Rethink Reinvent Reposition, by former colleague Leo Hopf and William Welter is a great new book aimed at people looking at where to go next with a mature business: into decline, or onward and upward with renewal.

It avoids mathematics and analytics but is an excellent description of the decision analysis process applied to a difficult problem. The process of renewal is a complex one involving not just the brainstorming and analysis of opportunities, but also working with the emotions of all the people involved, inside and outside the organisation, and often deeply ingrained culture. Hopf and Welter offer 12 templates for strategic choices to start one thinking and then go on to provide an outline of the steps to make and embed the decisions whether and how to renew the business, and to start the process of making it happen.

The book is highly practical, with lots of list of things to do and think about, and traps to avoid. It also has lots of case studies stretching back over a century. The only slight drawback is that not all the case studies are listed in the index, so I am going to have to reread the book (probably not a bad thing) and take notes. I’d like to be able to quote some of the examples in my own work with clients.

In these difficult economic times, where maybe it’s not decline but survival that is at stake, following the advice in this book can be a business lifesaver.

See also:

• The book’s website: http://RethinkReinventReposition.com/
• The Institute for Management Studies who has named the volume its Book of the Month for July 2010.