September 2021

In Built to Innovate Ben Bensaou has provided a thorough and engaging introduction to the innovating engine and the importance of involving everyone in the company in both executing and innovating. The examples used throughout are fascinating stories that help us see what these concepts look like in real organizations. 

Most companies naturally focus on the execution engine, but unfortunately, overlook the need to constantly innovate. Through the book he teaches the what, who, and how of establishing a well functioning innovating engine. Specifically he identifies the three key processes involved in innovating, the three key roles, and a seven step process for creating innovative ideas.

The author emphasizes that many companies will seek to innovate in the midst of crisis. If your business is in a difficult place that will require new ideas for creating value for customers and/or the business, then certainly, Built to Innovate can provide a framework and process for changing how your company approaches innovation. But Bensaou emphasizes that the best time to build the innovating engine is before times get tough. Given the pace of change across all industries, every business should be exploring how to strengthen their innovation capabilities, and Built to Innovate is a great place to start.

Click here to read the full review.

Does your company suffer from any of these product diseases: Hero Syndrome, Strategic Swelling, Obsessive Sales Disorder, Hypermetricemia, Locked-In Syndrome, Pivotitis, Narcissus Complex? If so, the brand new book Radical Product Thinking offers a cure.

The author, Radhika Dutt, has provided a thoughtful new perspective on innovation and entrepreneurship that should help leaders take a vision-driven approach that can more effectively and consistently impact the world in the ways that they intend. She champions a vision-driven approach to product development and management, so she starts with how to articulate and document the vision you have for improving the world in a way that then impacts all other areas of innovation and operations. 

Anyone who has read, or wants to read about Lean and Agile for their work, should also read this book for a different perspective on how an iterative approach to innovation and development can be managed for maximum impact. Throughout the book Dutt provides helpful tools and relevant stories that can challenge all of us to create in a more thoughtful and impactful way.

Read my full review here.

Each episode of the Faith Driven Entrepreneur podcast starts with “If you are an entrepreneur driven by your faith, or want to be driven by your faith, you are in the right place.” Similarly, if that describes you, then Faith Driven Entrepreneur is the right book for you. The book isn’t intended for a specific situation or stage of business, but rather an encouragement to more faithfully pursue your calling.

It starts with a solid foundation of our calling as entrepreneurs and our identity in Christ before moving into the practical implications our faith has for our work. The book doesn’t provide step-by-step instructions for Christians in business, but instead provides guiding principles and real-world examples.

Bottom line, Faith Driven Entrepreneur is a quick and encouraging read for Christians in business. It provides practical guidance and helpful examples of how our faith truly can drive our work to make us more faithful, less willful, and more able to be used by God.

Read the full review here.

The word “praxis” means “Practical application or exercise of a branch of learning.” The authors of this book are leaders of Praxis, a “community dedicated to putting our Christian faith into practice through redemptive entrepreneurship.” The Redemptive Business is Praxis’ latest effort to teach Christian entrepreneurs how to practically put their faith into practice in their businesses. 

This small book starts with a section on “First Principles” which introduces The Redemptive Frame combining the Three Ways to Work (exploitative, ethical, and redemptive) with the Three Dimensions of Work (strategy, operations, and leadership). That leads to six commitments of redemptive business: Product and Brand (Strategy); Culture, Business Model, and Partnerships (Operations); and Ambition (Leadership). The rest of the book teaches the reality, redemptive opportunities, and good news of each of those commitments.

The Redemptive Business does not provide simple answers, or step-by-step recipes for success as a redemptive entrepreneur, but does an excellent job of identifying practical and tactical ways in which leaders should reconsider how they operate their businesses. Given the minimal investment required in dollars and time, I strongly recommend that all Christians in business give this book a look.

Read the full review here.