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What is the essence of influence? How do some people nudge, cajole and charm others towards their predetermined goals? There seems to be an art of influence but could there be a science behind it? Can science inform us how to nudge people? Is there a science of framing issues that make others do what you want them to do?    The Science of Framing Issues In this podcast episode, I explore the literature on behavioral decision theory to understand whether presenting information in some ways can influence people? If that is possible, then we are susceptible to such influence. Moreover,  we can affect others too.    Two Key Research Topics on Framing Issues I explored two critical research veins in behavioral decision theory to understand whether a presentation of data in some ways influences others. The first research literature was on heuristics and biases which tell us that we are susceptible to a biased decision making. The second research focused on probabilistic reasoning. In that, I focused entirely on the prospect theory by Kahnemann and Tversky.    The Dark Side of Innovation When conducting my research for my book the dark side of innovation, I relied heavily on prospect theory to show a connection between behavioral decision theory and innovation behavior of firms. I demonstrated that prospect theory is a plausible explanation for how companies behave in the face of profit-destroying innovations. In the podcast, I share how the same approach applies to marketing, consumer behavior, and even in making people save more for retirement.    Key Take Aways The key takeaways from this episode are as follow: 1. How the way you present information can change how people perceive a situation? 2. What is the difference between the first data point and following data points? 3. What behavioral decision theory research help us with the science of framing issue.  4. What implications does this research have for business? 5. How can you use this research to influence others?  

We know that people differ in how they think but why is that? You may attribute this difference to difference in experience, knowledge, training, and intelligence. But if you removed these differences, do you think the human mind works the same way across people?   Two Thinking Styles You may be surprised to know that people differ in fundamental ways in which they receive information and understand the world. These differences exist because of the two different thinking styles in the world.    Research has shown us that there are two types of thinking styles: analytic and holistic thinking style. These thinking styles differ in how and where people pay attention, how they attribute causal relationships, how they learn, and how they predict.    Why Thinking Styles Matter Imagine how important this finding is. If you knew that you are a holistic thinker but your colleague or a counterpart on a table is an analytic thinker, you would have different expectations. If you bring these two thinking styles together, you can improve the quality of decisions.    Research on Thinking Styles In this season of the podcast, we are drawing lessons from management science research and distilling it into actionable steps for busy managers. In this episode, we explore the difference in thinking style of people and what these differences mean.    In this episode, we go through research in psychology and social psychology to understand how people differ in thinking styles.  We synthesized many research articles to create this podcast.    Key Take Aways The key takeaways from this episode are 1. How do people with holistic thinking style differ for those with analytic thinking styles? 2. Can people change the thinking style? 3. How and why do people make a different decision due to their dominant thinking style? 4. How can you become a better decision maker and a better manager with this knowledge? 5. How can the knowledge into this epode make you a better manager and business leader? 6. Some actionable steps you can take to use the knowledge of different thinking styles.   The Citations are available at ankushchopra.com  

If the market conditions of a company change, but a business doesn’t adapt to that change, it almost always dies. Adapting to changing industry conditions is one of the central jobs of firm management. If the leaders of business do not bring about the needed change, who else would? But the question is how easy is it to change.   Can A Business Adapt To a Changing Environment? I explore this question in this podcast episode and search for answers in the management science literature. Since adapting to a changing world is such a critical issue for every business leader, there is an extensive literature on adaptation. Scholars in economics, sociology, organizational theory and many other fields and subfields have explored this questions.   Two Major Change Theories In the episode, I delve into two critical theories that deal with adapting to change. The first is the theory of population ecology of firms and the second is the theory of evolutionary economics. They provide different answers and substantial empirical research to back their claims.    Stories of Adaptation I share many stories to firms that failed to adapt and thus died. I go beyond individual companies to large groups of firms where not a single company survived when its environment changed. At the same time, I share stories of businesses that survived multiple changes in their environments.    The Art of Adaptation Beyond exploring the literature and seeking clarity on this critical questions, I also share a solution to the existential challenge of adaptation. In my book, the dark side of innovation, I developed a meta strategy framework that can help firms anticipate changes and adapt to those changes.    Key Takeaways The key takeaways from this episode are: 1. Do businesses adapt to change or do they fail to adapt to change? 2. Why do companies find it challenging to adapt to change? 3. What do major theories in management research predict about adaptation?  4. Stories of firms that adapted to change and those that failed to adapt. 5. Some actionable steps you can take to ensure your business will adjust to a changing environment 6. A framework that can help your firms to build an adaptation capability.  Citations at ankushchopra.com/tim/

Dominant logic is a powerful concept in the management literature. It refers to a shared cognitive map within the top management team that allows business leaders to make the right decisions fast. This map includes mindsets, worldview, conceptual models and administrative tools to accomplish goals and make decisions in that business.    The Seminal Research Study Prahalad and Bettis wrote their seminal paper on dominant logic (referred below) which consolidated hundreds of previous research studies into a single concept of dominant logic. It explains how firms and leaders make critical decisions that lead to business success.   The Concept of Dominant Logic In this podcast episode, I explore this idea and explain how you can use it to become a more successful manager. I also explain how it is even more relevant in this age of disruption when your old dominant logics are becoming less relevant. When your old logic no longer works, it is like flying an aircraft with a corrupt navigation system. It is a certainty you won’t reach our destination.   Evolution of Dominant Logic I explain in the podcast how a dominant logic evolves and take hold of a team. The evolutionary story includes concept such as schemas, mental models, cognitive maps and business processes. I also explain the concept of thin slicing of information to make quick business and life decisions.    Examples I also share many examples of dominant logic across firms. I share the examples of Kodak and Gillette to show how their dominant logic helped them become successful. The same logic eventually becomes a barrier when the business landscape changes a lot.    Takeaways The  key takeaways from this episode are: 1. What is a dominant logic and where does it reside? 2. How does dominant logic arise and evolve? 3. What are some examples of dominant logic? 4. Why can dominant logic sometimes lead to disruption of firms? 5. Some actionable insights from dominant logic for you to become more successful manager  (Citations at ankushchopra.com)    

Before disruptive innovation became a rage, radical innovation was considered to be the innovation that almost always disrupted incumbent firms. But now we know that neither disruptive nor radical innovations always disrupt incumbent firms. Still, radical innovations are and will continue to be challenging for incumbent firms.    What is Radical Innovation? Radical innovation is what people naturally think of when asked to give an example of innovation. So the Electric car is a radical innovation. The digital camera was one too. More recently, the smart watch is a radical innovation too. They are radical because they use radically different knowledge base from their predecessor products.   Research on Radical Innovations This week we explored management science research to gather lessons on radical innovations. We found hundreds of papers going back more than 50 years. In short, we have a rich history of research on this subject. In this podcast, we distilled the research findings to make them succinct and easily digestible for managers.    Actionable Insights on Radical Innovations We also converted these findings into actionable insights for busy managers. In this podcast season, we want to arrive at ‘what you can do’ with the results of research from management literature. We condensed all the research into four actionable steps you can take to ensure that a radical innovation does not disrupt your business. These lessons will also help you manage your innovation pipeline better.   Key Takeaways In this episode you will take away four key lessons: 1. Why are radical innovations challenging? 2. Wha can you do to deal with them and not get disrupted by such innovations? 3. What is absorptive capacity and how it helps with radical innovation? 4. Four actionable steps you can take to become better at radical innovations.  

Most people think of innovation as large scale and major innovations like electric cars and business models like Uber. They often forget that the bread and butter of innovation is small minor innovations. These innovations drive the long term profitability and survival of firms.    Literature on Minor Innovations In the first episode of season three of the podcast, we explore what management research says about minor innovations. We use these lessons and create some actions steps for business managers. This episode will not only allow you to gain valuable insights from the literature but also use those lessons in your business.   The problem with Management Science Literature  Most people tend to criticize management literature as esoteric with little value for managers. Many managers have found that the literature is dense and difficult to grasp. Although there is an element of truth that most management literature is not only dense and difficult to grasp, it is also so insignificant in its actionability, that managers may not get enough bang for their buck.    The Promise of Management Research Although most individual research papers may be dense and of little significance, the literature as a whole has amazing knowledge base. It is this empirical and conceptual knowledge that is valuable for businesses. Since I have been a part of both the business world and the academic world, I can not only see the chasm between the two worlds but can also see how each can benefit form the other. This season is my attempt to bring the management research, translated into  actionable insights for managers. I hope you will find this season insightful and useful.    Incremental Innovations Take the example of the concept of minor innovations. Most people tend to not focus on them although they are the core of all innovations. It is useful to understand what the literature says about such innovations. Can you learn from the literature? Can those insights help your business? My answer is an big yes.   Key Takeways The key takeaways from this episode are: 1. How important are incremental and minor innovations? 2. What are some examples of companies that have built massive success on the foundations of minor innovations 3. How cCan minor innovation also

This last episode of the season titled "Becoming a Strategist" focuses on the strategy process. Until now, in the last eleven episodes of this season, we discussed strategic thinking skills and strategic absorptive capacity. We complete this season by adding the last of the three key things that every strategist needs.    What is a Strategy Process? A strategy process is just a set of steps a company undertakes to design and execute strategy in a reliable and predictable manner. The process often involves dozens and sometimes hundreds of people bringing together data on different aspect so the business landscape as well as the project status of strategy projects.  Such information, data, and analysis provide the needed input for a strategist to make the appropriate strategic decisions.    The Strategist and the Strategy Process A strategy process does not replace a strategist but complements him. It allows the strategist to delegate a large part of the strategy work and focus on the most critical decision making tasks. Furthermore, such a process trains many managers to become a more effective strategist. As a result, the process helps build a deep strategy bench in a company. This episode explains how such a process works in reality.    The Strategy Model Deep within a strategy process is a model. Such a model helps the organization conceptualize the world and strategic choices in an easy way. It helps people use the same language of strategy and use the same perspective. There are dozens and scores of models for business policy, and they all have slight differences in what they emphasize. Nevertheless, all strategy models need to help firms make the same set of core choices eventually. These choices are how to create value, how to deliver value and how to capture value. I share two critical models of the strategy process.    Drawbacks of Most Strategy Processes A big drawback in strategy process I often see in companies that firms use a single stage process.  Such a process does an excellent job for the enterprise but is limited in scope and effectiveness to the current environmental conditions. When the industry changes, such a strategy model often becomes ineffective. At such times, firms that rely on a single stage process, end up struggling in the market.   Overcomi

Do you know why some businesses survive for a long time whereas others die quickly? When a company lacks a sustained competitive advantage, it finds sit hard to survive or make money over the long term. Thus, a sustained advantage is the life force of business. The Single Biggest Goal of the Strategist Since competitive advantage is so critical for business, it is the single biggest goal of a strategist. In this episode, I discuss what is a competitive advantage and how does it arise? Three Sources of Competitive Advantage There are three sources of competitive advantage for a firm: resources, capabilities and activity systems. I discuss these three in this episode and also provide examples of how the same. But a fundamental question arises as to why some resources, capabilities and activity systems provide an advantage to the firm but others do not. The answer depends on four conditions which I detail in this episode. Key Takeaways The core takes ways from this week’s episode are as follows: 1. Why does your firm need to build a sustained competitive advantage? 2. What is the benefit of competitive advantage and what happens if you cannot create it? 3. How competitive advantage arises from resources, capabilities and activity systems of firms. 4. What are the four conditions that drive a sustained competitive advantage?

An organization’s strategy cannot deliver results without a key ingredient. And that key element is also a key weapon of the strategy: Organizational capabilities. Without the right organizational capacities, a strategy is nothing but a pipe dream. This episode delves deeper into organization skills and their role in business strategy.   What are organizational capabilities? This episode answers a key question for managers: what are organizational abilities and how do they help a strategy. It helps explain what exactly a capability is and what it does. Using some vivid examples of capabilities, it helps you understand the concept in depth.    Where do capabilities reside? A critical question for all managers is: how to build the needed skills for a strategy? This episode helps answer this question by explaining what do capabilities consist of and where they reside in an organization. It clear a critical myth that organizational capabilities reside in people. This episode explains why when Steve Jobs passed on, Apple continued to excel in innovation.   Strategy and Capabilities. A strategist knows that strategy is not possible without the right capabilities within an organization. And she also knows that abilities take some time to develop. With this knowledge of capacities and deeper relationship between capabilities and strategy, the strategist makes a critical choice: to build a strategic plan based on existing capabilities or build new capabilities?    Key Takeaways The core takes ways from this week’s episode are as follows: 1. What is an organizational capability? 2. Where do firm capabilities reside? 3. Where do enterprise capabilities come from and how do companies build them? 4. What are some examples of capabilities across organizations?   

Competition is a major force in the field of the strategist. It can render effective strategies ineffective over time. It sometimes makes you run faster to just stay in one place. This episode provides the opportunity to understand what is involved in competing like a strategist.    The power of competition Competition can create havoc in an industry. If you look around the business world today, you will notice that most companies are struggling o deal with their competitors. Dollar Shave Club came out of nowhere and suddenly took over 8% of shave care market share. iPhone came out of nowhere and led to the decline of Blackberry and Symbian. Later, Google suddenly upended Apple’s plans in the smartphone industry.    Role of the strategist The role of the strategist involves designing strategies that can lead to a sustained competitive advantage. But competition can arise and suddenly nullify your competitive advantage. So how does a strategist deal with this constant threat? We learn about this in this episode.    Key Takeaways The core takes ways from this week’s episode are as follows: 1. How competition changes your destiny? 2. Why do firms find it hard even to identify its critical competitors 3. Are all competitors bad or are some benign? What are the different outcomes in competitive situations? 4. Can the actions of a firm cannot eh competitive landscape in an industry?  5. How to deal with competition and compete like a strategist?  

This episode of the podcast further explores the field of the strategist. Continuing our exploration into the field’s outermost circle, we discuss four major forces in the field. Using several examples of these forces, we understand how the field is not only a source of huge threats but also a source of significant opportunities.   The Four Additional forces We explore how legal forces, physical environmental forces, technological forces and social forces create a mosaic for the strategist in action.    How the Strategist Deals with the field This episode also explains how the strategist deals with the field especially when facing such enormous forces that are out of control of any firm. In this episode I use the famous lines from Julius Caesar to explain how the strategist sees the forces in the field:   There is a tide in the affairs of men. Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat, And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures.    The Field and Strategy The field offers the strategist some of the raw materials to be used in strategy design. The episode also makes clear that although the field is conceptualized in categories, in reality, it is a mosaic of forces pulsating over a time horizon of the strategist.    Key Takeaways The key takeaways from this episode are as follows: 1. How do social, technological, legal, and environmental forces affect the field?  2. What are some examples of each of the above force in action 3. How does the strategist look at the forces in the field and what can you learn from this viewpoint?   

This episode of the podcast explores the field of the strategist. It is the broader business context with powerful forces that affect the business. These forces can be so powerful to render many strategies useless. When a strategy is aligned with the field, it becomes powerful.   The Vicissitudes of the Field The field of the strategist is like the sea on which the business is just a ship. Sometimes the sea is calm, but at other times it can become violent and dangerous. A good gameplan helps you navigate the ship irrespective of the sea conditions. In the same way, a great business strategy should work even when the field changes over time. If you ignore the vicissitudes of the field,  your strategy will have some serious limitations.  It will function efficiently only a limited set of conditions.    Modeling the Field In this episode, I conceptualize the field of the strategist using a model of a dart board. Concentric circles on the board represent the various levels of the field. I have found this to be a useful model to understand the field which otherwise is not only multidimensional but also rich in its complexity on each dimension.    The field of the strategist is also like a board on which the game of business takes place. In this episode, you also understand the relationship between the strategist and the field.    Key Takeaways The key takeaways from this episode are as follows: 1. What is the field of the strategist? 2. How does the strategist view the field? 3. Some examples of forces in the field affecting businesses and strategies of companies. 4. How to break down the field into its component forces? 5. A deeper understanding of two critical forces in the field.   

This episode of the podcast explores the goals of a strategist. As the goals we set for ourselves make an immense difference in the output we produce, it is critical to understand the aims of the strategist. Understanding goals can help you become a  better strategist.  Why you need to know the goals of a strategist? A strategy, at the end of the day, is nothing more than a set of choices. These opportunities assist you to design great strategies.   If the goals are not undefined,  fuzzy, or wrong goals, a strategy cannot be effective.   Goal Alignment You can be a strategist at many different levels of an organization. You can be a brand manager or a product manager and thus play this role. Irrespective of you position and role in the organization, your goals are deeply intertwined with many critical business goals. As a result, understanding and aligning with corporate and business goals become critical for any strategist. The Web of Goals As you go through this episode, you will realize that although business leaders and strategist set goals, many factors constrain their goals. A web of agendas in any organization makes it critical for you to understand the evolution of goals in business. The Key Qualities of Effective Goals Finally, there are some key qualities of goals that make them powerful. The episode talks about two primary qualities of any goal that you need to keep in mind. The episode will make you reflect on the goals you currently pursue and determine if you need to tweak those goals to make them more better. Key Takeaways The key takeaways from this episode on the goals of a strategist are as follows:     1.    Why setting great goals is critical for the strategist?     2.    The two types of goals that drive a strategist?     3.    From where do goals arise?     4.    How do goals evolve with the evolution of an enterprise?     5.    Two critical qualities of powerful goals.  

How do strategic thinkers attack problems? Is that different from how people normally attack their problems? There is indeed a major difference. In this episode of the podcast, we discuss how to attack a problem like a strategist.  Do you have  plan of attack for your biggest problems? Most people uses around half a dozen techniques of attaching problems. Unfortunately, most people do this without making a deliberate choice. As a result, they often fall into decision traps. The result is too much effort, too little result.  Even strategic thinkers often make a subconscious choice on how to attack a problem. The difference is that someone who has hones his strategic thinking skills will use a differ method of attack problems.  In this episode we discuss how the plan of attack makes a big difference to the outcome.   The secret Sauce of Strategic thinking In this episode we go to the heart of the method used by strategic thinkers. This is the method people use to identify the major levers around a core issue of a situation. When you pull a high impact lever the result is significant difference to the situation. On the other hand, when you pull low impact levers, even massive action makes too little difference.  Archimedes said “give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I will move the world”. That is exactly what static thinkers do best. They find the longest possible levers in a situation. And that is the secret sauce of their success.   Simple Examples Of Strategic Thinking I share three examples of how you can use this method of thinking to solve three different problems. Using a simple as well as a real life example, I show how you can do what the best strategic thinkers do.      Key Take Aways In this episode you will take away the following three things 1. Different ways by which people ca solve the same problem. You will learn what are these different thinking methods.  2. Why and how strategic thinking help you identify the strongest levers in a situation; 3. A simple method for a great plan of attack on eve the most vexing issue sin your business    

In this age of data explosion, strategic thinking skill is the key to our survival. This ability to cut through the clutter of a messy world to get to the heart of the matter is the way to take any action at all. Without this skill, we are prone to many thinking traps as we saw in the previous episode.   Thinking Traps That Make Us Less Strategic If we rely on what comes naturally to us, it will be hard to get to the heart of the matter. The reason is not just the information explosion, but also the way our mind works. We do not function as an information processing machines around us. Instead, we search in ways that allow us to retrieve data quickly. And this means we use heuristics to function. And these heuristics do not serve the purpose they did fifty years back.    Less Strategic Means Low Impact The outcome is that many people work on the wrong issues in a given situation. This incorrect focus leads to weak results. This relationship is true in business and life. In the previous episode, we saw how Coke was working on the long issue in response to Pepsi. We also saw how HP and Atari missed on getting in on some of the early work of Steve Jobs. We saw how we keep falling into traps with our thinking methods.   How to Become Strategic In this episode, we discuss how you can become more strategic in your orientation. How you can develop the ability to get to the heart of the matter fast. This skill will allow you to work on the most important issues in your business, career, and life. But more importantly, it will make sure you are not wasting your effort on working on the wrong problems.   Key Take Ways In this episode, you will take away a powerful method to get to the heart of the matter in any situation. As you practice it, it will become second nature to you. Thousands of participants in my strategic thinking workshops have learned this skill. You can master it too.    The key takeaways from this episode are 1. What is the heart of the matter? What is a big issue in a situation? 2. Examples of companies making mistakes in getting to the core of the matter. 3. Examples of managers getting sidetracked with the wrong issue 4. A powerful four-step method to identify the core issue in any given situation.

In season 2 of the Innovation Muse Podcast, we are focusing on the nuts and bolts of being a strategist. But in your journey to becoming one, you face many barriers from within. A critical barrier is your natural thinking style. There are many flaws in our natural thinking styles. This episode discussed the flawed thinking methods that hold you back. What Is Thinking Really? What do you do when you think? You focus your attention on a subject, search information around it, process the information, and make an evaluation. Whether you are thinking about the meaning of life or whether to go ahead with a project this is what you do. From a process perspective, you follow the above steps, but people differs in what they do within each of these steps. You may focus on something different from what your colleague does. You may search different information source. You may also differ in how you search and how long do a search. Beyond that, you may process information in a different way. And as a result, you may evaluate a situation in a different way than I do.  Different Thinking Styles Although we may differ in our thinking styles, we also share some common ways of thinking across situations. These thinking styles are what we rely on when we think. For example, when you are searching for lost keys you stop that search when you find your keys. But when you are searching for information, does it make sense to stop your search after your find the first data point? But that is how we think a lot of times. As a result, we make mistakes.  Flawed Thinking Methods That Hold You Back Over the last 40 years or so, behavior decision research has shown that humans are prone to many thinking traps. These traps make us less strategic in our thinking. These traps make us flawed decision makers. As a result, these thinking styles are the biggest barriers for you to become a strategic thinker. Key Takeaways In his episode, we focus on these thinking traps and how they make your thinking flawed. At the end of this episode, you will take away the following three things 1. Some jaw dropping examples of decision mistakes companies make 2. We are wired in a way that makes us fall into decision traps and act less strategically than we want to.  3. Examples of many decision traps that make you less strategic in your thinking

What is the essence of a strategist? This question is the focus of the first episode of season 2 of The Innovation Muse podcast. A strategist is obviously one who creates a strategy. Great war heroes like Napoleon and Alexander the great were great strategists. Even business leader such as Jack Welch, Michael Dell, and Howard Shultz are great strategists.  But what does a strategist do? What does strategy have to do with business? What skills are needed to become a strategist and how can you become one? These are the questions we discuss in this season of this podcast. The objective of this season is to help you chart a path to becoming a more effective strategist.   Who is a  Strategist? Every CEO is the strategy chief of a company. But beyond the CEO, a large number of people work on creating a strategy. The chief strategy officer often leads a team involved with strategy development. This team often has deep expertise in strategy development and execution. The same skills play a key role at a regional level, business level, and country level. A C-suite officer whether at a corporate level, a country level, or a business level, needs to be a strategist.  Yes, even functional leaders need to be a strategist. For example, a human resource leader or an IT later who lacks strategic skills will find it hard to go far in a business career.    Why do you need a strategist? You need a strategist to chart the most effective path towards your most important goals. Without an effective strategist, you will find an organization firing many shots and hitting a small number of targets. With an effective strategist, the business will not pursue many targets and will use the most effective guns to fire the shots.   What is the essence of a strategist?  At the core of a strategist are three critical skills. Without these skills, one cannot be an effective strategist. People are rarely born with these skills, and they need to build them over time. This episode will detail these capabilities and show a path to building them in this season.   Key Take Aways This episode will focus on explaining what strategy is and what is a strategist. By unpacking the essence of a strategist, you will learn out how to become an effective strategist. The takeaways of this episode are 1. What is a stra