Hard Core Input for GROWTH

A review of 19 of the most influential management books I’ve read

(published since the year 2000)

What Can I Expect?Demanding attention required

Challenging perspectives

Insights & Questions

Loads of Information

The best magister class you’ve ever had!

We focus on little parts of what we know and use them to predict what we don’t know

We use stories to foul ourselves with reasons that don’t exist

We behave as black swans don’t exist - but they do!

What we see is not necessarily everything that is out there

Variability is extremely important

Mediocristan vs. Extremistan

Psychological biases make people individually and collectively blind to uncertainty and unaware of the massive role of the rare events in historical affairs.

Black Swan By Nassim Nicholas Taleb [2007]

Black Swan Nassim Nicholas

Taleb [2007]

Ignore experts, stop trying to predict everything and

take advantage of uncertainty

Outlier is a statistic observation that is remarkably different in value from others in the same sample

We ask “how is that person?” instead of “from where is that person?”

The real secret of success is really simple and depends in crucial turnarounds in every person’s history

Tiny influences have made certain people extremely special

Opportunity is the first element to be extremely successful. Heritage is the second

Success is determined by where we come from and what has happened in the path

Outliers By Malcolm Gladwell [2008]

Outliers Malcolm Gladwell

[2008]

Context is absolutely crucial: what seems to be

the reason for something to happen, rarely is

Design thinking and choice architecture.

That little “nudge” that some people need to make a choice

iNcentives: People need to feel they are getting something from their choices

Understand Mappings: It is important to understand how people see things

Defaults: Make sure that “doing nothing” is one of the best paths to follow

Give feedback: Investigate the rejected choices and try them out

Expect error: People make mistakes and even the most structured systems allow them

Structure complex choices: if it’s hard, separate in smaller parts

Nudge By Thaler & Sunstein [2008]

Nudge Thaler & Sunstein

[2008]

People will take “irrational decisions” if they stay limited by their own

instruments

Knowledge and resources link the whole world

Triple Convergence: Players, Playground and Processes

How many of the things that we give for granted are actually very new?

The World is Flat By Thomas L. Friedman [2005]

1. 09/11/89: Berlin Wall

2. 08/09/95: www

3. Workflow Software

4. Uploading

5. Outsourcing

6. Offshoring

7. Supply chain

8. Insourcing

9. In-forming

10. Steroids

The World is Flat

Thomas Friedman [2005]

Internet has flatten the world to a point where

leaders and managers can observe the whole frame

simultaneously as one potential resource and one

market

Massive collaboration has changed the world

N’Gen (Net Generation) from passive to active

N’Gen norms are speed, openness, innovation, mobility and joy!

The volume of human knowledge is doubling every 5 years

Wikinomics By Tapscott & Williams [2006]

The Four Principles:

1. Openness

2. Peering

3. Sharing

4. Acting globally

Wikinomics Tapscott & Williams

[2006]

Internet has changed everything, it is imperative to open enterprises to the

consumers

It is possible to transform consumers into promoters

Too many information data makes managing and leading difficult

Satisfaction surveys make customers unsatisfied

Would you recommend us to a friend?

NPS = Net Promoter Score

P-D=NPS

P: Promoter (>8)

D: Detractors (<7)

Fidelity is the key!

Word of mouth: Detractors are responsible for 90% of negative

The Ultimate Question By Fred Reichheld [2006]

The ultimate question

Fred Reichheld [2006]

Consumers that are ready to recommend our product or

service are our best leverage for success

Millions of possible answers (too much out there…)

Criticism to those that suggest to follow the example of successful ventures/enterprises

Great leaders: “authentic chameleons”

Followers: Feel relevant, excitement, belonging

1. Become - more - ourselves with ability

2. Self- awareness and “to be seen”

3. Take personal risks

4. Read and re-write context

5. Maintain authenticity whilst being adaptable

6. Manage the social distance

7. Carefully communicate

Why Should Anyone Be Lead By You? By Goffee & Jones [2006]

Why Should Anyone Be Lead By You? Goffee & Jones

[2006]

To be an excellent leader is required to gain respect

Initiate change and give to it the sensation of progress

Preparation for leadership is to lead

Strategy and character

Individual identity, Function, Emergent Process

Smart Leadership By Yudelowitz, Koch & Field [2002]

1. Adopt a cause without planning the future

2. Leadership is not always needed

3. Leadership is culture, not a person

4. Managers fulfill objectives, leaders work for a purpose

5. Managers postpone decisions, leaders take them

6. Don’t be too consensual in matter of consensus

Smart Leadership

Yudelowitz, Koch & Field [2002]

Intelligent leaders establish a path, assume that the

path will change and empower many to reveal

leadership qualities

Place people in the middle, be positive and be reliable (predictable)

Lead from the middle (find the path from the womb)

Qualities of emergent leaders: adaptability, self-confidence, proactivity, reliability and ambition (700 leaders)

How to Lead By Jo Owen [2005]

What people expect from good leaders:

1. Show interest in my development

2. I trust them - they are honest with me

3. They know where they are heading and how to get there

4. I am doing something that is worth

5. I am recognized

How to lead Jo Owen

[2005]

Successful leaders take risks, welcome change and

embrace ambiguity/uncertainty

Be a maverick and do whatever you want!

Why are we answering e-mails on Sunday and not going to cinema on Tuesday afternoon?

Why we think the opposite of work is leisure? (idleness, laziness; indolence)

Why money doesn’t buy success but we measure success based on money?

Working from anywhere

Take a break

Variable payment

Work and stop

Informal/open management meetings

Start by hiring adults with sensibility, and then trust them!

Why, why, why

The Seven-Day Weekend By Ricardo Semler [2003]

The Seven-Day Weekend

Ricardo Semler [2003]

When in doubt, trust everybody and do nothing

Funky times: the battle of brains and the revolutions (truly global, more competition, differentiation, organizational innovation...)

Forces of Funk: Technology, institutions, values, condemn to freedom

Funky Village: Now (real time), everywhere, softwhere, hyphe-nated

Funky INC.: focused, leveraged, innovative, heterarchical

Funky U: Leadership = direction, experimentation, education, personalization; Be unique

Feeling Funky: Infinite innovation and the emotional enterprise

Funky Business Forever By Ridderstrale & Nordstrom [2008]

Funky Business Forever

Ridderstrale & Nordstrom [2008]

Whatever you do, make it funky if you want to

succeed, the play now is about making the current

obsolete

The future of global business belongs to the right-brainers

Birth of “design thinking”

The three "A’s"—abundance, Asia, and automation

High Concept: original and appellative

High Touch: Customized and personalized

The six "senses" crucial to success in the new economy:

1. Design

2. Story

3. Symphony

4. Empathy

5. Play

6. Meaning

A Whole New Mind By Daniel H. Pink [2006]

A Whole New Mind

Daniel H. Pink [2006]

We need to create things with a high emotional level

and understand the subtleties of human

interaction

We, or our business, need to be a purple cow, something considerably different from anything else

Play safe is too risky

Otaku (japanese for something that is more than a hobby and less than an obsession)

Viral ideas (as in the Tipping Point of Malcolm Gladwell)

Diffusion agents

Influencing the influencers

Be exceptional and original

Purple Cow By Seth Godin [2003]

Purple Cow Seth Godin

[2003]

Do the opposite of everyone else and you will find a place in the spotlight

Sharing communities

Everybody is a media channel now

Personal motivation leads to collaborative work

Collective action generates institutional challenges

Everything is reaching further every day

Failing costs less and less and less

We could launch the seed of a medium cooked idea and the community that receives it will take it to new and higher levels

They do so because it is pleasant for them

Here Comes Everybody By Clay Shirky [2008]

Here Comes Everybody

Clay Shirky [2008]

If you want a truly creative idea, try asking to the

audience that is more likely to be in line with the topic

1. Low Love, Low Respect: Products

2. High Love, Low Respect: Fads

3. Low Love, High Respect: Brands

4. High Love, High Respect: Lovemarks

Have brands themselves changed? Has what people want from brands changed?

Mystery: Great stories: past, present and future; taps into dreams, myths and icons; and inspiration

Sensuality: Sound, sight, smell, touch, and taste

Intimacy: Commitment, empathy, and passion

Creating loyalty beyond reason requires emotional connections that generate the highest levels of love and respect for your brand

Human beings are powered by emotion not reason. People are overwhelmed by the choices they face. Human attention has become our principal currency

Lovemarks By Kevin Roberts [2004]

Lovemarks Kevin Roberts

[2004]Listening is something most brands are not great at. They evolved alongside the mass

media, and that’s where they stayed. Talking, talking, talking.

The fragmentation of media demands a fresh approach. Not

to abandon the mass market, but to transform it with multiple

emotional connections.

It is all about attitude

The way we think determines the life we live

Drop the victim T-shirt

1. Where do you place this issue in a scale from 1 to 10?

2. How important will this be 6 months from now?

3. It is my answer appropriate and effective?

4. How can I influence or improve the situation?

5. What can I learn from this?

6. What will I do differently next time?

7. What can I find of positive in the current situation?

S.U.M.O. By Paul McGee [2006]

S.U.M.O. Paul McGee

[2006]

The best way to get something done is to ignore what happened before and

move on

How are YOU feeling?

Do you need a wrap up?

S.U.M.O.

What do I consider the 3 most important inputs for us today?

How can we better use this input?

What do I see emerging here? Where is our conversation taking us?

In Groups Of 5 As diverse as possible…

Are we ready to do what it takes

to GROW?

NOW?