Keith Sawyer: An interview by Bob Morris

Keith Sawyer is one of the world’s leading scientific experts on creativity and innovation. In his first job after graduating from MIT, he designed videogames for Atari. He then worked for six years as a management consultant in Boston and New York, advising large corporations on the strategic use of information technology. He’s been a jazz pianist for over 30 years, and performed with several improv theater groups in Chicago, as part of his research into jazz and improvisational theater.

Previous to Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity, his books include Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration and Explaining Creativity: The Science of Human Innovation, and he has published over 80 scientific articles. Sawyer is a professor of education, psychology, and business at Washington University in St. Louis.

Here is an excerpt from my interview of him. To read the complete interview, please click here.

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Morris: Who has had the greatest impact on your professional development? How so?

Sawyer: I had so many wonderful mentors and advisors that introduced me to creativity research. When I arrived at the University of Chicago as a doctoral student, I had long been interested in musical and artistic creativity, but I had no idea this was a field of scientific research. When I applied to grad school, I wanted to study conversational dynamics, and I went to University of Chicago to work with the famous linguistic anthropologist, Michael Silverstein. Just by coincidence, my first Fall term on campus, Mike Csikszentmihalyi was teaching a class called “Psychology of Creativity,” and I signed up for it, basically as an elective.

Mike was the one who introduced me to the field and showed me that it was possible to do rigorous empirical study of the creative process. His own dissertation, also at the University of Chicago in the early 1960s, was a study of the creative process of MFA students at the Art Institute of Chicago. For the term project in his class, I interviewed several jazz musicians about their own creative process. Mike liked the paper, and suggested that I revise it and submit it to the Creativity Research Journal. After revision it was accepted, and became my first published journal article, in 1992.

Morris: Years ago, was there a turning point (if not an epiphany) that set you on the career course you continue to follow? Please explain.

Sawyer: I didn’t start graduate school until I was 30. My undergrad degree was in computer science at MIT, and I worked eight years after college in information technology and software development. My first job, I designed videogames for a small company in Cambridge, MA that did many of Atari’s hit videogames, under contract. Then, I worked six years doing management consulting for big money-center banks. At the age of 29, I was really ready for a change; I had always wanted to return to grad school and become a professor, and the time was right. But I didn’t know what I wanted to study or even what departments to apply to. I knew I wanted to study how people communicate through language; I discovered that scholars study this in linguistics, anthropology, sociology, and psychology.

And as a matter of fact, throughout my career since then, I’ve continued to be very interdisciplinary and this is my own approach to creativity research.

Morris: To what extent has your formal education been invaluable to what you have accomplished in life thus far?

Sawyer: I am not one of those people who thinks that schools kill creativity. Teachers and schools taught me so much that I needed to know to do the work I’ve done. My two degrees are from two extremely rigorous environments, MIT and the University of Chicago. What both of these places share is a deep commitment to ideas and inquiry. People really care about getting it right, about what is the truth about a phenomenon. Sometimes people argue, and I mean shouting…just because they really really care about ideas.

Morris: What do you know now about the business world that you wish you knew when you when to work full-time for the first time? Why?

Sawyer: I knew nothing! I was just a nerdy computer science graduate. And the videogame design company was not corporate at all; it was a small startup company that had all of the features we now associate with Internet startups. In 1982, we had a gourmet chef, we had company-paid vacations to Disneyworld…I got my real education about the business world when I started consulting for big companies like Citicorp and AT&T and US West. My mentor was the company founder, Kenan Sahin, who had been a professor in business at MIT. Thanks to him, I essentially received an MBA education on the job.

* * *

To read the complete interview, please click here.

Keith cordially invites you to check out the resources at these websites:

His home page

His blog

Keith’s Amazon page

The Zig Zag page

Huffington Post link

Vijay Govindarajan: An interview by Bob Morris

Vijay Govindarajan (“VG”) is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on strategy and innovation. He is the Earl C. Daum 1924 Professor of International Business at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He was the first Professor in Residence and Chief Innovation Consultant at General Electric. He worked with GE’s CEO Jeff Immelt to write “How GE is Disrupting Itself”, the Harvard Business Review article that pioneered the concept of reverse innovation – any innovation that is adopted first in the developing world. Harvard Business Review rated reverse innovation as one of the ten big ideas of the decade. VG works with CEOs and top management teams in Global Fortune 500 firms to discuss, challenge, and escalate their thinking about strategy. VG wrote the NYT and WSJ Best Seller, Reverse Innovation: Create Far From Home, Win Everywhere.

Here is an excerpt from my interview of VG. To read the complete interview, please click here.

* * *

Morris: When and why did you and Chris Trimble decide to write Reverse Innovation? What specific objectives did you have in mind?

Govindarajan: Growing up in India, I knew that the only way to solve our problems is innovation— India has too many problems and the country has too few resources. So I dedicated myself to research and write about innovation. Reverse Innovation brings me full circle back to India.

Morris: Were there any head-snapping revelations while writing it? Please explain.

Govindarajan: The biggest surprise was that innovations for the poor can transform the lives of the rich.

Morris: To what extent (if any) does the book in final form differ significantly from what you and Chris originally envisioned?

Govindarajan: Any book is an evolutionary process. It started with one company experience, GE. As we studies a dozen other companies, our theory evolved.

Morris: You and Chris Trimble have worked closely for several years. Please explain how all that happened.

Govindarajan: We have complementary strengths, yet both are committed to impacting practice. It has therefore been a great partnership.

Morris: In recent years, there has been sometimes severe criticism of M.B.A. programs, even those offered by the most prestigious business schools such as Tuck. In your opinion, in which area is there the greatest need for [begin italics] immediate [end italics] improvement? Why? Any specific suggestions?

Govindarajan: B-Schools need to connect theory with practice. After all we are an applied field. We should look to Medical Schools, Law Schools, and Engineering Schools for inspiration— not look for legitimacy from Pure Sciences like Physics and Chemistry.

Morris: I have read all of your books and then re-read most of them before formulating the questions for this interview. In your opinion, which of these books did you find most challenging to write? Why?

Govindarajan: Reverse Innovation since it brought to closure my life’s dreams.

Morris: Throughout history, which person do you think was the greatest innovative thinker? Please explain your selection.

Govindarajan: Thomas Edison because he understood that innovation is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Most people miss this point. Bulk of the innovation challenge is in the 99% perspiration— innovation execution. This is my central research area and this is what Reverse Innovation is all about.

Morris: There are several people whom both you and I hold in high regard. Please share your thoughts and feelings about each. First, Peter Drucker

Govindarajan: Great role model.

Morris: Next, the two Thomas Watsons, father and son

Govindarajan: Created new markets

Morris: Finally, C.K. Prahalad

Govindarajan: Friend, philosopher, and guide

Morris: In your opinion, what will be the single greatest challenge that CEOs will face during the next 3-5 years? Any advice?

Govindarajan: How to grow in a slow growth world? The key is innovation.

* * *

To read the complete interview, please click here.

To read my review of Reverse Innovation, please click here.

VG cordially invites you to check out the resources at these websites:

His faculty page

His blog

Reverse Discrimination page

Karen Wright: An interview by Bob Morris

Karen Wright is an executive coach, author, speaker and consultant. She has an MBA in Marketing from the Ivey Business School and an undergraduate degree in Economics from Western University. She graduated from the world’s leading coach training organization, was one of the inaugural students in its affiliated Corporate Coaching program, is a teacher for both schools and mentors new coaches around the world. Karen is trained in numerous assessment instruments and processes and worked with Dr. Martin Seligman in the first cohort of coaches trained in his positive psychology-based coaching program. She is a recent graduate of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, which has provided the foundation for her new executive peak performance and top talent development program for organizations. The first Professional Certified Coach (PCC) in Canada and now one of an elite group of Master Certified Coaches, a past International Coach Federation Board member, and founder of the Toronto Chapter, Karen is a leader in the field of corporate coaching. 

A nationally published columnist and sought-after speaker, Karen has been featured many times in the media and is a trusted resource for inquiries on leadership and career-related topics. The Complete Executive: The 10-Step System for Great Leadership Performance is her latest book, published by Bibliomotion (2012).

Here is an excerpt from my interview of her. To read the complete interview, please click here.

* * *



Morris: Before discussing The Complete Executive, a few general questions. First, who has had the greatest influence on your personal growth? How so?

Wright: So many! My grandmother, I suppose, if I have to name just one. She was strong and resourceful and creative and always maintained her sense of humor even in the most challenging of times.

Morris: The greatest impact on your professional development? How so?

Wright: Every client I’ve ever worked with has challenged me and helped me grow on some level – my work as a coach is a constant exercise in personal and professional growth. My mastermind group members, who won’t allow me to take the easy way if it won’t be my best work. And I’ve had a couple of mentors over the years who have helped me hugely. I’m lucky – there have been many I’ve been able to learn from.

Morris: Years ago, was there a turning point (if not an epiphany) that set you on the career course you continue to follow? Please explain.

Wright: Yes, definitely. I had a career in consumer packaged goods marketing that led me to accept a move to the U.S. (from my home in Canada) with Frito-Lay. There were a number of organizational changes that resulted in my having several different bosses in a very short period of time which meant I had no clear mandate and no clear career direction. As I recognized the problem I also recognized that it was time for me to choose a different path, so I resigned and began the process of intentionally designing my next step. That process ultimately led to coaching.



Morris: To what extent has your formal education been invaluable to what you have accomplished in life thus far?

Wright: Hugely, but not in the sense of the academic learning being critical. It was useful, to be sure, but I don’t think that’s where I derived the greatest benefit. I learned how to work in a team, how to manage time, how to juggle priorities (I supported myself financially while I was in school). I also learned critical thinking and problem solving – the business school I attended teaches with the case method, which I still believe is incredibly powerful.

Morris: What do you know now about business that you wish you knew when you went to work full-time for the first time? Why?

Wright: I wish I’d known how important it is to understand the dynamics of the people in any given situation. I think I went into my first job thinking my success would be all about the quality of my work. Not an uncommon assumption, particularly at an early career stage, but I believe I had co-workers at the time who had greater interpersonal intelligence in spite of their youth and they did very well.

Morris: From which non-business book have you learned the most valuable lessons about business? Please explain.

Wright: One of my favorites is Dr. Seuss’ Oh, The Places You’ll Go! I believe in abundance and possibility and the power of personal choice and initiative and our ability to get through tough times and succeed against the odds and that’s what that great book is all about.

Morris: Here are several of my favorite quotations to which I ask you to respond. First, from Lao-Tzu’s Tao Te Ching:

“Learn from the people
Plan with the people
Begin with what they have
Build on what they know
of the best leaders
When the task is accomplished
The people will remark
We have done it ourselves.”

Wright: I truly believe that the great leaders are “ego-less.” Confident, but ego-less. For me that means that if you learn from everyone around you and bring out the best in others and ensure they feel a sense of pride and ownership, and if the right things are done for the right reasons, that is success, and it doesn’t matter who actually gets the “credit.”

Morris: From Oscar Wilde: “Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.”

Wright: I’ll see you Oscar Wilde and raise you Lily Tomlin: “I always wanted to be somebody but now I see I should have been more specific.” I think that the incredibly self-aware individual is rare, and to have great self-awareness combined with the courage to fully express your individuality is uncommon indeed. And it’s true – each of us is unique and I don’t think the world, particularly the world of work, easily accepts that which is different. Sad, really.

Morris: From Albert Einstein: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

Wright: I use Einstein’s definition of insanity frequently. I think we all get stuck using our favorite tools and approaches. Creativity is hard, especially under pressure or in difficult circumstances – but that’s when it’s needed most.

Morris: Finally, from Peter Drucker: “There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all.”

Wright: I like to ask clients to ask themselves two questions when deciding how to manage their time. First, ask “Must this be done?” I know for sure that we all do things that would not be missed if we stopped. And that’s particularly true in organizations where oftentimes an individual’s entire reason for being is to create reports or analyses that are not used or useful. Second question – “Must I be the one to do it?” If the thing truly MUST be done, then it’s critical that it be done by whoever has the unique skills and experiences required – and that’s not usually the person charged with doing the thing. So yes, I agree with Mr. Drucker wholeheartedly.


Morris: Here’s a brief excerpt from Paul Schoemaker’s latest book, Brilliant Mistakes: “The key question companies need to address is not ‘[begin italics] Should [end italics] we make mistakes?’ but rather ‘[begin italics] Which [end italics] mistakes should we make in order to test our deeply held assumptions?’” Your response?

Wright: I’m not sure any of us can decide in advance what mistakes to make. We can only decide whether or not to take a risk – whether to venture into uncharted territory.


Morris: In your opinion, why do so many C-level executives seem to have such a difficult time delegating work to others?



Wright: Work is measurable, satisfying, comfortable. When we’re under stress we default to what we know and are sure of, so that’s sometimes why delegation is tough for some. In other cases there might be an issue of trust – do I have the right people in the right jobs? But better to solve for the talent issue than to cover it up by doing their work for them. That said, one of the toughest challenges for anyone to do is to hire people who are better than they are, but it’s what must be done for the success of the entire enterprise.

* * *

To read the complete interview, please click here.

Karen cordially invite(s) you to check out the resources at these websites:

Her home page

Parachute Executive Coaching home page

Karen’s Amazon page

Lawrence Cunningham: Part 1 of an interview by Bob Morris

Lawrence Cunningham is the Henry St. George Tucker III Research Professor at George Washington University Law School and Director of GW’s Center for Law, Economics and Finance (C-LEAF) in New York. He is the author of numerous books including three editions of The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America (Third Edition, March 8, 2013), The AIG Story (written with Hank Greenberg) and Contracts in the Real World: Stories of Popular Contracts and Why They Matter. His research appears in leading university journals, including those published by Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Michigan, Vanderbilt and Virginia; his Op-Eds have run in the Baltimore Sun, the Financial Times, the National Law Journal, the New York Daily News and the New York Times. On Amazon, Cunningham has been ranked one of the top 100 authors in the category of business and investing.

Here is an excerpt from Part 1 of my interview of him. To read all of it, please click here.

* * *

Morris: To what extent has your formal education been invaluable to what you have accomplished in life thus far?

Cunningham: As a university professor, it would be blasphemous but to declare my formal education invaluable and there’s also a lot of truth in it. I learned some of the most important things I know from classroom work in economics in college and in law and business in law school. I’ve learned a great many things in the decades since, of course, but those days trained me to think, encouraged me to be curious, taught me how to interact with others, and nurtured countless other traits.

Morris: What do you know now about the business world that you wish you knew when you went to work full-time for the first time? Why?

Cunningham: The importance of relationships to opening doors and keeping them open. Merit seemed as important as anything else when I began my career as a corporate lawyer in 1988. And while merit matters, what’s more important over the longer term is the quality of the network of friends, colleagues, mentors, and fans that you develop and maintain at each phase of your life and career. There is a lot of truth in the old saying: “It’s not what you know but who you know.”

Morris: Of all the films that you have seen, which – in your opinion – best dramatizes important business principles? Please explain.

Cunningham: Other People’s Money. Hollywood has always had a bit of a hate affair with American business in portraying corporations and capitalists in negative lights. The exception is Other People’s Money, as it presents both sides of the story in a difficult circumstance of a company in decline: whether to stick it out or close it down. (Incidentally, it is akin to the angst portrayed in The Essays of Warren Buffett concerning a struggling New England textile company that Buffett eventually shut down.)

* * *

Morris: Here are several of my favorite quotations to which I ask you to respond. First from Voltaire: “Cherish those who seek the truth but beware of those who find it.”

Cunningham: Truth is elusive. Searching for it is indeed noble. But be skeptical of anyone who claims to have found it.

Morris: From Albert Einstein: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

Cunningham: Reminds of a quip, attributed to Will Rogers, quoted in The Essays of Warren Buffett: “When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.” It also reminds me of another Einstein quip: “Everything should be as simple as possible, but not more so.”

Morris: Finally, from Peter Drucker: “There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all.”

Cunningham: I wish such wisdom had been taken to heart by the financial engineers whose derivative products fueled the mortgages behind the housing boom that collapsed so catastrophically in 2008.

* * *

Morris: In Tom Davenport’s latest book, Judgment Calls, he and co-author Brooke Manville offer “an antidote for the Great Man theory of decision making and organizational performance”: organizational judgment. That is, “the collective capacity to make good calls and wise moves when the need for them exceeds the scope of any single leader’s direct control.” What do you think?

Cunningham: The wisdom of crowds and the power of markets are real. But within an organization it can be difficult to maintain a “collective capacity” for decision making, which would resemble a democratic vote. Shareholders do a little of that when electing directors and voting in annual meetings when no single person is entitled to make such extraordinary decisions. But with such choices made, directors and the senior executives they appoint cannot discharge their duties by referendum.

True, within boards of directors, corporations have always drawn on a fundamental notion of organizational judgment. A team rather than an individual speaks for and binds the corporation. Law even gives such board decisions reverence, under the “business judgment rule,” which keeps judges out of second-guessing.

The danger to watch for in any move to such organizational judgment is the risk of authority without accountability, which I know we will discuss a bit more later.

Morris: Here’s a brief excerpt from Paul Schoemaker’s latest book, Brilliant Mistakes: “The key question companies need to address is not ‘Should we make mistakes?’ but rather ‘which mistakes should we make in order to test our deeply held assumptions?’” Your response?

Cunningham: I am not sure about the notion of having an appetite for mistakes, even as a way to test assumptions. There are other less costly ways to test assumptions, such as by logical critique, contained experiments and consulting analogical experience. The wisdom I see in this quotation might be flipped around, to say there are a class of mistakes we should avoid absolutely. Foremost among these would be any decisions that impair a company’s reputation, for instance, another point I know we’ll discuss more later.

* * *

To read all of Part 1, please click here.

Larry cordially invites you to check out the resources at these websites:

The publisher’s page for The Essays

Amazon’s page for The Essays

Vijay Govindarajan: An interview by Bob Morris

Vijay Govindarajan (“VG”) is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on strategy and innovation. He is the Earl C. Daum 1924 Professor of International Business at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He was the first Professor in Residence and Chief Innovation Consultant at General Electric. He worked with GE’s CEO Jeff Immelt to write “How GE is Disrupting Itself,” the Harvard Business Review article that pioneered the concept of reverse innovation – any innovation that is adopted first in the developing world. Harvard Business Review rated reverse innovation as one of the ten big ideas of the decade. VG works with CEOs and top management teams in Global Fortune 500 firms to discuss, challenge, and escalate their thinking about strategy. VG wrote the NYT and WSJ Best Seller, Reverse Innovation: Create Far From Home, Win Everywhere.

Here is an excerpt from my interview of VG. To read the complete interview, please click here.

* * *

Morris: When and why did you and Chris Trimble decide to write Reverse Innovation? What specific objectives did you have in mind?

Govindarajan: Growing up in India, I knew that the only way to solve our problems is innovation— India has too many problems and the country has too few resources. So I dedicated myself to research and write about innovation. Reverse Innovation brings me full circle back to India.

Morris: Were there any head-snapping revelations while writing it? Please explain.

Govindarajan: The biggest surprise was that innovations for the poor can transform the lives of the rich.

Morris: To what extent (if any) does the book in final form differ significantly from what you and Chris originally envisioned?

Govindarajan: Any book is an evolutionary process. It started with one company experience, GE. As we studies a dozen other companies, our theory evolved.

Morris: You and Chris Trimble have worked closely for several years. Please explain how all that happened.

Govindarajan: We have complementary strengths, yet both are committed to impacting practice. It has therefore been a great partnership.

Morris: In recent years, there has been sometimes severe criticism of M.B.A. programs, even those offered by the most prestigious business schools such as Tuck. In your opinion, in which area is there the greatest need for [begin italics] immediate [end italics] improvement? Why? Any specific suggestions?

Govindarajan: B-Schools need to connect theory with practice. After all we are an applied field. We should look to Medical Schools, Law Schools, and Engineering Schools for inspiration— not look for legitimacy from Pure Sciences like Physics and Chemistry.

Morris: I have read all of your books and then re-read most of them before formulating the questions for this interview. In your opinion, which of these books did you find most challenging to write? Why?

Govindarajan: Reverse Innovation since it brought to closure my life’s dreams.

Morris: Throughout history, which person do you think was the greatest innovative thinker? Please explain your selection.

Govindarajan: Thomas Edison because he understood that innovation is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Most people miss this point. Bulk of the innovation challenge is in the 99% perspiration— innovation execution. This is my central research area and this is what Reverse Innovation is all about.

Morris: There are several people whom both you and I hold in high regard. Please share your thoughts and feelings about each. First, Peter Drucker

Govindarajan: Great role model.

Morris: Next, the two Thomas Watsons, father and son

Govindarajan: Created new markets

Morris: Finally, C.K. Prahalad

Govindarajan: Friend, philosopher, and guide

Morris: In your opinion, what will be the single greatest challenge that CEOs will face during the next 3-5 years? Any advice?

Govindarajan: How to grow in a slow growth world? The key is innovation.

* * *

To read the complete interview, please click here.

To read my review of Reverse Innovation, please click here.

VG cordially invites you to check out the resources at these websites:

His faculty page

His blog

Reverse Innovation page

The ONE Thing: A book review by Bob Morris

The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results
Gary Keller with Jay Papasan
Bard Press (2013)

How and why to select and then do only what is most important while ignoring almost everything else

Up front, I want to acknowledge that I think the word “thing” is worthless. Because it can refer to everything (NOT every thing), it refers to nothing. Think about it: “no thing refers to no thing”? Nonetheless, it remains one of the popular words in the English language. This book and its title offer a case in point.

However, semantics aside, with assistance from Jay Papasan, Gary Keller rigorously examines a very important insight: The sharper the focus of our attention and effort, the better the result will be: answering the ONE question, solving the ONE problem, achieving the ONE objective…producing the ONE result… that is MOST IMPORTANT.

When Keller first began to time block, the most effective t**** he did was to put up a sheet of paper that said, “Until My ONE T**** Is Done – Everything Else Is a Distraction!”

These are among the highly informative passages that Keller provides throughout his lively narrative, in addition to a series of effective Figures (not T****s) as well as a “Big Ideas” (not “Big T****s”) section at the conclusion of each chapter:

o Six Lies That Are Barriers to Success (Page 30)
o Extreme Pareto (39-41)
o [Brain] Food for Thought (66-67)
o Counterbalancing – the Long and Short of It, and, Life Is a Balancing Act (79-82)
o Going Big (87-91)
o Life Is a Question, and, Anatomy of the Question, (104-110)
o How to make the ONE T**** strong enough to achieve extraordinary results (117-118)
o How and why the path to a great answer begins with a great question (119-127)
o Happiness On Purpose (139-144)
o How and why lives are driven by the purpose they’re given (147-154)
o Time Blocking (159-170)
o Three Commitments (176-188)
o The three essential commitments to the ONE T**** (175-188)
o The four “thieves” of productivity (190-206)
o How and why success is an “inside job” (214-216)

Keller obviously understands and appreciates the power of metaphors because he makes such effective use of them. The domino, for example, that serves at least two separate but related functions in his skillful hands: as a cause and as an effect. ONE MOST IMPORTANT T**** leads to (enables) another ONE MOST IMPORTANT T****: Do what must be done (if nothing else) today so that you can then do what must be done (if nothing else) tomorrow; only then can you do what must be done (if nothing else) the day after tomorrow. You get the idea. Throughout this process, keep in mind that whatever else can also be done during this hypothetical three-day time frame is probably a distraction.

As I read and then re-read this book prior to composing my review of it, I was reminded again of two quotations. First, from Abraham Lincoln before power saws were available: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” Now, from Peter Drucker: “There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all.” I agree with Gary Keller that, to achieve extraordinary results, it is imperative to select and then do only what is most important while ignoring almost everything else.

Getting Innovation Right: A book review by Bob Morris

Getting Innovation Right: How Leaders Leverage Inflection Points to Drive Success
Seth Kahan
Jossey-Bass/A Wiley Imprint (2013)

“There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all.” Peter Drucker

Those who have read any of Seth Kahan’s previous books (notably Getting Change Right) already know that he has an insatiable curiosity to understand what works in business, what doesn’t, and why so that he can then share what he has learned with as many people as possible. He is a world-class pragmatist and that is obvious in his latest book in which he explains “how leaders leverage inflection points to drive success.” The former chairman and CEO of Intel, Andy Grove, was probably the first person to popularize the term in his book, Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company (1996), although it was by then familiar to students of differential calculus. During a presentation at an Intel annual meeting in 1998, Grove explains what he means by strategic inflection points.

“They represent, in my description of it, what happens to a business when a major change takes place in its competitive environment. A major change due to introduction of new technologies. A major change due to the introduction of a different regulatory environment. The major change can be simply a change in the customers’ values, a change in what customers prefer. Almost always it hits the corporation in such a way that those of us in senior management are among the last ones to notice. I’m paraphrasing the words you used in some of your talk, Peter. But what is common to all of them and what is key is that they require a fundamental change in business strategy, and that’s almost a definition of a Strategic Inflection Point. A Strategic Inflection Point is that which causes you to make a fundamental change in business strategy. Nothing less is sufficient.’

I think Getting Innovation Right is Kahan’s most valuable and thus will become his most influential book…thus far. The information, insights, and counsel he provides in it are relevant to almost any organization, whatever its size and nature may be. Moreover, his pragmatic approach to core issues ensures that most of his focus is on what to do and how to do it. For example, consider his brilliant use of reader-friendly devices that include illustrative Figures (23 of them) and data composite Tables (four of them) as well as “Expert Input” contributions in each chapter by real executives in real situations and a “Success Rules” recap at the conclusion of Chapters 1-7.

Kahan realizes that many (if not most) effirts to crerate a workplace environment within which innovation thrives either fail ort fall far short of original expectations. Why? Reasons vary, of course, but Kahan suggests three likely causes: operational pressures, stress of continuous improvement, and changing dynamics within the given industry and/or competitive marketplace. What he offers is a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective system that — with appropriate modifications, of course — by which business leaders can leverage the inflection points to expand the given customer base. When explaining HOW, Kahan focuses on five factors: (1) Current customer satisfaction, (2) Their desire for whatever is offered, (3) The current reputation of its provider, (4) A value proposition that is both (key descriptives) deliverable and sustainable, and (5) Effective outreach.

These are among the dozens of passages that caught my eye, also listed to suggest the scope of Kahan’s ‘s coverage.

o Four Targets for Innovation Strategy (Pages 7-14)
o Using Inflection Points to Achieve Success (22-31)
o The Three Forces That Jeopardize Innovation (37-44)
o The Three Areas of Focus for Intelligence (66-71)
o Figure 3.1: The Ten Stages of the Customer Journey (78-79)
o Four Techniques for Shifting Perspective (98-106)
o The Four Forces of Disruption (110-114)
o Value Assessments (140-144)
o The Innovation Profit Cycle, The Facets of Value, and The Three Types of Added Value (151-158)
o Creating New Value (175-181)
o The Four Thresholds of Engagement (185-198)
o Build Presence Through Value Pulses (210-217)

Also, these resources:

Appendix A: Sample Business Intelligence Contract (219-222)
Appendix B: High-Level Outline of a Typical Business Plan (223-224)
Appendix C: Simplified Business Plan Financial Model (225-226)

Seth Kahan certainly achieves his ultimate objective: To introduce and explain seven key activities that will help prepare leaders in almost any organization to leverage inflection points to drive its success. By way of review, the activities are (1) pursue inflection points, (2) build innovation capacity, (3) collect intelligence, (4) shift perspective from status quo to what can and should be better, (5) exploit opportunities generated by disruption, (6) create value for all stakeholders, and (7) drive innovation uptake.

With all due respect to the wealth of information, insights, and counsel provided in this book, however, it remains for each reader to determine (a) which of the material is most relevant to the given enterprise and then (b) make a full and shared commitment with colleagues to formulate, implement, and continuously improve a results-driven, high-impact action plan. When embarked on that journey, I hope that will keep Drucker’s observation in mind: “There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all.”

Mark Goulston and John Ullmen: An interview by Bob Morris

Mark Goulston, M.D., is a prominent psychiatrist, business advisor, and executive coach. He is co-founder of Heartfelt Leadership whose mission is: “Daring to Care.” He is the author of the bestselling Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone (AMACOM, 2009) and subject of the PBS special “Just Listen with Dr. Goulston.” Featured in major media from Harvard Business Review to Oprah Radio, he also writes a Tribune syndicated career column and blogs for Fast Company, Huffington Post, and Psychology Today. Goulston’s education includes a B.A. from UC Berkeley, an M.D. from Boston University, and residency in psychiatry at UCLA. He went on to be a professor at UCLA for more than twenty years.

John Ullmen, Ph.D., is an internationally acclaimed executive coach who is on faculty at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He oversees MotivationRules.com and conducts popular feedback-based seminars on influence in organizations. Ullmen began his career as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, where he served as a lead systems engineer for a top-secret Joint Chiefs of Staff intelligence program. He holds a B.S. from the U.S. Air Force Academy, a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

They are the co-authors of Real Influence: Persuade Without Pushing and Gain Without Giving In, published by AMACOM (January 2013), and both live in Los Angeles, California.

Here is an excerpt from my interview of them. To read the complete interview, please click here.

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Morris: Before discussing Real Influence, a few general questions. First, who has had the greatest influence on your personal growth? How so?

Goulston: The Dean of Students at my medical school who, when I hit a wall, or rather a wall fell on me, stood up for me when I couldn’t, believed in me what I didn’t, saw a future for me that I couldn’t see, and refused to let me fail.

Ullmen: My parents, though it took me a long time to realize it. They had very difficult childhoods, hard working lives and a challenging marriage. When I finally gained a long-overdue perspective on the sacrifices they made for me and my sister, I changed.

Morris: The greatest impact on your professional development? How so?

Ullmen: My mentor, colleague, dear friend and fellow erratic golfer Professor Sam Culbert. He gives me unconditional love and support, but also kicks in the caboose when I need do more or better.

Goulston: I am blessed to have leadership guru Warren Bennis as a mentor. I love Warren and he has told me that he loves me. Every day that gives me something to live up to.

Morris: Years ago, was there a turning point (if not an epiphany) that set you on the career course you continue to follow? Please explain.

Goulston: Actually it was in the past couple years when I realized I couldn’t work with people that I didn’t like, trust or respect and that I didn’t think I could come to like, trust or respect. Essentially I can’t and don’t want to work with people I can’t root for. I have made some exceptions with people who do great things for the world or others.

Ullmen: I was stressed for many years by my lack of career clarity, until a chance meeting and conversation w/the Chairman of a large organization that turned into an impromptu coaching session helped me discover it was there all along.

Morris: To what extent has your formal education been invaluable to what you have accomplished in life thus far?

Ullmen: Earlier I mentioned my parents, who worked so hard to afford to live in a neighborhood with a good school so my sister and I could have a quality education. That had a ripple effect that led to opportunities at amazing institutions for my undergrad, masters and PhD. I’ll never repay enough what those teachers, coaches and mentors gave me.

Goulston: I don’t know if it is so much what I learned, but how I learned and I have used my education to be a life long learner and to do learn from many angles. That has enabled me to more easily go to the other person’s “there.”

Morris: What do you know now about the business world that you wish you knew when you when to work full-time for the first time? Why?

Goulston: To listen “into” people sooner and hear what they were not saying that was critical to understanding them.

Ullmen: Organizational politics and invisible lines of influence that are “off the org chart.” Learning to see those dynamics is like in the movies when they use smoke to show where the laser beams are that trip the alarms. It’s sometimes frustrating, but helps you get safely from here to there.

Morris: Of all the films that you have seen, which – in your opinion – best dramatizes important business principles? Please explain.

Ullmen: You’ll think I’m joking, but I’m not, mostly. I love how Meet the Parents highlights the compounding problems of being inauthentic—in this case it’s about family systems but there are parallels to organization systems. Ben Stiller’s character contorts himself hilariously in ill-fated attempts to impress his girlfriend’s father, a tough guy ex-CIA agent played by Robert DeNiro. Through this lens, the family dinner scene is a must-see.

Goulston: I don’t know if it’s because it is recent, but Lincoln, directed by Steven Spielberg has to be near the top. In the movie Lincoln seemed so principle and duty bound, that it gave him the perseverance he needed to make it through the Civil War and to not compromise on passing the 13th Amendment in order to end it sooner.

Morris: From which non-business book have you learned the most valuable lessons about business? Please explain.

Goulston: Judgment: How Winning Leaders Make Great Calls by Noel Tichy and Warren Bennis is a wonderful explanation about the importance of judgment to leadership. Power Questions: Build Relationships, Win New Business and Influence Others by Andrew Sobel and Jerold Panas which shows the power of asking great questions to get people to open up and to connect with them.

Ullmen: Frank McCourt’s amazing Angela’s Ashes reminds me how there is so much more to the people around us at work than we realize. We bring our whole selves and whole lives to work with us, and show a portion. The un-shown parts matter too.

Morris: Here are several of my favorite quotations to which I ask you to respond. First, from Lao-Tzu’s Tao Te Ching:

“Learn from the people
Plan with the people
Begin with what they have
Build on what they know
Of the best leaders
When the task is accomplished
The people will remark
We have done it ourselves.”

Ullmen: What a coincidence. I use the last four lines in my MBA leadership class as the finale in a series of over a dozen quotes on leadership. (The first one is Machiavelli on how it’s “better to be feared than loved.”) Great leaders eventually work themselves out of a job, and take pride in it, because they develop the confidence and capabilities of people around them.

Goulston: When you enable your people to self-discover what’s important to their organization and themselves they take ownership of their lives instead of feeling that it belongs to others. This adds a wonderful sense of vitality to their lives.

* * *

To read the complete interview, please click here.

Mark and John cordially invite you to check out the bonus resources by clicking here.

Josh Lerner: An interview by Bob Morris

Josh Lerner is the Jacob H. Schiff Professor of Investment Banking at Harvard Business School, with a joint appointment in the Finance and the Entrepreneurial Management Units. He graduated from Yale College and Harvard’s Economics Department.

Much of his research focuses on the structure and role of venture capital and private equity organizations. He also examines policies towards innovation, and how they impact firm strategies. He co-directs the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Productivity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Program and serves as co-editor of their publication, Innovation Policy and the Economy. He founded and runs the Private Capital Research Institute, a non-profit devoted to encouraging data access to and research about venture capital and private equity.

In the 1993-94 academic year, he introduced an elective course for second-year MBAs on private equity finance. In recent years, “Venture Capital and Private Equity” has consistently been one of the largest elective courses at Harvard Business School. He is the winner of the Swedish government’s 2010 Global Entrepreneurship Research Award and has recently been named one of the 100 most influential people in private equity over the past decade by Private Equity International magazine.

His latest book is The Architecture of Innovation: The Economics of Creative Organizations, published by Harvard Business Review Press (September 4, 2012).

Here is an excerpt from my interview of him. To read the complete interview, please click here.

* * *

Morris: Before discussing The Architecture of Innovation, a few general questions. First, who has had the greatest influence on your professional development? How so?

Lerner: One of the great privileges over the last 20+ has been to be part of a community of scholars interested in innovation and entrepreneurship, who assemble regularly at the National Bureau of Economic Research. This group has been an invaluable source of ideas, not only about how to undertaking cutting edge studies, but what kind of big questions are the most critical.

Morris: Years ago, was there a turning point (if not an epiphany) that set you on the career course you continue to follow? Please explain.

Lerner: I had worked for a few years in Washington between college and graduate school, mostly related to questions of how policies could most effectively boost U.S. competitiveness and innovation. At a certain point, I realized that not only did we not have a very good idea as to how innovation policy should be designed, but that even the basic mechanisms of how new ideas are developed and how innovative new firms are formed was incredibly poorly understood. I headed off to Harvard eager to understand these issues, questions that I have been working on ever since!

Morris: To what extent has your formal education been invaluable to what you have accomplished in life thus far?

Lerner: Academic research is a bit of a closed shop—one needs to have a set of tools that are almost impossible to learn except through a doctoral program. The great thing about Harvard Business School is that it allows one to combine those academic skills with frequent “real world” exposure—the combination is really very powerful.

Morris: Of all the films that you have seen, which – in your opinion – best dramatizes important business principles? Please explain.

Lerner: Great question! Whatever it’s factual limitations, it’s hard not to like The Social Network for its depiction how ephemeral entrepreneurial success is—and how seemingly irrational decisions can create tremendous amounts of value. There are a lot of insights about the entrepreneurial process more generally there. More generally, we could make a long list, but it would be hard not to include The Godfather and Trading Places!

Morris: From which non-business book have you learned the most valuable lessons about business? Please explain.

Lerner: Another interesting issue… lots of relevant fiction for business —for instance, much of Balzac and Dickens have a lot to say about many crucial business dynamics today. Hard to pinpoint one book, though!

Morris: Here are several of my favorite quotations to which I ask you to respond. First, from Lao-Tzu’s Tao Te Ching:

“Learn from the people
Plan with the people
Begin with what they have
Build on what they know
Of the best leaders
When the task is accomplished
The people will remark
We have done it ourselves.”

Lerner: Certainly, this captures the spirit of academic research in business. A lot of what we are trying to do is “obvious” in the sense that we are trying to document and deconstruct real-world phenomena. But to make reality clearer—and hopefully, to discover some real surprises along the way—can be a major accomplishment in its own right.

Morris: Next, from Voltaire: “Cherish those who seek the truth but beware of those who find it.”

Lerner: Again, a lot of what we do as researchers in tough areas such as innovation is an ongoing conversation. There are no final answers. Rather, each analysis builds on the ones that have come before. We like to say that we are “standing on the shoulders of giants.” And if our work is successful, it will inspire others to do follow on work as well.

Morris: And then, from Oscar Wilde: “Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.”

Lerner: Certainly, there is a lot of temptation to do what is the most profitable or acclaimed route. I am always much more of a fan if “pursuing your dream”—however, eclectic, to pursue what interests you the most.

Morris: From Albert Einstein: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

Lerner: Again, this very much captures the spirit of research. The work that simply takes the same frameworks and applies them into different settings may be publishable, but the most exciting work is always that which takes a fresh perspective on issues.

Morris: In Tom Davenport’s latest book, Judgment Calls, he and co-author Brooke Manville offer “an antidote for the Great Man theory of decision making and organizational performance”: organizational judgment. That is, “the collective capacity to make good calls and wise moves when the need for them exceeds the scope of any single leader’s direct control.” What do you think?

Lerner: An alternative view of where innovations come from can be termed the “great man” theory. Breakthroughs, it is claimed, are all about visionaries, who are periodically visited by flashes of genius. Such a view has a long pedigree—think of Archimedes running naked through the streets of Syracuse after solving in the bathtub the problem of determining gold’s purity—and certainly has some truth. Indeed, many of the biographers of technology industry leaders such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Larry Ellison attribute their success to a super-human ability to spot innovations. But this view, too, is very incomplete. Correctly predicting the future is just the beginning, not the end of the innovation process. The annals of technology are rife with individuals and firms that had a clear vision of where the future was going, yet some somehow failed to cash in on these insights. Much of the problem seems to lie in the way that the organizations were organized, that prevented them from taking advantage of these insights.

* * *

To read the complete interview, please click here.

Josh cordially invites you to check out the resources at these websites:

Harvard Business School page

Amazon page

Lina Echeverría: An interview by Bob Morris

Lina Echeverría spent twenty-five years inspiring creativity and accelerating innovation at Corning Incorporated, one of America’s leading technology companies, that provided the world with everything from the optical fiber that enabled the Internet to the tough glass used for iPhones. Echeverría led teams of scientists and researchers that developed everything from ceramic filters for car exhausts, glasses for TV screens, optical glasses, and dinnerware.

At Corning, Echeverría created an environment where scientists were creative and productive; and teams balanced the ability to explore the edges of possibility, while delivering critical new technology on time and on budget. Echeverría was known not just for her ability to effectively lead and manage (and keep happy) creative scientists, but also for her ability to teach those skills to others. During her career, she led teams and organizations in the US and in France.


A native of Colombia, Echeverría was the first woman to seek admission and graduate in engineering geology from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia at Medellín, inspiring a generation of women who followed. She went on to earn a Ph.D. in geology at Stanford.

Echeverría stepped aside from the corporate world to help create cultures of innovation inside companies and organizations. The mother of two children, she is fluent in English, Spanish and French, and lives in upstate New York with her husband, a research scientist. Her last book, Idea Agent: Leadership that Liberates Creativity and Accelerates Innovation, was published by AMACOM (November 2012).

Here is an excerpt from my interview of her. To read the complete interview, please click here.

* * *

Morris: Before discussing Idea Agent, a few general questions. First, who has had the greatest influence on your personal growth? How so?

Echeverría: With a start point of learning about providing constructive feedback, the guidance and dialogues with Dasarath Davidson opened the door to rich concepts on the spirit of leadership, empowerment and, mostly self-awareness. He understood my approach to leading groups and growing people and gave me the tools so the experience would be fulfilling, not frustrating, enriching, not draining. He was deep, demanding, and relentless and taught me much about commitment and courage and, importantly, the practice of balancing passion and detachment, the only way to face tough situations.

Morris: The greatest impact on your professional development? How so?

Echeverría: My advisor at Stanford, Bob Coleman, had a great impact in giving me wings, while raising the bar for every thing I did. He would put me on center stage of interesting challenges and opportunities, new to me and significant to him, and never failed to trust in me. He gave me a sense of empowerment that is still priceless—and terrific approaches, like his demand for “three options” for every challenge one faces.

Morris: To what extent has your formal education been invaluable to what you have accomplished in life thus far?

Echeverría: I believe the greatest value of a formal education is that it surrounds you with people who are sharper than yourself, forcing you to bring out the best in you; it opens doors to fields and people and ways of doing things that enlarge your own. One has no idea if the field that you train for is going to be applicable to future activities. For many that is indeed the case: they keep and going deeper and deeper to become the world’s experts in one fields. But not for all. I went into geology because I fell in love with rocks, in the field and under the microscope with the puzzle of mountain building. I had no idea that it would lead me to glass chemistry and on the corporate world.

Morris: Here are several of my favorite quotations to which I ask you to respond. First, from Lao-Tzu’s Tao Te Ching:

“Learn from the people
Plan with the people
Begin with what they have
Build on what they know
Of the best leaders
When the task is accomplished
The people will remark
We have done it ourselves.”

Echeverría: Funny you should start with one of my very favorite quotations, from the sixth century BC Lao Tzu—though I have known it in a different form:

A leader is best when people barely know that he exists,
not so good when people obey and acclaim him,
worst when they despise him.

“Fail to honor people,
they fail to honor you.”
But of a good leader, who talks little,
when his work is done, his aim fulfilled
the people will say, ‘We did this ourselves’ “

It is a timeless and compelling description of authentic leadership. It talks about things that are essential to authentic leadership such as empowerment and leadership as service (as opposed to self-aggrandizement).

Morris: Next, from Voltaire: “Cherish those who seek the truth but beware of those who find it.”

Echeverría: This one takes us back to the previous one, as often those who “have found the truth” believe themselves to be superior, hence the fallacy of their own position.

Morris: And then, from Oscar Wilde: “Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.”

Echeverría: The genius of Oscar Wilde is hard to match. So is his sarcastic humor. And in this one, he pairs them both.

Morris: From Albert Einstein: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

Echeverría: An earlier version of the need for “out of the box” thinking. Or “paradigm shift”. Too bad the concepts have become clichés, rather than understood and truly used, as Einstein extols us. Perhaps this is simply proof of how hard it is to break old habits.

Morris: Finally, from Peter Drucker: “There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all.”

Echeverría: Efficiency is often the great enemy of significance. But it has a lot of clout, and often takes first place in initiatives.

Morris: In Tom Davenport’s latest book, Judgment Calls, he and co-author Brooke Manville offer “an antidote for the Great Man theory of decision making and organizational performance”: organizational judgment. That is, “the collective capacity to make good calls and wise moves when the need for them exceeds the scope of any single leader’s direct control.” What do you think?

Echeverría: I read this as a call for empowerment, a concept that I resonate with, that I have relied on, and that I have seen produce amazing results. Empowerment is about distributing authority in a group, it is about encouraging accountability to release the full power of its members, and about delivering BIG. Rather than weakening and debilitating the influence of a leader, as may be feared, in reality this commitment between organization and leader has compelling sway in unleashing and driving high performance.

Morris: Here’s a brief excerpt from Paul Schoemaker’s latest book, Brilliant Mistakes: “The key question companies need to address is not ‘ Should we make mistakes?’ but rather ‘Which mistakes should we make in order to test our deeply held assumptions?’” Your response?

Echeverría: I would have a hard time predicting which mistakes one should aim for. It is just as hard as predicting which ideas will succeed and which will fail. They are both exercises in futility. What I would advocate is that space for mistakes be made, the safety nets below the tall branches where the daring need to climb. If one needs to test the organization’s and leader’s deeply held assumptions, just give space to the members of the organization to define best practices; to think the un-thought of, to come up with ideas and push them through. As they do so, give them space to question. Their questioning will uncover those deeply-held beliefs and assumptions that, as your Peter Drucker quotation suggests, often point in directions better left untouched.

Morris: In your opinion, why do so many C-level executives seem to have such a difficult time delegating work to others?

Echeverría: Delegation is an important component of empowering others. The empowering stand of leading to bring out the best in others is about believing in people and being committed to their success and well-being. It is about seeing their potential—even before they do—and developing it, creating opportunities for them to walk into and grow, raising the bar and challenging people to stretch and expand. But it is also about raising the performance of an organization to achieve unprecedented results. Unfortunately, empowering is often interpreted as lack of authority and inability to control.

As to their reasons for not delegating, leaders are often beleaguered by desires identified with leadership—success, acclaim, influence, authority, control, fame, fortune, relationships, status—and their leadership experience becomes one of repeating actions that result in the pleasing reaction. Furthermore, at other side of the coin of desire appears the fear of not having what we desire. The mirror image of what we desire is what we often fear. If we desire authority and control, we dread delegation and empowerment. Leaders who desire control and authority are seldom those who are willing to delegate and empower.

* * *

To read the complete interview, please click here.

Lina cordially invites you to check out the resources at her homepage.