New Book: Grateful Dead Musicians are 21st Century Business Geniuses

FORT LAUDERDALE-DAVIE, Fla., Dec. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Nova Southeastern University (NSU) professor Barry Barnes, Ph.D. recently published a new book titled "Everything I Know About Business I Learned from the Grateful Dead" that he says will teach you everything you need to know about business in the 21st century.

Barnes' book examines how traditional approaches to business haven't led to the outcomes most businesses expected – particularly in today's dicey economic climate – a core concept that he teaches his students at NSU's H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship. Internationally known, his curriculum is based on learnings from his own career that has included positions with companies such as IBM, John Deere, and four of his own small businesses.

"The Grateful Dead successfully navigated the turbulent music industry for 30 years by modeling their organization on their improvisational musical approach – businesses can do the same by strategically improvising in turbulent times," said Barnes. "Their improvisational approach to business is what entrepreneurs do to succeed by continually and constantly adjusting in real time to changing conditions but is often overlooked by established businesses."

Barnes outlines ten lessons from The Grateful Dead in his book:

1.    Master strategic improvisation: How the Dead learned to plan and act at the same time
2.    Live your values: How the Dead did well by doing good
3.    Be kind to your customers: How the Dead offered superior customer value
4.    Share your content: How the Dead exploited the power of 'free'
5.    Create a business tribe: How the Dead collaborated with the Deadheads
6.    Insource: How the Dead learned do-it-yourself business
7.    Innovate constantly: How the Dead stayed on the cutting edge
8.    Transform through leadership: How Jerry Garcia inspired greatness in the Dead
9.    Share the power: How the Dead encouraged employees to lead
10.  Exploit the experience economy: How the Dead kept it real

"The 'tried and true' approaches to success and survival have failed to live up to their promise," says Barnes. "It's time for a radically different perspective on running a business or organization, one that's authentic, humane, passionate, value-driven, and truly customer-centric. Most importantly, you need to be able to respond quickly to unforeseen changes and crises.  This is what the Grateful Dead did for 30 years, and it's what customers and employees are seeking today."

Kirkus Review, a well-known book review website said of the book: "The old command-and-control model of corporate organization is dead-but who'd have thought that we'd have the late Jerry Garcia to thank? Well, Barnes for one. In this convincing debut, the author riffs on all the ways the Dead had it right both onstage and off … The band may have only been trying to do things their own way, but as the author sees it, they succeeded in redefining the way smart people will be doing business for years to come."

For more information about the book, visit: www.thedeadbiz.com

Barry Barnes, Ph.D. is Professor of Management at the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, where he teaches graduate-level courses in leadership, strategic decision-making, and organizational behavior. Barry has taught in Germany, China, Brazil, The Bahamas and Jamaica. He spent 20 years in industry with IBM, John Deere, and other companies, and he has owned four small businesses.

About the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship: Serving more than 6,000 students, the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs in areas such as accounting, finance, human resource management, public administration, sales and more. The Huizenga Business School also boasts the largest Master of Business Administration MBA sales program in Florida as well as sales certificate. The school is housed in the five-story state-of-the-art Carl DeSantis Building on Nova Southeastern University's main campus in Fort Lauderdale-Davie, Florida, but programs are available at multiple locations and online. For more information, visit http://www.huizenga.nova.edu/.

About Nova Southeastern University: Located in Davie, Florida, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a dynamic fully accredited Florida University dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs of distinction from preschool through the professional and doctoral levels. NSU has more than 29,000 students and is the eighth largest not-for-profit independent institution nationally. The University awards associate's, bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, specialist, and first-professional degrees in a wide range of fields, including business, counseling, computer and information sciences, education, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, dentistry, various health professions, law, marine sciences, early childhood, psychology and other social sciences.  Classified as a research university with "high research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, NSU was also awarded Carnegie's Community Engagement Classification in 2010 for the University's significant commitment to and demonstration of community engagement.   For more information about NSU visit www.nova.edu.

SOURCE Nova Southeastern University - Huizenga School of Business