Excerpt: "Mavericks at Work"

Oct. 2, 2006 — -- In "Mavericks at Work," William C. Taylor, co-founder of Fast Money, and Polly LaBarreco, a longtime editor at the popular business magazine, reveal to readers the most original minds in the business world.

Read a U.S. News story on "Mavericks at Work" by clicking here.

PART I

Beyond Business as Usual -- The Maverick Promise

Business needs a breath of fresh air. We are, at last,coming out of a dark and trying period in our economy andsociety -- an era of slow growth and dashed expectations, ofcriminal wrongdoing and ethical misconduct at some of theworld's best-known companies. But NASDAQ nuttiness alreadyfeels like time-capsule fodder, the white-collar perp walk hasbecome as routine as an annual meeting, and the triumphantreturn of me-first moguls like Donald Trump feels like a badnostalgia trip, the corporate equivalent of a hair-bandreunion.

We've seen the face of business at its worst, and it hasn'tbeen a pretty sight. It's time to rediscover the power ofbusiness at its best and to develop a better way to lead,compete, and succeed.

The good news: Despite all the bleak headlines andblood-boiling scandals over the last five years, the economyhas experienced a period of transformation and realignment,a power shift so profound that we're just beginning toappreciate what it means for the future of business -- andfor how all of us go about the business of building companiesthat work and doing work that matters.

In industry after industry, organizations and executivesthat were once dismissed as upstarts, as outliers, as wildcards,have achieved positions of financial prosperity andmarket leadership. There's a reason the young billionairesbehind the most celebrated entrepreneurial success in recentmemory began their initial public offering (IPO) of shareswith a declaration of independence from business as usual."Google is not a conventional company," read their Letter fromthe Founders. "We do not intend to become one."