Following the success of their first book, The Oz Principle: Getting Results Through Individual & Organizational Accountability, Roger Connors and Tom Smith take their readers to the next level with their second collaborative book, Journey to the Emerald City: Achieve a Competitive Edge Through a Accountability Culture. While The Principle of Oz shows the importance of self-responsibility in achieving goals using the Wizard of Oz characters, this time Connors and Smith explore the direct relationship between a company’s culture and the results it produces.
The authors have successfully laid out a step-by-step guide on creating a corporate culture that is more responsible, thus eliminating workplace problems such as the blame game and low morale, which are prevalent among companies with little responsibility. . The first sections of the book teach leaders how to assess and examine the company’s existing culture. And from then on you must be able to manage and change this culture to achieve a culture of accountability.
Connors and Smith’s unique approach to creating a culture of greater responsibility is what makes Journey to the Emerald City useful for any leader. To stay true to the theme of the book, each chapter begins with a quote from L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The book also has diagrams to help readers better understand the concepts discussed in the book and is also filled with success stories from various companies that have enjoyed tremendous change after successfully creating a culture of responsibility.