Thought Sparks

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.

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/

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.

Christopher Mims is a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, and writes Keywords, a weekly column on technology. He has a fascinating new book out called "Arriving Today" that is particularly relevant to our pandemic-related supply chain disruptions. It's really eye opening! Before joining the Journal in 2014, he was the lead technology reporter for Quartz and has written on science and tech for publications ranging from Technology Review, Smithsonian, Wired, the Atlantic, Slate and other publications. Mims, who has degree in neuroscience and behavioral biology from Emory University, lives in Baltimore.

Anne-Marie Slaughter burst into the public eye with her 2012 article in the Atlantic "Why Women Still Can't Have It All." Since then, she's gone on to run New America Foundation as its CEO (among many other things, including her highly acclaimed book "Unfinished Business"). She has a new book out, "Renewal: From Crisis to Transformation in Our Lives, Work, and Politics" in which she reflects on the transformation in her own life sparked by a major professional crisis. Can't wait to dive in!

Marcus Eriksen made a huge impression on me when I first met him. He is an environmental scientist, educator and author as part of his day job. On the side, he's built rafts out of junk, floated down the Mississippi river for days on said raft, writes books about his adventures and advocates for the environment. He has been an outspoken and forthright advocate for the environment, particularly the elimination of plastics in the oceans. Most importantly, his efforts have gotten results, notably in a law prohibiting micro-beads in cosmetics.