≡ Menu

How to Run Your Company by David Gargaro

The full title of this book by David Gargaro is

How to Run Your Company… Into The Ground

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Three Stars. This means it is Worthwhile.

Here is my book review.

A counter intuitive way to think about the future of your business

I’m not sure how well the book is going to perform in the Amazon search engine for business owners who want ideas to make sure their business is successful. However I like this approach and one of the coaching questions I sometimes ask is…

What would you do if you deliberately wanted to stop the business from succeeding ?

My purpose isn’t to encourage failure but to show how fragile success can be. In the language of “critical success factors”, what must you do individually and collectively to virtually guarantee success. The reverse is also true. Not doing them to the required level means the performance of the business isn’t going to leap forward.

The fact is, performance depends on what you do and what you don’t do.

Back to the book. It is based in real life experiences working for a particular business, the identity of which is disguised. The author isn’t a coach or consultant but wants to share the lessons from his bad experiences.

Each chapter is written around a particular bad behaviour, first telling the story of what happened and secondly, what should have happened. The sad thing is that the business owner had some excellent strengths but was also badly flawed. Business success can be hard and even business survival is an achievement which deserves some credit and thus business existed for more than 20 years.

I’ve given this book a three stars rating which means that it’s a worthwhile read. This may be a little stingy but the book covers a wide range of issues and, as a result, it doesn’t dig deep into the flawed logic and the consequences.

If you’re reading business books to help make you a more effective owner-manager, I doubt that you’re anywhere near this bad but some of the things outlined may set off an uncomfortable mental alarm. It might not feel pleasant but it’s good because that’s where the learning and improvements come from.

If you’re not making any of these specific mistakes, think about your business and ask yourself my coaching question.

What would you do if you deliberately wanted to stop your business succeeding? Write down what you think about and then extend the question and ask “What would any of your staff do, if they were deliberately trying to stop your business from succeeding? ” Again write down your answers.

Armed with these two lists, look for evidence in your business to see if they are happening including asking staff members.

[bestbooks]

Get To Know Me

[sos]

[6Steps]

 

Similar Posts:

 Name: Email: We respect your email privacy 
{ 0 comments… add one }

Leave a Comment