OUR world is changing so enormously that Malaysian managers now need to demonstrate performance that is holistic and comparable with international benchmarks. For too long there has been a perceptual gap between book-smarts and street-smarts. The book-smart manager is supposed to be good at strategy while the street-smart manager’s forte is in execution.
But for too long the glamour has resided with the book-smarts whose fascination is with philosophies and plans, while the difficult job of execution is left to subordinates.