Nobody is as Smart as Everybody

June 2, 2007 by jack petrie.

I recently finished reading “Mavericks at Work” by Fast Company editors William C. Taylor and Polly LaBarre. Like Tom Peters said on the cover jacket, “I didn’t read this book. I devoured it.” Not only that, once finished, I immediately started to reread, in greater detail.

Like a handful of other recent great books (Gladwell’s “Blink” and “Tipping Point”; Pink’s “Whole New Mind”, Ferrazzi’s “Never Eat Alone” and Heath Brothers’ “Made to Stick”), “Mavericks” espouses an overriding theme, namely that our collective intelligence is greater than that of any subset of individuals and the smartest companies have figured this out and are finding ways to take advantage of this finding.

Like many other recent media, “Mavericks” cites the Southwest Airlines, Craigslist, Whole Foods, Linux, Starbucks, Pixar, Google examples, but offers greater depth into what makes these companies special by demonstrating how their embracing of maverick business methods provides quantum leaps in product and cultural differentiation.

I highly recommend this book to anyone engaged in any form of business activity. I also don’t feel I can truly do justice to this book in a few hundred words. For anyone looking for a couple quick takeaways, however:

• Consider that trade secrets aren’t so secret and that sharing information, in the long run, may lead to collaboration that yields higher productivity, greater output, a larger economy and a greater standard of living;
• A company’s brand and culture are synonymous: every managers action towards an employee and every employees action towards a customer reflect and represent the company and its brand .

If you have further interest in “Mavericks” and wish to have a chance to win a free copy, send the message “REPLY” to jpetrie@cresapartners.com.

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