Shaping the Adaptive Organization: Landscapes, Learning, and Leadership in Volatile Times

In the world's harshest environments, the key to survival is adaptation. It's a simple tenet of biological life, but when you apply it to the business realm, it can yield fresh insights and innovative ideas for companies struggling to survive.

In this intriguing new book, Harvard Business School Fellow William Fulmer does just that. Drawing on ideas and concepts of biology, he provides a broad, sweeping look at the business environment today--one characterized by unprecedented volatility and constant uncertainty.

And the book supplies concrete advice on how to build an adaptive organization that's able to embrace constant change and thrive in today's highly competitive business landscape. Readers learn how to:

* Pinpoint which landscape they operate in, recognize how rugged it is, and gauge their own fitness for survival * Cultivate learning, the root of adaptive organizations, through strategic planning and organizational design * Emulate the leadership skills needed for creating adaptive organizations, both start-ups and established companies * Discover why "the edge of chaos" is the best place to be.

SHAPING THE ADAPTIVE ORGANIZATION is packed with powerful examples of how adaptive companies are coping in an unpredictable, ever-changing environment--as well as eye-opening stories of how successful businesses can quickly find themselves in serious trouble.

William E. Fulmer, Ph.D. (Boston, MA) is a senior fellow and senior vice president with the Executive Development Center of the Harvard Business School. He has also served on the faculties of George Mason University, The College of William and Mary, the University of Virginia, and the University of Alabama.