Acknowledgments

The list of people who contributed to this book is quite long. I have been lecturing about this material for over forty years. It started as a small, simple model and it grew over time as people came forward and made remarks. Some disagreed and enriched me with their disagreements. Some reinforced my presentation and contributed anecdotes, jokes, case histories, even cartoons. Over time I realized that what was applicable to the organizations I was lecturing about applies to personal life too. When I was invited to speak to heads of state and their cabinets, the applicability of the material on the social-political plane became evident as well.

So, whom do I thank? Where do I start? Certain people stand out. First, my parents, who through their Sephardic Jewish wisdom taught me much about life. Outside my family, Mr. Vukadinovic, my first-grade teacher in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, stands out for a lesson I will not forget. I was an eight-year-old child saved from the Holocaust, in which most of my family perished. I was scared and timid. Another child in the class harassed me publicly with anti-Semitic insults. Mr. Vukadinovic put us both in front of the class and lectured us about brotherhood, how we look the same, yet still can enjoy the beauty of being different. He spoke about trust and respect. He had us sit at the same desk for the rest of the year, and my enemy became one of my best friends. (He perished during the NATO attack on Belgrade in 1999.)

Next I want to thank Yehuda Erel, my youth leader in the Israeli Noar La Noar youth move- ment. I came to Israel after World War II, looking for a home, full of fears of being rejected. He gave me roots and a sense of belonging by teaching me to serve others who were less fortunate than myself.

Then came my years of study in the United States. Professor William H. Newman of Columbia University taught me management theory, but more important than that, he taught me with his open-mindedness and practical outlook on the management process, an approach to intellectual life which I try to emulate. Not to be overlooked are Rosemary Sostarich, Adrienne Denny, the late Charles Mark (early edition) and Gene Lichtenstein who reedited this book, Emily See who did the copy editing, and Maya Korling and Carolyn Healey who “mother hen-ed” the new edition of this book. To all, thank you.

Ichak Kalderon Adizes

Santa Barbara, California, USA, 2015

ABOUT THE AUTHOR ICHAK KALDERON ADIZES, PH.D.

Over the course of more than forty years, Dr. Ichak Kalderon Adizes has developed and refined a proprietary methodology that bears his name that enables corporations, govern- ments, and complex organizations to accomplish exceptional results and manage accelerat- ed change without destructive conflicts. Leadership Excellence Journal named him one of the Top 30 Thought Leaders in the United States, and Executive Excellence Journal put him on their list of the Top 30 Consultants in America.

In recognition of his contributions to management theory and practice, Dr. Adizes has re- ceived twenty honorary doctorates from universities in ten countries; is honorary Chancellor of the University of Fredricton, Canada; received the 2010 Ellis Island Medal of Honor and an honorary rank of lieutenant colonel from the military; and has been made an honorary citizen of two Eastern European countries.

Dr. Adizes is a Fellow of the International Academy of Management; has served as a ten- ured faculty member at UCLA and a visiting professor at Stanford, Tel Aviv, and Hebrew Universities; and taught at the Columbia University Executive Program. He also is the found- er of the Adizes Graduate School for the Study of Collaborative Leadership and Constructive Change, and is currently an academic advisor to the Graduate School of Management of the Academy of National Economy of the Russian Federation.

Dr. Adizes is founder and president of the Adizes Institute, based in Santa Barbara, California, an international consulting company that applies the Adizes Methodology for clients in the public and private sectors. The Adizes Institute was ranked as one of the top ten consulting organizations in the United States by Leadership Excellence Journal.

In addition to consulting to prime ministers and cabinet-level officials throughout the world, Dr. Adizes has worked with a wide variety of companies ranging from startups to members of the Fortune 50. He lectures in four languages, and has appeared before well over 100,000 executives in more than fifty countries.

Dr. Adizes has authored more than 20 books, which have been published in 26 languages. His book Corporate Lifecycles: How Organizations Grow and Die and What to Do About It (subsequently revised, expanded, and republished as Managing Corporate Lifecycles) was named one of the Ten Best Business Books by Library Journal.

Dr. Adizes lives in Santa Barbara County, California, with his wife, Nurit Manne Adizes. They have six grown-up children. In his leisure time he enjoys playing the accordion and practicing meditation.