The Hindu Business Line : Riding the economic storm

Seeing the current downturn as a bunch of statistics is easy, tempting, and almost useless, observes Geoff Colvin in The Upside of the Downturn: Ten management strategies to prevail in the recession and thrive in the aftermath ( www.nicholasbrealey.com). This recession is constantly talked about as some kind of freestanding event, but thinking of it that way won’t help you manage it, he instructs. “ ;Think of it instead as just one episode — a big, dramatic one — in a continuing narrative, a story without beginning or end. This episode will play out, and another will follow, very differently from what most people were expecting just a year ago.”

The worsening economy can pit you against companies that you didn’t previously regard as competitors, Colvin cautions.

“For example, five-star hotels are cutting prices as lots of travellers decide they can sleep just as soundly in a midrange hotel, forcing those categories to compete against each other much more than before.”

Three dimensions of specialised intelligence

How Lance Does It: Put the success formula of a champion into everything you do by Brad Kearns Tata McGraw-Hill

If you can assimilate past experience, cultivate intuition, and gain big-picture perspective about your endeavours, you can be assured of specialised intelligence in your area of peak performance, says Brad Kearns in How Lance Does It: Put the success formula of a champion into everything you do ( www.tatamcgrawhill.com).

Assimilate past experience, both success and failure, in a positive and empowering manner, Kearns advises.

Alas, “Most of the general population live a life filled with repeated mistakes and have difficulty with behaviour modification.”

In contrast, the athlete has a learning forum so dramatic that it becomes a huge advantage and catalyst for positive change, the author notes.

D. Murali

BookPeek.blogspot.com