29 Sep, 2008
How the Wise Decide: The Lessons of 21 Extraordinary Leaders by Bryn Zeckhauser.
A day for firm decisions… or is it? We’re gathering info and making choices all the time. How do excellent leaders do it? How do they decide A or B, and see it through? How do they handle the tough calls? The authors interviewed 21 long-standing successful leaders in business (and life) to find out what the common traits were. It looks at how they gather information, decide, and then execute.
I talk with Byrn about how to get politics and turf wars out the decision, and how to “fill a room with barbarians”, and have anything good come out at all. 
More at the book website.
28 Jul, 2008
Innovator’s Guide to Growth by Scott D. Anthony.
There’s nothing like a good innovation to create a market and drive your company’s growth. This book looks at how to:
- Identify potential innovation opportunities
- Formulate and shape ideas
- Build an innovation business
- Build innovation capabilities
I talk with Scott about where to look for innovation, how to increase your odds of success and how to handle an innovation that’s a paradigm shift – solving a problem that people don’t know they have. Scott blogs at HBSP, and is the president of Innosight. Tools for innovator at the book website.
15 May, 2008
Big Ideas to Big Results by Michael Kanazawa and Robert Miles
You probably know where you want to go, it’s the getting there that’s the problem. You’re not alone as Fortune 500 companies to the shop on the corner have experienced the same frustration. Based on a methodology that started some 25 years ago at Harvard, the authors have worked to enable businesses of all sizes see their ideas become reality.
I talk with Mike about the beginnings, how this book aides in getting an idea launched (rather than have it stall), and aligning the troops.
Link:
www.BigIdeasToBigResults.com
Big Ideas Blog
26 Jan, 2008
The Opposable Mind by Roger Martin
When a big problem comes our way often our normal reaction is to divide and conquer, take all the pieces and knock them out one by one. This book turns that notion on its head. The best solution to a complex question must keep the entire question in focus.
I talk with Roger about what an opposable mind is, how simplifying leads us astray, and how to not be overwhelmed. To get a taste of the “how to”, I’ll refer you here.
Link:
Rotman School of Management
30 Nov, 2007
Think Better: An Innovator’s Guide to Productive Thinking by Tim Hurson
We all strive to be more productive but do we make the connection that how we think is the foundation of where we’re going to get? Improving the typewriter is only going to get you a better typewriter, which is about what we get when we take a business problem and run with the first idea we come up with to fix it. Thinking better is about taking what’s at hand through a process and arriving at a more creative and innovative solution.
Links:
www.TimHurson.com
www.Thinkxic.com
