New Word City: The Business School for Busy People

Business success stories may be instructive, but we need to know more about why smart people make bad decisions. Sydney Finkelstein, a professor at Dartmouth's Tuck School who has studied these crucial questions for 15 years, tells how decisions really get made and describes the four signals that can alert you when emotions are interfering with your thinking.

Business bookshelves teem with success stories. Companies in search of excellence always go from good to great; Jack Welch tells how he made General Electric a winner; we learn the "seven secrets of intelligent people" and "the art of investing." Writers pay lip service to learning from mistakes, but, in practice, no one says much about failure.

Yet, bad decisions pose some of the most interesting questions in business. Why did so many smart people invest with Bernie Madoff? As the housing bubble swelled, why did so many bankers keep doubling down on subprime mortgages? In the great meltdown, why did Ken Lewis, then CEO of Bank of America, overpay so wildly for Merrill Lynch? Why did Dick Fuld of Lehman Brothers refuse to sell his company until it was too late?

The New Orleans Saints were already pro football's longtime losers. And after Hurricane Katrina turned them into refugees without a home field, their wreckage seemed complete. A permanent relocation was rumored. Enter Sean Payton. Hired as head coach by the Saints in 2006, the rookie turned the hapless team around with a determined mix of inspired recruiting, motivation, discipline, flawless execution, and a willingness to take calculated and prepared risks. In Payton's biggest gamble, the Saints won Super Bowl XLIV. Leaders on and off the field can learn from him.

On February 7, 2010, the once-forsaken New Orleans Saints shocked the football world by upsetting the seemingly invincible Indianapolis Colts. Their improbable and gutsy Super Bowl XLIV win capped perhaps the greatest turnaround ever recorded in professional sports. Sean Payton, just four years into his first job as a head coach, showed himself a model for leaders everywhere.

The Saints had long been ridiculed as one of the worst franchises in pro sports--and not without reason. It took them two decades to record their first winning season and 33 years to win a post-season playoff game. In the early years, fans wore paper bags over their heads and dubbed the team the "Ain'ts."

For close to 45 years, Jon Luther, a 2010 inductee into the National Restaurant Association Hall of Fame, has been running some part of the U.S. food-service industry--from managing the cafeteria at the Wurlitzer jukebox and organ company to leading Dunkin' Brands, serving three million customers a day around the world. Drawing on lessons learned in that long career, he describes how he overcame organizational inertia and reset the strategic direction of three of the companies he has led. In each case, he began by identifying the epicenter of the brand, the strategic heartbeat.

By its very definition, the word leader evokes the concept of change. Leaders take us toward or away from something, into a new reality. But change is almost always frightening, and leaders have to persuade their teams that the risks are worth taking, that the work is worth doing, and that the payoff will improve their lives. I've been through that process many times, and I'm here to tell you that it can be done--and that you can do it, too.

In our personal lives, if we are content with the status quo, we don't need to look for someone to carry us to a new place. Businesses don't have that luxury. They cannot stand still because their environment is in constant flux: Employees come and go, competitors adopt new strategies, technical breakthroughs transform markets. So organizations must have leaders who can plan, initiate, and execute the strategies that will deliver the required change.

For two decades, while transforming Marriott Hotels’ international operations, Edwin D. Fuller has demonstrated his leadership ability in dozens of countries around the world. Now he has distilled the lessons of that experience into a series of brief, practical guides to effective leadership. In this one, he explains how, by preparing in advance and by accepting the risks of decision making, you can make the most of calamity.

No one gets out of this world alive, as the saying goes, and no business can expect an endless string of good news and rising revenues. Trouble will inevitably strike in one form or another. Effective leaders don’t go looking for trouble, but how they respond when it arrives is a good gauge of their skills.

A capable leader doesn’t need to be reminded to empathize with those who suffer injuries or damage of any kind during a crisis. Nor does he or she back away from the responsibility to bring order out of chaos for the good of the organization. But good leaders also see something more. They understand that crises beget opportunities to gain insights, build customer loyalty, and bolster organizational strength.

Business success stories may be instructive, but we need to know more about why smart people make bad decisions. Sydney Finkelstein, a professor at Dartmouth's Tuck School who has studied these crucial questions for 15 years, tells how decisions really get made and describes the four signals that can alert you when emotions are interfering with your thinking.

Business bookshelves teem with success stories. Companies in search of excellence always go from good to great; Jack Welch tells how he made General Electric a winner; we learn the "seven secrets of intelligent people" and "the art of investing." Writers pay lip service to learning from mistakes, but, in practice, no one says much about failure.

Yet, bad decisions pose some of the most interesting questions in business. Why did so many smart people invest with Bernie Madoff? As the housing bubble swelled, why did so many bankers keep doubling down on subprime mortgages? In the great meltdown, why did Ken Lewis, then CEO of Bank of America, overpay so wildly for Merrill Lynch? Why did Dick Fuld of Lehman Brothers refuse to sell his company until it was too late?

The New Orleans Saints were already pro football's longtime losers. And after Hurricane Katrina turned them into refugees without a home field, their wreckage seemed complete. A permanent relocation was rumored. Enter Sean Payton. Hired as head coach by the Saints in 2006, the rookie turned the hapless team around with a determined mix of inspired recruiting, motivation, discipline, flawless execution, and a willingness to take calculated and prepared risks. In Payton's biggest gamble, the Saints won Super Bowl XLIV. Leaders on and off the field can learn from him.

On February 7, 2010, the once-forsaken New Orleans Saints shocked the football world by upsetting the seemingly invincible Indianapolis Colts. Their improbable and gutsy Super Bowl XLIV win capped perhaps the greatest turnaround ever recorded in professional sports. Sean Payton, just four years into his first job as a head coach, showed himself a model for leaders everywhere.

The Saints had long been ridiculed as one of the worst franchises in pro sports--and not without reason. It took them two decades to record their first winning season and 33 years to win a post-season playoff game. In the early years, fans wore paper bags over their heads and dubbed the team the "Ain'ts."

For close to 45 years, Jon Luther, a 2010 inductee into the National Restaurant Association Hall of Fame, has been running some part of the U.S. food-service industry--from managing the cafeteria at the Wurlitzer jukebox and organ company to leading Dunkin' Brands, serving three million customers a day around the world. Drawing on lessons learned in that long career, he describes how he overcame organizational inertia and reset the strategic direction of three of the companies he has led. In each case, he began by identifying the epicenter of the brand, the strategic heartbeat.

By its very definition, the word leader evokes the concept of change. Leaders take us toward or away from something, into a new reality. But change is almost always frightening, and leaders have to persuade their teams that the risks are worth taking, that the work is worth doing, and that the payoff will improve their lives. I've been through that process many times, and I'm here to tell you that it can be done--and that you can do it, too.

In our personal lives, if we are content with the status quo, we don't need to look for someone to carry us to a new place. Businesses don't have that luxury. They cannot stand still because their environment is in constant flux: Employees come and go, competitors adopt new strategies, technical breakthroughs transform markets. So organizations must have leaders who can plan, initiate, and execute the strategies that will deliver the required change.

First Lady Michelle Obama, the direct descendant of slaves, now lives in a house that was built by slaves. This daughter of a nurturing if demanding family grew up on Chicago’s South Side, where she developed discipline and diligence, two traits that carried her to Princeton and then Harvard Law School. She turned her back on wealth and prestige to follow her idealism into the public sector, where she was immediately successful. A young beauty with many suitors, she finally settled on a man named Barack Obama. Together they formed a formidable team that accomplished the seemingly impossible-electing the first African-American President of the United States. Her fascinating story is an inspiration to the world.

It’s the summer of 1860 on the Friendfield plantation in Georgetown, South Carolina-coastal low country whose snake- and mosquito-infested fields produce half of America’s rice crop. A young African slave by the name of Jim Robinson is working in the rice fields. Owned by another man, Robinson has no freedom, no choices, no opportunities. It’s hard to imagine his dreams include a vision of his great-great-granddaughter as First Lady of the United States, living in the White House, hosting state dinners, an inspiration to her own country, and one of the most admired women in the world. But it happened. Her name is Michelle Obama-and we can be sure that Jim Robinson would be as proud of his descendant as she is of him.

Over the past 25 years, New Word City’s writers and editors -- New York Times, Newsweek, Time, Harper’s and Wall Street Journal veterans -- have turned out some of the bestselling business books of all time. Working closely with clients, the New Word City team has produced more than 70 books, of which more than 7 million copies have been sold. These titles have logged more than 500 weeks on The New York Times, Business Week, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. Now, in a new series of digital shorts, they are telling the stories of some of the business world’s most inspiring and instructive leaders and companies.

Edward M. Kennedy’s evolution as a leader is unique in American history. Born the youngest of four sons in America’s “royal family”, he was considered the least likely to succeed. His early years seemed to bear out this prognosis. But after being elected to the United States Senate, facing almost unspeakable tragedy, and owning up to his mistakes, Kennedy grew into one of the greatest senators in U.S. history. He was a leader who understood how to forge alliances, build consensus, and get results. The lessons of his life are essential for any leader.

Over the past 25 years, New Word City’s writers and editors -- New York Times, Newsweek, Time, Harper’s and Wall Street Journal veterans -- have turned out some of the bestselling business books of all time. Working closely with clients, the New Word City team has produced more than 70 books, of which more than 7 million copies have been sold. These titles have logged more than 500 weeks on The New York Times, Business Week, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. Now, in a new series of digital shorts, they are telling the stories of some of the business world’s most inspiring and instructive leaders and companies.

Captain Mike Abrashoff learned about more than tactics and military history at the U.S. Naval Academy. He learned about leadership. The more insecure you feel, the more frightening situations become. That’s because most people resist, making matters worse. Suppose you do the opposite: Accept fear, treat it like a passing shower, and focus on things you control. Here’s how Abrashoff did it -- and you can, too.

At the age of 36, D. Michael Abrashoff became the skipper of USS Benfold, a troubled ship that, in a short 18 months, he and his crew transformed into the best guided-missile destroyer in the world’s best navy. Publications from Fast Company to the Harvard Business Review heralded their achievement. Abrashoff himself told their story in a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling book, It’s Your Ship. Now a consultant to large corporations and popular speaker on leadership topics, he is the founding partner of Grassroots Leadership Solutions. Abrashoff is also the author of It’s Our Ship and Get Your Ship Together.

Walt Disney presents a puzzling paradox. He was a salt-of-the-earth, hard-working artist who promoted family values. He was a tyrannical, wary, micro-manager whose associates decried the lack of charity in his soul. How, then, did he create such lovable characters and establish his empire? By utilizing all of his attributes. In fact, without his contradictions, he wouldn’t have been Walt Disney, and his fabled enterprise would almost surely have vanished long ago. We can learn a lot from his story.

Over the past 25 years, New Word City’s writers and editors -- New York Times, Newsweek, Time, Harper’s and Wall Street Journal veterans -- have turned out some of the bestselling business books of all time. Working closely with clients, the New Word City team has produced more than 70 books, of which more than 7 million copies have been sold. These titles have logged more than 500 weeks on The New York Times, Business Week, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. Now, in a new series of digital shorts, they are telling the stories of some of the business world’s most inspiring and instructive leaders and companies.

How do you inspire your team to take on a tough task? It really helps if you’ve been there first, and go there with them. For two decades, while building Marriott Hotels’ international operations, Ed Fuller has demonstrated his leadership ability in dozens of countries around the world. Now he has distilled the lessons of that experience into a series of brief, practical guides to effective leadership. In this one, he warns that leaders should never ask anyone to do what they wouldn’t do themselves.