10/9/07  Adrian Slywotzky

The Upside

How to turn your greatest threat into your greatest opportunity--and more wisdom from "the new Peter Drucker."

Industry Week wrote, "Adrian Slywotzky promises to be what Peter Drucker was to much of the twentieth century: the management guru against whom all others are measured." With each new book, Slywotzky solidifies that reputation, altering the ways that executives and scholars understand the dynamics of making money in business.

In Value Migration, he showed what it takes to keep up with customers' fickle preferences; inHow To Grow When Markets Don't he taught how money can be made from the opportunities that surround a product instead of by improving the product itself; The Art of Profitability showcased twenty-three alternative business models for leaders' consideration.

Since he makes his living as managing director of a consulting firm, Slywotzky has to be in touch with the real world: his brilliance is practical, not theoretical. Name a company whose strategy has amazed you; he'll tell you how it works and how others can top it. Name one whose business model puzzles you; he'll tell you why it's off base and how he would fix it.

Now he's at it again with a new book, The Upside, which might as well be titled "Upside-Down," since he shows how your business's greatest opportunities lie within its greatest threats, and explains how once you've recognized that, huge rewards can be garnered with practically no risk. Coming from anyone else, this would have to be smoke and mirrors; coming from Adrian Slywotzky, it's as sound - and as likely to transform your business - as anything can be.