I’ve been asked to offer a public lecture for Ukraine by the DTEK Academy, the learning and development arm of one of the country’s leading energy providers. As we bring 2022 to a close, I… Read more »
Insights and ideas
Thought Sparks Wrap Up – November 2022
Discover This! A collection of ideas to spark your thinking, by Rita McGrath November Happenings After a two-year wait, I finally made it to Dublin to attend the Business Excellence Institute’s awards gala, at which… Read more »
A few reflections from the Global Peter Drucker Forum
I’ve always had an affection for the writing of the late Peter Drucker. His legacy is honored by the annual gathering of the Global Peter Drucker Forum, and there are always some nuggets of wisdom… Read more »
Lying – or at least not telling the whole truth – as a business model comes to haunt Meta
When a major inflection point passes through, institutions and the environment take a long time to catch up. But when they do, the consequences can be swift. Facebook’s current troubles illustrate this principle. Source: https://thewire.in/film/the-social-dilemma-netflix-media-review… Read more »
We had the Jetsons in 1962 – and autonomous driving is still out of reach
Gradually, then suddenly. That’s the line that I borrowed from Ernest Hemingway to describe the progress of strategic inflection points. They brew along for a long time – sometimes decades – before finally breaking through…. Read more »
What does Ford’s decision to drop Argo AI Mean for autonomous driving?
Big flashy billion-dollar investments. Leaders optimistically pronouncing totally unrealistic launch dates. Geeky engineers becoming the darlings of the moment. Yes, the story of Ford’s foray into autonomous cars has it all! The autonomous driving bubble… Read more »
The skills we aren’t taught, and how you can expand your leadership through leveraging them
Our leadership models are changing – from command and control to questioning and discovery. You can learn to develop these skills and improve your capability as a leader. How do you sustain your competitive advantage… Read more »
Flywheels vs. Relationships – Why your business architecture matters to your initial marketing plan
In developing an initial marketing plan, it is crucial not to be confused about what kind of business architecture you are building in order to establish your initial metrics for success. Geoffrey Moore has a great… Read more »
Thought Sparks Wrap Up – May 2022
Dear colleagues: It sure was nice to be back in person on our gorgeous new Columbia Business School campus. My course on growth and change, called Leading Strategic Growth and Change received an evaluation of… Read more »
Thought Sparks Wrap Up – April 2022
Dear colleagues: Just when you thought the world has learned the many lessons of discovery-driven planning, some huge, ambitious project gets shot down yet again – whether for business reasons or otherwise – and we… Read more »
Bright Promise and Dashed Hopes – The AT&T Media Strategy Saga
Big, expensive unions of large and unwieldy companies almost never work out well. The sudden termination of CNN+ is but the latest casualty in a long history of things that began with a lot of… Read more »
Thought Sparks Wrap Up – March 2022
Dear colleagues: The first quarter of 2022 was as momentous as any I have ever experienced. It was emotional to join my colleagues from the LvBS Business School, the Business School of the Catholic University… Read more »