Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Sacred Cows Make The Best Burgers


SACRED COWS MAKE THE BEST BURGERS
Developing Change-Ready People and Organizations

Date Review Posted: 
Release Date:  2008
Related Blog (as applicable): 
Rating:  CCCCC  (A case could be made that I would only review the best of the best because if while reading a book it does not hold my interest, I would not finish it and therefore would not review it.)

Reason For Reading THIS book:  The title caught my eye.  Are you not sometimes attracted to a book because of the title, author and/or cover?  In this case I was and I did not regret reading it.  The title was really catchy especially given my time working the U. S. Government where sacred cows not only abound, they roam the range freely.

Number Of Times I Have Read This Book:  TWO

Brief Summary of Content:   A Sacred Cow is something that is consciously or unconsciously protected through its continued use.  All organizations, families and individuals have their own versions of Sacred Cows that continue on through time and in many if not most cases, long beyond their usefulness.  In some cases no one will even admit that the practice serves some useful purpose.  The book helps you to identify the various types of Sacred Cows while having fun doing so and then how to eliminate them.  There are numerous famous examples of corporations that have had Sacred Cows and how some have eliminated them and how some of the Sacred Cows helped to eliminate the companies.  It also points out that people sometimes prohibit new and fresh ideas from being incorporated into a business because of tired, worn out procedures, reports, and practices and a “it has always been done that way” mentality.

A huge light bulb went off when “moving in” with the customer was discussed.  Become your customer, think like your customer, find out what the customer likes and dislikes about your company, product and/or service and then think outside the box on how to satisfy the customer’s desires and hot buttons.  What sets you and your company apart from all other similar companies?

Do you penalize mistakes?  Quote:  1 plus 1 equals 4.  1 mistake, one time = forever!  That inhibits creative thinking if everyone is afraid to try something new.  Is that what you want in your company?

My favorite part of the book discussed discovering how to find the Sacred Cows in your organization.  Just listen to the paragraph headings and you will quickly understand why:  Hunting (Cows); Sacred Cow Hunts; No-Bull Campaigns; An Organization of Hunters; Hunting In Posies; Customer Hunters; Rounding Em Up; Sacred Cows in Plain Sight; Invisible Cows; What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You; Locking Horns; Starve Your Cow; and Selling the Boss.  Take the test, Change-Readiness Scale test to see how you measure up to making changes within your company.

Who Should Read the Book?  Anyone in business whether with a corporation or self-employed.  Maybe especially the self-employed because you may not be aware that Sacred Cows even exist in your own business and do have the luxury of someone else pointing them out to you.

CHAPTERS:  I think a lot can be learned by just looking at the chapter titles.  Here are the chapters of this book:

Chapter 1        Cows and Gatekeepers
Chapter 2        The Paper Cow
Chapter 3        The Meeting Cow
Chapter 4        The Speed Cow
Chapter 5        The Expert Cow
Chapter 6        The Cash Cow
Chapter 7        The Competitive Cow
Chapter 8        The Customer Cow
Chapter 9        The Low Price Cow
Chapter 10      The Quick-Reactor Cow
Chapter 11      The No Mistakes Cow
Chapter 12      The Downsizing Cow
Chapter 13      The Technocow
Chapter 14      The Team Cow
Chapter 15      The Work-Till-You-Drop Cow
Chapter 16      Cow Hunting
Chapter 17      Building The Change-Ready Environment
Chapter 18      Turning Resistance Into Readiness
Chapter 19      Motivating People To Change
Chapter 20      Developing Change-Ready Traits
Chapter 21      The Change-Ready Zone
Chapter 22      Change Ready Review

Final Test:  Would I read the book again?  ABSOLUTELY!

Next Review:  Never Fear, Never Quite (Expect a Miracle), A story of Courage and Perseverance by Joe Tye.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Your comments and critiques are always welcome.