Books that most influenced my work in 2022
This year I’m fashionably late but I don’t want to break the streak, so I’ll share below the four books - all related to strategy and innovation - that most influenced my work in 2022. I’ve lost enough time so here they are, in no particular order. And hopefully those recommendations will come at the right time for you.
“Most of what makes a book 'good' is that we are reading it at the right moment for us.” Alain de Botton
Zone To Win, by Geoffrey A. Moore. (link)
This book proposes a framework to help companies compete and win in an age of rapid technological change and disruption. The first argument that resonated with me was on the critical importance of catching the next wave.
“When it comes to generating serious upside returns, catching the next wave is all that really matters.” Geoffrey A. Moore
And this focus on catching the next wave - that I’d be tempted to call “innovation” - is bound to create a crisis of prioritisation in an organisation according to Moore. To resolve this, he argues that companies must learn “zone management”, i.e. how to prioritise and divide their resources into four distinct zones (see below visual). And each of these zones has different objectives and requires a different approach, mindset, set of metrics, etc.
I particularly enjoyed the chapter on the “Transformation Zone” that zooms in on the difficulty and efforts to scale a validated new business and realise its true potential in a large organisation. This is what we call a “transfer” from Explore to Exploit in The Invincible Company, and Moore provides valuable tips to overcome the most common obstacles.
“The transformation zone is the mechanism by which an enterprise can free its future from the pull of the past.” Geoffrey A. Moore
Net Positive, by Paul Polman, Andrew Winston. (link)
Net Positive by former CEO of Unilever Paul Polman and sustainability expert Andrew Winston is compulsory reading for any business that wants to position itself well in the more sustainable and equitable world to which we all aspire and to thrive while doing so. Is this easy? No. Are there alternatives? Not really. It is only with courageous leadership and transformational partnerships that future value will be unlocked for all stakeholders.
“A company giving more than it takes will not focus on profits with a side of philanthropy. Instead, it embraces purpose in the core of the business and creates value from values.” Paul Polman, Andrew Winston
A new way to think, by Roger L. Martin. (link)
Another year, and another book by Roger Martin. In A new way to think, Martin covers the entire breadth of the management landscape, illuminating the true nature of competition, explaining how company success revolves around customers, revealing how strategy and execution are really the same thing, and much more. The book encourages readers to look critically at conventional and often failing approaches used to tackle management problems and provides a new way of thinking about business and management.
As someone who almost always introduces new models for my clients to tackle their strategy and innovation challenges, I resonated with the way he urges people not to be owned by failing models and encourages them to try new ones.
“It’s by trying models, observing the results, and then experimenting with a new model when the promised results don’t materialise that you will embark on a positive learning journey. And as you progress on that journey, keep in mind that you’re the boss: you own your models.” Roger L. Martin
The Human Element, by Loran Nordgren and David Schonthal (link)
The Human Element is a book written by Loran Nordgren and David Schonthal that explores how innovators can best overcome opposition to change. The authors argue that reducing the four major types of friction - inertia, effort, emotion, and reactance - is necessary to achieve adoption and acceptance of new ideas, as a complement to the fuel-based approach to innovation.
I enjoyed reading this book from two different vantage points, as the insights that the authors share are equally valuable to maximise chances of:
new products and services to succeed on the market,
corporate innovation to survive and thrive in the tough context of most organisations.
“The conventional, Fuel-based approach to innovation is necessary. Without appeal, an idea won’t survive. But Fuel alone is insufficient. To create change we must first understand the forces operating against change. While we might not see them, they are there, quietly undermining our efforts to innovate.” Loran Nordgren, David Schonthal
That’s it for now! Hopefully those books are available at your local library, or easily downloadable on your smartphone/tablet.
What’s next on your reading list?
Happy reading everyone!
