Smart Thinking: A book review by Bob Morris
Smart Thinking: Three Essential Keys to Solve Problems, Innovate, and Get Things Done
Art Markman
A Perigee Book/Penguin Group (2012)
“There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all.” Peter Drucker
I cite the Drucker observation because it correctly suggests that misdirected efficiency is worse than no effort at all. Why? The problem to be solved is certain to become even worse, if neglected. As I began to read Art Markman’s book, I was reminded of a passage from Judgment, a book co-authored by Noel Tichy and Warren Bennis. In the first chapter, they assert that what really matters “is not how many calls a leader gets right, or even what percentage of calls a leader gets right. Rather it is important how many of the important ones he or she gets right.” They go on to suggest that effective leaders “not only make better calls, but they are able to discern the really important ones and get a higher percentage of them right. They are better at a whole process that runs from seeing the need for a call, to framing issues, to figuring out what is critical, to mobilizing and energizing the troops.”
Whatever its size and nature may be, every organization needs what Markman characterizes as “Smart Thinking” at all levels and in all areas of the given enterprise. That is, develop a culture within which everyone involved is prepared to solve new (i.e. unfamiliar) problems using the knowledge they possess including knowledge of where and how to obtain the additional information they may need. Decades ago, when responding to complaints about tuition increase at Harvard, Derek Bok observed, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” I agree, presuming to add that not knowing what you think you know but, in fact, don’t is perhaps the most damaging form of ignorance. According to Markman, “Smart Thinking is like chess. Even though it may seem like Smart Thinking must be some kind of talent, it is really a skill” and almost anyone can master it.
o James Dyson: How did he come up with the idea for his vacuum? (Pages 8-13)
o The Formula for Smart Habits (33-41)
o Changing [Bad] Habits (44-54)
o Seeing Less Thank You Expect to See (60-71)
o Help Others Use the Role of 3 (81-98)
Note: This refers to “three simple steps”: Prepare Pay Attention, and Review
o Fixing the Illusion of Explanatory Depth through Specific Thinking (110-118)
o Applying Your Knowledge (123-133)
o How Memory Works (159-162)
o A Language for Smart Thinking (174-177)
o Recommendations for Good Practice (186-192)
o Find New Solutions (195-198)
Note: In my opinion, this is one of the most insightful passages in the book. Re-read Drucker quote.
o Your Social Network and a Culture of Smart (207-210)
o Ten suggestions to create a “Culture of Smart” (210-229)
As Markman stresses at several points throughout his lively as well as informative narrative, Smart Thinking and intelligence are not the same. Whereas intelligence is defined as an inborn ability that determines how well you are going to be able to think, “Smart Thinking is really about the content of what you know and how you use it.” As quoted earlier, “Smart Thinking is like chess. Even though it may seem like Smart Thinking must be some kind of talent, it is really a skill” and almost anyone can master it.
Markman wrote this book so he could share whatever information, insights, and counsel anyone may need to become and then continue to be a Smart Thinker, feeding the brain with new knowledge of a very high quality. As I read it, I was again reminded of an observation by Aristotle: “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” This is what Markman has in mind in Chapter Two when explaining how and why creating Smart habits will change both attitude and behavior. He notes two aspects of habits that promote Smart Thinking: The behaviors you perform habitually do not take up your precious cognitive resources” and “You do not have to create habits intentionally. They develop whenever there is a consistent mapping between your mental and physical environment and the behavior you want to carry out.”
Becoming a Smart Thinker is essential to personal growth and professional development, to be sure, but it is also essential to developing a Culture of Smart. Before concluding his book, Art Markman provides and discusses ten specific initiatives that will help to establish and then enrich such a culture. All great leaders are Smart Thinkers who seem to have a “green thumb” for “growing” those with whom they are associated. That is the challenge and (yes) the privilege that they eagerly embrace.
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.
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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.
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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
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.”
Simon Pont: An interview by Bob Morris
Simon Pont is a writer, commentator and brand-builder. Hollywood movie studios, Icelandic investment banks, British chocolate bars and Middle Eastern airlines figure amongst his time on the inside of Adland.
He is the author of The Better Mousetrap: Brand Invention in a Media Democracy, and a novel, Remember to Breathe.
His next project, Digital State: How the Internet is Changing Everything, is scheduled for worldwide release (June 2013) through Kogan Page.
Simon is also Chief Strategy Officer at agency network Vizeum, though when asked, he has always wanted to say he is a spy.
He has never been a spy.
He is however married and has three children.
Here is a brief excerpt from my interview of him. To read the complete interview, please click here.
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Morris: Before discussing The Better Mousetrap, a few general questions. First, who has had the greatest influence on your personal growth? How so?
Pont: It has to be family. Family: in the true multi-generational sense of the word. My parents set the moral compass, and I’ve always felt myself hugely fortunate to have been brought up with an emotional safety net that was unconditional, that was always there. I’m now a parent, and parenthood is the most incredible, off-the-chart seismic shift, as far as life-stages go. At least, it has been for me. My future personal growth will inevitably be defined by my children and the positive role I want to try and play in their lives.
Morris: The greatest impact on your professional development? How so?
Pont: You know, there’s never been one stand-out Mr. Miyagi type figure in my career, radiating warmth and charisma and setting the standard. There have been a couple of Buddy Ackerman types – and there’s no need to name real names – but what I am very conscious of is that overall, I’ve actually been very fortunate. There’s been a sizeable cast of characters, mostly very good and only a few questionable, who I’ve learned from. And that’s been hugely instructive in helping me decide what kind of professional I want to be, and the kind that I don’t. But to name a few names for all the right reasons, I’d happily cite Moray MacLennan, Hans Andersson, Jon Wilkins, Greg Grimmer, and Hamish Davies. In each case, and each in their own way, we’re talking about hugely impressive, inspiring, and fundamentally very decent human beings.
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.
Pont: I don’t think there’s ever been just one! I think careers are twisty-turny things full of great highlights, 50-50 judgements calls, and a few near-disasters. Along that road, with hope, you bump into a fair few moments of revelation.
Morris: To what extent has your formal education been invaluable to what you have accomplished in life thus far?
Pont: For me, a formal education’s been very important. It’s a good, solid grounding, but it’s also been the necessary series of experiences – from which I now understand how I work, think about things, explore ideas, investigate themes, and then, put those thoughts together. Quite simply, you have to read a lot of words, and put a lot of words down, before you get to a place where you find your own process and writing approach.
Morris: What do you know now about the business world that you wish you knew when you started working full-time? Why?
Pont: Stop playing at being a grown-up and just be a grown-up. I think that’s fair advice to anyone in the early days of their career. By definition, when you start out in business, you’re naive, because your only former points of reference are academia and being a student; in most respects, being a “kid”. And it’s only experience that takes the edge off that immaturity. But there is a ‘but’. Once you’ve entered the business world, you’ve entered it, so you might as well stop “pretending”, stop play-acting, drop the pretence, and go at it full-tilt. I think real credibility and success comes from believing in yourself and what you’re capable of, even if you don’t have so much “experience” to draw upon. It’s not an easy message, of course, but self-doubt only gets in your way. So don’t have any. Or at least, work on editing it.
Morris: Of all the films that you have seen, which – in your opinion – best dramatizes important business principles? Please explain.
Pont: That’s a terrific question. I’m a big film fan. Swimming with Sharks and Wall Street are brilliant yesteryear windows on the working world. Margin Call, from 2011, is another great snapshot on a particular moment in time – but that’s not what you’re asking. Citing movies about the work-place isn’t the same as a movie that necessarily dramatizes business principles.
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To read the complete interview, please click here.
Simon cordially invite(s) you to check out the resources at this website:
Rich Horwath: A second interview by Bob Morris
Rich Horwath helps people live strategically–to get more out of their business and more out of their life. He is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best selling author on strategy. As the CEO of the Strategic Thinking Institute, he leads executive teams through the strategy process and has helped more than 50,000 managers around the world develop their strategic thinking skills. As a former chief strategy officer and professor of strategy, he brings both real-world experience and practical expertise to help groups build their strategy skills. Rich’s work has been profiled on ABC, CBS, CNBC, NBC, CNN and FOX TV. His most recent books include Deep Dive: The Proven Method for Building Strategy and Strategy for You: Building a Bridge to the Life You Want.
This is an excerpt from my second intervew of him. To read the complete interview, please click here.
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Morris: Before discussing Strategy for You, a few general questions. First, years ago, was there a turning point (if not an epiphany) that set you on the career course you continue to follow? Please explain.
Horwath: About 15 years ago I created a process called Purpose Channeling to help me identify my true purpose in life. After working through the process, the theme that came through was “competition.” Competition is from the Latin competere which means, “to strive together.” For me, life is about striving with others to reach our full potential. I included the Purpose Channeling process in this book because I believe one must understand their purpose before they can channel their talents and energy into productive outlets.
Morris: To what extent has your formal education been invaluable to what you have accomplished in life thus far?
Horwath: Formal education pointed me in the direction of my current vocation, but informal education has played an equally, if not more important role. Once I honed in on strategy as my channel for competition during my graduate work, I read hundreds of articles and nearly a hundred books on the subject to build a foundation of expertise. It was years of this informal education, which created my heightened interest in the field of strategic thinking.
Morris: What do you know now about business world that you wish you knew when you when to work full-time for the first time? Why?
Horwath: Make no assumptions. Don’t assume the person above you has the answers. Don’t assume the customer who said “no” last time will say “no” this time. Don’t assume the competition will match what you do. Still today, not assuming is an ongoing challenge.
Morris: Of all the films that you have seen, which – in your opinion – best dramatizes important business principles? Please explain.
Horwath: I view movies through a strategy lens. The movie “Walk the Line” about the life of Johnny Cash provides a good example of a key strategy principle: It’s not about being better; it’s about being different in ways that people value. Johnny Cash didn’t have the best singing voice, but he was successful because he was different than all of the other recording artists of his day. He also took great risks in singing about killing people back in the 1950s, but his stories resonated with a large number of people. Strategy involves differentiation and risk and Johnny Cash exemplified both.
Morris: From which non-business book have you learned the most valuable lessons about business? Please explain.
Horwath: Napoleon Hill’s classic Think and Grow Rich emphasizes the importance of having a purpose and then following that purpose with dogged determination. Too many people make excuses and rationalize away their interests and talents because they don’t have the guts to follow their purpose. It’s sad and true.
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.”
Horwath: Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so man sharpens his fellow man.” I believe we all have talents that can help others. The question is: Do we know what those talents are and are we willing to help others?
Morris: Next, from Voltaire: “Cherish those who seek the truth but beware of those who find it.”
Horwath: The truth can be wonderful, painful, revealing and necessary for progress.
Morris: And then, from Oscar Wilde: “Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.”
Horwath: Step 2 in building a Strategy for You is Differentiation. If you haven’t identified what is unique about you that brings value to others, it will be difficult to reach your potential.
Morris: From Albert Einstein: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Horwath: New growth comes from new thinking. Without new thinking, one cannot reasonably expect substantial growth in achievement, happiness or any other undertakings.
Morris: Finally, from Peter Drucker: “There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with great efficiency what should not be done at all.”
Horwath: Great strategy is as much about what we choose [begin] not to do as it is about what we choose to do.
Morris: Here’s a brief excerpt from Paul Schoemaker’s latest book, Brilliant Mistakes: “The key question companies need to address is not ‘Shouldwe make mistakes?’ but rather ‘Which mistakes should we make in order to test our deeply held assumptions?’” Your response?
Horwath: Recently, it’s a popular notion to “fail fast and make as many mistakes as you can early on,” and I’ve seen a number of leaders espouse it. I think it’s one of those cool things to say which is ridiculously dumb in practice. While it’s important to take calculated risks in developing strategy, some of which may result in mistakes, continually making mistakes shows a lack of thinking more than anything else.
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To read the complete second interview, please click here.
To read my first interview of him, please click here.
Rich cordially invites you to check out the resources at these websites:
Strategic Skills Institute homepage
His Greenleaf Book Group page
His Amazon page
Deep Dive page
Strategy for You page
Toby Lester: An interview by Bob Morris
Toby Lester is a journalist, an editor, and an independent scholar. In addition to writing books, he is a longtime contributor to The Atlantic, for whom he has written extensively, on such topics as the reconstruction of ancient Greek music, the revisionist study of the Qur’an, and the attempt to change alphabets in Azerbaijan. Between 1995 and 2005 he worked for the magazine in a number of different editorial capacities—as a staff editor, as the executive editor of the website, as a senior editor, and as a managing editor. He has also served as the editor of Country Journal and the executive editor of DoubleTake. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic as well as Smithsonian, The Boston Globe, The American Scholar, The Wilson Quarterly, BBC News Magazine, and the London Times, as well as a number of anthologies, including the lead chapter of the recent New Literary History of America.
Prior to 1995, Lester worked in international relief and development: monitoring intifada-related activity in the West Bank, as a refugee-affairs officer for the United Nations; helping establish programs in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, as a Peace Corps country desk officer; and teaching English in a mountain school, as a Peace Corps volunteer in Yemen. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1987 with degrees in English and French, and now lives in the Boston area with his wife and three daughters.
Lester comes from a family of writers. His father, James Lester, was a member of the first successful American Everest expedition, and is the author of Too Marvelous for Words (1994), the only biography of the jazz pianist Art Tatum. His mother, Valerie Lester, is the author of, among other works, Fasten Your Seat Belts: History and Heroism in the Pan Am Cabin (1995), and Phiz: The Man Who Drew Dickens (2004) — a biography of her great-great grandfather, Hablot Knight Browne, who was Charles Dickens’s principal illustrator. And his sister, Alison Lester, is the author of Locked Out (2007), a collection of short stories about expatriate life.
Here is an excerpt from my interview of him. To read the complete interview, please click here.
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Morris: Before discussing Da Vinci’s Ghost, a few general questions. First, who has had the greatest impact on your professional development? How so?
Lester: I’d have to say Cullen Murphy, who for years was the managing editor at The Atlantic and is now an editor-at-large for Vanity Fair. Much of what I’ve learned about writing and editing I’ve learned from Cullen.
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.
Lester: Indeed there was. After finishing college, I worked for about seven years in international relief and development: first for the Peace Corps and then the United Nations. Ultimately, though, I found myself unsatisfied with what I was doing, and I decided to abandon that whole career. Instead, I took an unpaid internship at The Atlantic, which was a magazine I’d always admired. I thought I’d stay for two months, but I ended up staying almost ten years, and certainly wouldn’t have written my books had I not done so.
Morris: To what extent has your formal education been invaluable to what you have accomplished in life thus far?
Lester: It prepared me well in a general way, just as a liberal-arts education should. I can’t point to anything specific in my education that has led me to where I am now, except that reading and writing, and the pursuit of ideas, was something that I began to indulge in seriously in college, and I haven’t ever stopped since.
Morris: Now please shift your attention to Da Vinci’s Ghost. When and why did you decide to write it?
Lester: In the course of writing my first book, The Fourth Part of the World, I came across a number of medieval world maps that bore an uncanny visual likeness to Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man, in that they depicted a human figure inside a circle and a square, and I began to wonder about the kinds of influences that prompted Leonardo to draw his famous picture. Like a lot of people, originally I’d thought he had summoned the picture up out of thin air, but in fact, as I learned, there were all sorts of fascinating and now forgotten precursors to the image. I thought it would be fun to explore them as a way of unpacking the kinds of information and meaning he invested in his picture.
Morris: Were there any head-snapping revelations while writing it? Please explain.
Lester: The biggest one, I think, was that Vitruvian Man has not always been famous. In fact, it turns out that the picture was completely forgotten from the time of Leonardo’s death until 1770 — there are simply no references to it anywhere in the historical record. And for almost two centuries after that the picture still wasn’t widely known. Only in 1956, when Kenneth Clarke published The Nude and included the picture in that work, did it suddenly enter the ecosystem of popular culture and take on the iconic significance that we now take for granted.
Morris: For those who have not as yet read the book, who was Vitruvius and what is his relevance to Leonardo?
Lester: Vitruvius was a Roman architect who wrote the only treatise on architecture in the ancient world: the Ten Books on Architecture. The work surveyed ancient architectural theory and practice, and was the subject of great interest in the Renaissance, when Europeans began to revive the classics, and Italians, in particular, began to build in a neo-classical style. Of particular relevance to Vitruvian Man is a passage in the Ten Books that concerns the proportions of the ideal human figure, whom Vitruvius says can be inscribed in a circle and a square. Leonardo’s drawing is an illustration of that idea (which Vitruvius himself didn’t illustrate).
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To read the complete interview, please click here.
Toby cordially invites you to check out the resources at this website: http://www.tobylester.com/
Paul Smith: An interview by Bob Morris
Paul Smith is a keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and author of Lead with a Story: A Guide to Crafting Business Narratives that Captivate, Convince, and Inspire (AMACOM August, 2012). Whether it’s the CEO’s speech to the board of directors, or the hallway conversation with your boss, his conclusion is this: the difference is storytelling. Great leaders do it well. Mediocre ones don’t. Paul’s training courses show you how, and provide a set of brilliant stories to start your collection. As Director of Consumer & Communications Research at Procter & Gamble, Paul has spent a career observing and researching what it takes to connect with, inspire, and motivate a change in human behavior — in other words, leadership. In his two decades of experience at Procter & Gamble and Andersen Consulting, Paul has served in leadership positions in several multi-billion dollar business units, manufacturing plants, consulting roles, and sales teams working directly with global retailers including Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and Costco. He is also a highly rated leadership and communications trainer for P&G’s management training colleges. In addition to teaching leadership by storytelling, his external training experience includes a partnership with Chip & Dan Heath, authors of the New York Times best-selling book, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, where he created their first licensed training program. Paul holds an M.B.A. from The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.
Here is an excerpt from my interview of Paul. To read the complete interview, please click here.
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Morris: Before discussing Lead with a Story, a few general questions. First, who has had the greatest influence on your personal growth? How so?
Smith: My grandfather was short on words, but tall in deeds, and long on wisdom. He taught me a lot with his acts and witticisms. I learned from jewels he would drop into a conversation like “No man ever gained an ounce of wisdom while talking” or when starting my first job and he advised, “Don’t be the last to arrive in the morning, or the first to leave at 5pm.”
I learned generosity from him even though I didn’t know what it was at the time. I thought every kid got their monthly allowance from their grandfather. And it didn’t strike me as strange that when the kid at the end of the block needed surgery, that my grandfather paid for it. That’s just what he did, even though he wasn’t a wealthy man. I’d like to think those early impressions made me at least half the man he was.
Morris: The greatest impact on your professional development? How so?
Smith: Today Sara Mathew is the CEO of Dun & Bradstreet. But twelve years ago she was Vice President of Finance at Procter & Gamble, and my boss at the time. Early in my assignment reporting to Sara, she gave me an exciting assignment for a newly promoted mid-level manager. She arranged for me to have 30 minutes with the President and leadership team to make a recommendation on how to shape our strategy over the next 5 years. In preparation, she handed me a book (The Profit Zone, by Adrian Slywotsky), and told me to read it. “See if it gives you any ideas,” she said. That’s all the direction she gave me. It turned out, that’s all I needed.
The ideas in the book lead me to making a set of recommendations that had the biggest strategic impact on P&G I’d made in the 8 years prior, or have made in the 12 years since. Until the publication of my book, I considered it my single biggest professional accomplishment.
Here’s what I learned. Even though I’d completed my MBA eight years prior, Sara showed me that just because I was out of school, I wasn’t done learning. Professional development should never stop. I believe every professional should read at least one book a year to build their own skills. It just might lead to your biggest success.
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?
Smith: I wish it hadn’t taken me 15 years to figure out stories were such an effective leadership vehicle. I would have made a point to remember more of them!
Morris: From which non-business book have you learned the most valuable lessons about business? Please explain.
Smith: The Power of Logical Thinking, by Marilyn Vos Savant, raised my awareness to the most common mental errors people make in decision-making. What often seems to be straightforward common sense, often turns out not to be.
The most entertaining example I recall is the classic “Monty Hall” paradox, named after the game show host of Let’s Make a Deal. Monty would ask players to choose one of three curtains, each of which concealed a prize they could take home. Behind one curtain was a new car. The other two had goats behind them. After the player chose one curtain, Monty pulled open one of the other two curtains, which always revealed one of the goats. (Monty knew what was behind each curtain). Then he asked the player “Do you want to change your selection to the other curtain?”
Rarely did anyone switch. After all, there were two curtains left, so the odds were exactly 50/50 to win the car, right? Why change your answer? It turns out, however, the odds are not 50/50. Marilyn explains that the odds for your original curtain are still 33%, as they were when you originally picked among all three. But the odds the car is behind the other remaining closed curtain is now 67%, the sum of both other curtains combined. A player that switches their answer has double the odds of winning the car—always. It’s completely counterintuitive. But she’s right. If you want to know why, email me and I’ll explain. Or, better yet, read her book. You’ll finish much smarter than you started.
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To read the complete interview, please click here.
Paul cordially invites you to check out the resources at http://www.leadwithastory.com/.
Matthew E. May: Second Interview, Part 2, by Bob Morris
Matthew E. May is the author of The Laws of Subtraction: 6 Simple Rules for Winning in the Age of Excess Everything, as well as three previous, award-winning books: The Elegant Solution, In Pursuit of Elegance, and The Shibumi Strategy. A popular speaker, creativity coach, and close advisor on innovation to companies such as ADP, Edmunds, Intuit, and Toyota, he is a regular contributor to the American Express OPEN Forum Idea Hub and the founder of Edit Innovation, an ideas agency based in Los Angeles. His articles have appeared in national publications such as The Rotman Magazine, Fast Company, Design Mind, MIT/Sloan Management Review, USA Today, strategy+business, and Quality Progress. He has appeared in The Wall Street Journal and on National Public Radio. A graduate of the Wharton School of Business and Johns Hopkins University, he lives in Southern California.
Here is an excerpt from Part 2 of my second interview of him. To read all of this interview, please click here.
To read Part 1 of this interview, please click here.
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Morris: Now please shift your attention to The Laws of Subtraction. When and why did you decide to write it?
May: The Laws of Subtraction is the book I’ve wanted to write for some time. I have broached the subject as a subtopic to higher altitude themes in my two previous books, first with The Elegant Solution and then with In Pursuit of Elegance, in which I devoted a chapter to the laws of subtraction as an element of elegance. I wanted to produce this final treatment on the power of less for two reasons.
First, subtraction is what people want me to talk about in speeches and seminars. They ask me for “rules of thumb” to help them design and deliver more compelling experiences, for themselves, their companies, and their customers.
Second, I was influenced greatly by the work of John Maeda, whose elegant book The Laws of Simplicity I’ve admired. In many respects, The Laws of Subtraction is an acknowledgement of the impact John Maeda’s work has had on my own. Beyond that, it picks up where his book left off, delving into and unraveling his tenth law: “Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful.”
Morris: Were there any head-snapping revelations while writing it? Please explain.
May: Yes, I gained a new level of storytelling ability by taking a workshop led by Scott McCloud, a well-known comics artist and author of several bestselling books, including Understanding Comics. I learned about the five key choices that make for clarity, whether you’re showing or telling your story: choice of moment, choice of frame, choice of image, choice of word, and choice of flow.
Morris: To what extent (if any) does the book in final form differ significantly from what you originally envisioned?
May: Well, I hadn’t intended to subtract myself from the book in the way it ended up that I did. I invited a few dozen brilliant folks, you included, to submit short anecdotes or essays on the role of subtraction in their lives and work. I thought I’d get a handful of folks to say yes, so that I could pepper my narrative with short vignettes. I had so many wonderful responses I couldn’t include them all! So I ended up with 54 essays, ”Silhouettes,” as I call them, that account for about a third of the book!
And I’ll let you in on a little secret: the original intent was to publish a 12-15,000 word eBook, ala TED Books, or what Seth Godin was doing with his Domino Project. I’m obviously not a master of subtraction, because it morphed into a real book of full length.
But the Silhouettes were so compelling and meaningful that the addition was of the correct kind: value adding.
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To read all of this interview, please click here.
To read Part 1 of this interview, please click here.
Matt cordially invites you to check out the resources at these websites:
Matt’s homepage
Matt’s blog
Matt’s Amazon page
William N. Thorndike, Jr.: An Interview by Bob Morris
William N. Thorndike, Jr. founded Housatonic Partners in Boston in 1994 and has been Managing Director since that time. Prior to that, he worked with T. Rowe Price Associates where he did investment research in the nascent field of business services and Walker & Company where he was named to the Board of Directors. Will is a graduate of Harvard College and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is a Director of Alta Colleges; Carillon Assisted Living, LLC; Liberty Towers, LLC; OASIS Group Ltd.; QMC International, LLC; White Flower Farm, Inc., a Trustee of Stanford Business School Trust, and College of the Atlantic (Chair) and a founding partner at FARM, a social impact investing fund/collaborative. His book, The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success, was published by Harvard Business Review Press (October 2012).
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.
Thorndike: At age 23, on a summer vacation in Maine, I read the first chapter [on Buffett] in John Train’s Money Masters and realized two things: (1) there were both good and bad businesses in the broader economy and it was much better to be invested in the former than the latter – a simple but powerful idea, and (2) one could make a living as an investor outside of a large firm.
Morris: To what extent has your formal education been invaluable to what you have accomplished in life thus far?
Thorndike: I’ve been fortunate to have an excellent mix of a liberal arts (English literature, history, etc.) background and a grounding in the analytical foundation of the MBA curriculum. I’d like to think this combination allows for a varied “latticework” of perspectives and models.
Morris: What do you know now about business world that you wish you knew when you when to work full-time for the first time? Why?
Thorndike: The importance of getting on the “right train” in your career. Finding an industry that’s intellectually interesting and has attractive growth and economic characteristics (my first job was in book publishing which had plenty of the former but none of the latter).
Morris: Of all the films that you have seen, which – in your opinion – best dramatizes important business principles? Please explain.
Thorndike: The Conversation starring Gene Hackman and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, in which a lone protagonist tries to make sense of a fuzzy recording of a clandestine conversation. Much like a CEO trying to focus and prioritize on what is important in a sea of data and media noise.
Morris: From which non-business book have you learned the most valuable lessons about business? Please explain.
Thorndike: Two non-business books served as loose models for The Outsiders - JFK’s Profiles in Courage and Richard Hofstadter’s The American Political Tradition, both interesting group biographies that highlighted a variety of non-conformist leaders and approaches.
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To read the complete interview, please click here.
Matthew E. May: Second Interview, Part 1, by Bob Morris
Matthew E. May is the author of The Laws of Subtraction: 6 Simple Rules for Winning in the Age of Excess Everything, as well as three previous, award-winning books: The Elegant Solution, In Pursuit of Elegance, and The Shibumi Strategy. A popular speaker, creativity coach, and close advisor on innovation to companies such as ADP, Edmunds, Intuit, and Toyota, he is a regular contributor to the American Express OPEN Forum Idea Hub and the founder of Edit Innovation, an ideas agency based in Los Angeles. His articles have appeared in national publications such as The Rotman Magazine, Fast Company, Design Mind, MIT/Sloan Management Review, USA Today, strategy+business, and Quality Progress. He has appeared in The Wall Street Journal and on National Public Radio. A graduate of the Wharton School of Business and Johns Hopkins University, he lives in Southern California.
Here is an excerpt from Part 1 of my second interview of him. To read all of that interview, please click here.
To read Part 2, please click here.
* * *
Morris: Before discussing The Laws of Subtraction (in Part 2), a few general questions. First, who has had the greatest influence on your personal growth? How so?
May: Without a doubt, my daughter. She’s 10 now, but she unknowingly helped me get back in touch with that childlike curiosity we’re born with but slowly lose as we make our way through a school system focused not on asking the right questions, but the right answers…for the teacher. And it carries over into our organizations, where boss-centered work is the norm.
She taught me what real learning is all about. Not the absorption of existing knowledge, but rather the creation of new knowledge. We preach and write books about the “scientific method,” but all you need to do is what your child in the high chair throwing food on the floor–you’re watching a learning cycle in action. She’s wondering what will happen if she drops her strained carrots. The problem is how to get them on the ground. She could tip her dish over the tray, flick her spoon or grab a fistful and toss away. She tries the tip. It works. Great feedback: noise from the crash, food everywhere, Mom gets really busy. Works so well she adopts it as her interim best practice. Good little scientist that she is, she confirms her results by doing it again after mom picks it up. Lesson learned, though: Mom doesn’t like it and Dad needs to get involved, which he isn’t really all that happy about. So she launches another experiment with the spoon option.
She taught me what real observation is. Once she was able to walk, I’d need to carve out an hour just to walk to the mailbox in our neighborhood, all of 50 yards. She was a sponge–every twig, bug, blade of grass or crack in the sidewalk held utter fascination for her…looking, touching, smelling, and usually tasting each and every little thing that caught her eye, and everything caught her eye
Morris: The greatest impact on your professional development? How so?
May: Not so much a particular person, but many people…the Toyota organization. I worked as a full time advisor for them here in the U.S. for eight years. The experience changed my outlook, my thinking, and my life. It’s where I learned to think lean, to understand the concept of an elegant solution, and the importance of subtraction. I also learned the Zen aesthetic ideals, all of which are subtractive in nature.
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.
May: Halfway through my tenure with Toyota, I came up against a brick wall in a particularly difficult project that required me to reconcile two completely different ways of thinking. Trust me when I tell you that Eastern and Western ways of thinking are at times at odds with each other. My struggle must have been obvious, because this bit of ancient wisdom found its way to me:
“Thirty spokes share the wheel’s hub, it’s the center hole that makes it useful. Shape clay into a vessel, it’s the space within that makes it useful. Cut windows and doors for a room, it’s the holes which make it useful. Profit comes from is there, usefulness from what is not there.”
My first thought was someone wants me gone. I’d be more useful. Then I read it again, and lightning struck.
2500-year-old idea. Not exactly new. But for me, radical. Stopped me dead in my tracks. I woke up to the fact that I had been looking at the problem in the wrong way. As is natural and intuitive for the Western mind—which is hardwired to act and to add—I had been looking at it in terms of what TO DO, as opposed to what to NOT DO, or cease, or eliminate, or subtract.
Once I shifted my perspective, not only was I able to complete the project, but the incident drove me to eventually leave in order to seek out elegant, subtractive ideas all over the world and in many different domains…to study the ideas and write about them.
Morris: To what extent has your formal education been invaluable to what you have accomplished in life thus far?
May: Career-wise, it’s been a serial door opener. Had I not attended John Hopkins, I doubt I’d have secured the kind of job that provided the work experience that helped me get into the top tier business schools and select Wharton for my MBA. Had I not received that degree, I wouldn’t have had the entree into prestigious consulting firms for whom I freelanced. Had I not been associated with those firms, I never would have gotten the call from Toyota in 1998.
Skills-wise, it helped me develop a rigorous critical thinking ability, a left brain, if you will, which I needed, because I’m essentially a right-brain guy.
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?
May: That the most effective problem-solving always begins with a child’s question: why? That the question of “what are my options?” must never come before the question of “what is possible?” All too often in business, we reverse the order, then somewhere down the road, after we’ve invested time, money and effort, we wonder why the problem never got solved.
Morris: Of all the films that you have seen, which – in your opinion – best dramatizes important business principles? Please explain.
May: Moneyball. It was, of course, adapted from Michael Lewis’s great book. We read it at Toyota, and immediately asked Billy Beane to come speak to us. It points out the power of achieving the maximum effect with the minimum means. It points out the power of discovering and exploiting undervalued elements overlooked by the mainstream market. It points out the power of disrupting the status quo, the conventional “wisdom.” It points out the power of developing a portfolio approach–singles and on-base percentage–versus the ever sexier “killer app” approach of seeking grand slam home runs.
Think about it: how many baseball teams are made up entirely of home run hitters? None. What do we know about home run hitters? Average or below batting average, and high strike out rate. That translates to high carrying cost and dangerous risk in business.
* * *
To read the complete interview, please click here.
To read Part 2, please click here.
Matt cordially invites you to check out the resources at these websites:
Matt’s homepage
Matt’s blog
Matt’s Amazon page
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