Replicate Amazon’s secret formula for winning big in the digital age Having run strategy and leadership development programs across the Fortune 1000 for over the past 25 years, I’ve seen lots of business models. As I highlighted in a prior article on The Future of Seamless Shopping, nothing currently parallels Amazon when it comes to innovation. Amazon’s management system is designed…
The best strategy & innovation books deliver new insights, examples and tools for reinventing business. I’ve recently written about the disruptive change and innovation upending markets like product packaging, travel and hospitality, management consulting, construction, healthcare, and manufacturing. No matter the trends, technologies or transformations, every industry faces similar challenges: What business models must we create for the future? How do we differentiate…
Real change requires more than just doing something new. It also involves stopping what doesn’t work and continuing what’s already working well. When I work with leaders and organizations looking to create change and innovate, I always tell them the same thing: strategy is as much about what you don’t do, as it is about what you decide to do. It’s natural to look for…
Strategic plans become outdated the moment they’re created. Instead, create a one-page strategy map. Having run the internal strategy consulting group at HP, and then consulting to both startups and big companies like Disney, Visa, Colgate, Medtronic and others, I’ve created hundreds of strategic plans. Business strategy used to be a clear and methodical process. No more. Today’s discontinuous technologies and…
Motivating people to change requires a burning platform combined with an inspiring future vision. We’ve seen what happens when companies become complacent and stop innovating. A startup or other innovator disrupts their markets and businesses. We know innovation and change is important, but how do you get people focused and moving in the right direction? Providing people with a compelling vision of the…
This article originally appeared in Inc. Magazine The future of software is about “no-code” platforms “Software is eating the world” says Silicon Valley venture capital icon, Mark Andreessen. You name it: personal computers, the internet, mobile devices, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and self-driving cars. Andreessen’s mantra encapsulates the fundamental driver of society’s massive transformation…
Hiring a Chief Innovation Officer? Use this job description template. Every organization needs innovation – not just to thrive but to just survive in today’s disruptive world. That’s why I’ve spent my last 25 years focused on innovation and why I’ve described how organizational lag stifles it in most companies. That’s also why I’ve covered topics like innovation…
Research on 5 million people from 2,000 companies reveal the 5 steps for transformational change Driving and sustaining organizational change is one of the biggest business priorities. That’s why innovation, culture, and disruption are hot leadership topics. For the past two decades, the success rates of change efforts have been dismal. In 1996, Harvard Business School professor John Kotter reported that…
Whether digital or physical, shopping itself is being disrupted, and it’s all about creating a completely seamless experience. Here are 11 trends shaping the future of shopping. Imagine sitting down to watch TV and you see a shirt on your favorite actor and think, “I want that shirt for myself!” Good news. You click a button and…
With one research study, the definition of “manager” just blew up. Think about the biggest workplace trends: gig workers, artificial intelligence, robotics replacing workers, diverse workplace cultures, and remote employees. Just about every organization I advise or consult these days is undergoing massive transformative change. Today’s workforce — especially the younger generations — wants work with deep purpose and coaches…