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Product Description

Organizational harmony and strategic alignment aren't enough to drive success.

Until now, management wisdom would have you believe that the single most important thing leaders have to get right is alignment. To accomplish anything, employees must agree about the mission, strategy, and goals of an organization. Aligned employees are happy employees, and happy employees are productive employees. Simple, right?

Well, in a word, no. Counter to conventional wisdom, the dirty little secret of leadership—what they don't tell you in business school—is that a leader's time is not always best spent trying to help his or her teams make nice and get along. In contrast, the authors' groundbreaking research shows that fostering productive dissent is essential for achieving peak efficiency—what Joni and Beyer call "right fights."

Right fights need to be well designed and subject to certain rules to be effective. Alignment cannot be ignored; without it, organizations can be plagued with bitter, energy-draining wrong fights. But a certain amount of healthy struggle is good for organizations. Right fights unleash the creative, productive potential of teams, organizations, and communities.

The Right Fight turns management thinking on its head and shows why leaders—in the fast-moving, hyper-competitive marketplaces of the twenty-first century—need to foster alignment and orchestrate thoughtful controversy in their organizations to get the best results. Drawing from examples as diverse as Unilever, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Dell, the Clinton administration, and the Katy Independent School System, here is your playbook for picking the right battles and fighting the right fights well.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #240475 in Books
• Published on: 2010-02-02
• Released on: 2010-02-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .97" h x 6.28" w x 9.30" l, .89 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Business strategists and consultants Joni and Beyer argue that carefully created and managed tensions in the workplace can be a propulsive aid in driving performance. The authors state that alignment—agreement on mission, strategy, and company goals—gets a business only so far; strategically steered conflict can create breakthrough performance, deliver lasting innovation, and groom the next generation of leaders. The authors offer six guiding principles: make sure the fight matters; focus on the future; pursue a noble purpose; keep conflict sport, not war; structure formally, but work informally; and turn pain into gain. Elucidating key points are numerous case studies of successful creative tension (Julie Taymor's production team for the Broadway play The Lion King, Doug Conant's management of Campbell Soup) and failures (Larry Summers's overly aggressive leadership style at Harvard University). The authors also provide a series of questions for managers to determine if the fight is worth pursuing. Joni and Beyer make a convincing and counterintuitive argument that instigating dissent, if done selectively, can produce big results. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Consultants Joni and Beyer contend that large-scale change in an organization requires dissent, and managing dissent is a critical aspect of leadership for the complex twenty-first century. Leaders must work within the debate, and the authors aim to help in deciding what is worth fighting for (the right fight) to ensure that the battle is about what really matters. Then they describe how to conduct the fight with skill and compassion so that participants grow and develop respect for diverse views, and in the end, everyone is whole—winners and losers. The authors cite three benefits of the right fight: to lower risk because vigorous debate is necessary for effective systems of checks and balances, to create value arising from innovation and real change, and to improve leadership skills and strategic thinking. Although the book is an infomercial for their respective consulting activities, Joni and Beyer nevertheless present valuable, thought-provoking ideas and conclude with an assessment tool for determining if an issue is an appropriate candidate for a right fight. --Mary Whaley

Review
“A convincing and counterintuitive argument that instigating dissent, if done selectively, can produce big results.” (—Publishers Weekly )

“Joni and Beyer…present valuable, thought-provoking ideas” (—Booklist )

“Anybody in any organization who has any responsibility must read this book.” (—Warren Bennis, Distinguished Professor of Business, University of Southern California and author of On Becoming a Leader )

“Provocative and unique…The Right Fight illustrates how a healthy dose of tension energized some of the world’s most respected companies. It worked at Campbell.” (—Douglas R. Conant, President and CEO, Campbell Soup Company )

“Managing tension and conflicting ideas is but part of the equation. Using them to steer the organization toward success is the other part, which is often overlooked. In The Right Fight, Saj-Nicole Joni and Damon Beyer show us how to use conflict the right way!” (—Marshall Goldsmith is the NYT bestselling author of Succession: Are You Ready? and What Got You Here Won't Get You There )

“Tensions are the road to competitiveness, while consensus often leads to mediocrity. Saj-nicole, the nicest person on earth got it right - encouraging the right fight is the hallmark of true leadership. Great ideas are born from competition, and thrive when subjected to survival of the fittest.” (—Rolf Classon, Chairman, Hill-Rom, and former CEO, Bayer Healthcare )

“If you care about how well organizations work, you need to buy this book, get out a highlighter, and mark up the pages. It will change the way you think about teams and how they’re run. And it will raise your collective performance and sense of satisfaction.” (—Bridgette Heller, Global President, Johnson and Johnson Consumer Companies )

“The authors have absolutely nailed one of the critical unspoken tools in the leadership tool kit. The book helped me reflect on the right and wrong fights of the past and begin planning my next one!” (—Gaurdie E. Banister Jr., President and CEO, Aera Energy LLC )

“If you’re a leader at any level, The Right Fight will inspire you to embrace organizational tensions, and in so doing, release the energies needed to solve your most complex problems. This is one of the most practical business books I’ve read and I recommend it highly.” (—Jacqueline Novogratz, founder and CEO, Acumen Fund, and author, The Blue Sweater )

“The wisdom runs deep and the stories jump off the page. Joni and Beyer show us why alignment is not enough. Fighting the right fights right can be the difference between survival and extinction. This book should be at the top of any leaders reading list.” (—Doug Stone, coauthor of NYT bestseller Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss what Matters Most )