While few forsaw the depths of the economic crisis that we now face, a few noted authors released books in 2008 that can help provide some much-needed perspective to businesspeople looking for solutions today. Here's a list of my current favorites:
The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 by Paul Krugman (Norton, 2008) is an update of his 1999 book warning about the economic crises then sweeping Asia and Latin America. His message: watch out, or these economic crises would find their way to the United States for the very same reason—because the banking system exposes itself to too much risk. As it turned out, Krugman was right. The book goes on to spell out a detailed prescription for containing the crisis and turning around a world economy sliding into a deep recession.
A Sense of Urgency by John Kotter (Harvard Business School Press, 2008) explains that the problem with many organizations today is that they lack a sense of urgency or are suffused with too much complacency. According to Kotter, this urgency “is not driven by a belief that... everything is a mess but, instead, that the world contains great opportunities and great hazards.” Kotter offers a selection of ways to instill a sense of urgency in organizations, including bringing the outside world into overly insular work teams, making your deeds consistent with your words, viewing crises as potential opportunities, and disseminating data that “feels interesting, surprising, or dramatic,” as opposed to “information so antiseptic that it flows in and out of short-term memory with great speed.”
Leadership in the Era of Economic Uncertainty: The New Rules for Getting the Right Things Done in Difficult Times by Ram Charan (McGraw-Hill, 2008) offers readers specific advice for dealing with a variety of ill effects of these days of economic uncertainty. This includes countering cash and credit crunches, shrinking budgets, collapsing markets, sinking workforce morale, disappearing suppliers, and nervous shareholders. While Charan’s primary bit of advice is to focus on protecting the company’s cash flow, he also advises that leaders need to take personal responsibility to lead, recognize changes in reality, reassess their teams, be visible, and set shorter-term goals.
It's easy to get lost in the weeds when you're focused on putting out the daily fires that engulf many businesses today. Taking some time out to read books such as these can help give you a more global perspective that can open up entirely new ways of thinking. And if there's anything we need today, it's new ways of thinking.
