Mobilizing Minds takes the ideas from a range of sources, including the Origins of Wealth and the authors own experiences, to create a blueprint for the 21^st^ century organization.
It adds to the extensive literature on the War for Talent, but with a twist. Rather than compete on talent acquisition, compete using talent utilization; getting the most out of the people you already have.
The journey covers all aspects of the firm, including organization, strategy, resource allocation and basic mindsets.
Through the POI (Portfolio of Initiatives) process, then, the company can grow entrepreneurs. And these will be the individuals who can create new wealth in the 21^st^ century.
No one company currently embodies all of the ideas in this book (the authors create a fictitious company to discuss), however the ideas are turning up in many of the successful companies of recent times.
For example: Google allocates staff using a talent marketplace, GE and Microsoft manage strong portfolios of initiatives (POI) and several companies are starting to manage using leadership teams (see The Will to Lead for more on this).
If you are looking for a good summary of managing a firm in the 21^st^ century firm, this is a great book. It is a good blend of theory and practical application that I’ve not found in other books.
People at my company are going to be hearing many of these ideas over the coming months as I believe it possible to realize some of the benefits. Not that it will be easy. Some of the basic metrics for measuring progress, such as profit per employee, can be quite complex to calculate.