No Man’s Land – A must for fast growing businesses, tech startups, and E-Commerce departments
No Man’s Land is a business book aimed primarily at entrepreneurs whose companies have reached the dreaded plateau in sales/profit/customer acquisition/etc. The author, Doug Tatum, calls this lull the “No Man’s Land” where companies either decide to stay small, restructure and break out, or wither and die. The book definitely serves it’s purpose, but I think it is also a great book for leaders who are running high-growth departments within larger corporations.
While I haven’t worked for a startup tech company, I’ve been a customer of quite a few. From that angle, I can tell you that Tatum’s book is perfect for every growing tech company. No, really. If you are running a tech company, buy this book now and read it before you reach your plateau. See what lies ahead of you and stop it before you have a real mess on your hands.
But like I said above, Tatum’s advice is not just good for companies, it’s good for fast growing departments within larger organizations too. If you run a high growth area, there’s no doubt that you will recognize the signs that Tatum talks about in his book. His practical advice can really help drag you out of the doom and gloom scenarios that inevitably come to fast growing departments when they reach maximum capacity and need to change.
[Oh, and in case you'd like to stay small, Tatum will point you to Bo Burlingham's Small Giants. I read Burlingham's book too and I think it is spot on advice for those companies who have pegged themselves to be a certain size. If you run a smallish company and want to keep it that way, buy copies of Small Giants and give them to your executives. This will ease a lot of frustration. You might lose some growth-oriented folks, but in exchange you'll have focused leadership that understands the long term vision.]
