Seeing Around Corners: How to Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen Hardcover – September 3, 2019

Seeing Around Corners represents a new approach to strategy formulation and management in a digital world. Recognizing and acting on inflection points is the central reason why leaders need to see around the corners of their business, the industry and customers. McGrath defines an inflection point as single point in time when everything changes irrevocably. Disruption is an outcome of an inflection point, but this book goes beyond this omnipresent issue to understand what it takes to see change coming before others.Rita McGrath offers a discovery driven growth playbook in the form of a structured approach to guide executives in understanding how important it is to be able to see and lead in this dynamic environment. The book is a unique blend of high impact strategic thinking, business school style lessons with actionable and practical tools and things you can do. Too many books are either one (rubber hits the sky) or the other (low level tools) that are not fit for enterprise and strategic challenges.This book is practical, with many points based and attributed to proven business leaders. For example, the observation from Andy Grove that change happens first on the fringes of the customer market and business model. If you are looking for an inflection point, don’t look at the core, look at the edge.A competitive arena, as opposed to an industry, is used as a primary lens through which to understand the world and therefore what the effects of a potential inflection point might be. Think of an arena as a definition of the setting where customer need connects with company solution to create value. An arena can be seen as super sized and strategic use cases that enable an organization to concentrate on what is really going on. It provides a tool with sufficient scope for meaningful change without falling into strategic paralysis. This is one idea that make the book worth the read.Overall, a recommended read for leaders and organizations facing change where traditional strategy or digital transformation tools do not seem right.StrengthsSpecific tools related to most chapters, give executives and leaders a specific idea on and examples of the different challenges associated with seeing and acting on inflection points.The book contains multiple tools all built around the theme of seeing and leading through inflection points. An Arena, discovery driven growth methodology and ways to assess if your company is getting recognition for its innovation are examples.Case study presentations and illustrations are central to each chapter. The case studies are thorough and complete but more importantly they are tied to the theme in the chapter. The cases enable you to learn from real world experiences and illustrations of the concepts in the book.ChallengesThis is not a book that is easy to skim. The book is a blend of new ideas, theory, tools and examples which makes for a rich experience and lots of material for study. This can also create some distraction in reading as the book moves among these different types of content. The topic demands your attention, and if you give it, the book will deliver on your investment.The case studies are comprehensive, requiring you at times to read the full chapter before you see how the case study fits into the chapter focus.Chapter Titles:1. The snow melts from the edges,2. Early warnings3. On the lookout for weak signals defining your area4. Customers, not hostages5. What must be true — creating a plane to learn fast6. Galvanizing the organization7. How innovation profession you defangs organizational antibodies8. How leaders can and must learn to see around corners9. Seeing around corners in your own life

The idea of inflection points is truly individual as the author points out. The text is an interesting look at this and the processes one can undertake to improve themselves and their organizations ability to make strategic adjustments.

Un libro que nos muestra como no detectar/ver alertas tempranas en una arena competitiva nos puede sacar del juego y quebrar nuestra empresa.

Lots of business books exhort us to innovate - and recognise the turgidity (both useful and harmful) that makes that so challenging before it’s too late. Rita describes in detail a practical checkpoint informed path, starting with developing a sensible realistic vision and next steps to take, and thus gives us the courage to start the journey. And before you know it, everything changes. We took the first steps and on we went - we are absolutely delighted with our results, as are our customers and stakeholders (not so much our competitors).

I just finished the book. I was hoping to find more about better future planning and signal reading. This book tries to deliver on future planning AND leadership at the same time. It provides some good insights on how to read signals and some leadership but falls short on both. On most topics discussed, I kept asking myself how is this relevant to the topic of this book? I would go for the following books instead:1) If you want to learn on leadership read "The Meaning Revolution: The Power of Transcendent Leadership"2) If you want to learn about future planning and reading signals read "Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction"

Tremendously informative on the way to think and approach inflection points in any organization. Being strategic is just a word until you make a plan of action to address how a company can succeed. Great read!

Absolutely enjoyed this book. Every executive team should read it. She is outstanding in the way she supports her conclusions. If you’re wondering how reinvent your thinking and company this is a must read. The days of sustainable competitive advantage in our products is gone. I can’t wait to introduce this book to my executive clients.

Rita McGrath, my Professor from Columbia, wrote a classic with a lot of practical cases on how to see and read signals, in a very pleasent text, and far for being a paranoid nostradamus, Great for every business industries.

An amazing business book for those who are willing to see around the corners.

.. for a strategy student ..

Very good book to prepare yourself for future. As well as for your business as for you personally. Well done!

It helped to give a new vision about the future, the leadership and the inflection points to use innovation and people to progress

If you miss reading this book, your competitors will be leap year ahead! Buy today! And read at one go!