Management Made Simple

Our societies have come to the end of the road. We need a fundamental reconstruction of the
systems and institutions that now govern us and redefine the roles of all the players with a stronger focus on making things work by respecting the human dimension. This is not a choice between socialism, and capitalism or any other -ism. There is no future for any pure -ism. Life is too complex and interdependent for that. We need organic institutions with a clear view of purpose and values. We need governments that guide and inspire, rather than direct and control. We need corporations that pursue value creation for all stakeholders
and finally we need citizens that reassume their personal responsibility for the wellbeing of
society.

The world’s complexity grows exponentially in the 2010s and 2020s. And with it the challenge
to management at any level of any organization anywhere. The purpose of this book is to help
managers deal with this complexity by offering some simple concepts, models and ideas on topics varying from corporate strategy to organisation, leadership and operating performance. The working hypothesis in doing so is that there is only one way of dealing with complexity and that is by making things simple.

In this book Mickey Huibregtsen shares his vision and ideas with next generations of leaders. This book is relevant for managers at any level in any type of organization who aspire to “see the forest through the trees”.

Our societies have come to the end of the road. We need a fundamental reconstruction of the
systems and institutions that now govern us and redefine the roles of all the players with a stronger focus on making things work by respecting the human dimension. This is not a choice between socialism, and capitalism or any other –ism. There is no future for any pure –ism. Life is too complex and interdependent for that. We need organic institutions with a clear view of purpose and values. We need governments that guide and inspire, rather than direct and control. We need corporations that pursue value creation for all stakeholders
and finally we need citizens that reassume their personal responsibility for the wellbeing of
society.

The world’s complexity grows exponentially in the 2010s and 2020s. And with it the challenge
to management at any level of any organization anywhere. The purpose of this book is to help
managers deal with this complexity by offering some simple concepts, models and ideas on topics varying from corporate strategy to organisation, leadership and operating performance. The working hypothesis in doing so is that there is only one way of dealing with complexity and that is by making things simple.

In this book Mickey Huibregtsen shares his vision and ideas with next generations of leaders. This book is relevant for managers at any level in any type of organization who aspire to “see the forest through the trees”.

Preface 9
Introduction 10

Part 1 – Business Environment 25
1. The One-person Economy: explore the fundamentals of employment 26
2. The Service Economy: pursue full employment 30
3. The Blue-bag Opportunity: interpret outside events 34
4. The Power of Intangibles: focus on the intangibles 38
5. The Source of Prosperity: innovate forever 42
6. The Shifting Fundamentals: choose where and how to compete 46

Part 2 – Strategy 51
7. The Delta Function: understand the nature of competition 52
8. The Value Proposition: choose how to compete 56
9. The S-curve: know where you are with your business 60
10. The Sustainable Competitive Advantage:
search for defendable positions 64
11. The Double Business System: balance supply and demand 68
12. The Management of Options: incorporate uncertainty into planning 72
13. The Quantum Leap: create breakthrough value 76

Part 3 – Organization 81
14. The Napoleon Grip: control the business system 82
15. The DNA-driven Organization: manage beyond control 86
16. The Horizontal Value Creation: extract value across business units 90
17. The Nature of Knowledge: capture knowledge 94
18. The Organizational Flipover: turn the organization upside down 98
19. The Umpteen Commandments: inspire organizations 102

Part 4 – Leadership 109
20. The Brain Breaker: understand your own intelligence 110
21. The Leadership Paradox: explore dimensions of leadership 114
22. The Spider Plan: build your network 118

23. The AMC Model for Action: build contact with your target audience 122
24. The Full Body Manager: give it everything 126
25. The Think versus Act Challenge:
understand the evolution of leadership 130
26. The Virtue of Guidance: offer constructive feedback 134
27. The Caring and Competent Boss: choose your superior 138

Part 5 – Management Tools 143
28. The Problem Pyramid: structure the problem 144
29. The Order Penetration Point: manage logistics 148
30. The Eye-opener: use metaphors 152
31. The Pyramid Principle: communicate clearly 156
32. The Value of Customer Intimacy: think customer 160
33. The Why-why Question: get the most out of interviews 164

In conclusion: why manage at all? 168
Acknowledgements 170