The Living Company (Arie De Geus)
What is a company? Why most companies live 10 years, but some live 200 years? What can be done to make the company overcome crises, environmental changes, even revolutions?
Arie De Geus asks these questions and tries to answer them. This book gives great insight that company is a living organism, not an artificial structure. It covers the principles that properly applied can change the company and prepare it for long-living. Most of them can be applied to individuals. This book has many philosophical ideas and every conclusion made on its pages is confirmed by facts and practical results.
I was greatly impressed by this book. I understood that management is not only about planning, directing, economy, and psychology, but also about biology and sociology. This book won’t help you create a startup, but will describe you what may be done to keep your business alive. Of course, if you are not building it for sale.