Thought Sparks

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.

Ron Adner and I have been intellectual sparring partners and friends for a very long time. He's just come out with a terrific new book, "Winning the Right Game" which tackles head on the strategic challenge executives confront when the ecosystems they compete in are disrupted. The problems start, as Adner explains, when strategists choose the wrong "game" to begin with, meaning that even if they succeed, they will ultimately lose. The book talks about defense, offense, timing, mindsets and what has to be one of my favorite chapters the dangers of an "ego-system" in which leaders let their preferences (and their hubris) undermine their judgment.

Are you a regular contributor or what Liz Wiseman calls an "impact player?" You might think you're doing just fine, doodling along doing your job, but what you might actually be doing is adding to people's burdens at work, taking up headspace with unnecessary detours and generally being a drag on everyone around you. A new book from the celebrated author of "Multipliers" sheds another gleaming light on what behaviors make work light, easier and even fun, and which don't. More importantly, she tells us what to do to create a team-ful of high impact players. I'm thrilled that Liz was able to join me by the fireside.

I promised Harvard Professor and expert on equality and inclusion Robert Livingston that I would read his book "The Conversation" before he joined me for a Friday Fireside Chat. I did, and am ever so glad. He takes us through a journey centered on three questions: What is racism? Why should everyone care? What can we do to eradicate it? Professor Livingston de-mystifies many misconceptions about racism in a reasonable, non-threatening and deeply researched way. And the cliff notes are - racism is enduring and endemic. We should care because it hurts all of us. And - really good news - there is a path to solving it.