Todd Hagopian is a successful businessman with a $3 billion-plus track record across Fortune 500 turnarounds. What makes his approach unique is that he has embraced his bipolar disorder and used it as a means to see and overcome problems that many other executives are oblivious to. As he writes, “neurodivergent thinking gave me cognitive patterns that most business leaders cannot access: the ability to see connections invisible to conventional thinking.”
In practice, Hagopian uses what he has termed his “Hypomanic Toolbox” to focus on and fix problems in innovative ways. He states that he refused “to accept industry orthodoxies as permanent truths." By challenging the traditional ways that businesses have attempted to address shortcomings, he has unlocked new routes to success and profitability.
In his previous book, The Unfair Advantage, Hagopian made the unusual decision to base most of his advice around a fictional case study. This time the author uses real-world examples, and the book is all the stronger for it. The previous work's reliance on narrative fiction, coupled with autobiographical elements, meant that Hagopian’s practical advice was sometimes sidelined. STAGNATION ASSASSIN: The Anti-Consultant Manifesto, by contrast, is a no-holds-barred manual on how to cut the slack from a business and get it to thrive.
As can be gleaned from the book’s subtitle, Hagopian holds little truck with standard consultancy protocols. STAGNATION ASSASSIN introduces a number of frameworks that Hagopian has successfully implemented in his career. These include “The Karelin Method,” named after a champion wrestler who trained with an intensity that led to him defeating all-comers; “The 3-A Method,” where the correct sequencing of Apprehend, Analyze, and Activate will allow tasks to be actioned far more quickly than usual; and “The Orthodoxy-Smashing Framework,” where the author shows how to make “invisible assumptions visible” so that they can be confronted.
Hagopian’s approach in STAGNATION ASSASSIN is very direct, often edging into the combative. He writes about his techniques as being weapons and how they can be used in “battle plans.” Some readers may find this aggressive attitude a little grating, and this is not a book that tiptoes around difficult situations. Hagopian certainly seems to be more interested in claiming victories than making friends, but readers who like that attitude should give this book a try.
With a no-nonsense approach, Todd Hagopian takes no prisoners on his mission to eliminate stagnation before it leads to terminal decline. By helping identify hidden issues before they prove terminal, STAGNATION ASSASSIN: The Anti-Consultant Manifesto could hold the key to turning around an unprofitable business.
~ Kent Lane for IndieReader