“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: Splat.
A multiyear Research & Development project for the Dutch firm DSM‘s picture frame glass business had failed.
Here’s where things got interesting.
DSM’s CEO Feike Sijbesma “had set up a ‘Hall of Failures’ where the company organized funerals for failed projects,” Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra write in CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.
“The … 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: 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
“Vision without action is merely a dream.” -Japanese proverb
1: “To win the battle that is now going on around the world between freedom and tyranny,” President John F. Kennedy said to a joint session of Congress in 1961.
Now that’s a bold vision.
But vision by itself isn’t enough. A powerful strategy is required to bring a bold vision to life.
“During his speech that day he not only … continue reading
1: The year was 2009. Piyush Gupta had just been named CEO of DBS Group.
Piyush had a bold vision for DBS: To be the best bank in Asia.
The only problem? DBS was considered “the worst bank in Singapore in terms of customer service quality,” Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vik Malhotra write in CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the … continue reading
1: The Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman did an experiment
“Half the participants were randomly assigned a numbered lottery ticket,” Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vik Malhotra write in CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest.
“The remaining half were given a blank ticket and a pen and asked to choose their own lottery number.”
What was the twist?
“Just before … continue reading
