The Ten Commandments for Business Failure

by Donald R. Keough

Overview

Don Keough—a former top executive at Coca-Cola and now chairman of the elite investment banking firm Allen & Company—has witnessed plenty of failures in his sixty-year career (including New Coke). He has also been friends with some of the most successful people in business history, including Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Jack Welch, Rupert Murdoch, and Peter Drucker.

Now this elder statesman reveals how great enterprises get into trouble. Even the smartest executives can fall into the trap of believing in their own infallibility. When that happens, more bad decisions are sure to follow.

This light-hearted “how-not-to” book includes anecdotes from Keough's long career as well as other infamous failures. His commandments for failure include: Quit Taking Risks; Be Inflexible; Assume Infallibility; Put All Your Faith in Experts; Send Mixed Messages; and Be Afraid of the Future.

As he writes, “After a lifetime in business I've never been able to develop a step-by-step formula that will guarantee success. What I could do, however, was talk about how to lose. I guarantee that anyone who follows my formula will be a highly successful loser.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781591844136
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/28/2011
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Donald R. Keough is chairman of the board of the investment banking firm Allen & Company. He served as president, chief operating officer, and a director of The Coca-Cola Company from 1981 to 1993. He was reelected a director of the company in 2004. He has served on many prominent boards of directors including those of Berkshire Hathaway, McDonald's, The Washington Post Company, Home Depot, H. J. Heinz Company, and The University of Notre Dame.

Table of Contents

Foreword   Warren Buffett     ix
Introduction     1
Top of the List: Quit Taking Risks     11
Be Inflexible     25
Isolate Yourself     45
Assume Infallibility     59
Play the Game Close to the Foul Line     67
Don't Take Time to Think     81
Put All Your Faith in Experts and Outside Consultants     97
Love Your Bureaucracy     115
Send Mixed Messages     133
Be Afraid of the Future     151
Lose Your Passion for Work-for Life     173
Acknowledgments     187

Editorial Reviews

An elder statesman of American business describes 10 ways leaders of large corporations can mess up their enterprises. Keough's commandments—stop taking risks, assume infallibility, love your bureaucracy, send mixed messages, and others—are vividly illustrated with stories of well-known business failures and lessons from his lengthy tenure as president of Coca-Cola. Written with appealing personal clarity, his insights have depth but are clear enough to be fascinating to leadership students at any level. George Guidall's intellectual persona and mature palette of tone and phrasing options give this material stature and emotional impact. With no hint of arrogance, he authoritatively delivers this wisdom so convincingly that listeners will want to hear it, absorb it, and wrestle with its full meaning. T.W. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

JUNE 2009 - AudioFile