Thinking Inside the Box: The 12 Timeless Rules for Managing a Successful Business

Back in the dotcom boom,""thinking outside the box""--grandiose business plans, long on visionary rhetoric and short on realistic profit projections--was all the rage. Now that that bubble has burst, businesses should get back to basics, according to this skeptical but engaging tome of management advice. Cheyfitz, a journalist and publishing executive, skewers the""largely delusional"" New Economy hoopla of the 90s, when Internet boosters convinced gullible investors that the old rules of money-making no longer applied, and arrogant young web entrepreneurs opined that""profitability shows a lack of creativity."" But Cheyfitz argues that the principles of competent enterprise haven't changed since the Middle Ages: pay attention to what your customers want; keep a lid on expenses rather than banking on revenue that may not materialize; buy a going concern if you can, instead of starting one yourself; treat your employees decently; above all, keep an eye on the bottom line. None of this is rocket science, but Cheyfitz keeps it fresh with vivid case studies of success stories like Federal Express and 3M and fiascoes like Pets.com and Webvan. Innovation, he allows, is a necessity in business, but it will only succeed if you already know The Box inside and out:""The fundamental rules of commerce never change, so don't try to change them."" With an acerbic wit and a knack for reducing the arcana of management theory to lucid common sense, Cheyfitz provides a bracing reminder that there is nothing new under the sun.