Case Studies from The Beacon Group's wide and diversified client base include The Four Se
Table of Contents
A Note to the Reader xiii Foreword xv
Introduction: Moving Backward at the Speed of Light 1
Part I: Leveraging Our National Brand through Bold Leadership 13
Chapter 1: Crimes of Leadership Malfeasance 15
Chapter 2: Lessons from the Recent Past 18
Chapter 3: Hidden Costs of the Current Crisis 22
Chapter 4: Confronting Our Complacency 24
Chapter 5: Mastering Transformational Tension 26
Chapter 6: The Canada Brand—An Inexhaustible Natural Resource 28
Chapter 7: Leveraging the Maple Leaf 30
Chapter 8: The Canadian Mosaic, Version 2.0 32
Chapter 9: Spirits of Our Past 34
Part II: Meeting the Future Today 39
Chapter 10: Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way 41
Chapter 11: Challenge #1: Sense Making and Sense Shaping 43
Chapter 12: Challenge #2: Clarity and Credibility 46
Chapter 13: Challenge #3: Understanding and Perspective 49
Chapter 14: Challenge #4: Creating Winning Conditions 52
Chapter 15: Mistaken Beliefs and Naïveté 60
Chapter 16: Raising the Flag 62
Part III: Preparing for Transformational Leadership 67
Chapter 17: Rebuilding the Franchise 69
Chapter 18: Winning Is an Attitude 71
Chapter 19: Playing the Canadian Game 73
Chapter 20: Benefits of Healthy Paranoia 75
Chapter 21: Thinking about Tomorrow 81
Chapter 22: Clear Vision and Sensitive Radar 82
Part IV: The Basis of a High-Performance Culture 87
Chapter 23: Teamwork vs. Team Performance 89
Chapter 24: Mistakes of Leadership 92
Chapter 25: Middle Management Malaise 94
Chapter 26: Coaching to the Bell Curve 96
Chapter 27: Culture of Grit and Determination 98
Chapter 28: Battling Stagnation 99
Chapter 29: The Team Is Not the Sum of Its Parts 101
Chapter 30: Facing Reality in the Mirror 103
Chapter 31: Stocking the Credibility Bank 105
Chapter 32: Discipline and Accountability 107
Chapter 33: Understanding Your Organizational DNA 109
Chapter 34: Modern Anthropology in the World of Business 111
Chapter 35: Superstars, Studs and Starlets 113
Chapter 36: Corporate Culture and Performance 117
Part V: Strategic Thinking vs. Strategic Planning 123
Chapter 37: Peripheral Vision as a Competitive Advantage 125
Chapter 38: Digging the Puck Out of the Corner 127
Chapter 39: The Importance of Total Candour 129
Chapter 40: Avoiding Conflict Is a Mistake 131
Chapter 41: Acting when Pivot Points Emerge 133
Chapter 42: Thinking in the Future Tense 138
Chapter 43: Opportunity Sensing 140
Chapter 44: The Narrative of Intentional Choice 142
Chapter 45: Focused Ambition 144
Part VI: The Importance of Human Capital Management 151
Chapter 46: Building Bench Strength for the Future 153
Chapter 47: Decline of the Dream 155
Chapter 48: Paradise Postponed 157
Chapter 49: OMG—They Are Back! 159
Chapter 50: Generations X, Y and Z? 160
Chapter 51: Shifting Values, New Challenges 162
Chapter 52: The Experience Economy 164
Chapter 53: Redefining Work 166
Chapter 54: The War for Talent, Version 3.0 167
Chapter 55: Role of Academia 172
Chapter 56: Role of Governments 174
Part VII: The Critical Role of Talent Management 179
Chapter 57: Owning the Podium 181
Chapter 58: Striving for Mediocrity 183
Chapter 59: Intellectual Capital 185
Chapter 60: Human Capital Planning 187
Chapter 61: Tears and Disappointment 189
Chapter 62: People, Practice and Perspiration 192
Chapter 63: Cost of Benign Neglect 194
Chapter 64: Investing in Development 196
Chapter 65: Societal Change in High Gear 198
Chapter 66: The Cost of Incompetence 199
Chapter 67: Knowledge Architecture 201
Chapter 68: Playing the Modern Game 206
Part VIII: Building the Collaborative Organization of the Future 213
Chapter 69: Compromise: The Enemy of Success 215
Chapter 70: Carpe Diem 218
Chapter 71: Collaboration Recast 220
Chapter 72: Reputation Management 222
Chapter 73: Misguided Focus and Human Nature 225
Chapter 74: Truth, Lies and Mediocrity 227
Chapter 75: Fresh Air and Brilliant Sunlight 229
Chapter 76: Shared Pain, Shared Gain 233
Part IX: Unleashing Innovation and Driving Creativity 239
Chapter 77: Reimagination 241
Chapter 78: Abandoning Certainty 244
Chapter 79: Prisoners of Our Mindsets 246
Chapter 80: Games We Play 248
Chapter 81: Human Nature Revealed 249
Chapter 82: Diversity, Imagination and Originality 250
Chapter 83: Creating Value by Creating Opportunity 252
Chapter 84: Brain over Brawn 254
Chapter 85: Rebels on Mahogany Row 259
Chapter 86: Expanding the Experience Repertoire 261
Chapter 87: Mindset for the Future 263
Chapter 88: Intuitive Genius Unleashed 264
Chapter 89: Competing for Relevance 266
Chapter 90: Overcoming Our National Hangover 267
Part X: The Art and Science of Effective Decision Making 271
Chapter 91: Decision Risk 273
Chapter 92: The Fog of Business 276
Chapter 93: Learning from Failure 278
Chapter 94: Upside of the Downside 280
Chapter 95: Understanding Human Frailty 282
Chapter 96: The Bias Trap 283
Chapter 97: Covering Our Asses 285
Chapter 98: Broadening Our Portfolio of Choices 286
Chapter 99: Decisions, Decisions, Decisions 292
Part XI: Straight Talk Conclusion 297
Chapter 100: Defining Canada’s Future 299
Acknowledgements 307
About the Author 309
Bibliography 311
Index 327
