Quick and Nimble: First Blog Post

I have chosen to blog about the book titled "Quick and Nimble" (lessons from leading CEOS) on how to create a culture of innovation), written by Adam Bryant the author of a New York Times best seller: The corner office. In this book he has selected more than 200 interviews from different CEO'S and highlights what they believe drives a successful company. The interviews he offers give useful insights and strategies for creating a business based off of culture and innovation. 

The first chapter in the book is titled "Why Culture Matters" this chapter provides insight from CEOS of companies and why culture is so important to them when running a business. I have read many different philosophies about culture in this chapter but Stephen I. Sadove’s sticks out to me the most.

Before, I talk about Sadove’s philosophy it is important to understand why the author believes culture is an essential part of any business. Bryant believes, “Culture is the X factor that will determine who wins in the long run.” I had to think about what this quote/idea meant to me. I never thought about culture in terms of businesses and companies. It never occurred to me that culture could be such a large part of a company’s success. To me, culture was always about people and their lifestyles, and what type of culture us as humans in 2015 live in. I realized I knew what culture was, but I didn’t have a clear definition in my mind. I still didn't understand how culture could be such a big part of a business. Because of this, I looked up the definition of culture, it is defined as: “the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively.” Now the idea that culture runs a company made sense to me. 

Sadove says, “I have a very simple model to run a company. It starts with leadership at the top, which drives a culture. Culture drives innovation and whatever else you’re trying to drive within a company. And then that drives results” (11). I had to read this quote a few times to understand it. I still have not fully accepted that one of the main parts of a company’s success is its culture. However, I put away all my questions and judgements aside, and tried to see how culture can be important from another person’s point of view.

After I was more open to understanding Sadove’s perspective it all made sense to me. He emphasizes people are too concerned about the bottom line of a company. They are fixated on how to make money and don’t take time to master the art of leadership, and most companies are too obsessed with numbers. “…it’s the people, the leadership, the culture, and the ideas that are ultimately driving the numbers and the results" (10).

I enjoy all the different insights I am learning from successful CEO’S and I am excited to blog about this book next week!