More Than a Motorcycle: The Leadership Journey at Harley-Davidson: Amazon.ca: Rich Teerlink, Lee Ozley: Books

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Book Description

In the late 1980s, Harley-Davidson beat back an assault by Japanese competitors and engineered a remarkable financial turnaround. But it subsequently faced an even more formidable challenge: maintaining and improving on its success in the absence of an external crisis. To answer this challenge, then-CEO Rich Teerlink, partnering with organizational consultant Lee Ozley, threw out the top-down strategies that had just saved the company and began building a different Harley-one that would be driven not by top management, but by employees at every level. What happened next is the stuff of turnaround legend.
More Than a Motorcycle is the story behind the story of the purposeful transformation of an American icon, as told by the two individuals most deeply involved in that decade-long process. The book chronicles the victories and setbacks along Harley's difficult journey from a traditional "command-and-control" culture to an open, participative learning environment.
Teerlink and Ozley deliver three fundamental messages: people are a company's only sustainable competitive advantage; there is no "quick fix" to effect lasting, beneficial organizational change; and leadership is not a person, but a process to which everyone must contribute. They provide practical, reality-tested prescriptions for critical tasks like developing employee alignment, building structures that support participation, and implementing effective reward programs. Finally, they draw lessons from the Harley experience-lessons about values, trust, and community-that apply broadly to any business.
An against-the-odds story of a business road less traveled, this book encourages today's leaders to look around the next bend-and to give every employee a view of the road from the driver's seat.

Rich Teerlink is the retired Chairman and CEO of Harley-Davidson, Inc., and speaks internationally to corporate and educational institutions. Lee Ozley is an organizational consultant and coach. Both are Corporate Fellows at Auburn University's Graduate School of Business.

From the Back Cover

"This honest, detailed, and compelling description of the transformation at Harley-Davidson is a must-read for anyone struggling to accomplish organizational change. Teerlink and Ozley provide valuable lessons on how to work cooperatively with employee representatives, and remind us all of the wisdom of the saying, 'technology makes it possible; people make it happen.'"
--Jeffrey Pfeffer, Thomas D. Dee Professor of Organizational Behavior, Stanford Graduate School of Business, and Author of The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First

"Full of practical insights for management, union leadership, workers, and theorists, More Than a Motorcycle documents how Harley-Davidson recovered from a top-down, confrontational, almost bankrupt company to a more cooperative, people-driven industry leader. Teerlink and Ozley objectively present all the spurts, near disasters, wrinkles, and warts of a real turnaround, all the time linking the company's practical actions to many of the most advanced management theories of the time. This book is a rare gem that will stand the test of time, future practice, and theory."
--James Brian Quinn, Professor of Management, Emeritus, Amos Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, and Author of Intelligent Enterprise and Innovation Explosion

"More Than a Motorcycle captures the essence of the paradox at the heart of leading change: you must motivate people to demand what, in their minds, they really don't want. A powerful insight very well delivered."
-Watts Wacker, Chairman, First Matter Inc., and Coauthor of The Visionary's Handbook

"A wonderfully educational and well-told story about the transformation of an American icon. More Than a Motorcycle is a must-read for anyone interested in effective organizational change."
-Edward E. Lawler III, Director, Center for Effective Organizations, University of Southern California

"This unique book is surely one of the best I have read on leadership and management. It is inspirational and authentic. Only those with a high view of competence and commitment and a genuine respect for people could have written this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it."
--Max De Pree, Author of Leadership Jazz and Leading without Power

"Finally, a book that tells the truth about organizational change! This rich saga relays the fears, the mistakes, the partnerships, and the successes that show how change really happens. What glistens through is the true journey and its demands on us: humility, learning, community, love, and inclusion of others. I thank Rich and Lee for writing this book and applaud their courage in doing so. They respected us enough to give us the straight story."
-Margaret J. Wheatley, Author of Leadership and the New Science, and Coauthor of A Simpler Way

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
IN 1965, SIXTY-TWO YEARS AFTER ITS FOUNDING IN MILWAUKEE by William Harley and the three Davidson brothers-Walter, William, and Arthur- the last surviving solely domestic motorcycle manufacturer in the United States found itself in deep trouble. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews

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4.5 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Innovative thinking, July 14 2002

By

michael fogleman (Chapel Hill, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: More Than a Motorcycle: The Leadership Journey at Harley-Davidson (Hardcover)

Rich Teerlink, retired CEO of Harley Davidson, and Lee Ozley, organizational consultant, have teamed up and written about Harley Davidson's transformation from a hierarchical command and control organization to what they call a "Circle Organization". The book primarily focuses on Harley's organizational change from 1987 to present. Many aspects of the organization are covered in good to great detail. In order to survive and meet growing demand and increasing global competition, Harley Davidson had to transform itself and undergo a radical process of organizational change. Attributing the traditional command and control structure to the American railroad empires of the nineteenth century, Harley sought to make change and break from this traditional form of an organization. As the authors' state, "This is a book about planting seeds and encouraging other people to nurture the seedlings". This book reads like it was written about a start up company that was an unexpected overnight success. Harley really had to toss out all of their old ideas on organizational operations and start from scratch. What is amazing is how this was done without creating animosity from within the organization.
The authors take you through the proposed and enacted plans that helped transform Harley. The Joint Vision Process was formed so that employees on all levels could share the same goals for where they and Harley wanted to be. Both Rich and Lee believe that the people within an organization have the biggest impact on an organization. They shaped their plans with this as the number one factor and this book gives excellent insight on how they implemented their ideas.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Innovative thinking, July 14 2002

By

michael fogleman (Chapel Hill, NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: More Than a Motorcycle: The Leadership Journey at Harley-Davidson (Hardcover)

Rich Teerlink, retired CEO of Harley Davidson, and Lee Ozley, organizational consultant, have teamed up and written about Harley Davidson's transformation from a hierarchical command and control organization to what they call a "Circle Organization". The book primarily focuses on Harley's organizational change from 1987 to present. Many aspects of the organization are covered in good to great detail. In order to survive and meet growing demand and increasing global competition, Harley Davidson had to transform itself and undergo a radical process of organizational change. Attributing the traditional command and control structure to the American railroad empires of the nineteenth century, Harley sought to make change and break from this traditional form of an organization. As the authors' state, "This is a book about planting seeds and encouraging other people to nurture the seedlings". This book reads like it was written about a start up company that was an unexpected overnight success. Harley really had to toss out all of their old ideas on organizational operations and start from scratch. What is amazing is how this was done without creating animosity from within the organization.
The authors take you through the proposed and enacted plans that helped transform Harley. The Joint Vision Process was formed so that employees on all levels could share the same goals for where they and Harley wanted to be. Both Rich and Lee believe that the people within an organization have the biggest impact on an organization. They shaped their plans with this as the number one factor and this book gives excellent insight on how they implemented their ideas.

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4.0 out of 5 stars A great how-to book for OD practitioners, Feb 3 2002

By

A. Cheney (Denver) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: More Than a Motorcycle: The Leadership Journey at Harley-Davidson (Hardcover)

I'm not sure most execs would have the patience to stay with this book, but for change agents, team facilitators, and other large-system OD practitioners, this book contains valuable, comprehensive how-to information.

In true STS style, Ozley (the obvious primary author) does a wonderful job integrating Harley's new systems and methods with the real-folks' feelings and reactions as they go through an extensive organisation and culture change.

More Than a Motorcycle could easily be a companion volume to Marvin Weisbord's classic Productive Workplaces, maybe even its sequel.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Great
Great story whether your a turnaround person or motorcyclist

Published on Oct 21 2001

2.0 out of 5 stars Great
Great story whether your a turnaround person or motorcyclist