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| Reading The New Pioneers reminds me of the old BBC TV series "Connections," where host James Burke explained how seemingly small, unconnected advances in technology had huge consequences. Such as: The rocket that launched men to the moon was possible because of the development of the vacuum bottle, which was a result of 19th-century Germans' preference for cold beer. The author of The New Pioneers, Thomas Petzinger Jr., has a similar view about where advances originate. But his aim is to explain how a chaotic proliferation of seemingly inconsequential events has produced amazingly efficient new business models. Petzinger accomplishes his goal splendidly, in an amazing book full of tales of individual entrepreneurs and innovators—for what Petzinger ultimately cares most about, and describes best, are individuals fulfilling themselves in business. Petzinger, who writes the "Front Lines" column for the Wall Street Journal, posits that business innovation is emerging from a swirling nexus of information and collaboration. He says innovation is animated by an almost Hegelian dialectic of "action, feedback, and synthesis." Because of all the information and collaboration, he argues, the world of business is going through what biologists call "emergence." He explains: "When systems become sufficiently complex and interconnected, the interaction self-assembles into a new, higher order: molecules into cells, cells into organs, organs into organisms, organisms into societies." Turning his macro-level observations into suggestions for management, Petzinger says that "Newtonian" command-and-control management is out. Discovery is in. Charles Koch, head of giant Koch Industries, calls the new style "market-based management." Or, "nobody's as smart as everybody," which is a chapter title. It all makes sense. And Petzinger buttresses his arguments with vivid tales culled from his Wall Street Journal columns. Among the most memorable characters:
The only problem with the book is that the author's frequent academic intrusions into the narrative can be overblown. Such as when he explains the success of Avedis Zlidjian Co., founded in 1623 in Constantinople, now of Quincy, Mass., and the world's largest maker of cymbals. The current Avedis, Armand, is evidently a tonal genius. He can summon from metal alloys just about any effect describable by drummers as varied as Alex Acuna and Ringo Starr. Customers love the guy's ability to create distinctive sounds. But, rather than leave the story at that, Petzinger traces Avedis's success to some biology-based view of "coevolution." That's a bit precious. Between the stories, the book often slathers on dollops of thick erudition (complexity science, eupsychian management, strange-attraction theory, and so on). But such criticism is niggling. Petzinger says he wrote the book because he had an epiphany after 20 years in journalism: "I had written about people and institutions locked in struggle not over the creation of wealth but over its control. After devoting exactly half my lifetime to writing about business, I knew little about how business actually worked." That business, indeed, works (and renews itself and is at the center of most human activity) he discovered in his columns. But Petzinger wanted to explore in his book why business manages to reinvent itself and create things that customers value. Ultimately, Petzinger emerges as a raging optimist. Examining everything from new forms of pricing to leadership, he concludes: Business progress "is not only real, it is inevitable." The New Pioneers: The Men and Women Who Are Transforming the Workplace and Marketplace, Thomas Petzinger Jr., Simon & Schuster, 302 pages, $25.00 |
Pat Anderson,
who created the sprawling Half-Price Books empire by establishing an almost playful
workplace that gave employees flexibility to discover business opportunities. 