“Design is intelligence made visible.” —Alina Wheeler
1: Columbia Business School professor Rita Gunther McGrath wanted to know the key difference between high- and low-growth large organizations.
Her research suggests two factors. Which seem to be in opposition to one another.
“On the one hand, they [high-growth large companies] are built for innovation, are good at experimentation, and can move on a dime,” she writes.
The second factor?
“On the … continue reading
1: “Most people reach for just a little bit more—a promotion, a little more money, a new personal record,” Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy write in 10x Is Easier Than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing Less.
“Going for incremental progress is a 2x mindset,” the authors observe, “which at a fundamental level means we’re continuing or maintaining what we’re already doing.”
2x is a linear mindset. … continue reading
“Culture is coded wisdom.”-Wangari Maathai
1: Seen the movie City Slickers?
At the heart of this classic 1990s comedy is the relationship between Mitch, a Manhattan yuppie played by Billy Crystal, and Curly, a tough, wizened cowboy played by Jack Palance.
Curly tells Mitch, “It all comes down to one thing. You focus on that, and everything else don’t mean s#&t.”
Mitch is confused. He asks Curly … continue reading
1: The bad news?
“Once a CEO sets a direction for the company’s future, the probability that the plan will become reality is low,” Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra write in CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.
“Many studies, including our own research,” the authors note, “conclude that only one in three strategies is successfully implemented.”
2: What’s … continue reading
1: The year was 2019. Johan Thijs, CEO of Belgian-based bank-insurance group KBC, had appeared in the Top 10 of the Harvard Business Review’s Top 100 CEOs in the world list for three years straight.
“If ever there was an ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it’ scenario,” Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra write in CEO Excellence, Johan was it.
KBC consistently posted … continue reading
1: DuPont CEO Ed Breen has been celebrated for his boldness.
Earlier this week, we looked at his aggressiveness in conquering the multi-billion dollar cable set-top market while serving as CEO of General Instruments and later in pursuing a merger with Dow Chemical, as detailed in Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra‘s powerful book CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from … continue reading
“Early in my career, I wondered how to develop a vision and a strategy,” DSM CEO Feike Sijbesma says in Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra‘s wonderful book CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.
“Do I sit in my study and yell, ‘Eureka! I have it?”
Unlikely.
What did Feike do instead? “I started reading more about all … continue reading
1: Having foresight is the “lead” in “leader,” Robert Greenleaf once wrote in The Servant as Leader.
It was the late 1990s. It was an analog world. But Ed Breen, then CEO of General Instruments, could see the future. And the future was digital.
“I’d just been made CEO the year before,” Ed remembers in Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra‘s terrific book CEO … continue reading
1: Getting better at getting better is what RiseWithDrew is all about.
Monday through Thursday, we explore ideas from authors, thought leaders, and exemplary organizations. On Friday, I share something about myself or what we are working on at PCI.
This week, we’ve been examining some lessons from Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra‘s terrific book CEO Excellence.
Specifically around the importance of not only … continue reading
1: “In 2011, Netflix was on a roll,” Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra write in CEO Excellence.
The company was a media darling. Its rapidly growing, highly popular subscription business delivered DVD rental movies to customers’ homes.
Still, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings knew that streaming was the future.
“It was a classic innovator’s dilemma—for Netflix to keep growing it would have to cannibalize its DVD … continue reading
