Beyond digital : how great leaders transform their organizations and shape the future /

This book is about leading and transforming companies outside of the digital transition. It does not minimize the effects of digital transformation but acts as a guidebook to the future. Leinwand and Mani, both consultants, perform deep dives into 12 companies that exemplify the leadership characteristics they have found help companies the most. Indeed, these companies--including Komatsu, Cleveland Clinic, and Citigroup--grew despite other forces or competitors standing in their ways. Overall, the book does a good job examining the traits that make leaders and companies successful, and it lays out smart cases for the traits it suggests will be key for managing companies in the future, such as becoming outcome-oriented or augmenting a company's focus on ecosystems. The problem is that the book does not have a particularly digital focus. Despite the title, most of the case studies do not study digital transformation. Rather than moving beyond digital, it could be argued that this book is about managing adjacent to digital. The book provides good advice and case studies, but the digital has little to do with any of it. Summing Up: Recommended. With reservations. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; practitioners. --Alvin Dantes, Oak Lawn Public Library

The internet is decades old, and "being digital" is a worn-down mantra, according to this eye-opening study. Leinwand (Strategy That Works) and Mani, who both work at Price Waterhouse Cooper, write that rather than simply digitizing existing strategy and workflows, leaders need to ensure their organizations are truly innovating. Following a three-year study, the authors detail how 12 companies found new ways to drive success: there's Citigroup's transition from finance supermarket to just banking, Cleveland Clinic's expansion into new markets, and Honeywell's acquisition of communications and connectivity companies. The common thread is that these enterprises integrated knowledge, data, and culture shifts that allowed them to create entirely new value. The authors also dispense plenty of advice for making organizations outcome-oriented, creating a focused leadership team, and reinventing a workplace's social contract. Leaders should "establish top team based on the right skills mix, rather than tenure," they suggest, and reassure employees of their "importance in shaping the company's future." The well-observed insights are sure to appeal to business leaders looking to revamp their approach. (Dec.)