Many professors and gurus claim to have a new formula for business success, strategy, excellence or profit optimisation. But something is wrong with these simple success formulas. We need a new world of management thinking. By Jo Owen.

Modern management is the child of the Enlightenment; arguably, its godfather is Isaac Newton. He not only formulated his laws of physics: he cleared the path to progress and prosperity through the force of reason and analysis. What he did for physics, Charles Darwin attempted for biology and Adam Smith for economics. From observing the productivity of the pin makers of Gloucester, it is a short step to Frederick Taylor's world of time and motion and Henry Ford's moving production line.

"Searching for excellence is as futile as searching for smoke signals in the fog. Excellence is defined only by what works for one company at one time."

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