A titled leader relies heavily on positional power to get things done; a natural leader is able to mobilize others without the whip of formal authority.

… all too often, a successful new business model becomes the business model for companies not creative enough to invent their own.[2002] p.46

A well-conceived product excels at what it does. It’s close to being functionally flawless – like a Ziploc bag, a radio from Tivoli Audio, a Philips Sonicare toothbrush, a Nespresso coffee maker or Google’s home...

It’s not unusual for a would-be entrepreneur to get turned down half a dozen times before finding a willing investor – yet in most companies, it takes only one ‘nyet’ to kill a project stone...

An enterprise that is constantly exploring new horizons is likely to have a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining talent.

I don’t know whether the universe contains any evidence of intelligent design, but I can assure you that thousands of everyday products do not.

You can’t build an adaptable organization without adaptable people – and individuals change only when they have to, or when they want to.

An adaptable company is one that captures more than its fair share of new opportunities. It’s always redefining its ‘core business’ in ways that open up new avenues for growth.

**New business concepts are always, always the product of lucky foresight.**That’s right – the essential insight doesn’t come out of any dirigiste planning process; it comes form some cocktail of happenstance, desire, curiosity, ambition and...

I’m not one of those professors whose office is encased floor-to-ceiling with books. By the way, I think academics do this to intimidate their visitors.

Over the centuries, religion has become institutionalized, and in the process encrusted with elaborate hierarchies, top-heavy bureaucracies, highly specialized roles and reflexive routines.

Fact is, inventing an innovative business model is often mostly a matter of serendipity.

In a world of commoditized knowledge, the returns go to the companies who can produce non-standard knowledge.

At the pinnacle of great design are products so gorgeous and lust-worthy that you want to lick them: a Porsche 911, Samsung’s Luxia TV, an Eames lounge chair or anything by Loro Piana.

At the heart of every faith system is a bargain: on one side there is the comfort that comes from a narrative that suggests human life has cosmic significance, and on the other a duty...

Resilience is based on the ability to embrace the extremes — while no becoming an extremist. … **Most companies don’t do paradox very well.**(emphasis by author)[2002] p.25f

I was frustrated for a long time with my colleagues in the business school world and with so many management authors who didn’t really see themselves as innovators. They were glorified journalists.