When Karl Ronn recently said, “Companies that think they have an innovation problem don’t have an innovation problem. They have a leadership problem,” I listened carefully. I featured Ronn, a former P&G executive (and current executive coach and entrepreneur), in several places in The Little Black Book of Innovation, most notably for his rant against […]… Read More
At this year’s Sundance film festival, I caught the premiere of JOBS, the widely anticipated Steve Jobs biopic. Aside from the fact that Ashton Kutcher strikes an uncanny resemblance to the Apple co-founder in both looks and mannerisms, what struck me most about the film was that the primary conflict centers on “the innovator’s dilemma,” […]… Read More
The other week I met with the leader of a new growth business for a large Asian company. The meeting was miles away from the corporate headquarters. The leader proudly showed me around her office, pointing out how the open, energetic feel compared to the closed-door, corporate nature of headquarters. The young staff certainly seemed […]… Read More
Game changing innovation is hard. Unlike what most people believe, it is not just the outcome of brilliant ideas, but brilliant ideas executed brilliantly. Innovation demands hard work and several organizations struggle to even get started with it. That is why we chose to look closely at Godrej & Boyce. It’s journey towards innovation is young and we believe it holds some interesting lessons.… Read More
When should incumbents be afraid — very afraid? At the moment that a disruptive innovation crosses into the mainstream market and establishes itself as a viable competitor, the third stage in a disruptive innovation’s life cycle. You might think a response at this late phase would be too late — but there are still ways […]… Read More
Consider the straitjacket. It was invented in the early 18th century in France as a way to stop people with mental disorders from hurting themselves. It does its job well, but a person in a straitjacket also loses the ability to do many other things, particularly creative tasks that require typing, drawing, manipulating objects, and […]… Read More
For unexpected reasons, a product that succeeds in the U.S. or Western Europe might not make any sense in Asia. Here’s how to discover and serve the unique needs of Asian consumers.… Read More
For our HBR article, Innosight interviewed CEOs of two severly disrupted companies to discover what works when navigating transformation. Xerox CEO Ursula Burns and B&N CEO William Lynch offer up five strategic lessons.… Read More
In this HBR article Wessel and Christensen, both of Harvard Business School, introduce a way to work out how dangerous a disruption may be to your business. They say it’s not enough to know that a threat is coming. You need to know whether it’s coming right for you.… Read More
Even the best-performing companies eventually stall. Sustaining momentum — and remaining a great growth company — takes a system. Scott Anthony and David Duncan call this system a “Growth Factory.”… Read More