The New Small
How a New Breed of Small Businesses Is Harnessing the Power of Emerging Technologies
By: Phil Simon
Published: November 25, 2010
Format: Paperback, 302 pages
ISBN-10: 0982930232
ISBN-13: 978-0982930236
Publisher: Motion Publishing
"New Small companies carefully select the technologies that make the most sense. In the process, they balance immediate short-term needs with long-term prospects for growth", writes technology consultant and speaker Phil Simon, in his insightful and very practical book The New Small: How a New Breed of Small Businesses Is Harnessing the Power of Emerging Technologies. The author describes which emerging technologies are used by the New Small, how those technologies are selected and deployed, and how and where people can find meaningful work.
Phil Simon recognizes that a very wide array of new and existing technologies are available to businesses of all sizes. Despite this immense selection of technology options, many small business people have failed to embrace the latest technological advances. Very often, they are unable to research the available choices, and resort to using proven, and often more expensive existing solutions. This is the case even when the newest technologies are both cheaper and more effective for the needs of the small company. To unravel this problem, Phil Simon examines how small business people select and deploy technology in their companies. At the same time, the author considers how working within a small company is far different from employment with a large organization, especially for someone seeking more meaning in their work.
Phil Simon (photo left) understands that changes are taking place in the business world as a group of motivated and innovative companies are utilizing emerging technology to achieve their goals. The author refers to these businesses as the New Small. The owners and employees of the New Small companies are open to new ways of doing things. With this innovative attitude toward technology and change, the New Small are altering the very nature of how small companies can succeed and thrive in the marketplace. There are no restrictions on the type of company or industry in which the New Small operates. Instead of intelligence, resources, or even vast technological skill, only an open mind is needed to become part of the New Small revolution. A New Small company can either be an existing business, or an entrepreneurial start-up. What is needed is a willingness to embrace the latest emerging technologies and to manage people in more flexible and human ways.
For me, the power of the book is how Phil Simon presents a balanced view of how the New Small discover and deploy new technology and change the way in which people are managed in their companies. The level of balance is achieved in the inclusion of the mistakes made by the New Small as they selected technology and altered the workplace culture. The author researched the process of becoming and being a New Small through interviews with companies who demonstrate the New Small characteristics. The business people shared their mistakes and how their utilization of emerging technologies wasn't always a smooth and linear process. As a result of these missteps, the interviewees were able to point to the lessons they learned and how they were able to strengthen their companies as a result.
Phil Simon states with honesty that the book is not the definitive guide to selecting and deploying emerging technology. Instead, the book is about people, small businesses, and their interaction with emerging technology and newer and more flexible management techniques. The book is broken into four convenient and easy to understand sections. The first part describes trends and the five enablers that help the New Small achieve success. The second section is about the New Small, and how and why they do what they do so well. The third area is about how a company can change its ways of operating and become one of the New Small. The final portion of the book examines the future of the New Small and its evolution.
I highly recommend the innovative and idea packed book The New Small: How a New Breed of Small Businesses Is Harnessing the Power of Emerging Technologies by Phil Simon, to any business seeking a deeper understanding of the critical role of selecting and utilizing emerging technologies in company. The book also offers a fresh approach to creating a workplace culture that offers both interesting employment and meaning to that work. Phil Simon also shares how to become part of the New Small, who represent the leading edge of change and technological use deployment.
Read the gem of a book The New Small: How a New Breed of Small Businesses Is Harnessing the Power of Emerging Technologies by Phil Simon, and discover how the New Small are putting leading edge technology to work to not only reduce costs, but create more meaningful work, and to develop a leg up on the competition. This book is transformational for the innovative business person.
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