In this Overview, I'll try to acquaint you with the main ideas of this book. First, by way of an example, intended to exemplify almost all of this book's main ideas. The example is a simplified version of the life cycle of a company. It portrays the life cycle's four stages of development: conception, start-up, growth, and maturity. These four stages should be recognizable in many levels of organized human endeavors, at the company or product line level or, even, just the life cycle of a committee's work or of a project, large or small. This sequence of distinctive life cycle stages was, in fact, the wellspring of the discovery of this endeavor theory.

About any theory, it seems fair to ask, "So what?" The response to this is that this theory lends itself to a process of making the management of endeavors more rationalized. That brings with it all the advantages of rationalization including identification of changing needs, confidence and alignment in analysis, decisions, and actions which, together, lead to a fuller realization of ideas and, presumably, greater progress and prosperity. Your endeavor, or any endeavor, can then be evaluated, guided, and executed systematically as never before. You will be given examples in several fields at several scales intended to guide you and let you test the particulars of both theory and practice. I conclude with the kinds of outcomes you should expect. Then you can decide your own answer to: "Is the climb worth the view?"

Before answering, though, consider this: Progress and prosperity on the grandest scale has been made by collapsing numerous emperical experiences into a single theory. In one sweep, a good theory enables thousands of instances to be abstracted and manipulated systematically, even in concert with other theories, rather than emperically or idiosyncratically. Theory even enables what empericism precludes: extrapolation! Extrapolation beyond experience enables landing on the moon, flying faster than sound, building nuclear weapons, inventing a "miracle drug," ... not to mention everyday conveniences like mobile phones and networked computers.    

And, consider that the theories of the Scientific Revolution almost half a millennium ago formed the foundation of the technological and economic development of the West. Right now, we are, I firmly believe, in the throes of a second wave of theories which will form the foundation of a Biotic¹ Revolution which will become the foundation of a global biotic development from which much, possibly most, will eminate from and benefit the Far East. As the Scientific Revolution was based on the Scientific Method, so this new revolution will be based on Complexity Theory and its attendant models and paradigms, of which these writings might even be remembered as an early example.   

It is interesting to note that when the Scientific Revolution was in full swing back in the 17^th Century, its revolutionary character was barely detected. ² So it is today with the Biotic Revolution; it's significance may not be appreciated until decades or possibly a century from now. However, with it will come improved understanding and management of our dreams and goals and, quite possibly, the resurgance of the East.  

As the flawed assumptions of planetary motion and mechanics became inadequate and exposed centuries ago, so are the remedies and theories on managing human endeavors buckling under the stresses of modern day realities. The occasionally contradictory, situationally based, and often irrelevent prescriptions eminating from researchers and consultants in the field of management are surely reminiscent of the epicycles used to explain the Earth Centric planetary motion. As in the time of Galileo and Kepler, the world is crying out for some unifying order. Instead, "publish or perish" faculties are bloating curricula and the literature, not with theory, but with situational babble and perverse mathematics that executives have to re-interpret and often ignore and even defy in the discharge of their very real responsibilities. By contrast these writings will reveal a consistent, coherent, template that can be used by you as well as these beleagured executives to be the masters, not alchemists, of endeavors.

The basic thesis of this book is that successful endeavors, even nation building (which we'll see in the case of China), go through four, not an arbitrary four, but a distinct and identifiable four, stages. It is possible to skip a stage, or even to adopt another order, but that course is far from optimal. And, as is the case with China's arrested development from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, the next stage can be avoided. In fact, among head strong, domineering entrepreneurs, this is a common tactic, but, again and alas, at a great cost to progress and prosperity, not to mention those directly involved.   

Let's get acquainted with the four stages by applying them to the general case of the life cycle of a company (or product line). ³  Acquaint yourself with the table below, if fact spend ten or fifteen minutes testing it. For example, check out the "STORMING" column. Does that seem to capture the essence of the entrepreneuring or innovative phase of a company (or a product development)? ⁴   The key point is that as you progress from one stage to the next, you must change how you operate!  Not just at the surface, but for best results, through and through. And, those fluent in either being specialists with strong biases in one or two of the stages or for those fluent in shifting from one stage to the next will make the greatest contributions.


  

Geyer, Robert, and Rihani, Samir. 2004. The Death of Order and the Dawn of Complexity. Pre-publication.
Chapter 1. In their forthcoming book at http://www.liv.ac.uk/polcomm/staff_pages/rgeyer/chap1.doc these authors clarify the epistomological distinctions of complex Systems. The one called "Live" above is called "Biotic". However, I've taken the liberty to broaden and blur the exact distinctions they intend in order to cover my topic easily and simply.  

Cohen, I. Bernard. Revolution in Science. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1985).
Chapter 5, p85. "I have not found any clear-cut unambiguous statement that revolutions occur in science which was written before the [17^th] century's end, although Gilbert [magnetism], Galileo [mechanics], Kepler [astronomy], Harvey [medicine], and others stressed the newness of their work." These four scientists published major works which literally and figuratively changed our "world view" before 1643, as did Descartes and Hobbs.  

There are similar frameworks for each level: Country, Company, Committee and Career. There also some esoteric or fanciful frameworks for: Civilization, Cranium, and Corpusles.  

The "Success Measure" is a measure of your progress towards the Goal, and in the STORMING stage, it answers the question, "How goes the struggle?" Market Saturation means it's time to start offering different models by making adjustments to the original specifications.  

MBTI refers to the Myers-Briggs personality Type Indicator based on the work of Carl Jung.  

Taken from the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument based on the work of Roger Sperry.  

Abernathy, W. M. and Utterback, J. M.,  1978. Patterns of Industrial Innovation, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, Technology Review. Cambridge, MA, pp. 77-83.