The New Rules: Agile beats Big

The July 24 issue of Fortune Magazine has an article entitled The New Rules as the cover story, with the cover saying "Sorry Jack! Welch's Rules for Winning Don't Work Anymore (But We've Got 7 New Ones That Do)"

I think the new rules it discusses are very much about "Agile is better than Bigger!" and "Bigger isn't necessarily better!" The list of new rules is:

Old Rule: Big Dog Owns the Street.
New Rule: Being Agile is Best; Being Big can Bite You!

Old Rule: Be #1 or #2 in Your Market.
New Rule: Find a Niche, Create Something New.

Old Rule: Shareholders Rule.
New Rule: The Customer is King.

Old Rule: Be Lean and Mean.
New Rule: Look Out, Not In.

Old Rule: Rank your Players; Go with the A's.
New Rule: Hire Passionate People.

Old Rule: Hire a Charismatic CEO.
New Rule: Hire a Courageous CEO.

Old Rule: Admire my Might.
New Rule: Admire my Soul.

All in all I thought it was pretty fair-minded. There was even a sidebar to the article that gave Welch a chance to respond to the criticisms. You'll probably need to read the article for further insight into what exactly is meant by each of the "new rules" above. There was plenty of commentary across the industry on the article! (Just Google on "The New Rules" +Fortune +"Sorry Jack" and look through the results)