MANAGING ON THE EDGE: How the Smartest Companies Use Conflict to Stay Ahead

by Richard Tanner Pascale ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1990

A New Age management guide whose arguable conclusions and jargon-marred intensity, wittingly or not, are reminiscent of The Renewal Factor, a 1987 entry from Robert H. Waterman, Jr. Early on, consultant Pascale (coauthor of The Art of Japanese Management, 1981) goes out of his way to trash faddish, quick-fix solutions to deep-seated, long-term business problems; among other objects of his disaffection are Theory Z, demassing, intrapreneurship, and T Groups. In relatively short order, though, he's prattling on about mind-sets, paradigm shifts, vectors of contention, punctuated evolution, and allied arcana, including disequilibrium. The bafflegab is in aid of a comparatively simple message: ""Nothing fails like success."" By which the author means that prospering enterprises tend to become fat, dumb, and happy. As an antidote to atrophy, complacency, and related organizational ills, Pascale prescribes a generous dose of tension. Confidently assuring corporate executives who instinctively shy from discord that conflict can be salutary, even creative, he shifts gears to commend the efficacy of paradox. Oxymoronic cases in point range from strategic opportunism and regulated latitude through compassionate pragmatism. At any rate, much of the text is devoted to self-satisfied briefings on major companies that either fit the author's rejuvenation mold (Ford, GE, Honda, et al.) or, like GM, afford object lessons in the consequences of neglecting to engage in productive introspection. Near the close, Pascale speculates that the trouble with how-to books ""may be that they tantalize. . .with tips. . .and distract us from our own possibilities."" What's missing in these works, he continues, ""is that people who really make things happen are standing in a different place."" Just so, and a fair critique of his own effort.

Pub Date: March 1, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1990

Categories: NONFICTION