Clever people dream up intriguing new products or services, they develop new processes that bring their organization to new levels. They are the organizations competitive edge. They are crucial to an organization’s success…but they come with their own unique set of challenges. In Clever, authors Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones revel how clever people are overly smart, highly skilled, uber talented and equally difficult to manage. They are highly motivated and independent, but because of their independence, they have a strong distate for being “managed.” Goffee and Jones tackle tough questions surrounding clevers such as “how do you direct these people respectfully, yet responsibly, to achieve personal and company goals?” and “How do you continually challenge these talented individuals and generate a workplace that provides a sense of purpose to these individuals?”

Clever is less of a step-by-step guide to leading clevers and more an awareness of the need to lead them uniquely. Clever gives the reader ideas about how a company should engage their clevers, how the presence of clevers changes organization design and how the rewards for leading clevers can be tremendous, as can the risks. The book doesn’t present much research, however the examples given are more than enough to challenge leaders thinking about how, and if, they can lead their clevers.