Press
Release
Contact:
Kristen Bergevin
(310) 752-4400 ext 181
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
NEW
BOOK EXAMINES DEMISE OF TRADITIONAL BUSINESS STUCTURE AND
RISE OF SELF-DIRECTED, CLIENT-BASED TEAMS
SANTA
MONICA, Calif. (April 15, 2003) – IMC Publishing announces
the release of Pyramids Are Tombs, a book that offers
proof that there is a better way to organize business than
the traditional hierarchical pyramid approach.
Penned
by marketing communications leader Joe Phelps, Pyramids
Are Tombs looks at the advantages of self-directed teams
in today’s business environment. It examines the inadequacies
of top-down, command-and-control, multi-layered management
structures when it comes to retaining and maximizing the potential
of today’s workforce.
The author,
Joe Phelps, is the CEO of The Phelps Group, a leading marketing
communications firm. The company has been featured in leading
industry magazines, including a cover story in Inc.
magazine. Additionally, Phelps received the “Entrepreneur
of the Year” Award in Los Angeles.
The book
contains step-by-step lessons for organizing around the customer
in self-directed teams. It illustrates how to implement the
new business structure in an ongoing case study of a successful
company.
Phelps’ premise is that performance improves when companies:
- Organize
around their clients' needs in self-directed teams.
(Disband the task-oriented departments).
- Bathe
people in liberal amounts of feedback about their work.
(This has been the missing link in other attempts at this
structure.)
- Align
individual objectives with the organizations to increase
productivity.
The book
will benefit leaders of service companies, anyone involved
in marketing communications, marketing professors/students
and organizational behavior professors/students.
For further
information, please visit www.pyramidsaretombs.com or contact
Kristen Bergevin at (310) 752-4400 ext 181.
***
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Reviews
"Phelps
is not reasserting the most venerable theory about the ancient
Egyptian monuments, but urging business leaders to align employees
for ultimate success by dissolving departments, breaking down
barriers, and letting people grow."
Book
News, Inc.
"Pyramids
Are Tombs is an articulate and systematic denouncing
of traditional 20th century corporate structures. Author Joe
Phelps offers new maximizing efficiency. From empowering self-directed
teams, to low-cost ways focus the attention of the entire
company on the project at hand, Pyramids Are Tombs
is a practical, insightful, and confidently recommended treatise
on how human dynamics can be best harnessed for a successful
corporate future."
Midwest
Book Review
"Top
Ten Reasons Why Joe Phelps' Book, 'Pyramids are Tombs' is
so brilliant."
10. The
copy is double spaced, allowing the ideas to flow freely and
effortlessly from the page.
9. It
shines a very bright light on how true marcom (marketing communications)
should be executed - and by example!
8. Akin
to the natural and scalable perfection found in fractals and
cells, The Phelps Group's philosophy of decentralized and
"self-directed" teams, represents a refreshingly
obvious approach to the future of genuinely integrated media/marketing.
7. True
to his own beliefs and principles, Joe Phelps shares these
integrated marketing "secrets" for all to learn
- even potential competitors - for the greater good of the
trade.
6. Not
since Citytv in Toronto, have I seen such a fine example of
trust in the natural biology of open and collaborative work
environments (see feature article).
5. The
book contains wonderful examples of "ah-ha" moments
for veterans and newbies from multiple disciplines and media
categories.
4. It's
not just a blue print for integrated marketing, it's a manifesto
for the modern workplace.
3. Its
principles and philosophies lay the process automation tracks
over which "technology" and the goals of customer
relationship management and enterprise resource planning may
naturally flow.
2. It
describes the shortcomings of the current marketing, advertising,
agency, promotions, direct response and PR industries with
objective professionalism and an absence of malice.
And the
#1 reason why Joe Phelps' book "Pyramids are Tombs"
is so brilliant...
1. It's
a media, marketing and technology book with soul!
Dave
Hutchinson
Rounder
In
his book, "Pyramids are Tombs," due for release
in January, Joe Phelps (www.thephelpsgroup.com) explains that
knowledge workers are thinking about their challenges in the
shower and on the freeway -- many are working around the clock
-- a far cry from the "leave it all at work when the
whistle blows" mentality of factory workers. Knowledge
workers' desire for freedom and flexibility is made possible
by communications technology and the "always on my mind"
mental work calls for a change in the outdated pyramidal hierarchies
that were invented for factory work and gave birth to "Organization
Man."
"I've
watched employees of large corporations in the United States
spend 80 percent of their day adding no value' they come in
late, take long lunches, leave early, think nothing of calling
in sick... and then have the audacity to compain that they
are not paid enough or that their benefits are not good enough,"
[Anita Rose] said.
But now,
"professional adult" new economy workers are struggling
for a balance of power and are creating a new work ethic which
is forcing companies "to offer more than just a wage,"
wrote Joe Phelps...
Businesses
that encourage their employees to work together in "self-directed
teams," rather than top-down hierarchical structures,
retain, motivate and maximize the potential of new knowledge
workers."
There's
no place for Organization Man in companies that foster trust
among coworkers while freeing them to express their creativity
and individuality.
According
to Phelps, for these people, job satisfaction is No. !, and
the new covenant between business and workers include:
- Recognitions
for a job well done;
- A clean,
well-lit and healthy working environment with enough space
and people who communicate;
- Meaningful
work to achieve something worthwhile;
- Responsibility
and trust;
- Accountability,
a feeling of ownership of outcomes;
- Equitable
compensation, linked not to longevity or rank, but to performance;
- The
chance to learn and increase one's value to the organization;
- The
chance to do great, quality, A+ work;
- Understanding
how the work relates to company's goals; and
- The
chance to work with interested, motivated, responsible people.
Becoming
ever more important, he said, are:
- Personal
freedom: Managing time and being where one needs to be;
and
- Job
flexibility: Technology allows it while staying in touch
with teammates.
Christine Fanning
"The Death of Organization Man"
Northwest Pennsylvania Business Journal
With
the onset of war with Iraq, and the terror alert at High,
American business is experiencing a new dynamic. Many of our
team members are dealing with fear. This feeling is present
in every area of our lives and creates new challenges for
business leaders and professionals of all levels. The key
for business is that we need to understand that this affects
everyone in a company from the CEO on down.
This feeling
is not something Americans are used to. Living with fear changes
the way people behave at work. It affects our ability to "be
professional" and makes us nervous, which doesn't let
us perform at a high level.
Fear affects
our productivity, our communications, our ability to create
and our emotional well being. In order for business to deal
with this, we must first and foremost learn to identify its
existence. Without the ability to identify the problem, it
will only get worse and weaken the structure of our businesses
and our lives.
In order
to eliminate fear and to decide what to do about it, people
have to be encouraged to talk about it. The leader of a company
is in a position to do a great deal to alleviate fear by getting
the conversation started. The first step is to make it safe
for your people to talk about what they are feeling. If you
don't get them talking, they will act out their feelings of
fear and could unconsciously make or avoid decisions that
affect the entire company.
This is
where the CEO and a company's communication policy can make
a huge impact. If the leader of a company takes the time to
talk one to one with their team members, it is incredibly
effective. When the leader of a company disengages the traditional
corporate "pecking order" and creates a feeling
of openness and trust, their team responds in kind. When a
business team feels valued and supported, they are more likely
to hold together and perform well even during a difficult
time.
One CEO
who does this regularly and who encourages his team to do
the same with each other is Joe Phelps, CEO of The Phelps
Group and author of "Pyramids Are Tombs." Phelps'
new thinking in business paradigm structures has helped him
create a company that is not only weathering the current storm
of an economic downturn, but actually growing at an impressive
pace. His methods for creating a non-traditional corporate
structure are worth looking into and so is his book.
Phelps
believes that, "The more we trust each other, the better
we communicate. The better we communicate, the more productive
we are together. It's either an upward spiral, or a downward
spiral, depending on the level of trust."
This may
sound "touchy-feely," but there is a real bottom
line payoff to his ideas and to understanding how open communication
affects your business. If people have to sit on their feelings,
they will sit on their ideas. Getting out their concerns,
whether it be about the war or the company, will help them
feel safe enough to give you their best.
So first
things first, get your team talking about how they are feeling
about the current crisis and how this may affect the company.
I suggest you start by getting everyone in a room, buy some
pizzas and lead off the conversation by saying something off
the wall.
Joe Phelps
says, "When the leader of a company is willing to show
that they don't have to be perfect all the time, their team
will be much more comfortable about sharing their feelings
and then their ideas."
I couldn't
agree more. Once the team sees that you and their fellow team
members are opening up, your one to one conversations will
be quick and easy. If you can feel the undercurrent growing,
it's time to begin talking. There is no question about it,
so stop wondering, order the pizza and start the dialogue.
It's an investment that will bring your team together and
you will see the results reflected in your bottom line.
Barton
Goldsmith, Ph.D.
"Dealing with War & Fear in the Workplace"
The Leadership Letter
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