Table Of ContentNo Dumbing Down W Human Resource Management and
THE BUSINESS A
EXPERT PRESS A No-Nonsense Guide for CEOs on LK Organizational Behavior Collection
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DIGITAL LIBRARIES Organization Growth R
EBOOKS FOR Karen Walker
BUSINESS STUDENTS
“When it comes to running a business, none of us has time for
Curriculum-oriented, born-
approaches that leave us asking, “So what?” In our decade of working
digital books for advanced No Dumbing
together, Karen demonstrated an unfl appable bias for action and an
business students, written
by academic thought obsession for meaningful results. Her book will enable you to achieve
leaders who translate real- those same kinds of results and all the different types of success
Down
world business experience that goes with them.”—Rod Canion, Founder and former CEO,
into course readings and Compaq Computer Corporation
reference materials for
students expecting to tackle No Dumbing Down: A No-Nonsense Guide for CEOs on Organization A No-Nonsense
Growth is a book for a company’s senior-most leaders looking
management and leadership
challenges during their to make improvements when aligning the organization’s in-
professional careers. ternal and external strategies for fast, profi table, and sustain- Guide for CEOs
able growth.
POLICIES BUILT
BY LIBRARIANS This book combines the author’s impactful and formative
on Organization
experience with leadership and strategy best practices, helping
• Unlimited simultaneous N
the reader master the counterintuitive art of actually deliver- O
usage D
• Unrestricted downloading ing on the promise made to customers. Readers will learn how U Growth
M
and printing and why to put these strategies to work—taking direct aim at
B
• Perpetual access for a pitfalls that can trip up even the most stellar companies. IN
one-time fee G
D
• No platform or Karen Walker is a consultant, author, and advisor to CEOs and O
maintenance fees senior leaders. She helps her clients grow their companies W
N
• Free MARC records with successful outcomes, which include IPOs, acquisitions,
• No license to execute
market share increases, and signifi cant leadership develop-
The Digital Libraries are a ment. Her clients include Inc. 500 start-ups and Fortune 500
comprehensive, cost-eff ective fi rms. As employee #104 at Compaq Computer, Karen was part
way to deliver practical of the senior team that grew the company’s revenue from zero
Karen Walker
treatments of important to $111 million in its fi rst year—and then became the fastest
business issues to every company in its time to reach $1 billion. By the time she left
student and faculty member.
to form her consultancy 14 years later, Compaq had grown to
$15 billion. Karen’s work with organizations from Fortune 500s
to Inc. 500 start-ups substantiates the strategies and keys for
execution outlined in this book.
For further information, a
free trial, or to order, contact:
Human Resource Management and
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Organizational Behavior Collection
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A No-nonsense Guide for
CEOs on Organization Growth
Karen D. Walker
No Dumbing Down™: A No-nonsense Guide for CEOs on Organization Growth
Copyright © Business Expert Press, LLC, 2018.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—
electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for
brief quotations, not to exceed 250 words, without the prior permission
of the publisher.
First published in 2018 by
Business Expert Press, LLC
222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017
www.businessexpertpress.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-94744-180-4 (paperback)
ISBN-13: 978-1-94744-181-1 (e-book)
Business Expert Press Human Resource Management and Organizational
Behavior Collection
Collection ISSN: 1946-5637 (print)
Collection ISSN: 1946-5645 (electronic)
Cover and interior design by S4Carlisle Publishing Services Private Ltd.,
Chennai, India
First edition: 2018
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America.
Abstract
No Dumbing Down™: A No-nonsense Guide for CEOs on Organization Growth
is a book for a company’s executive leaders looking to make improvements
when aligning the organization’s internal and external strategies for fast,
profitable, and sustainable growth. Learn how to do the one job only you
can do: aligning the organization’s internal and external strategies for fast,
profitable, and sustainable growth. As one of the first employees at Compaq
Computers, Karen Walker was part of the senior team that grew the
company’s revenue from zero to $111 million in its first year. By the time
she decided to leave 14 years later, Compaq had grown to $15 billion.
Needless to say, it was a formative experience for Karen, and today, as
a consultant, the Compaq work has provided her with the exact tools
needed to help leaders. Karen’s consulting business delves into every
imaginable market where she assists leaders to master the c ounterintuitive
art of o rganizational growth and success. Helping everyone from F ortune
500s to start-ups deliver on the promise that they’ve made to their
customers, her motto is truly “no dumbing down.” This book will serve
as the perfect instruction manual for growing your business beyond what
you thought was possible.
Keywords
business, CEO, C-suite, executive, growth, innovation, leaders, leadership,
management, organization, scale up, startup, venture capital
Contents
Foreword ...............................................................................................ix
Preface ..................................................................................................xi
Acknowledgments .................................................................................xiii
Section 1 Growth Is Not Just About Increasing Sales Revenue .......1
Chapter 1 Introduction .....................................................................3
Chapter 2 For Senior Leaders Only....................................................9
Section 2 The Five Internal Strategies ..........................................13
Chapter 3 No Dumbing Down........................................................15
Chapter 4 Double Back ...................................................................25
Chapter 5 Play Bumper Cars ...........................................................39
Chapter 6 Become a Utility .............................................................51
Chapter 7 Learn to Levitate .............................................................59
Section 3 Avoiding the “So What” ...............................................71
Chapter 8 Nourishing Your Cell ......................................................73
Chapter 9 How to Begin ..................................................................85
About the Author ..................................................................................93
Index ...................................................................................................95
Foreword
by Rod Canion
Founder and former CEO, Compaq Computer
Corporation
Author of Open
Only Karen Walker could write a book entitled No Dumbing Down—
phrasing like that couldn’t be closer to what she is about and who she is.
With her background in industrial engineering, Karen has a keen
understanding of systems and what it takes to make them work. She’s
leveraged these experiences to become an excellent model for all kinds of
leaders, including organization executives who go on to become consul-
tants. Her work with people like me—CEOs and other senior leaders in
growth-oriented organizations—generates results because of her unusual,
yet, formidable mixture of business acumen with her intolerance for
