarized in a review such as this, is to explain how all 12 principles are interdependent. Together, they serve as the company's DNA. In the Preface, he recalls asking Fujio Cho (President of Toyota Motor Company) what was unique about his company's remarkable success. His answer was quite simple: "The key to the Toyota Way and what makes Toyota stand out is not any of the individual elements...But what is important is having all the elements together as a system. It must be practiced every day in a very consistent manner." To understand Toyota's success, therefore, it is important to understand that lean production is not a methodology, it is literally a way of life.

The 14 principles are divided into four sections:

Having a long-term philosophy that drives a long-term approach to building a learning organization

Absolute faith that the right process will produce the right results

Adding value to the organization by developing its people and partners

Continuously solving root problems to drive organizational learning

As Liker points out, it is important to understand that the Toyota Production System is not the Toyota Way. TPS is the most systematic and highly developed example of what the principles of the Toyota Way can accomplish. The Toyota Way consists of the foundational principles of the Toyota culture, which allows the TPS to function so effectively.

How does lean improvement differ from traditional process improvement? "Briefly, wheras the traditional approach to process improvement focuses on local efficiencies, in a lean improvement initiatuve, most of the progress comes from a large number of non-value steps being squeezed out. For example, overproduction, delays, and wasted motion. In fact, the ultimate goal of lean manufacturing is to apply the ideal of one-piece flow to all business operations, from product design to launch, order taking, physical production, and shipment."Some of the differences are subtle but no less significant.

To repeat, anyone can read this book and then uncerstand what the Toyota Way is. Possessing a gourmet chef's recipe, however, does not ensure that a gourmet meal will be prepared. Toyota has its own way. Other companies must develop theirs based on their own "roots." In other words, lead from their traditional strengths but not be limited by them. In fact, companies may need to re-invent themselves, not once but several times. That is what Toyota did...and continues to do. Use operational excellence as a strategic weapon and the rewards and results will far outweigh the great effort required.

That said, Liker does provide 13 "general tips." The first is to begin with action in the technical system and then follow quickly with cultural change. Other suggestions include learning by doing first and training second, using value stream mapping to develop future state visions to help "learn to see," and being opportunistic in identifying opportunities for big financial impacts. They are provided with brief but precise explanations on Pages 302-307.

It remains for each person who reads this book to determine which of the 14 management principles are most relevant to her or his own enterprise, and then to determine how to translate each into effective action. Presumably Liker agrees with me that most companies have 3-5 areas in which "lean" initiatives are urgently needed. Developing an execution plan can be tricky, however, because all business transaction involve a process of some kind and improvement of one process inevitably has a direct impact on several others. Here's one possibility, suggested to me by a COO to whom I gave a copy of this book: Read the final chapter, Chapter 22, first. It's title is "Build Your Own Lean Learning Enterprise, Borrowing from the Toyota Way." He thinks that will provide an appropriate framework within which to proceed from Gary Convis' Foreword and Liker's Preface to the conclusion of Chapter 21. That suggestion is worth consideration.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Liker's Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way as well as Matthew Mays' The Elegant Solution: Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation, David Magee's How Toyota Became Toyota: Leadership Lessons from the World's Greatest Car company, and What Is Lean Six Sigma? co-authored by Michael L. George, David Rowlands, and Bill Kastle.

Andrew Scotchmer, 24 Aug 2007
Takes you through the evolution of the Toyota Production System and introduces the reader to the 14 points of the lean philosophy. Excellent, as is the followup "field-book) for implementation of lean in your workplace.

Something to continuously reflect on , 03 Jul 2007
The Company That Invented Lean The 14 Management Principles

Being totally uninterested in cars I did not realise that Toyota is one of the worlds greatest manufacturers.

I was listening to In Business on Radio4. It was all about how Toyota has revolutionised management to create what they call lean production.

It is a fascinating read by Jeffrey K Liker. MC Graw-Hill (2004) pp 330 The Japanese have learnt in the last forty years how to make top quality cars. The 14 principles can be applied to any business and are not exclusive to manufacturing.

It is a whole way of life and a way of thinking.

Principles 1: Base your management decision on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals

Principle 2 Create continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface

Principle 3 Use" pull" systems to avoid overproduction

Principle 4 Level out the workload( heijunka)

Principle 5 Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time.

Principle 6 Standards task are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment

Principle 7 Use visual control so problems are hidden

Principle 8Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes

Principle 9 Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work,live the philosophy and teach it to others.

Principle 10 Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company's philosophy

Principle 11 Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers y challenging them and helping them improve.

Principle 12 Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situations(genchi genbutsu)

Principle 13 Make decision slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all the options implement decisions rapidly ( nemawashi)

Principle 14 Become a learning organization through relentless reflection (hansei) and continuous improvement ( kaizen)


Recently it was announced that Toyota had overtaken General Motors. How Toyota had done it was common knowledge and they have been happy to tell pople the theory but obviously General Motors had not done the practical.

I particularly like continuous reflection which works whether you are succeeding or not. If you are a succes which General Motors has been for years they obviously have not learnt to reflect on their success and maintain it.
Maybe they thought their way was the only way. Many once mighty companies have fallen from a great height,

A good read

THE book on the Toyota Production System!, 17 Jun 2007
Everyone in the auto industry is familiar with Toyota's dramatic business success and, of course, consumers are demonstrably aware of the company's world-renowned quality. In fact, Toyota has done so well that, as Liker points out, many consider the company to be "boring." For, after all, steadily growing sales, consistent profitability, huge cash reserves, operational efficiency (combined with constant innovation--not an easy complement to pull off), and top quality, year after year, are not the stuff of breaking news. But, despite this reputation as the best manufacturer in the world, and despite the huge influence of the lean movement, most attempts to emulate and implement lean production have been fairly superficial, with less than stellar results over the long term. "Dabbling at one level--the `Process' level," U.S. companies have embraced lean tools, but do not understand what makes them work together in a system.

This integration is precisely what The Toyota Way examines, explaining how to create a Toyota-style culture of quality, lean, and learning that takes quantum leaps beyond any superficial focus on tools and techniques. Suffice it to say, there are hundreds of books out there explaining, analyzing, and advocating lean--providing details and insight into the tools and methods of TPS. The two most noted among this treasure trove are, of course, the contributions of The Machine That Changed the World (Womack, Jones, Roos, 1991) and Lean Thinking (Womack and Jones, 1996), and both stand as excellent resources on the subject. The first introduced the world to the tools and techniques of lean manufacturing by extracting its principles from their initial Japanese application and examining them in detail. And, the second explained how "to make value flow smoothly at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection."

The Toyota Way is, however (according to Liker), the first business book in English to provide a blueprint of Toyota's management philosophy for general business readers, dispelling the misconceptions that TPS is merely a collection of tools that lead to more efficient operations. Of course, there is no way of ascertaining the validity of this claim, without an extensive and time consuming exploration of the literature, but that truly doesn't matter. The Toyota Way is an approach of such breadth, depth, and significance to the world of business that it has yet to be fully understood; thus, the subject has not yet been fully exhausted. Liker's keen sense of the subtleties of TPS intrepidly challenges conventional understanding and transforms it with eloquent simplicity. He takes the reader deeply and comprehensively into the "heart and intelligence" of Toyota's "way," giving businesses in diverse industries some very practical and effective ideas that they can use to develop their own unique approach to TPS.

Brilliant and well written!, 12 Jan 2007
Jefferey Liker's well reasoned book explains the management principles that enable TOYOTA to outperform its piers - and explains why western managers pre-occupied with `management techniques' can't `go lean', without changing the culture of their organisation

Charles Handy's revolutionary 1989 bestseller The Age of Unreason catapulted him into the ranks of the top management consultants. In Understanding Organizations, he solidifies his reputation as a seminal business thinker, offering a brilliantly insightful, wide-ranging look at business organizations.

This classic text offers an illuminating discussion of key concepts of concern to all managers: culture, motivation, leadership, power, role-playing and working in groups. Ever mindful of actual business practice, Handy directly addresses how managers can translate the six main concepts into invaluble tools for effective management. He discusses how all organizations need to select, develop and reward their people; to structure and design their work; to resolve political conflicts; to lay down guidelines for their managers; and to plan for the future. In each case, the approaches and techniques described here are invaluable.

Equally important, Handy excels at presenting his ideas in colourful, immediately accessible ways, filling the book with illuminating examples and inventive metaphors that range from Tolstoy's ideas on the concept of self, to the many meanings of "good morning," to the conversations that occur in a stopped elevator, to the proper size for a vineyard or an elephant. He shows, for instance, how an optical illusion experiment sheds light on interdepartmental relations, and how the way schoolchildren are typecast by their peers helps explain corporate hierarchies. And along with case studies, graphs, charts, and questionnaires, Understanding Organizations is peppered with boxed sections that offer advice and stimulate thought, brimming with provocative quotations from business wizards such as Peter Drucker, Tom Peters, Warren Bennis, Alvin Toffler, and Rosabeth Moss Kanter, as well as from Aristotle, Shakespeare, Gilbert and Sullivan, Gail Sheehy, and Joseph Heller.

What the successful manager knows intuitively, Charles Handy puts into words. His powerful interpretive schemes will help managers grasp the underlying dynamics of their company, make sense of its past, and assess--and shape--its future. --Jake Bond

To understand this company's success, first understand its DNA, 31 Jul 2008
I read this book when it was first published in 2004 and recently re-read it, curious to know how well Jeffrey Liker's explanation of Toyota's management principles and lean production values have held up. My conclusion? Very well.

No good purpose would be served by merely listing the 14 management principles, out of context. Liker devotes a separate chapter to each, carefully explaining not only what it is but also how it guides and informs everyone at all levels and in all areas of the Toyota organization. What Liker also accomplishes, and what cannot be adequately summarized in a review such as this, is to explain how all 12 principles are interdependent. Together, they serve as the company's DNA. In the Preface, he recalls asking Fujio Cho (President of Toyota Motor Company) what was unique about his company's remarkable success. His answer was quite simple: "The key to the Toyota Way and what makes Toyota stand out is not any of the individual elements...But what is important is having all the elements together as a system. It must be practiced every day in a very consistent manner." To understand Toyota's success, therefore, it is important to understand that lean production is not a methodology, it is literally a way of life.

The 14 principles are divided into four sections:

Having a long-term philosophy that drives a long-term approach to building a learning organization

Absolute faith that the right process will produce the right results

Adding value to the organization by developing its people and partners

Continuously solving root problems to drive organizational learning

As Liker points out, it is important to understand that the Toyota Production System is not the Toyota Way. TPS is the most systematic and highly developed example of what the principles of the Toyota Way can accomplish. The Toyota Way consists of the foundational principles of the Toyota culture, which allows the TPS to function so effectively.

How does lean improvement differ from traditional process improvement? "Briefly, wheras the traditional approach to process improvement focuses on local efficiencies, in a lean improvement initiatuve, most of the progress comes from a large number of non-value steps being squeezed out. For example, overproduction, delays, and wasted motion. In fact, the ultimate goal of lean manufacturing is to apply the ideal of one-piece flow to all business operations, from product design to launch, order taking, physical production, and shipment."Some of the differences are subtle but no less significant.

To repeat, anyone can read this book and then uncerstand what the Toyota Way is. Possessing a gourmet chef's recipe, however, does not ensure that a gourmet meal will be prepared. Toyota has its own way. Other companies must develop theirs based on their own "roots." In other words, lead from their traditional strengths but not be limited by them. In fact, companies may need to re-invent themselves, not once but several times. That is what Toyota did...and continues to do. Use operational excellence as a strategic weapon and the rewards and results will far outweigh the great effort required.

That said, Liker does provide 13 "general tips." The first is to begin with action in the technical system and then follow quickly with cultural change. Other suggestions include learning by doing first and training second, using value stream mapping to develop future state visions to help "learn to see," and being opportunistic in identifying opportunities for big financial impacts. They are provided with brief but precise explanations on Pages 302-307.

It remains for each person who reads this book to determine which of the 14 management principles are most relevant to her or his own enterprise, and then to determine how to translate each into effective action. Presumably Liker agrees with me that most companies have 3-5 areas in which "lean" initiatives are urgently needed. Developing an execution plan can be tricky, however, because all business transaction involve a process of some kind and improvement of one process inevitably has a direct impact on several others. Here's one possibility, suggested to me by a COO to whom I gave a copy of this book: Read the final chapter, Chapter 22, first. It's title is "Build Your Own Lean Learning Enterprise, Borrowing from the Toyota Way." He thinks that will provide an appropriate framework within which to proceed from Gary Convis' Foreword and Liker's Preface to the conclusion of Chapter 21. That suggestion is worth consideration.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Liker's Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way as well as Matthew Mays' The Elegant Solution: Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation, David Magee's How Toyota Became Toyota: Leadership Lessons from the World's Greatest Car company, and What Is Lean Six Sigma? co-authored by Michael L. George, David Rowlands, and Bill Kastle.

Andrew Scotchmer, 24 Aug 2007
Takes you through the evolution of the Toyota Production System and introduces the reader to the 14 points of the lean philosophy. Excellent, as is the followup "field-book) for implementation of lean in your workplace.

Something to continuously reflect on , 03 Jul 2007
The Company That Invented Lean The 14 Management Principles

Being totally uninterested in cars I did not realise that Toyota is one of the worlds greatest manufacturers.

I was listening to In Business on Radio4. It was all about how Toyota has revolutionised management to create what they call lean production.

It is a fascinating read by Jeffrey K Liker. MC Graw-Hill (2004) pp 330 The Japanese have learnt in the last forty years how to make top quality cars. The 14 principles can be applied to any business and are not exclusive to manufacturing.

It is a whole way of life and a way of thinking.

Principles 1: Base your management decision on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals

Principle 2 Create continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface

Principle 3 Use" pull" systems to avoid overproduction

Principle 4 Level out the workload( heijunka)

Principle 5 Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time.

Principle 6 Standards task are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment

Principle 7 Use visual control so problems are hidden

Principle 8Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes

Principle 9 Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work,live the philosophy and teach it to others.

Principle 10 Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company's philosophy

Principle 11 Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers y challenging them and helping them improve.

Principle 12 Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situations(genchi genbutsu)

Principle 13 Make decision slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all the options implement decisions rapidly ( nemawashi)

Principle 14 Become a learning organization through relentless reflection (hansei) and continuous improvement ( kaizen)


Recently it was announced that Toyota had overtaken General Motors. How Toyota had done it was common knowledge and they have been happy to tell pople the theory but obviously General Motors had not done the practical.

I particularly like continuous reflection which works whether you are succeeding or not. If you are a succes which General Motors has been for years they obviously have not learnt to reflect on their success and maintain it.
Maybe they thought their way was the only way. Many once mighty companies have fallen from a great height,

A good read

THE book on the Toyota Production System!, 17 Jun 2007
Everyone in the auto industry is familiar with Toyota's dramatic business success and, of course, consumers are demonstrably aware of the company's world-renowned quality. In fact, Toyota has done so well that, as Liker points out, many consider the company to be "boring." For, after all, steadily growing sales, consistent profitability, huge cash reserves, operational efficiency (combined with constant innovation--not an easy complement to pull off), and top quality, year after year, are not the stuff of breaking news. But, despite this reputation as the best manufacturer in the world, and despite the huge influence of the lean movement, most attempts to emulate and implement lean production have been fairly superficial, with less than stellar results over the long term. "Dabbling at one level--the `Process' level," U.S. companies have embraced lean tools, but do not understand what makes them work together in a system.

This integration is precisely what The Toyota Way examines, explaining how to create a Toyota-style culture of quality, lean, and learning that takes quantum leaps beyond any superficial focus on tools and techniques. Suffice it to say, there are hundreds of books out there explaining, analyzing, and advocating lean--providing details and insight into the tools and methods of TPS. The two most noted among this treasure trove are, of course, the contributions of The Machine That Changed the World (Womack, Jones, Roos, 1991) and Lean Thinking (Womack and Jones, 1996), and both stand as excellent resources on the subject. The first introduced the world to the tools and techniques of lean manufacturing by extracting its principles from their initial Japanese application and examining them in detail. And, the second explained how "to make value flow smoothly at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection."

The Toyota Way is, however (according to Liker), the first business book in English to provide a blueprint of Toyota's management philosophy for general business readers, dispelling the misconceptions that TPS is merely a collection of tools that lead to more efficient operations. Of course, there is no way of ascertaining the validity of this claim, without an extensive and time consuming exploration of the literature, but that truly doesn't matter. The Toyota Way is an approach of such breadth, depth, and significance to the world of business that it has yet to be fully understood; thus, the subject has not yet been fully exhausted. Liker's keen sense of the subtleties of TPS intrepidly challenges conventional understanding and transforms it with eloquent simplicity. He takes the reader deeply and comprehensively into the "heart and intelligence" of Toyota's "way," giving businesses in diverse industries some very practical and effective ideas that they can use to develop their own unique approach to TPS.

Brilliant and well written!, 12 Jan 2007
Jefferey Liker's well reasoned book explains the management principles that enable TOYOTA to outperform its piers - and explains why western managers pre-occupied with `management techniques' can't `go lean', without changing the culture of their organisation

If you ony buy one book on Organisational Behaviour, make it this one, 07 Jul 2008
Charles Handy is arguably the UK's top business "guru", but in my opinion this title somewhat diminishes his life's work, which has gone beyond matters of simple business administration into a philosophy of life and work, and is imbued with a spirituality that I find infectious (even though I am not a very spiritual person). This, however, is his seminal management text, and there is but a hint of the philosophical musings of "The Empty Raincoat" and "The Hungry Spirit".

Understanding Organisations was first published in 1976, and my fourth edition (I don't know why Amazon describes this as the third edition - that must be an error) was published in 1993, with a revised introduction in 1999. It cannot claim to be entirely up to date, therefore, but it remains valid both as a commentary on previous work on motivation, roles, leadership, power groups and organisations as well as contributing many of Handy's own ideas on the subject. I think that it was here that he first used analogies with the ancient Greek gods to describe the cultures of organisations, which he later developed in "Gods of Management". I've dipped into this book in the past, and have worked through it systematically recently as one of the key texts for a course on "Organisational Behaviour". My impression is that there are few more recent developments in this field than were taken into account in the writing of the book.

I have few quibbles. Handy's style is scholarly - I had wondered if this was his doctoral thesis but in fact he did not do one (he has an honorary one from Trinity College Dublin). It is accessible - and I do like the dry humour with which he delivers some of his case studies - but it is not as an easy or entertaining a read as some of his subsequent works. This is an excellent book, whether to use as a course text or to dip into as you experience and reflect on "trouble at mill" in your working life.


A great place to start learning about organisations, 27 May 2007
Charles Handy has been very influential shaping my attitudes to work, life styles and the management of organisations. This is a great primer for new students. I also highy recommend reading all his books and listening to his audio recordings.

His later works outline succinctly the demands changing corporations and globalization place on individuals and society. A very inspirational and thought provoking commentator, he positions the world of work in the larger context of ethics and morality. He also explores the human struggle to maintain individuality, spirituality, choice, freedom and dignity


The Star, 26 Sep 2006
Easier to understand than other management books,
Excellent aptitude and examples

Down to Earth and Practical

When I got bored with the rest this was the best


Essential, effortless reading, 27 Apr 2006
This is truly a remarkable book. Handy has compiled a great body of classic management theory and practice - and made it effortless to absorb.

And it is this accessibility and clarity that Handy brings to the subject.

I thoroughly recommend this book for serious management students (as the depth is here) and also business people who want a compact volume that is easy to read.

Overview of organisational behaviour, 01 Dec 2003
Handy's book is well-written and highly readable. By putting all litterature references at the end of the book the book becomes more readable as the book is free from reference insertions that might disturb the flow of reading. However, for academic use this convention makes it significantly more complicated to reference to any other than Handy himself. One has to cross-reference between sections of the book to try to find the original inventor of a concept. Hence, the book is highly recommended for practitioners that wants to read the book as a novel. The structure of the book makes it less user-friendly for academic work.

To understand this company's success, first understand its DNA, 31 Jul 2008
I read this book when it was first published in 2004 and recently re-read it, curious to know how well Jeffrey Liker's explanation of Toyota's management principles and lean production values have held up. My conclusion? Very well.

No good purpose would be served by merely listing the 14 management principles, out of context. Liker devotes a separate chapter to each, carefully explaining not only what it is but also how it guides and informs everyone at all levels and in all areas of the Toyota organization. What Liker also accomplishes, and what cannot be adequately summarized in a review such as this, is to explain how all 12 principles are interdependent. Together, they serve as the company's DNA. In the Preface, he recalls asking Fujio Cho (President of Toyota Motor Company) what was unique about his company's remarkable success. His answer was quite simple: "The key to the Toyota Way and what makes Toyota stand out is not any of the individual elements...But what is important is having all the elements together as a system. It must be practiced every day in a very consistent manner." To understand Toyota's success, therefore, it is important to understand that lean production is not a methodology, it is literally a way of life.

The 14 principles are divided into four sections:

Having a long-term philosophy that drives a long-term approach to building a learning organization

Absolute faith that the right process will produce the right results

Adding value to the organization by developing its people and partners

Continuously solving root problems to drive organizational learning

As Liker points out, it is important to understand that the Toyota Production System is not the Toyota Way. TPS is the most systematic and highly developed example of what the principles of the Toyota Way can accomplish. The Toyota Way consists of the foundational principles of the Toyota culture, which allows the TPS to function so effectively.

How does lean improvement differ from traditional process improvement? "Briefly, wheras the traditional approach to process improvement focuses on local efficiencies, in a lean improvement initiatuve, most of the progress comes from a large number of non-value steps being squeezed out. For example, overproduction, delays, and wasted motion. In fact, the ultimate goal of lean manufacturing is to apply the ideal of one-piece flow to all business operations, from product design to launch, order taking, physical production, and shipment."Some of the differences are subtle but no less significant.

To repeat, anyone can read this book and then uncerstand what the Toyota Way is. Possessing a gourmet chef's recipe, however, does not ensure that a gourmet meal will be prepared. Toyota has its own way. Other companies must develop theirs based on their own "roots." In other words, lead from their traditional strengths but not be limited by them. In fact, companies may need to re-invent themselves, not once but several times. That is what Toyota did...and continues to do. Use operational excellence as a strategic weapon and the rewards and results will far outweigh the great effort required.

That said, Liker does provide 13 "general tips." The first is to begin with action in the technical system and then follow quickly with cultural change. Other suggestions include learning by doing first and training second, using value stream mapping to develop future state visions to help "learn to see," and being opportunistic in identifying opportunities for big financial impacts. They are provided with brief but precise explanations on Pages 302-307.

It remains for each person who reads this book to determine which of the 14 management principles are most relevant to her or his own enterprise, and then to determine how to translate each into effective action. Presumably Liker agrees with me that most companies have 3-5 areas in which "lean" initiatives are urgently needed. Developing an execution plan can be tricky, however, because all business transaction involve a process of some kind and improvement of one process inevitably has a direct impact on several others. Here's one possibility, suggested to me by a COO to whom I gave a copy of this book: Read the final chapter, Chapter 22, first. It's title is "Build Your Own Lean Learning Enterprise, Borrowing from the Toyota Way." He thinks that will provide an appropriate framework within which to proceed from Gary Convis' Foreword and Liker's Preface to the conclusion of Chapter 21. That suggestion is worth consideration.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Liker's Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way as well as Matthew Mays' The Elegant Solution: Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation, David Magee's How Toyota Became Toyota: Leadership Lessons from the World's Greatest Car company, and What Is Lean Six Sigma? co-authored by Michael L. George, David Rowlands, and Bill Kastle.

Andrew Scotchmer, 24 Aug 2007
Takes you through the evolution of the Toyota Production System and introduces the reader to the 14 points of the lean philosophy. Excellent, as is the followup "field-book) for implementation of lean in your workplace.

Something to continuously reflect on , 03 Jul 2007
The Company That Invented Lean The 14 Management Principles

Being totally uninterested in cars I did not realise that Toyota is one of the worlds greatest manufacturers.

I was listening to In Business on Radio4. It was all about how Toyota has revolutionised management to create what they call lean production.

It is a fascinating read by Jeffrey K Liker. MC Graw-Hill (2004) pp 330 The Japanese have learnt in the last forty years how to make top quality cars. The 14 principles can be applied to any business and are not exclusive to manufacturing.

It is a whole way of life and a way of thinking.

Principles 1: Base your management decision on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals

Principle 2 Create continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface

Principle 3 Use" pull" systems to avoid overproduction

Principle 4 Level out the workload( heijunka)

Principle 5 Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time.

Principle 6 Standards task are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment

Principle 7 Use visual control so problems are hidden

Principle 8Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes

Principle 9 Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work,live the philosophy and teach it to others.

Principle 10 Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company's philosophy

Principle 11 Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers y challenging them and helping them improve.

Principle 12 Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situations(genchi genbutsu)

Principle 13 Make decision slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all the options implement decisions rapidly ( nemawashi)

Principle 14 Become a learning organization through relentless reflection (hansei) and continuous improvement ( kaizen)


Recently it was announced that Toyota had overtaken General Motors. How Toyota had done it was common knowledge and they have been happy to tell pople the theory but obviously General Motors had not done the practical.

I particularly like continuous reflection which works whether you are succeeding or not. If you are a succes which General Motors has been for years they obviously have not learnt to reflect on their success and maintain it.
Maybe they thought their way was the only way. Many once mighty companies have fallen from a great height,

A good read

THE book on the Toyota Production System!, 17 Jun 2007
Everyone in the auto industry is familiar with Toyota's dramatic business success and, of course, consumers are demonstrably aware of the company's world-renowned quality. In fact, Toyota has done so well that, as Liker points out, many consider the company to be "boring." For, after all, steadily growing sales, consistent profitability, huge cash reserves, operational efficiency (combined with constant innovation--not an easy complement to pull off), and top quality, year after year, are not the stuff of breaking news. But, despite this reputation as the best manufacturer in the world, and despite the huge influence of the lean movement, most attempts to emulate and implement lean production have been fairly superficial, with less than stellar results over the long term. "Dabbling at one level--the `Process' level," U.S. companies have embraced lean tools, but do not understand what makes them work together in a system.

This integration is precisely what The Toyota Way examines, explaining how to create a Toyota-style culture of quality, lean, and learning that takes quantum leaps beyond any superficial focus on tools and techniques. Suffice it to say, there are hundreds of books out there explaining, analyzing, and advocating lean--providing details and insight into the tools and methods of TPS. The two most noted among this treasure trove are, of course, the contributions of The Machine That Changed the World (Womack, Jones, Roos, 1991) and Lean Thinking (Womack and Jones, 1996), and both stand as excellent resources on the subject. The first introduced the world to the tools and techniques of lean manufacturing by extracting its principles from their initial Japanese application and examining them in detail. And, the second explained how "to make value flow smoothly at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection."

The Toyota Way is, however (according to Liker), the first business book in English to provide a blueprint of Toyota's management philosophy for general business readers, dispelling the misconceptions that TPS is merely a collection of tools that lead to more efficient operations. Of course, there is no way of ascertaining the validity of this claim, without an extensive and time consuming exploration of the literature, but that truly doesn't matter. The Toyota Way is an approach of such breadth, depth, and significance to the world of business that it has yet to be fully understood; thus, the subject has not yet been fully exhausted. Liker's keen sense of the subtleties of TPS intrepidly challenges conventional understanding and transforms it with eloquent simplicity. He takes the reader deeply and comprehensively into the "heart and intelligence" of Toyota's "way," giving businesses in diverse industries some very practical and effective ideas that they can use to develop their own unique approach to TPS.

Brilliant and well written!, 12 Jan 2007
Jefferey Liker's well reasoned book explains the management principles that enable TOYOTA to outperform its piers - and explains why western managers pre-occupied with `management techniques' can't `go lean', without changing the culture of their organisation

If you ony buy one book on Organisational Behaviour, make it this one, 07 Jul 2008
Charles Handy is arguably the UK's top business "guru", but in my opinion this title somewhat diminishes his life's work, which has gone beyond matters of simple business administration into a philosophy of life and work, and is imbued with a spirituality that I find infectious (even though I am not a very spiritual person). This, however, is his seminal management text, and there is but a hint of the philosophical musings of "The Empty Raincoat" and "The Hungry Spirit".

Understanding Organisations was first published in 1976, and my fourth edition (I don't know why Amazon describes this as the third edition - that must be an error) was published in 1993, with a revised introduction in 1999. It cannot claim to be entirely up to date, therefore, but it remains valid both as a commentary on previous work on motivation, roles, leadership, power groups and organisations as well as contributing many of Handy's own ideas on the subject. I think that it was here that he first used analogies with the ancient Greek gods to describe the cultures of organisations, which he later developed in "Gods of Management". I've dipped into this book in the past, and have worked through it systematically recently as one of the key texts for a course on "Organisational Behaviour". My impression is that there are few more recent developments in this field than were taken into account in the writing of the book.

I have few quibbles. Handy's style is scholarly - I had wondered if this was his doctoral thesis but in fact he did not do one (he has an honorary one from Trinity College Dublin). It is accessible - and I do like the dry humour with which he delivers some of his case studies - but it is not as an easy or entertaining a read as some of his subsequent works. This is an excellent book, whether to use as a course text or to dip into as you experience and reflect on "trouble at mill" in your working life.


A great place to start learning about organisations, 27 May 2007
Charles Handy has been very influential shaping my attitudes to work, life styles and the management of organisations. This is a great primer for new students. I also highy recommend reading all his books and listening to his audio recordings.

His later works outline succinctly the demands changing corporations and globalization place on individuals and society. A very inspirational and thought provoking commentator, he positions the world of work in the larger context of ethics and morality. He also explores the human struggle to maintain individuality, spirituality, choice, freedom and dignity


The Star, 26 Sep 2006
Easier to understand than other management books,
Excellent aptitude and examples

Down to Earth and Practical

When I got bored with the rest this was the best


Essential, effortless reading, 27 Apr 2006
This is truly a remarkable book. Handy has compiled a great body of classic management theory and practice - and made it effortless to absorb.

And it is this accessibility and clarity that Handy brings to the subject.

I thoroughly recommend this book for serious management students (as the depth is here) and also business people who want a compact volume that is easy to read.

Overview of organisational behaviour, 01 Dec 2003
Handy's book is well-written and highly readable. By putting all litterature references at the end of the book the book becomes more readable as the book is free from reference insertions that might disturb the flow of reading. However, for academic use this convention makes it significantly more complicated to reference to any other than Handy himself. One has to cross-reference between sections of the book to try to find the original inventor of a concept. Hence, the book is highly recommended for practitioners that wants to read the book as a novel. The structure of the book makes it less user-friendly for academic work.

Must read, 06 Jul 2007
I have never worked in consulting before and I haven't read the first book "McKinsey Way". My expectation from the book was very much focused on my job in financial services: provide a structure to my problem solving process. I guess the book met my expectation very well, showed me a detailed step by step approach applicable to different types of problems, issues that might come up in each step and "keep in minds" to handle these issues. Considering my non-consulting background and job-specific expectations, I would say it's a very good "must read" book.

Waste of time, 02 May 2007
This is probably one of the worst books you can read about consulting. Given the credentials of the McKinsey firm and given the fact the authors claim a lot of ex-McKinsey-ites participated in this book, one can not help but being very disappointed about the content.
The writers are clearly banking on McKinsey's name and reputation. This is a shame and should not let you lured into buying the book.

A good book on problem solving, 20 Jul 2005
The McKinsey Mind is a description of McKinsey's problem solving process by ex-McKinsey-ites Raisel and Friga. Mr. Raisel is the author of the earlier published McKinsey Way, which has much the same content as McKinsey Mind. Nevertheless, McKinsey Mind includes new interesting content and certainly is a good book on problem solving processes.

I have myself some background in the area of problem solving, which I have researched and taught at my former university as well as applied the knowledge in case competitions and in my day-to-day work. While problem solving is ultimately a fuzzy process where logic, intuition and creativity is combined, in order to be effective with time constraints and in team settings it is essential to have a formal problem solving process. McKinsey Mind teaches that a so-called hypothesis driven approach is the most effective problem solving process and I totally agree with that assessment based on my own experiences. Students that learn to apply proper hypothesis-driven problem solving approaches in business case exercises (where time is limited) produce much better results than students who "just solve it".

The book has a broad view on the problem solving process and includes also chapters on presentation and managing stakeholders: team, client and yourself. The actual problem solving process is divided into framing the problem (understanding it and identifying a hypothesis), designing the analysis, gathering the data, and interpreting the results. In the end of the book are some helpful appendices, including a list of potential data sources on the internet and summaries of the book's main points.

The McKinsey Mind expands on The McKinsey Way chiefly by presenting a survey on McKinsey alumnus' experiences and a number of subsequent interviews. This material provides insights and stories on how the McKinsey skills have been applied in post-McKinsey carriers. Each chapter is divided into a general overview, a description of the "McKinsey way", lessons learned and illustrations (based on the survey), implementation guidance, exercises and a conclusion.

This could have been a five star book, but unfortunately McKinsey Mind is not particularly well written (though I have seen much worse written books as well). I got the impression that the authors have applied their own 80/20-rule: doing the most important 20% of the tasks to get 80% of the result. There is some repetition in the text within the same chapter, the authors' example on Acme Widgets isn't well thought in my opinion, and so forth. The book is also a quick read with its 186 pages (excluding appendices) and quite little text on a single page. A 95/50-effort would have been appreciated.

Yet, the topic is an important one and the content contains best practices from one of the world's foremost practitioner. But one has to remember that it is not enough to read a book to learn how to solve problems effectively: only experience can eventually teach you that. This book is just a good map for the journey.

Introduction into McKinsey's problem-solving process, 29 Apr 2005
Ethan M. Rasiel was a consultant with McKinsey & Company. Paul N. Friga is Professor at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business where he teaches strategy and management consulting. Paul worked in McKinsey's Pittsburgh-office.

In 1999 Ethan Rasiel published "The McKinsey Way", which I did see as an introduction into McKinsey and management consulting in general. That book touched on the problem-solving tools and techniques used by McKinsey. However, this book takes a much more prescriptive approach and discusses the problem-solving model in much more detail. This problem-solving model consists of six discrete elements: 1. business need; 2. analyzing; 3. presenting; 4. managing; 5. implementation; 6. leadership. "There is one other piece of the model: the tension between intuition and data." Each element is discussed within this book, apart from client/business needs, implementation and leadership.

Chapters 1-to-4 discusses McKinsey's fact-based, hypothesis-driven problem-solving process and how you can use this process to tackle problems in your own organisation. Chapter 5 discusses strategies for presentation to your boss, clients, the board, or your entire company. Chapter 6-to-8 discuss the management of the problem-solving processes, with a particular focus on managing the team, the client and yourself. Each chapter is divided into an introduction, a summary of the lessons from "The McKinsey Way", lessons from McKinsey alumni,and advice for implementation. There are also some exercises at the end of each chapter. The three appendices provide useful links to data-gathering resources, a summary list of lessons from "The McKinsey Way", and a summary lis of the implementation lessons from this book.

Yes, I do like this book better than "The McKinsey Way". "The McKinsey Way" should be seen as an introduction into McKinsey, their tools and techniques, this book focuses on putting those tools and techniques into practice. I believe that this book can help you become a better problem solver and decision maker, using the approach discussed in the book. If you have little time, try to read at least Chapter 1 which is possibly the best chapter in the book since its sets up/frames the problem solving method. Highly recommended for people looking to problem-solving tools and techniques. However, the hard work is still up to you!

Interesting.., 19 Jun 2002
As you would expect from McKinsey-ites, the book proposes good principles & methods for structured problem solving, but let down by the arrogant and condescending way it was written. The section on interpersonal skills is obviously not the authors strong point.
The best part was infact the last section -Managing yourself - which concludes that justice, truth and harmony is the end result of the techinques illustrated in the book.
I would have liked to see more content on creativity in the problem solving process but appart from that a jolly good read.

To understand this company's success, first understand its DNA, 31 Jul 2008
I read this book when it was first published in 2004 and recently re-read it, curious to know how well Jeffrey Liker's explanation of Toyota's management principles and lean production values have held up. My conclusion? Very well.

No good purpose would be served by merely listing the 14 management principles, out of context. Liker devotes a separate chapter to each, carefully explaining not only what it is but also how it guides and informs everyone at all levels and in all areas of the Toyota organization. What Liker also accomplishes, and what cannot be adequately summarized in a review such as this, is to explain how all 12 principles are interdependent. Together, they serve as the company's DNA. In the Preface, he recalls asking Fujio Cho (President of Toyota Motor Company) what was unique about his company's remarkable success. His answer was quite simple: "The key to the Toyota Way and what makes Toyota stand out is not any of the individual elements...But what is important is having all the elements together as a system. It must be practiced every day in a very consistent manner." To understand Toyota's success, therefore, it is important to understand that lean production is not a methodology, it is literally a way of life.

The 14 principles are divided into four sections:

Having a long-term philosophy that drives a long-term approach to building a learning organization

Absolute faith that the right process will produce the right results

Adding value to the organization by developing its people and partners

Continuously solving root problems to drive organizational learning

As Liker points out, it is important to understand that the Toyota Production System is not the Toyota Way. TPS is the most systematic and highly developed example of what the principles of the Toyota Way can accomplish. The Toyota Way consists of the foundational principles of the Toyota culture, which allows the TPS to function so effectively.

How does lean improvement differ from traditional process improvement? "Briefly, wheras the traditional approach to process improvement focuses on local efficiencies, in a lean improvement initiatuve, most of the progress comes from a large number of non-value steps being squeezed out. For example, overproduction, delays, and wasted motion. In fact, the ultimate goal of lean manufacturing is to apply the ideal of one-piece flow to all business operations, from product design to launch, order taking, physical production, and shipment."Some of the differences are subtle but no less significant.

To repeat, anyone can read this book and then uncerstand what the Toyota Way is. Possessing a gourmet chef's recipe, however, does not ensure that a gourmet meal will be prepared. Toyota has its own way. Other companies must develop theirs based on their own "roots." In other words, lead from their traditional strengths but not be limited by them. In fact, companies may need to re-invent themselves, not once but several times. That is what Toyota did...and continues to do. Use operational excellence as a strategic weapon and the rewards and results will far outweigh the great effort required.

That said, Liker does provide 13 "general tips." The first is to begin with action in the technical system and then follow quickly with cultural change. Other suggestions include learning by doing first and training second, using value stream mapping to develop future state visions to help "learn to see," and being opportunistic in identifying opportunities for big financial impacts. They are provided with brief but precise explanations on Pages 302-307.

It remains for each person who reads this book to determine which of the 14 management principles are most relevant to her or his own enterprise, and then to determine how to translate each into effective action. Presumably Liker agrees with me that most companies have 3-5 areas in which "lean" initiatives are urgently needed. Developing an execution plan can be tricky, however, because all business transaction involve a process of some kind and improvement of one process inevitably has a direct impact on several others. Here's one possibility, suggested to me by a COO to whom I gave a copy of this book: Read the final chapter, Chapter 22, first. It's title is "Build Your Own Lean Learning Enterprise, Borrowing from the Toyota Way." He thinks that will provide an appropriate framework within which to proceed from Gary Convis' Foreword and Liker's Preface to the conclusion of Chapter 21. That suggestion is worth consideration.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Liker's Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way as well as Matthew Mays' The Elegant Solution: Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation, David Magee's How Toyota Became Toyota: Leadership Lessons from the World's Greatest Car company, and What Is Lean Six Sigma? co-authored by Michael L. George, David Rowlands, and Bill Kastle.

Andrew Scotchmer, 24 Aug 2007
Takes you through the evolution of the Toyota Production System and introduces the reader to the 14 points of the lean philosophy. Excellent, as is the followup "field-book) for implementation of lean in your workplace.

Something to continuously reflect on , 03 Jul 2007
The Company That Invented Lean The 14 Management Principles

Being totally uninterested in cars I did not realise that Toyota is one of the worlds greatest manufacturers.

I was listening to In Business on Radio4. It was all about how Toyota has revolutionised management to create what they call lean production.

It is a fascinating read by Jeffrey K Liker. MC Graw-Hill (2004) pp 330 The Japanese have learnt in the last forty years how to make top quality cars. The 14 principles can be applied to any business and are not exclusive to manufacturing.

It is a whole way of life and a way of thinking.

Principles 1: Base your management decision on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals

Principle 2 Create continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface

Principle 3 Use" pull" systems to avoid overproduction

Principle 4 Level out the workload( heijunka)

Principle 5 Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time.

Principle 6 Standards task are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment

Principle 7 Use visual control so problems are hidden

Principle 8Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes

Principle 9 Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work,live the philosophy and teach it to others.

Principle 10 Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company's philosophy

Principle 11 Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers y challenging them and helping them improve.

Principle 12 Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situations(genchi genbutsu)

Principle 13 Make decision slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all the options implement decisions rapidly ( nemawashi)

Principle 14 Become a learning organization through relentless reflection (hansei) and continuous improvement ( kaizen)


Recently it was announced that Toyota had overtaken General Motors. How Toyota had done it was common knowledge and they have been happy to tell pople the theory but obviously General Motors had not done the practical.

I particularly like continuous reflection which works whether you are succeeding or not. If you are a succes which General Motors has been for years they obviously have not learnt to reflect on their success and maintain it.
Maybe they thought their way was the only way. Many once mighty companies have fallen from a great height,

A good read

THE book on the Toyota Production System!, 17 Jun 2007
Everyone in the auto industry is familiar with Toyota's dramatic business success and, of course, consumers are demonstrably aware of the company's world-renowned quality. In fact, Toyota has done so well that, as Liker points out, many consider the company to be "boring." For, after all, steadily growing sales, consistent profitability, huge cash reserves, operational efficiency (combined with constant innovation--not an easy complement to pull off), and top quality, year after year, are not the stuff of breaking news. But, despite this reputation as the best manufacturer in the world, and despite the huge influence of the lean movement, most attempts to emulate and implement lean production have been fairly superficial, with less than stellar results over the long term. "Dabbling at one level--the `Process' level," U.S. companies have embraced lean tools, but do not understand what makes them work together in a system.

This integration is precisely what The Toyota Way examines, explaining how to create a Toyota-style culture of quality, lean, and learning that takes quantum leaps beyond any superficial focus on tools and techniques. Suffice it to say, there are hundreds of books out there explaining, analyzing, and advocating lean--providing details and insight into the tools and methods of TPS. The two most noted among this treasure trove are, of course, the contributions of The Machine That Changed the World (Womack, Jones, Roos, 1991) and Lean Thinking (Womack and Jones, 1996), and both stand as excellent resources on the subject. The first introduced the world to the tools and techniques of lean manufacturing by extracting its principles from their initial Japanese application and examining them in detail. And, the second explained how "to make value flow smoothly at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection."

The Toyota Way is, however (according to Liker), the first business book in English to provide a blueprint of Toyota's management philosophy for general business readers, dispelling the misconceptions that TPS is merely a collection of tools that lead to more efficient operations. Of course, there is no way of ascertaining the validity of this claim, without an extensive and time consuming exploration of the literature, but that truly doesn't matter. The Toyota Way is an approach of such breadth, depth, and significance to the world of business that it has yet to be fully understood; thus, the subject has not yet been fully exhausted. Liker's keen sense of the subtleties of TPS intrepidly challenges conventional understanding and transforms it with eloquent simplicity. He takes the reader deeply and comprehensively into the "heart and intelligence" of Toyota's "way," giving businesses in diverse industries some very practical and effective ideas that they can use to develop their own unique approach to TPS.

Brilliant and well written!, 12 Jan 2007
Jefferey Liker's well reasoned book explains the management principles that enable TOYOTA to outperform its piers - and explains why western managers pre-occupied with `management techniques' can't `go lean', without changing the culture of their organisation

If you ony buy one book on Organisational Behaviour, make it this one, 07 Jul 2008
Charles Handy is arguably the UK's top business "guru", but in my opinion this title somewhat diminishes his life's work, which has gone beyond matters of simple business administration into a philosophy of life and work, and is imbued with a spirituality that I find infectious (even though I am not a very spiritual person). This, however, is his seminal management text, and there is but a hint of the philosophical musings of "The Empty Raincoat" and "The Hungry Spirit".

Understanding Organisations was first published in 1976, and my fourth edition (I don't know why Amazon describes this as the third edition - that must be an error) was published in 1993, with a revised introduction in 1999. It cannot claim to be entirely up to date, therefore, but it remains valid both as a commentary on previous work on motivation, roles, leadership, power groups and organisations as well as contributing many of Handy's own ideas on the subject. I think that it was here that he first used analogies with the ancient Greek gods to describe the cultures of organisations, which he later developed in "Gods of Management". I've dipped into this book in the past, and have worked through it systematically recently as one of the key texts for a course on "Organisational Behaviour". My impression is that there are few more recent developments in this field than were taken into account in the writing of the book.

I have few quibbles. Handy's style is scholarly - I had wondered if this was his doctoral thesis but in fact he did not do one (he has an honorary one from Trinity College Dublin). It is accessible - and I do like the dry humour with which he delivers some of his case studies - but it is not as an easy or entertaining a read as some of his subsequent works. This is an excellent book, whether to use as a course text or to dip into as you experience and reflect on "trouble at mill" in your working life.


A great place to start learning about organisations, 27 May 2007
Charles Handy has been very influential shaping my attitudes to work, life styles and the management of organisations. This is a great primer for new students. I also highy recommend reading all his books and listening to his audio recordings.

His later works outline succinctly the demands changing corporations and globalization place on individuals and society. A very inspirational and thought provoking commentator, he positions the world of work in the larger context of ethics and morality. He also explores the human struggle to maintain individuality, spirituality, choice, freedom and dignity


The Star, 26 Sep 2006
Easier to understand than other management books,
Excellent aptitude and examples

Down to Earth and Practical

When I got bored with the rest this was the best


Essential, effortless reading, 27 Apr 2006
This is truly a remarkable book. Handy has compiled a great body of classic management theory and practice - and made it effortless to absorb.

And it is this accessibility and clarity that Handy brings to the subject.

I thoroughly recommend this book for serious management students (as the depth is here) and also business people who want a compact volume that is easy to read.

Overview of organisational behaviour, 01 Dec 2003
Handy's book is well-written and highly readable. By putting all litterature references at the end of the book the book becomes more readable as the book is free from reference insertions that might disturb the flow of reading. However, for academic use this convention makes it significantly more complicated to reference to any other than Handy himself. One has to cross-reference between sections of the book to try to find the original inventor of a concept. Hence, the book is highly recommended for practitioners that wants to read the book as a novel. The structure of the book makes it less user-friendly for academic work.

Must read, 06 Jul 2007
I have never worked in consulting before and I haven't read the first book "McKinsey Way". My expectation from the book was very much focused on my job in financial services: provide a structure to my problem solving process. I guess the book met my expectation very well, showed me a detailed step by step approach applicable to different types of problems, issues that might come up in each step and "keep in minds" to handle these issues. Considering my non-consulting background and job-specific expectations, I would say it's a very good "must read" book.

Waste of time, 02 May 2007
This is probably one of the worst books you can read about consulting. Given the credentials of the McKinsey firm and given the fact the authors claim a lot of ex-McKinsey-ites participated in this book, one can not help but being very disappointed about the content.
The writers are clearly banking on McKinsey's name and reputation. This is a shame and should not let you lured into buying the book.

A good book on problem solving, 20 Jul 2005
The McKinsey Mind is a description of McKinsey's problem solving process by ex-McKinsey-ites Raisel and Friga. Mr. Raisel is the author of the earlier published McKinsey Way, which has much the same content as McKinsey Mind. Nevertheless, McKinsey Mind includes new interesting content and certainly is a good book on problem solving processes.

I have myself some background in the area of problem solving, which I have researched and taught at my former university as well as applied the knowledge in case competitions and in my day-to-day work. While problem solving is ultimately a fuzzy process where logic, intuition and creativity is combined, in order to be effective with time constraints and in team settings it is essential to have a formal problem solving process. McKinsey Mind teaches that a so-called hypothesis driven approach is the most effective problem solving process and I totally agree with that assessment based on my own experiences. Students that learn to apply proper hypothesis-driven problem solving approaches in business case exercises (where time is limited) produce much better results than students who "just solve it".

The book has a broad view on the problem solving process and includes also chapters on presentation and managing stakeholders: team, client and yourself. The actual problem solving process is divided into framing the problem (understanding it and identifying a hypothesis), designing the analysis, gathering the data, and interpreting the results. In the end of the book are some helpful appendices, including a list of potential data sources on the internet and summaries of the book's main points.

The McKinsey Mind expands on The McKinsey Way chiefly by presenting a survey on McKinsey alumnus' experiences and a number of subsequent interviews. This material provides insights and stories on how the McKinsey skills have been applied in post-McKinsey carriers. Each chapter is divided into a general overview, a description of the "McKinsey way", lessons learned and illustrations (based on the survey), implementation guidance, exercises and a conclusion.

This could have been a five star book, but unfortunately McKinsey Mind is not particularly well written (though I have seen much worse written books as well). I got the impression that the authors have applied their own 80/20-rule: doing the most important 20% of the tasks to get 80% of the result. There is some repetition in the text within the same chapter, the authors' example on Acme Widgets isn't well thought in my opinion, and so forth. The book is also a quick read with its 186 pages (excluding appendices) and quite little text on a single page. A 95/50-effort would have been appreciated.

Yet, the topic is an important one and the content contains best practices from one of the world's foremost practitioner. But one has to remember that it is not enough to read a book to learn how to solve problems effectively: only experience can eventually teach you that. This book is just a good map for the journey.

Introduction into McKinsey's problem-solving process, 29 Apr 2005
Ethan M. Rasiel was a consultant with McKinsey & Company. Paul N. Friga is Professor at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business where he teaches strategy and management consulting. Paul worked in McKinsey's Pittsburgh-office.

In 1999 Ethan Rasiel published "The McKinsey Way", which I did see as an introduction into McKinsey and management consulting in general. That book touched on the problem-solving tools and techniques used by McKinsey. However, this book takes a much more prescriptive approach and discusses the problem-solving model in much more detail. This problem-solving model consists of six discrete elements: 1. business need; 2. analyzing; 3. presenting; 4. managing; 5. implementation; 6. leadership. "There is one other piece of the model: the tension between intuition and data." Each element is discussed within this book, apart from client/business needs, implementation and leadership.

Chapters 1-to-4 discusses McKinsey's fact-based, hypothesis-driven problem-solving process and how you can use this process to tackle problems in your own organisation. Chapter 5 discusses strategies for presentation to your boss, clients, the board, or your entire company. Chapter 6-to-8 discuss the management of the problem-solving processes, with a particular focus on managing the team, the client and yourself. Each chapter is divided into an introduction, a summary of the lessons from "The McKinsey Way", lessons from McKinsey alumni,and advice for implementation. There are also some exercises at the end of each chapter. The three appendices provide useful links to data-gathering resources, a summary list of lessons from "The McKinsey Way", and a summary lis of the implementation lessons from this book.

Yes, I do like this book better than "The McKinsey Way". "The McKinsey Way" should be seen as an introduction into McKinsey, their tools and techniques, this book focuses on putting those tools and techniques into practice. I believe that this book can help you become a better problem solver and decision maker, using the approach discussed in the book. If you have little time, try to read at least Chapter 1 which is possibly the best chapter in the book since its sets up/frames the problem solving method. Highly recommended for people looking to problem-solving tools and techniques. However, the hard work is still up to you!

Interesting.., 19 Jun 2002
As you would expect from McKinsey-ites, the book proposes good principles & methods for structured problem solving, but let down by the arrogant and condescending way it was written. The section on interpersonal skills is obviously not the authors strong point.
The best part was infact the last section -Managing yourself - which concludes that justice, truth and harmony is the end result of the techinques illustrated in the book.
I would have liked to see more content on creativity in the problem solving process but appart from that a jolly good read.

If only, 23 Sep 2008
I brought this book as I was captivated by the title

I couldn't put it down
The enthusiasm of the Chouinards is met only by their ethics at creating a place people want to work for a company people want to work for whilst working to protect the enviroment they are passionate about
In this climate it is enlighting that they continously donate to worthwhile charites
Whilst reading the book it made me search out their websites both in the UK and US also check out the links
A great read regardless of whether you surf but a definate if you care about the world we are leaving our heirs

Makes you want to run a business, 18 Jun 2007
Who would've thought you could read a book that inspires you to climb, surf, make obscure pieces of ironmongery, design clothes and run a company - all in one slim volume.

Yvon Chouinard is one of the most important business leaders around today because he's made a values-lead business highly profitable. Any aspring business leader (and, more importantly, those already running businesses) should be forced to read this. It's the future.



A Landmark Case History, 12 Jan 2006
Most people want to read about what Jack Welch, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have done as managers. They would learn a lot more by reading about what Yvon Chouinard has to say about how he developed Patagonia.

This case history is filled with the kind of common sense wisdom that almost all companies and business leaders lack, including the best-known celebrity CEOs. Accounting rules don't require us to look at environmental damage so most companies don't think about the harm they cause in this regard. Yet if we don't do what we can to do less environmental harm, what's the point of having money in a spoiled world?

Most people don't really want to run or work in businesses full time. They would rather be doing something they enjoy more. Mr. Chouinard's approach to Management by Absence and letting his people use flex-time to go surfing when conditions are good examples of how such flexibility can be created in a successful enterprise.

Most importantly, Mr. Chouinard is a good example . . . a model leader. That's true because, in part, he wants to set a good example . . . something most business leaders don't care about today. They just want to make money.

A hundred years from now, people will be reading this book as a model of doing the right thing . . . long after everyone has forgotten the names of the best selling business CEOs today. Get ahead of the curve by starting with this book.

Five years ago Jim Collins asked the question, "Can a good company become a great company, and if so, how?" In Good to Great Collins, the author of Built to Last concludes that it is possible, but finds that there are no silver bullets to greatness. Collins and his team of researchers began their quest by sorting through a list of 1,435 companies, looking for those that made substantial improvements in their performance over time. They finally settled on 11--including Gillette, Walgreens and Wells Fargo--and discovered common traits that challenged many of the conventional notions of corporate success. Making the transition from good to great doesn't require a high-profile CEO, the latest technology, innovative change management or even a fine-tuned business strategy. At the heart of those rare and truly great companies was a corporate culture that rigorously found and promoted disciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner. Peppered with dozens of stories and examples from the great and not-so-great, Collins lays a well-reasoned roadmap to excellence that any organisation would do well to consider. Like Built to Last, Good to Great is one of those books that managers and CEOs will be reading and rereading for years to come. --Harry C Edwards

To understand this company's success, first understand its DNA, 31 Jul 2008
I read this book when it was first published in 2004 and recently re-read it, curious to know how well Jeffrey Liker's explanation of Toyota's management principles and lean production values have held up. My conclusion? Very well.

No good purpose would be served by merely listing the 14 management principles, out of context. Liker devotes a separate chapter to each, carefully explaining not only what it is but also how it guides and informs everyone at all levels and in all areas of the Toyota organization. What Liker also accomplishes, and what cannot be adequately summarized in a review such as this, is to explain how all 12 principles are interdependent. Together, they serve as the company's DNA. In the Preface, he recalls asking Fujio Cho (President of Toyota Motor Company) what was unique about his company's remarkable success. His answer was quite simple: "The key to the Toyota Way and what makes Toyota stand out is not any of the individual elements...But what is important is having all the elements together as a system. It must be practiced every day in a very consistent manner." To understand Toyota's success, therefore, it is important to understand that lean production is not a methodology, it is literally a way of life.

The 14 principles are divided into four sections:

Having a long-term philosophy that drives a long-term approach to building a learning organization

Absolute faith that the right process will produce the right results

Adding value to the organization by developing its people and partners

Continuously solving root problems to drive organizational learning

As Liker points out, it is important to understand that the Toyota Production System is not the Toyota Way. TPS is the most systematic and highly developed example of what the principles of the Toyota Way can accomplish. The Toyota Way consists of the foundational principles of the Toyota culture, which allows the TPS to function so effectively.

How does lean improvement differ from traditional process improvement? "Briefly, wheras the traditional approach to process improvement focuses on local efficiencies, in a lean improvement initiatuve, most of the progress comes from a large number of non-value steps being squeezed out. For example, overproduction, delays, and wasted motion. In fact, the ultimate goal of lean manufacturing is to apply the ideal of one-piece flow to all business operations, from product design to launch, order taking, physical production, and shipment."Some of the differences are subtle but no less significant.

To repeat, anyone can read this book and then uncerstand what the Toyota Way is. Possessing a gourmet chef's recipe, however, does not ensure that a gourmet meal will be prepared. Toyota has its own way. Other companies must develop theirs based on their own "roots." In other words, lead from their traditional strengths but not be limited by them. In fact, companies may need to re-invent themselves, not once but several times. That is what Toyota did...and continues to do. Use operational excellence as a strategic weapon and the rewards and results will far outweigh the great effort required.

That said, Liker does provide 13 "general tips." The first is to begin with action in the technical system and then follow quickly with cultural change. Other suggestions include learning by doing first and training second, using value stream mapping to develop future state visions to help "learn to see," and being opportunistic in identifying opportunities for big financial impacts. They are provided with brief but precise explanations on Pages 302-307.

It remains for each person who reads this book to determine which of the 14 management principles are most relevant to her or his own enterprise, and then to determine how to translate each into effective action. Presumably Liker agrees with me that most companies have 3-5 areas in which "lean" initiatives are urgently needed. Developing an execution plan can be tricky, however, because all business transaction involve a process of some kind and improvement of one process inevitably has a direct impact on several others. Here's one possibility, suggested to me by a COO to whom I gave a copy of this book: Read the final chapter, Chapter 22, first. It's title is "Build Your Own Lean Learning Enterprise, Borrowing from the Toyota Way." He thinks that will provide an appropriate framework within which to proceed from Gary Convis' Foreword and Liker's Preface to the conclusion of Chapter 21. That suggestion is worth consideration.

Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Liker's Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way as well as Matthew Mays' The Elegant Solution: Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation, David Magee's How Toyota Became Toyota: Leadership Lessons from the World's Greatest Car company, and What Is Lean Six Sigma? co-authored by Michael L. George, David Rowlands, and Bill Kastle.

Andrew Scotchmer, 24 Aug 2007
Takes you through the evolution of the Toyota Production System and introduces the reader to the 14 points of the lean philosophy. Excellent, as is the followup "field-book) for implementation of lean in your workplace.

Something to continuously reflect on , 03 Jul 2007
The Company That Invented Lean The 14 Management Principles

Being totally uninterested in cars I did not realise that Toyota is one of the worlds greatest manufacturers.

I was listening to In Business on Radio4. It was all about how Toyota has revolutionised management to create what they call lean production.

It is a fascinating read by Jeffrey K Liker. MC Graw-Hill (2004) pp 330 The Japanese have learnt in the last forty years how to make top quality cars. The 14 principles can be applied to any business and are not exclusive to manufacturing.

It is a whole way of life and a way of thinking.

Principles 1: Base your management decision on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals

Principle 2 Create continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface

Principle 3 Use" pull" systems to avoid overproduction

Principle 4 Level out the workload( heijunka)

Principle 5 Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time.

Principle 6 Standards task are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment

Principle 7 Use visual control so problems are hidden

Principle 8Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes

Principle 9 Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work,live the philosophy and teach it to others.

Principle 10 Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company's philosophy

Principle 11 Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers y challenging them and helping them improve.

Principle 12 Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situations(genchi genbutsu)

Principle 13 Make decision slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all the options implement decisions rapidly ( nemawashi)

Principle 14 Become a learning organization through relentless reflection (hansei) and continuous improvement ( kaizen)


Recently it was announced that Toyota had overtaken General Motors. How Toyota had done it was common knowledge and they have been happy to tell pople the theory but obviously General Motors had not done the practical.

I particularly like continuous reflection which works whether you are succeeding or not. If you are a succes which General Motors has been for years they obviously have not learnt to reflect on their success and maintain it.
Maybe they thought their way was the only way. Many once mighty companies have fallen from a great height,

A good read

THE book on the Toyota Production System!, 17 Jun 2007
Everyone in the auto industry is familiar with Toyota's dramatic business success and, of course, consumers are demonstrably aware of the company's world-renowned quality. In fact, Toyota has done so well that, as Liker points out, many consider the company to be "boring." For, after all, steadily growing sales, consistent profitability, huge cash reserves, operational efficiency (combined with constant innovation--not an easy complement to pull off), and top quality, year after year, are not the stuff of breaking news. But, despite this reputation as the best manufacturer in the world, and despite the huge influence of the lean movement, most attempts to emulate and implement lean production have been fairly superficial, with less than stellar results over the long term. "Dabbling at one level--the `Process' level," U.S. companies have embraced lean tools, but do not understand what makes them work together in a system.

This integration is precisely what The Toyota Way examines, explaining how to create a Toyota-style culture of quality, lean, and learning that takes quantum leaps beyond any superficial focus on tools and techniques. Suffice it to say, there are hundreds of books out there explaining, analyzing, and advocating lean--providing details and insight into the tools and methods of TPS. The two most noted among this treasure trove are, of course, the contributions of The Machine That Changed the World (Womack, Jones, Roos, 1991) and Lean Thinking (Womack and Jones, 1996), and both stand as excellent resources on the subject. The first introduced the world to the tools and techniques of lean manufacturing by extracting its principles from their initial Japanese application and examining them in detail. And, the second explained how "to make value flow smoothly at the pull of the customer in pursuit of perfection."

The Toyota Way is, however (according to Liker), the first business book in English to provide a blueprint of Toyota's management philosophy for general business readers, dispelling the misconceptions that TPS is merely a collection of tools that lead to more efficient operations. Of course, there is no way of ascertaining the validity of this claim, without an extensive and time consuming exploration of the literature, but that truly doesn't matter. The Toyota Way is an approach of such breadth, depth, and significance to the world of business that it has yet to be fully understood; thus, the subject has not yet been fully exhausted. Liker's keen sense of the subtleties of TPS intrepidly challenges conventional understanding and transforms it with eloquent simplicity. He takes the reader deeply and comprehensively into the "heart and intelligence" of Toyota's "way," giving businesses in diverse industries some very practical and effective ideas that they can use to develop their own unique approach to TPS.

Brilliant and well written!, 12 Jan 2007
Jefferey Liker's well reasoned book explains the management principles that enable TOYOTA to outperform its piers - and explains why western managers pre-occupied with `management techniques' can't `go lean', without changing the culture of their organisation

If you ony buy one book on Organisational Behaviour, make it this one, 07 Jul 2008
Charles Handy is arguably the UK's top business "guru", but in my opinion this title somewhat diminishes his life's work, which has gone beyond matters of simple business administration into a philosophy of life and work, and is imbued with a spirituality that I find infectious (even though I am not a very spiritual person). This, however, is his seminal management text, and there is but a hint of the philosophical musings of "The Empty Raincoat" and "The Hungry Spirit".

Understanding Organisations was first published in 1976, and my fourth edition (I don't know why Amazon describes this as the third edition - that must be an error) was published in 1993, with a revised introduction in 1999. It cannot claim to be entirely up to date, therefore, but it remains valid both as a commentary on previous work on motivation, roles, leadership, power groups and organisations as well as contributing many of Handy's own ideas on the subject. I think that it was here that he first used analogies with the ancient Greek gods to describe the cultures of organisations, which he later developed in "Gods of Management". I've dipped into this book in the past, and have worked through it systematically recently as one of the key texts for a course on "Organisational Behaviour". My impression is that there are few more recent developments in this field than were taken into account in the writing of the book.

I have few quibbles. Handy's style is scholarly - I had wondered if this was his doctoral thesis but in fact he did not do one (he has an honorary one from Trinity College Dublin). It is accessible - and I do like the dry humour with which he delivers some of his case studies - but it is not as an easy or entertaining a read as some of his subsequent works. This is an excellent book, whether to use as a course text or to dip into as you experience and reflect on "trouble at mill" in your working life.


A great place to start learning about organisations, 27 May 2007
Charles Handy has been very influential shaping my attitudes to work, life styles and the management of organisations. This is a great primer for new students. I also highy recommend reading all his books and listening to his audio recordings.

His later works outline succinctly the demands changing corporations and globalization place on individuals and society. A very inspirational and thought provoking commentator, he positions the world of work in the larger context of ethics and morality. He also explores the human struggle to maintain individuality, spirituality, choice, freedom and dignity


The Star, 26 Sep 2006
Easier to understand than other management books,
Excellent aptitude and examples

Down to Earth and Practical

When I got bored with the rest this was the best


Essential, effortless reading, 27 Apr 2006
This is truly a remarkable book. Handy has compiled a great body of classic management theory and practice - and made it effortless to absorb.

And it is this accessibility and clarity that Handy brings to the subject.

I thoroughly recommend this book for serious management students (as the depth is here) and also business people who want a compact volume that is easy to read.

Overview of organisational behaviour, 01 Dec 2003
Handy's book is well-written and highly readable. By putting all litterature references at the end of the book the book becomes more readable as the book is free from reference insertions that might disturb the flow of reading. However, for academic use this convention makes it significantly more complicated to reference to any other than Handy himself. One has to cross-reference between sections of the book to try to find the original inventor of a concept. Hence, the book is highly recommended for practitioners that wants to read the book as a novel. The structure of the book makes it less user-friendly for academic work.

Must read, 06 Jul 2007
I have never worked in consulting before and I haven't read the first book "McKinsey Way". My expectation from the book was very much focused on my job in financial services: provide a structure to my problem solving process. I guess the book met my expectation very well, showed me a detailed step by step approach applicable to different types of problems, issues that might come up in each step and "keep in minds" to handle these issues. Considering my non-consulting background and job-specific expectations, I would say it's a very good "must read" book.

Waste of time, 02 May 2007
This is probably one of the worst books you can read about consulting. Given the credentials of the McKinsey firm and given the fact the authors claim a lot of ex-McKinsey-ites participated in this book, one can not help but being very disappointed about the content.
The writers are clearly banking on McKinsey's name and reputation. This is a shame and should not let you lured into buying the book.

A good book on problem solving, 20 Jul 2005
The McKinsey Mind is a description of McKinsey's problem solving process by ex-McKinsey-ites Raisel and Friga. Mr. Raisel is the author of the earlier published McKinsey Way, which has much the same content as McKinsey Mind. Nevertheless, McKinsey Mind includes new interesting content and certainly is a good book on problem solving processes.

I have myself some background in the area of problem solving, which I have researched and taught at my former university as well as applied the knowledge in case competitions and in my day-to-day work. While problem solving is ultimately a fuzzy process where logic, intuition and creativity is combined, in order to be effective with time constraints and in team settings it is essential to have a formal problem solving process. McKinsey Mind teaches that a so-called hypothesis driven approach is the most effective problem solving process and I totally agree with that assessment based on my own experiences. Students that learn to apply proper hypothesis-driven problem solving approaches in business case exercises (where time is limited) produce much better results than students who "just solve it".

The book has a broad view on the problem solving process and includes also chapters on presentation and managing stakeholders: team, client and yourself. The actual problem solving process is divided into framing the problem (understanding it and identifying a hypothesis), designing the analysis, gathering the data, and interpreting the results. In the end of the book are some helpful appendices, including a list of potential data sources on the internet and summaries of the book's main points.

The McKinsey Mind expands on The McKinsey Way chiefly by presenting a survey on McKinsey alumnus' experiences and a number of subsequent interviews. This material provides insights and stories on how the McKinsey skills have been applied in post-McKinsey carriers. Each chapter is divided into a general overview, a description of the "McKinsey way", lessons learned and illustrations (based on the survey), implementation guidance, exercises and a conclusion.

This could have been a five star book, but unfortunately McKinsey Mind is not particularly well written (though I have seen much worse written books as well). I got the impression that the authors have applied their own 80/20-rule: doing the most important 20% of the tasks to get 80% of the result. There is some repetition in the text within the same chapter, the authors' example on Acme Widgets isn't well thought in my opinion, and so forth. The book is also a quick read with its 186 pages (excluding appendices) and quite little text on a single page. A 95/50-effort would have been appreciated.

Yet, the topic is an important one and the content contains best practices from one of the world's foremost practitioner. But one has to remember that it is not enough to read a book to learn how to solve problems effectively: only experience can eventually teach you that. This book is just a good map for the journey.

Introduction into McKinsey's problem-solving process, 29 Apr 2005
Ethan M. Rasiel was a consultant with McKinsey & Company. Paul N. Friga is Professor at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business where he teaches strategy and management consulting. Paul worked in McKinsey's Pittsburgh-office.

In 1999 Ethan Rasiel published "The McKinsey Way", which I did see as an introduction into McKinsey and management consulting in general. That book touched on the problem-solving tools and techniques used by McKinsey. However, this book takes a much more prescriptive approach and discusses the problem-solving model in much more detail. This problem-solving model consists of six discrete elements: 1. business need; 2. analyzing; 3. presenting; 4. managing; 5. implementation; 6. leadership. "There is one other piece of the model: the tension between intuition and data." Each element is discussed within this book, apart from client/business needs, implementation and leadership.

Chapters 1-to-4 discusses McKinsey's fact-based, hypothesis-driven problem-solving process and how you can use this process to tackle problems in your own organisation. Chapter 5 discusses strategies for presentation to your boss, clients, the board, or your entire company. Chapter 6-to-8 discuss the management of the problem-solving processes, with a particular focus on managing the team, the client and yourself. Each chapter is divided into an introduction, a summary of the lessons from "The McKinsey Way", lessons from McKinsey alumni,and advice for implementation. There are also some exercises at the end of each chapter. The three appendices provide useful links to data-gathering resources, a summary list of lessons from "The McKinsey Way", and a summary lis of the implementation lessons from this book.

Yes, I do like this book better than "The McKinsey Way". "The McKinsey Way" should be seen as an introduction into McKinsey, their tools and techniques, this book focuses on putting those tools and techniques into practice. I believe that this book can help you become a better problem solver and decision maker, using the approach discussed in the book. If you have little time, try to read at least Chapter 1 which is possibly the best chapter in the book since its sets up/frames the problem solving method. Highly recommended for people looking to problem-solving tools and techniques. However, the hard work is still up to you!

Interesting.., 19 Jun 2002
As you would expect from McKinsey-ites, the book proposes good principles & methods for structured problem solving, but let down by the arrogant and condescending way it was written. The section on interpersonal skills is obviously not the authors strong point.
The best part was infact the last section -Managing yourself - which concludes that justice, truth and harmony is the end result of the techinques illustrated in the book.
I would have liked to see more content on creativity in the problem solving process but appart from that a jolly good read.

If only, 23 Sep 2008
I brought this book as I was captivated by the title

I couldn't put it down
The enthusiasm of the Chouinards is met only by their ethics at creating a place people want to work for a company people want to work for whilst working to protect the enviroment they are passionate about
In this climate it is enlighting that they continously donate to worthwhile charites
Whilst reading the book it made me search out their websites both in the UK and US also check out the links
A great read regardless of whether you surf but a definate if you care about the world we are leaving our heirs

Makes you want to run a business, 18 Jun 2007
Who would've thought you could read a book that inspires you to climb, surf, make obscure pieces of ironmongery, design clothes and run a company - all in one slim volume.

Yvon Chouinard is one of the most important business leaders around today because he's made a values-lead business highly profitable. Any aspring business leader (and, more importantly, those already running businesses) should be forced to read this. It's the future.



A Landmark Case History, 12 Jan 2006
Most people want to read about what Jack Welch, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have done as managers. They would learn a lot more by reading about what Yvon Chouinard has to say about how he developed Patagonia.

This case history is filled with the kind of common sense wisdom that almost all companies and business leaders lack, including the best-known celebrity CEOs. Ac