3gamma Rocks – Old Style?

Essentially, I just want us to rock at what we do! Other times, just rock! I will break one of my own rules with some advertising for a very comical book, Heavy Metal Management by Pär-Jörgen Pärson and Hans-Olov Öberg, read it; it will only take an hour.

As an old rocker, I still receive most of my energy from old-school rock and punk. Iron Maiden has probably been the most enduring band to kick-start my activities, be it work, fun, party or exercise. On the other hand, I have to confess, I occasionally read ‘cheesy’ management books: Good to Great by Jim Collins and other more or less stereotypic books, are frequently used to kill-time in airplanes etc. They all have their own idea, theory and supporting evidence. These books are often accompanied by great statistics, analysis, illustrating examples to support their theory, as a scientist and consultant by trade; this is all quite appealing to me.

But honestly, how stimulating are statements like “85% of companies that performed better than 90% of their peer group was all characterized by blah, blah, blah…”? Interesting statistic, but really, will it help you to decide to embark on your business endeavor? Will it aid you in selecting the people to work with or how to create a marketing plan? I think not!

Now I will return to the book Heavy Metal Management. It is extremely liberating to read these two guitar freaks completely trashing the ordinary ‘managing for shareholder value’ BS (mentioning a number of well-known books) and replacing it with some hard-rock values that speak directly to the heart. They set-up the six management rules of the pentagram (seriously): Be a master, Be epic, Be instinctive, Be sensory, Be total, Be forever. Deliver to these six rules and you will succeed! Just like any other traditional management book, it goes into the detail of each rule, explaining why analysis is dead, followed-up by real-life examples but in the form of AC/DC, Ozzy and others.

So what is the connection to 3gamma? The entire book is about passion, excellence, communication, commitment and endurance; these are very close to the core values of 3gamma (passion, excellence, integrity and growth) along with my personal triple-play: think, be brave and have fun!

OK, the book may not provide any direct guidelines for a new business plan, but it surely does provide energy and passion, where perhaps the main shortage in management lies today. The taste in music is a personal one, but greatness delivered through passion is universal. I can only thank the authors for using my old rock heroes as a vehicle to tell the story.

Peter Wahlgren, PhD. CEO. 3gamma
3gamma - Great business deserves great IT^®
www.3gamma.com

PS. As for music, my old-school personal favorites include: Accept, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, D.A.D.. I also enjoy the more modern influences of: Offspring, Danko Jones, P.O.D., Nomy, Rammstien and Pennywise. There is an abundance of good stuff out there and Spotify has made it so easy to find.

PPS. Spooky coincidence? Has anyone else realized that the Swedish radio station ‘Classic Rock’ has a large number of advertisements directed toward business leaders/owners, considerably more than the other commercial radio stations? Are old-rockers better entrepreneurs than the DJ-Funk-Whatever pop lovers!

PPPS. Thanks to Magnus Lindeborg for suggesting I read Heavy Metal Management.