Stretch: Unlock the Power of Less -and Achieve More Than You Ever Imagined

by Scott Sonenshein

Overview

Wall Street Journal Bestseller

A groundbreaking approach to succeeding in business and life, using the science of resourcefulness.

We often think the key to success and satisfaction is to get more: more money, time, and possessions; bigger budgets, job titles, and teams; and additional resources for our professional and personal goals. It turns out we’re wrong.

Using captivating stories to illustrate research in psychology and management, Rice University professor Scott Sonenshein examines why some people and organizations succeed with so little, while others fail with so much.

People and organizations approach resources in two different ways: “chasing” and “stretching.” When chasing, we exhaust ourselves in the pursuit of more. When stretching, we embrace the resources we already have. This frees us to find creative and productive ways to solve problems, innovate, and engage our work and lives more fully.

Stretch shows why everyone—from executives to entrepreneurs, professionals to parents, athletes to artists—performs better with constraints; why seeking too many resources undermines our work and well-being; and why even those with a lot benefit from making the most out of a little.

Drawing from examples in business, education, sports, medicine, and history, Scott Sonenshein advocates a powerful framework of resourcefulness that allows anybody to work and live better.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062457226
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/07/2017
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	403,534
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 8.60(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Scott Sonenshein is the Henry Gardiner Symonds Professor of Management at Rice University and bestselling author of Stretch: Unlock the Power of Less – And Achieve More Than You Ever Imagined and co-author (with Marie Kondo) of Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life. His award winning research, teaching, and speaking has helped Fortune 500 executives, entrepreneurs, and professionals in industries such as technology, energy, healthcare, retail, education, banking, manufacturing, and non-profits.

He holds a PhD in organizational behavior from the University of Michigan, an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, and a BA from the University of Virginia. His research appears in the very top academic journals and has contributed to several topics in management and psychology, including change, creativity, personal growth, social issues, decision making, and influence. Scott sits on five distinguished editorial boards and is a former associate editor of his field’s top publication, the Academy of Management Journal.

Scott also worked as a strategy consultant for companies such as Microsoft and AT&T and lived the rise and fall of the dotcom boom while working for a Silicon Valley startup. He serves on the External Advisory Board of McKinsey & Company’s change implementation practice.

Scott has written for the New York Times, Time Magazine, Fast Company and Harvard Business Review. He has been interviewed on national and local television, NPR stations throughout the country, and has been featured in most major newspapers.

Table of Contents

Introduction: My Stretch ix

1 A Tale of Two Beers: Work with What You've Got 1

2 The Grass Is Always Greener: The Causes and Consequences of a Chasing Mind-Set 21

3 All Things Rich and Beautiful: The Basics and Benefits of a Stretching Mind-Set 45

4 Get Outside: The Value of Knowing a Little about a Lot 71

5 Time to Act: Why We Sometimes Perform Better without a Script (and All the Time and Money in the World) 97

6 We Are What We Expect: How Beliefs Make Us and the People We Care About Better (or Worse) 123

7 Mix It Up: The Power of Unlikely Combinations 147

8 Avoid Injuries: How to Get the Right Stretch 173

9 Workout: Exercises to Strengthen a Stretch 201

Conclusion: Your Stretch 225

Acknowledgments 229

Notes 233

Index 269

Editorial Reviews

We rarely have as much of anything as we want, but we can learn to do more with it. Scott Sonenshein is a gifted thinker whose insights have sharpened my work for over a decade, and his fascinating debut book reveals how resourcefulness is a skill that’s waiting to be learned. Get ready to unleash your inner MacGyver. — Adam Grant, bestselling author of Originals and Give and Take

I always appreciate a book that challenges me, forces me to think, and creates constructive discomfort. And I especially value such a book when its key conclusions have a base of research. Dr. Sonenshein has accomplished all this with Stretch, and I am thankful for the chance to grow from reading his work. — Jim Collins, bestselling author of Good to Great and Great by Choice

It’s easy to feel like we never have enough time, resources, or money. Scott Sonenshein’s surprising and entertaining book inspires and instructs us to make the most out of what we already have. The result is more-more creativity, more engagement, and more satisfaction. — Daniel H. Pink, bestselling author of To Sell is Human and Drive

Stretch is a masterpiece. Whether you want to build a better life or a better business, Scott Sonenshein reveals how the power of constraints sets you free and why the lust for more is bad for your mental health and-ironically- your personal success and the success of your business. I love the stories, rigorous research, and especially, how Sonenshein’s warmth and wisdom fill every page and make Stretch a joy to read — Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of the The No Asshole Rule

Well-informed and frequently enlightening…Sonenshein is an amiable guide to attaining the benefits of stretching. A convincing argument within a compelling narrative-recommended for business managers and resourceful individuals alike. — Kirkus

In Silicon Valley successful entrepreneurs value constraints to help define both the problem and solution. In Stretch, Scott Sonenshein explains how to turn limitations into valuable assets, helping us achieve our goals both at work and at home. — Ann Doerr, Chairman, Kahn Academy

A smart yet accessible book that will appeal to readers interested in simplifying their careers and lives. — Library Journal

From the Publisher

Stretch is a masterpiece. Whether you want to build a better life or a better business, Scott Sonenshein reveals how the power of constraints sets you free and why the lust for more is bad for your mental health and-ironically- your personal success and the success of your business. I love the stories, rigorous research, and especially, how Sonenshein’s warmth and wisdom fill every page and make Stretch a joy to read

Robert Sutton

I always appreciate a book that challenges me, forces me to think, and creates constructive discomfort. And I especially value such a book when its key conclusions have a base of research. Dr. Sonenshein has accomplished all this with Stretch, and I am thankful for the chance to grow from reading his work.

Jim Collins

In Silicon Valley successful entrepreneurs value constraints to help define both the problem and solution. In Stretch, Scott Sonenshein explains how to turn limitations into valuable assets, helping us achieve our goals both at work and at home.

Ann Doerr

We rarely have as much of anything as we want, but we can learn to do more with it. Scott Sonenshein is a gifted thinker whose insights have sharpened my work for over a decade, and his fascinating debut book reveals how resourcefulness is a skill that’s waiting to be learned. Get ready to unleash your inner MacGyver.

Adam Grant

It’s easy to feel like we never have enough time, resources, or money. Scott Sonenshein’s surprising and entertaining book inspires and instructs us to make the most out of what we already have. The result is more-more creativity, more engagement, and more satisfaction.

Daniel H. Pink

02/15/2017
In the wake of the recession and dot-com bust, minimalism seems to be making a comeback, as evident by the success of food trucks, independent films, and retailers such as IKEA. In an unstable economy, the trend is to move toward resourcefulness rather than excess. Describing what it means to "stretch," former Silicon Valley executive Sonenshein (Henry Gardiner Symonds Professor of Management, Rice Univ.) provides examples of individuals and businesses that tested their limits (both financial and ideological) by using what they have to achieve results. Whether it's repurposing a common item, or bringing an outsider into a decision, the advice offered here is filled with hundreds of inspiring anecdotes and statistics demonstrating how taking risks, or "stretching," brought unexpected yet desirable results. In contrast, Sonenshein describes the pitfalls of the alternative mind set, or "chasing," as always seeking more and being perpetually disappointed. He further explores the harm brought by planning and expectations that can limit our experiences and reactions, and how to overcome the craving for "more." VERDICT A smart yet accessible book that will appeal to readers interested in simplifying their careers and lives.—Jennifer Clifton, Indiana State Lib., Indianapolis

Library Journal

2016-12-07
A social scientist examines inventive ways that individuals and organizations can build on their existing resources to achieve remarkable results. In this well-informed and frequently enlightening book, first-time author Sonenshein (Management/Rice Univ.) delves beneath a collective mindset he defines as "chasing," which is oriented "around acquiring resources, overlooking how to expand what's already in hand." He demonstrates how working with less, if we're creatively engaged or "stretching," can yield profound outcomes. Taking his cue from writers like Malcolm Gladwell—Blink and Outliers, in particular, come to mind—Sonenshein builds his reasoning around a broad series of case studies in which individuals, seemingly against all odds, have succeeded by wisely making use of their sometimes-unlikely assets. Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez produced his first film, El Mariachi, on a budget of roughly $7,000 by actively engaging himself in every aspect of the production. In the beer-brewing business, Dick Yuengling beat out his chief rival, Princeton-educated Peter Stroh, by frugally upgrading current equipment and factories rather than expanding and relying on fewer employees who were eager to implement their own ideas for making the business more productive. Sonenshein wants readers to embrace stretching as a means to gain fulfillment and freedom in all areas of life and work, not just when dictated by pressing circumstances. "The road to stretching," he writes, "starts with a simple but significant shift in mind-set—giving up the belief that having more resources = getting better results and replacing it with the conviction that a better use of resources = getting better results. This change in mind-set takes us away from a dehumanizing rat race for resources that is impossible to win and provides us with a way to make do with and magnify what we already have." Throughout, Sonenshein is an amiable guide to attaining the benefits of stretching. A convincing argument within a compelling narrative—recommended for business managers and resourceful individuals alike.

Kirkus Reviews