The Age of Heretics: A History of the Radical Thinkers Who Reinvented Corporate Management, 2nd Ed (J-B Warren Bennis Series)

435 Pages·2008·2.87 MB·English

by  Art Kleiner

Praise for The Age of Heretics The Age of Heretics
“A remarkable job of showing how revolutionary change in management originated. WHEN THE FIRST EDITION OF The Age of Heretics
These are no mere ‘currents of change,’ but rather a thundering waterfall of was published to wide critical acclaim in 1996, it was
intellectual and moral forces reshaping business.” considered the defi nitive account of the revolution in
—PETER SENGE, author, The Fifth Discipline and coauthor, The Necessary Revolution management from the 1940s to the current time.
“Any twenty-fi rst-century leader interested in creating the organizations of the In this second edition of his bestselling book,
future will fi nd this book compelling. Art Kleiner lays out the evolution of the most author Art Kleiner explores the nature of effective
signifi cant management tools, theories, and concepts in a very accessible manner.” leadership in times of change and defi nes its
—RAM CHARAN, advisor to CEOs and author, Leaders at All Levels and The Game importance to the corporation of the future. He
Changer describes a heretic as a visionary who creates
change in large-scale companies, balancing the
“The extensively revised and updated edition of The Age of Heretics is long overdue. contrary truths they can’t deny against their loyalty
Kleiner offers a brilliant synthesis of business history, thought leadership, and to their organizations. The Age of Heretics reveals
power politics.” how managers can get stuck in counterproductive
—ROBERT MORRIS, management consultant and business book reviewer for ways of doing things and shows why it takes a
Amazon, Borders, and others heretical point of view to get past the deadlock and
move forward.
“Art Kleiner has uncovered a kind of secret history that links the medieval monastic
THE AUTHOR orders, the counterculture of the sixties, and the key agents of corporate change This engrossing history lesson for business change
ART KLEINER is the editor-in-chief of the quarterly in the modern world. I think it’s a landmark for people inside and outside the most agents and reformers is fi lled with groundbreaking
infl uential institution of the modern age—the corporation.” management thought and compelling stories of
magazine strategy+business (http://www.strategy-
business.com). He is the author or coauthor of several —HOWARD RHEINGOLD, author, Virtual Reality, Virtual Communities, and the heretics of our time. Some of the fi gures, such
Tools for Thought as W. Edwards Deming, Kurt Lewin, Amory Lovins,
acclaimed business books, and is a faculty member at
and Saul Alinsky, are familiar to many, while others
New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications
“Corporate change continues to accelerate these days unaware of its own history. may be less widely known but infl uential behind the
Program. His articles have been published in a variety
Art Kleiner’s lucid account shows how the revolution began in the ideas and scenes. While these heretics were underappreciated
of places, including Wired, Fast Company, Harvard
passions of a handful of revolutionaries.” in their time—and often demoted for their radical
Business Review, and The New York Times Magazine.
—STEWART BRAND, founder, Whole Earth Catalog and Long Now Foundation ideas—the ideals they fought for live on in the
everchanging American corporation.
“The Age of Heretics is a primer of great interest, one that will move people within
organizations to widen their sense of the possible.” For today’s leaders, The Age of Heretics reveals
—DOUG CARLSTON, founder of Broderbund Software and chairman, how to make transformative strategic changes
Public Radio International while simultaneously running a company. This
A History of
new edition explores the roots of today’s most
MANAGEMENT the Radical
prevalent management ideas: lean production,
Thinkers Who
U.S. $29.95 | Canada $32.99 organization development, the balanced scorecard,
Jacket design by The Design Works Group Reinvented
and reengineering, as well as other key areas of
Corporate
change such as group dynamics, scenario planning,
Management
www.josseybass.com shareholder activism, sociotechnical systems, and
corporate environmentalism. This is the guidebook
for progressive thinkers who want to transform their
corporations and the entire business landscape.
PHOTOGRAPHER: PORTER HOVEY
More Praise for The Age of Heretics
“Art Kleiner has written a book that is both brilliant pop culture history
and bible for business radicals. The perfect book for managerial martyrs
who are prepared to be burned at the stake—but would prefer not to be.”
—Michael Schrage, author, Serious Play
“I know of no other book that deals so completely and so effectively with
the topic of recent corporate history in America. It is alive with fascinat-
ing information. The introductions to each chapter are absolute gems.”
—Myron Stolaroff, author, Thanatos to Eros and The Secret Chief
“It took persistence on Art Kleiner’s part to fl ush out the histories of the
people at National Training Laboratories, SRI International, and the Shell
planning group. And he has a wonderful way of explaining what they
did, and why and how they did it. The book deserves a wide audience.”
—Milt Moskowitz, author, compiler of the
“100 Best Places to Work” list in Fortune
“The Age of Heretics shows the insidious impact of the cult of numbers
that gripped American management thinking after World War II. I like
very much Art Kleiner’s statement that the purpose of a corporation is,
and always has been, to recreate the world.”
—H. Thomas Johnson, author, Profi t Beyond Measure
“Why would anyone bother with a book like this? Because it’s terrifi c.
The Age of Heretics offers one of the few compelling, intelligent, thor-
oughly researched histories of the fi eld of organizational development.
Kleiner proves particularly adept at summarizing an approach or tech-
nique succinctly, as if in passing, and all the while in the context of cor-
porate change movements. The Age of Heretics is what the English like
to call ‘a rollicking good read’: fast-paced, persuasive, and written for
adults, not sixth-graders.”
—Jonathan Leyrich, Linkage
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“The Age of Heretics is almost unfairly engrossing (I read it in a single
sitting). Its superb and nuanced documentation at times reads almost like
an additional narrative. And Kleiner’s wonderfully accessible writing
makes this intellectual history of organizational development speak to
those otherwise put off by the cerebral work.”
—R. Michael Bokeno, Murray State University, Kentucky
“This book provides a brilliant and passionate intellectual trip through
the history of corporate vitality today. Above all, it explores how busi-
ness (that domain so many of us care deeply about) can regain its ‘ver-
nacular’ roots—reaching back to recognize and re-form some of the
meaningful ‘community’ ties it once had. I urge anyone who cares about
business as a place where personal growth takes place, where work is
more than a mere job, and where groups of people achieve great things,
to read this book.”
—Tom Ehrenfeld, author, The Startup Garden
“Anyone who works in the area of organizational design or development
should read this book. Art puts the history into context and lets us know
the people who shaped the ideas. I loved learning about Kurt Lewin, Ron
Lippitt, Tom Peters . . . and so many others. The stories Art tells help me
understand the events that shaped their lives and their thinking. I was
truly sorry when I arrived at the last chapter. I wanted to hear more.”
—Roger Breisch, founder, Midwest Organizational Learning Network
“Art has done a great job looking at leaders who have the attribute of
going ‘against the grain’ of the times. It is a very interestingly different
cut on leadership models at a time when we seem to be getting a new
book on the topic each month that is not always that new.”
—Charlie Seashore, Fielding Institute, American University/
NTL Institute
“Isn’t the debate over layoffs, C.E.O. compensation, shareholder value,
and corporate responsibility—if not about demons and chaos—really
about the role corporations play in society? The Age of Heretics pushes
that debate past good and evil into ambiguity, where it is really
interesting.”
—Barbara Presley Noble, strategy(cid:1)business
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“The Age of Heretics is a fascinating read, illuminating the roots of
corporate culture changes that are still evolving today. Very informative
and well grounded in history, and the storytelling style makes it a plea-
sure to read. Not only does it all hang together as an entire piece, but you
can sample sections and still get a ton of value.”
—Dan Simpson, vice president, Offi ce of the Chairman, Clorox
“This is a journalistic history of an important chapter of the 20th Cen-
tury that could easily have gone unwritten: a generation of attempts,
more or less countercultural, to reform and reinvent the corporation. It’s
all here: unpredictable experiments in social engineering, weird tales of
engineers dropping acid, computer programs predicting the future of the
whole world, and the truly odd omnipresence of an Armenian mystic
named G. I. Gurdjieff.”
—Phil Agre, University of California at Los Angeles
“The Age of Heretics is great; beautifully written. I am especially enjoy-
ing learning about my unknown professional ancestors.”
—Adam Kahane, author, Solving Tough Problems
“The heroes of Kleiner’s book are concerned with reducing the psychic
costs of work by better aligning the personal hopes and dreams of
employees and the corporations they work for. For students of organiza-
tional development the book is full of fascinating insights into people like
Douglas McGregor, Kurt Lewin, Chris Argyris, Saul Alinsky, and Warren
Bennis.”
—James McRitchie, publisher, Corporate Governance website
(www.corpgov.net)
“I could not put it down, and when I had to, because I had fi nished it, I
promptly ordered 35 more copies to give to my close circle of heretics in
Hewlett-Packard. We are getting much needed energy, inspiration, and
even direction in some right-brained way from this book.”
—Barbara Waugh, author, The Soul in the Computer
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“Art Kleiner reminds us that great innovation often originates with some
of the most unlikely people, the heretics who have championed once
unconventional ideas and used them to transform organizations—for
customers, employees, as well as the bottom line. The Age of Heretics
offers a compelling grand tour of some of the most important ideas and
thinkers that have infl uenced leadership at its best.”
—Andrea Gabor, author, The Capitalist Philosophers
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A W A R R E N B E N N I S B O O K
This collection of books is devoted exclusively to new
and exemplary contributions to management thought
and practice. The books in this series are addressed to
thoughtful leaders, executives, and managers of all
organizations who are struggling with and committed
to responsible change. My hope and goal is to spark
new intellectual capital by sharing ideas positioned at
an angle to conventional thought—in short, to publish
books that disturb the present in the service of a
better future.
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Books in the Warren Bennis Signature Series
Branden Self-Esteem at Work
Mitroff, Denton A Spiritual Audit of Corporate
America
Schein The Corporate Culture
Survival Guide
Sample The Contrarian’s Guide to
Leadership
Lawrence, Nohria Driven
Cloke, Goldsmith The End of Management and
the Rise of Organizational
Democracy
Glen Leading Geeks
Cloke, Goldsmith The Art of Waking People Up
George Authentic Leadership
Kohlrieser Hostage at the Table
Rhode Moral Leadership
George True North
Townsend Up the Organization
Kellerman, Rhode Women and Leadership
Riggio The Art of Followership
Gergen, Vanourek Life Entrepreneurs
Frohman, Howard Leadership the Hard Way
George, McLean, Craig Finding Your True North:
A Personal Guide
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the age of heretics
A History of the Radical Thinkers
Who Reinvented Corporate
Management
Second Edition
Art Kleiner
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Copyright © 2008 by Art Kleiner. All rights reserved.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kleiner, Art.
The age of heretics : a history of the radical thinkers who reinvented corporate
management / Art Kleiner ; foreword by Warren Bennis. — 2nd ed.
p. cm. — (Warren Bennis)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-470-19070-8 (cloth)
1. Organizational change—United States—Case studies. 2. Management—
United States—History. I. Title.
HD58.8.K57 2008
658.4'063—dc22
2008018501
Printed in the United States of America
second edition
HB Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
First edition published by Doubleday, 1996
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