The Illusion of Invincibility: The Rise and Fall of Organizations: Inspired by the Incas of Peru

A Glimpse Behind the Facade of Success

In The Illusion of Invincibility, Paul Williams and Andreas Krebs take a no-punches-held look at the stories we tell ourselves about business success. The rags-to-riches tale is tempting, but we don’t have to search far to see that most organizations rise for a time, only to experience a dramatic fall from grace. Just look at some of the companies that used to be household names: Nokia, AOL, Pan Am, Woolworth and Blockbuster.

Move from good to great. You’ll learn the secrets to clear-eyed, value-driven leadership with stories from top managers from international companies, major family businesses, start-ups, consulting firms, the public sector, and NGOs. They offer lessons on how to be a successful and reflective boss in an age of digitization and disruption. Each chapter includes a “stress test” to help you to take an honest look at your own organization and yourself.

Can leaders today be inspired by the Incas? You may be surprised. When the authors added a few days to a business trip to Peru, instead of relaxing, they found themselves exploring one of the greatest civilizations in human history...with unexpected lessons about successful businesses and great leadership.

The Illusion of Invincibility examines the why of success and failure. It’s a smart, funny, and radical look at how to build and sustain a great organization, inspired by those who have done it well...in today’s world and five hundred years ago.

About the Author

This book is about the rise and fall of organizations and the key factors influencing their successes and failures. It's about good leadership, honest and perceptive self-management, inspiring visions, high quality people selection, trustworthy values, credible corporate governance and about how to focus an organization on the main task at hand, its long-term survival. It's also about the mistakes, many of them self-inflicted, that are frequently made in each of these areas and cause organizations, large and small, to stumble and fall. This book will help you to lead your organization better, it will help you to manage yourself better and it will help you to understand your boss and your colleagues better as well. Oh, and it will make you think, smile and maybe even shudder, sometimes all at the same time. But above all, it will help prevent you from falling victim to the illusion of invincibility.