Thought Sparks

@Christian Stadler is a Professor of strategy at Warwick Business School in the UK (formerly at the Tuck School). He was short-listed for the @Thinkers50 strategy award in 2021. His new book "Open Strategy: Mastering Disruption from Outside the C-Suite" explores how interconnected and open strategies can challenge conventional wisdom about keeping things to yourself!   Rita McGrath is a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and longtime professor at Columbia Business School.  As one of the world’s top experts on innovation and growth, Rita’s work is regularly published in the Harvard Business Review. She is consistently ranked among the Top 10 management thinkers in the world and was ranked #1 for strategy by Thinkers50.  Get in Touch, Keep in Touch! https://www.ritamcgrath.com/You can follow me on Twitter (@rgmcgrath), on Instagram (@ritamcgrathofficial), on LinkedIn and here on YouTube. For access to the archives, ability to make comments and to be part of the community, subscribe.

"Let's take it yard by yard." This philosophy, shared by my Guest entrepreneur and Bartesian CEO Ryan Close is one reason his company is poised to triumph in a  market in which far larger and better-funded competitors have stumbled. Drop in on this clip from our longer conversation to see how true entrepreneurs build things worth building!   Rita McGrath is a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and longtime professor at Columbia Business School. As one of the world’s top experts on innovation and growth, Rita’s work is regularly published in the Harvard Business Review. She is consistently ranked among the Top 10 management thinkers in the world and was ranked #1 for strategy by Thinkers50.   Get in Touch, Keep in Touch! https://www.ritamcgrath.com/You can follow me on Twitter (@rgmcgrath), on Instagram (@ritamcgrathofficial), on LinkedIn and here on YouTube. For access to the archives, ability to make comments and to be part of the community, subscribe.

In 2018, Goldman Sachs reported that Google paid Apple $9 billion to be the default search engine on the iPhone; by 2022 that number is reportedly $20 billion. Why is a position that a user could easily change with just a few clicks so valuable? The answer, according to my Friday Fireside Chat guest, Eric J. Johnson, has to do with choice architecture. How choices are presented to us affect our decisions in deeply profound ways. This is explored in his terrific new book "The Elements of Choice: Why the Way We Decide Matters." We'll be talking about his idea of sludge - when a decision situation makes what is in the best interest of the chooser difficult - and dark patterns, when users are tricked into taking an action they didn't intend to. Join us for what I know will be an eye-opening session.    Rita McGrath is a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and longtime professor at Columbia Business School. As one of the world’s top experts on innovation and growth, Rita’s work is regularly published in the Harvard Business Review. She is consistently ranked among the Top 10 management thinkers in the world and was ranked #1 for strategy by Thinkers50.  Get in Touch, Keep in Touch! https://www.ritamcgrath.com/You can follow me on Twitter (@rgmcgrath), on Instagram (@ritamcgrathofficial), on LinkedIn and here on YouTube. For access to the archives, ability to make comments and to be part of the community, subscribe.

My guest this week is Pulitzer prize-winning author and journalist Matt Richtel.  His work has focused on science, technology, business and narrative-driven story telling around these issues, including cancer immunotherapy, electronic cigarettes, and the impact of heavy technology use on behavior and the brain.  His latest book (one of many!) is "Inspired: Understanding Creativity: A Journey Through Art, Science, and the Soul."  We'll be talking about the book - and much more. Join us!  Rita McGrath is a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and longtime professor at Columbia Business School. As one of the world’s top experts on innovation and growth, Rita’s work is regularly published in the Harvard Business Review. She is consistently ranked among the Top 10 management thinkers in the world and was ranked #1 for strategy by Thinkers50.  Get in Touch, Keep in Touch! https://www.ritamcgrath.com/You can follow me on Twitter (@rgmcgrath), on Instagram (@ritamcgrathofficial), on LinkedIn and here on YouTube. For access to the archives, ability to make comments and to be part of the community, subscribe.

It isn't just anyone who can run an organization that has an impact on tens of thousands of leaders in over 100 countries, but ExecOnLine co-founder Stephen Bailey is that person. Prompted by a sense that access to high-quality online education could unleash career breakthroughs for diverse talents, the fast-growing company is a leader in its category. Stephen has also won recognition as the New York EY Entrepreneur of the Year. He'll be joining me this Friday and you can be part of the conversation. Rita McGrath is a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and longtime professor at Columbia Business School. As one of the world’s top experts on innovation and growth, Rita’s work is regularly published in the Harvard Business Review. She is consistently ranked among the Top 10 management thinkers in the world and was ranked #1 for strategy by Thinkers50.   Get in Touch, Keep in Touch! https://www.ritamcgrath.com/ You can follow me on Twitter (@rgmcgrath), on Instagram (@ritamcgrathofficial), on LinkedIn and here on YouTube. For access to the archives, ability to make comments and to be part of the community, subscribe.     We’re also ramping up some interesting offers at Valize. For instance, we’ve revived the BareBones net present value calculator featured in my book, Discovery Driven Growth. You can download it for free from the Valize web site @ https://www.valize.com/

Want to be successful? Well connected? Richer? Maybe even happier? Well, join me in a front-row seat for a man who has decoded a great deal of not only why to do these things but how.  Meet Keith Ferrazzi, author of the best-selling "Never Eat Alone" join and listen. Rita McGrath is a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and longtime professor at Columbia Business School. As one of the world’s top experts on innovation and growth, Rita’s work is regularly published in the Harvard Business Review. She is consistently ranked among the Top 10 management thinkers in the world and was ranked #1 for strategy by Thinkers50.   Get in Touch, Keep in Touch! https://www.ritamcgrath.com/ You can follow me on Twitter (@rgmcgrath), on Instagram (@ritamcgrathofficial), on LinkedIn and here on YouTube. For access to the archives, ability to make comments and to be part of the community, subscribe.     We’re also ramping up some interesting offers at Valize. For instance, we’ve revived the BareBones net present value calculator featured in my book, Discovery Driven Growth. You can download it for free from the Valize web site @ https://www.valize.com/

Sharon Price John, the CEO of Build-a-Bear workshop, has had a fabled career that includes losing (even though you won), taking big risks and having them pay off, the mom thing and more recently the turnaround and transformation of the beloved brand. She's written about her experiences in a great book called "Stories & Heart" which offers not only lessons learned from her own experiences but guidelines for how you can apply them in your own adventures. Can't wait! Rita McGrath is a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and longtime professor at Columbia Business School. As one of the world’s top experts on innovation and growth, Rita’s work is regularly published in the Harvard Business Review. She is consistently ranked among the Top 10 management thinkers in the world and was ranked #1 for strategy by Thinkers50.   Get in Touch, Keep in Touch! https://www.ritamcgrath.com/ You can follow me on Twitter (@rgmcgrath), on Instagram (@ritamcgrathofficial), on LinkedIn and here on YouTube. For access to the archives, ability to make comments and to be part of the community, subscribe.     We’re also ramping up some interesting offers at Valize. For instance, we’ve revived the BareBones net present value calculator featured in my book, Discovery Driven Growth. You can download it for free from the Valize web site @ https://www.valize.com/

Michael Bungay Stanier (or "MBS" as those who know him affectionately call him has written books that have sold over a million copies, rebelled against a traditional path that would have been his fate after his Rhodes scholarship and developed an approach to coaching that "un-weirds" it. His latest book is "The Advice Trap: Be Humble, Stay Curious and Change the Way You Lead Forever." I'm looking forward to chatting to him about de-mystifying coaching, helping people lead better lives and more broadly creating the conditions in which all can thrive.   Rita McGrath is a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and longtime professor at Columbia Business School. As one of the world’s top experts on innovation and growth, Rita’s work is regularly published in the Harvard Business Review. She is consistently ranked among the Top 10 management thinkers in the world and was ranked #1 for strategy by Thinkers50.  Get in Touch, Keep in Touch! https://www.ritamcgrath.com/You can follow me on Twitter (@rgmcgrath), on Instagram (@ritamcgrathofficial), on LinkedIn and here on YouTube. For access to the archives, ability to make comments and to be part of the community, subscribe.     We’re also ramping up some interesting offers at Valize. For instance, we’ve revived the BareBones net present value calculator featured in my book, Discovery Driven Growth. You can download it for free from the Valize web site @ https://www.valize.com/

Sure, we're all Olympic athletes and Nobel prize winners in our own minds, but have you ever wondered what makes them different than you and I? My guest has a great new book out that encapsulates the answer, synthesized from hundreds of hours of interviews with hugely successful people. "The Success Factor," Ruth Gotian's new book, describes how intrinsic motivation, perseverance, a strong foundation, and constantly learning through informal means, in the right mix, explains a lot. Gotian is the Chief Learning Officer at Weill Cornell Medicine and a new inducted member of the Thinkers50 RADAR thinkers. Join us - this will be great!   Rita McGrath is a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and longtime professor at Columbia Business School. As one of the world’s top experts on innovation and growth, Rita’s work is regularly published in the Harvard Business Review. She is consistently ranked among the Top 10 management thinkers in the world and was ranked #1 for strategy by Thinkers50.  Get in Touch, Keep in Touch! https://www.ritamcgrath.com/You can follow me on Twitter (@rgmcgrath), on Instagram (@ritamcgrathofficial), on LinkedIn and here on YouTube. For access to the archives, ability to make comments and to be part of the community, subscribe.     We’re also ramping up some interesting offers at Valize. For instance, we’ve revived the BareBones net present value calculator featured in my book, Discovery Driven Growth. You can download it for free from the Valize web site @ https://www.valize.com/

We all think that we are rational decision-makers who determine what stuff we'll buy and how we will spend our time on the basis of rational calculation. But, as my Friday Fireside Guest and top-ranked thinker Roger Martin observes, our minds are like an iceberg - the stuff that we can access consciously is a fraction of what is actually there. Instead, our minds seek convenience, comfort and familiarity. The course of least resistance is the course of action that is most powerful. Cumulative advantage is the consequence of habit! Great insights in this short clip.   Rita McGrath is a best-selling author, sought-after speaker, and longtime professor at Columbia Business School. As one of the world’s top experts on innovation and growth, Rita’s work is regularly published in the Harvard Business Review. She is consistently ranked among the Top 10 management thinkers in the world and was ranked #1 for strategy by Thinkers50.