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The Octopus Organization
book

The Octopus Organization

by Phil Le-Brun, Jana Werner
December 2025
Intermediate to advanced
368 pages
9h 6m
English
Harvard Business Review Press
Content preview from The Octopus Organization

ANTIPATTERN #8 SPREADING PRIORITIES TOO THINLY

The embrace of a few initiatives that make you say “Hell, yes!” creates focus and impact.

THE TIN MAN BEHAVIOR

Pursuing an overwhelming number of projects, ideas, and initiatives, avoiding difficult choices

THE RESULTS

•  Plummeting productivity, resources spread too thinly

•  Stressed, confused, demotivated workforce

•  Constant firefighting

How Octopus Organizations Behave Instead

•  They ruthlessly prioritize a few key initiatives with a “less, but better” mindset.

•  They practice deprioritization as a data-informed discipline.

•  They emphasize impact over effort.

•  They foster a culture where saying “no” or “stop” is good.

The Tin Man Behavior

For centuries, the word “priority” was ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9798892791410