Do you ever think your workplace is like a sluggish rental car – no oomph, despite a lot of potential? Do you wish you had a manual on how to make it perform better?

Wish granted: The Energized Enterprise: How to Tap Your Organization’s Hidden Potential has just hit the virtual bookstore shelves. Author Marc G. Strohlein has a wealth of experience working in and consulting with organizations of all sizes, and he’s happy to share it.

Full disclosure: I was the developmental editor, copyeditor, and proofreader for the book. That said, I have zero financial interest in book sales. I just think it’s important to get the word out about a book that can help make workplaces happier, more efficient, and more profitable.

Plus, this book was fun to edit. We used an agile content development process, which I’ll write about in a future post.

Every enterprise has potential just waiting to be unleashed  

The book’s premise is that any enterprise – whether a business, nonprofit organization, or government agency – has untapped potential, and bosses at any level can help to unleash that potential using any or all of eight “engines.” Some are as simple as a shift in behavior, while others may take more effort, but on the whole they don’t require huge investments of time or money.

The result will be happier and more productive employees, better and more productive customer relationships, and a more competitive enterprise.

Studies show potential rewards of following the advice in this book

Importantly, while the book is largely anecdotal, Chapter 1 provides empirical evidence in the form of third-party study results showing the potential rewards – financial and otherwise – of paying attention to these eight engines:

• Smart work habits
• Compelling purpose
• Focused leadership
• Engaged employees
• Customer intimacy
• Dynamic culture
• Enterprise collaboration
• Transformational technology

Each chapter begins with a set of questions designed to help the reader assess how well (or not) he is doing in each area.

Real-life examples relate to social media, technology, employee engagement

The book contains examples of good and bad corporate behavior at companies including Zappos, McDonald’s, Patagonia, Qantas, and IBM, while touching on themes like the following:

• A workplace is like any system where actions in one part may have unintended (potentially negative) consequences on another. Marc refers to this as squeezing the balloon – a great mental image that decision-makers need to remember.
• There’s a difference between motivated employees and engaged employees, and engaged employees are better. (I wrote about this in a previous post.)
• There’s an art to truly understanding and engaging with customers – what Marc calls “customer intimacy” – and nowhere is this seen more clearly than in the promise and peril of social media.
• Technology should be a catalyst for transforming your business (and not the other way around).

Concrete to-do lists make it the perfect gift for your boss…or yourself

Each of the eight “engine” chapters ends with two to-do lists: one for C-level executives, and one for team leaders at any level – so this book is useful for anybody who is responsible for leading and inspiring others in an organization.

In fact, it’s the perfect gift for the boss who has everything. Or the boss who is driving you crazy – although in that case, you might want to give it anonymously. Secret Santa, anyone?

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Have you read The Energized Enterprise? What are your thoughts about it? Your comments are welcome.