Rethink: A Business Manifesto for Cutting Costs and Boosting Innovation

By Ric Merrifield

Published Mar 29, 2009 by FT Press.

We focus on process: "how" we’re doing the job. And we forget about the bigger issue: "what" we’re doing and "why" we’re doing it. That’s why we’re leaving so much value on the table. In Rethink, business architect Ric Merrifield exposes this problem with vivid examples and introduces breakthrough techniques for overcoming it.

Merrifield shows how to rise above the clutter of your "hows" to expose what does and doesn’t need attention in your organization. You’ll learn to identify the activities most critical to success, as well as those that are borderline, redundant, or even counterproductive. Merrifield helps you get past the parochial, subjective viewpoints of ground-level participants...find more cost-effective ways to achieve core goals...capture better information for prioritizing investments...identify hidden sources of value...use technology-driven plug-and-play management to increase efficiency and agility...and reconfigure your company to ride nonstop waves of change.

Along the way, Merrifield presents powerful case studies ranging from ING DIRECT to Amazon.com to Procter & Gamble. These diverse companies have learned how to cut costs, strengthen innovation, and profit from change all at the same time. Using the lessons in this book, you can, too.

• Rise above low-level processes and narrow perspectives
• Step back, identify what really matters to the organization, and act accordingly
• Understand the hidden connections that can make or break your business
• Make profitable changes without setting off destructive chain reactions
• Expose activities where people, process, and technology matter...and, equally important, where they don’t