The Design of Business by Roger Martin is not an easy book to read. It does not provide quick and easy answers. It is the type of book that you read slowly so that you can absorb and comprehend what is being said and what it means in the real world. But it is a book that deals with important distinctions for businesses who are positioning for long term success.

The book teaches that design thinking is much more than following a specific methodology or using certain phrases or applying design thinking tools. It’s about finding the healthy balance between two opposing mindsets that are both critical for the long term success of a business. Managing that balance requires understanding those mindsets and so the bulk of the book (especially the first several chapters) force us to think differently and to learn the different ways that people approach problems and make decisions.

The first major concept that the author introduces is the Knowledge Funnel. In this conceptual model, we start with a “mystery”. This is often in the form of a question, like “I wonder how people want to buy hamburgers?” The first step down the Knowledge Funnel is often a “hunch”. You try something because you think it will work, even though you can’t verbalize why. The next step is a “heuristic” which the author defines as an “open-ended prompt”. It’s like a rule that usually works out (but not always). The next step is an “algorithm” which defines a sequence of steps that is guaranteed (absent any unusual circumstances) to produce the expected result. Finally, many algorithms (but far from all) are then implemented in software to make them as efficient as possible.

The second major concept is that there are generally two different approaches to making decisions. (I’m grossly oversimplifying this aspect of the book.) These two approaches are represented by a variety of different ways of characterizing how decisions are made. These various approaches largely overlap with each other (but not perfectly):

• Analytical vs. Intuitive
• Inductive or Deductive vs. Abductive
• Reliability vs. Validity
• Efficiency vs. Discovery
• Exploitation vs. Exploration

The business world generally favors the left side of each of these pairs because they want predictability and reliability. Because of that bias, business leaders make decisions based on analysis using either deductive logic (reasoning from the general to the specific) or inductive logic (reasoning from the specific to the general) because both of those approaches reliably predict the future from the past. This approach focuses on maximizing efficiency and exploiting the company’s established advantages.

Validity, in contrast to reliability, is focused on finding what is true rather than what is expected. This requires abductive logic that attempts to identify the answer that best fits what is known when existing models can’t explain it. This approach often requires an intuitive approach and often requires iterating through multiple trial-and-error hypotheses making the outcome timing and results unpredictable and uncertain. This is a process of exploration and discovery.

And to bring all of that back to the Knowledge Funnel, operating an identified algorithm or heuristic is a matter of efficiency (or exploitation) and relies on an analytical approach to decision making. But solving the mystery to create a heuristic, or to move from heuristic to algorithm is an exploration and discovery process that relies more on intuition and abductive logic.

Using the author’s terminology, for short term performance, businesses need to be great at efficiency. For long term survival they need to be great at discovery. Business leaders need to learn how to balance the two. This book explains how to do that (and no, there are no easy answers).

Bottom line, The Design of Business is a challenging book. It’s not for everyone. But for those willing to invest the time and effort to truly understand the concepts it teaches, the book provides a new way of looking at how businesses need to operate for both short term and long term success.

Read my full review of The Design of Business here.

Rick Boxx is an excellent teacher. I have been blessed by his teaching for over twenty years, whether in a classroom setting, through his daily e-mails, at conferences and events, or through his books. His business books are always excellent, well structured and practical, teaching how to apply timeless Biblical principles to contemporary business challenges. I was excited to receive a free copy of his brand new book at Unconventional Business Network’s recent annual national summit.

The Unconventional Leader is Rick’s first work of fiction, a leadership parable. Although I was excited to receive and read the book, my expectations were low. I’m generally not a fan of leadership parables. They tend to be neither good fiction, nor great business books. But The Unconventional Leader really impressed me. 

The Unconventional Leader draws you into a compelling story of four friends wrestling with believable workplace challenges to teach how the six principles in the Unconventional LEADER framework can lead to unparalleled success. The six principles are: Loyalty to God, Excellence from God, Appreciating and Respecting Others, Drive with a Higher Purpose, Ethics Beyond the Law, and Resolve and Courage.

The situations presented are all helpful. Several times I found myself thinking “that would never happen” but even then, the scenarios were simply contemporary issues taken to their natural extreme. Hopefully none of Rick’s readers will face all of the challenges Dan and his friends face, or even any of these challenges to the extreme that they do. However, the ways Rick presents these situations work well as an argument from the greater to the lesser. If Dan and his friends could deal with that extreme situation using Biblical principles, then readers can apply the same principles in their much lesser situation.

Bottom line, The Unconventional Leader is a fun and helpful book. It’s easy to read and will entertain you for an afternoon while teaching wisdom that can bless you for a lifetime. I strongly recommend The Unconventional Leader to anyone who is or hopes to be a leader in any organization.

Click here to read my full review.

A category’s “lightning strike” is a critically important event and perhaps the single biggest investment you’ll make in launching your category. But you can’t stop there. Marketers universally agree that someone has to hear a message multiple times before it takes hold and impacts their decision making. Therefore to make sure that your audience truly recognizes the danger from changes in the world and embraces your new category as the solution that can position them for ongoing success, you need to continue telling your compelling story in many different ways. By being the main ones talking about this wonderful new solution to emerging problems you also establish your company as the “Category King”. When people think of the category, you want them to think of your company. Optimally your company becomes a synonym or even a verb for the category (think Xerox, Google, or Uber).

Playing off the “grand entrance” as a “lightning strike”, what you need to create is an ongoing series of “thunder claps” that together I refer to as “rolling thunder.” These announcements amplify the differentness of your category, make the benefits of switching to the category even more powerful, and expand the scope of the category. Especially early on having a well-defined rhythm to your thunder claps (e.g. monthly, quarterly, or bi-annually) forces a discipline on the entire organization that ensures that the thunder continues to roll. 

Over time the nature of your communications will change. Early on the thunder will keep your audience’s attention, increase the value your category delivers, and continue to convince early skeptics that they need a change from how things have always been done. You are continuing to educate and convince them that your different approach is necessary. As awareness of the category grows and people start to accept your claims, other companies will enter the category. Your established leadership will give you a clear advantage, but your “thunder claps” will begin to shift the focus from the category to your company — demonstrating your differentiation and leadership within the category.

In the article linked below I describe this process, provide examples of what thunder claps can be, and provide guiding principles for making them impactful.

Read the full article here.

We’ve all seen movies or read books where the people are under some kind of oppression and “the hero” emerges from nowhere to lead the rebellion which overcomes evil and establishes a new and glorious future. At some point in these stories, the hero makes his grand entrance, rallying the troops and bringing cheers of delight from the oppressed people (and sometimes even the audience in the theater). Often this comes at the key turning point in the battle. The battle isn’t yet won, but everyone knows a new era has arrived. 

Your category similarly needs to make a grand entrance that gives the “oppressed people” you serve hope and that marks a new era in the industry. In their book Play Bigger Al Ramadan, Dave Peterson, Christopher Lochhead, and Kevin Maney call this the category’s “lightning strike”. Making your “lightning strike” truly a grand entrance has a tremendous impact on the success of your category building efforts. The saying goes that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. The introduction of your category to the world will strongly determine how closely your market will pay attention to you and your category going forward.

So, how do you make a proper grand entrance?

In the article linked below I describe the four keys to making an impactful entry:

1. The Right Timing
2. The Credibility to Instill Confidence
3. The Right Audience
4. A Dramatic Unveiling

Read the full article here to learn more about each of these four keys.

Over the past several months, I’ve written extensively about how categories help buyers (consumers and business decision makers) make sense of an increasingly complicated marketplace. When we, as buyers, see something new we try to place it in a category already established in our head so that we can figure out whether or not we have any interest in it.

So, what do you do when your product doesn’t really fit in any existing category? You must create a new category. This is hard; it can be expensive; and it requires a commitment to invest for years in establishing the category and your company’s leadership in the category. But the payoffs can be significant. 

A couple of months ago I described how to go about defining the category. Over the coming weeks, starting with the article linked below, I will describe how to establish and own the category. 

Establishing the category culminates in the official launch of the category, often with some kind of launch event. This is sometimes called the “lightning strike” that suddenly, brilliantly, and impactfully makes the world aware of the new category. 

Owning the category builds off of that category launch and continues for many years. I like to think of this phase as a “rolling thunder” campaign where “thunder claps” continue to repeat the story behind the original “lightning strike.” Each of these “thunder claps” remind the world that there is a new category, further embedding it in their minds, and even extend it in new and exciting ways. Most importantly, by investing in this “rolling thunder” campaign your company firmly establishes its position as the creator, leader, and owner of the category. When people think of the category, they think of your company first.

These two phases are very complementary and both are structured around a compelling story that completely changes how potential customers think. Before hearing the compelling story they did things the old way using the old categories of products. After hearing the compelling story their eyes are opened to how the world has so clearly changed and they now need to operate differently using a new category of products.

Read the full article here.

In 2012 T-Mobile USA was the distant 4th place player in the U.S. wireless market and was bleeding subscribers and revenue. Today the company is the fastest growing in the industry and has moved into 2nd place, closing quickly on Verizon. The company’s market cap has increased from around $3B at the beginning of 2012 to about $180B at the beginning of 2023. What changed?

A lot of things changed at T-Mobile starting in 2012, but taken as a whole, those changes tell the story of a category creator. In the article linked below I break the story down into five important steps:

1. Understand how the world is changing.
2. Identify the potential compelling story.
3. Define the category.
4. Launch the category.
5. Sustain category momentum and leadership.

In 2012, T-Mobile wasn’t the only wireless carrier struggling to pull out of a steep dive. At the time I was vice president of corporate strategy at Sprint which was the #3 player in the market. We similarly were falling farther and farther behind Verizon and AT&T. Our stock price had taken a similar beating. At Sprint we did some things right, but we failed to follow the category-creator roadmap, and as a result, after I left the company, I watched T-Mobile catch and pass Sprint and eventually acquire my former employer. In this article as we move through the steps that T-Mobile took, in the article I point out where Sprint made right steps, stumbled, or skipped steps altogether.

Read the full story here.

Unconventional Business by Rick Boxx is one of the best books I’ve read on a biblical approach to business. It is short and easy to read and yet it covers the full scope of business management. It doesn’t simply challenge us to manage our businesses in a God-honoring way and counter to conventional wisdom, but it also provides practical guidance on exactly how to do so.

The book teaches biblical approaches to leading your business based on five key principles: develop a God-centered plan; prepare yourself as a leader; cultivate and mature your team; grow the top line; and enhance the bottom line. These five principles provide the framework for the book’s 14 short chapters. Unsurprisingly, the book is biblical — often referencing examples or admonitions from scripture. It is also very practical, often laying out the specific steps you can take to implement the concepts being taught.

For over 20 years Rick and his ministry have been a blessing to me. I strongly recommend this book and Rick’s ministry to any Christians in business.

You can read my full review of Unconventional Business here.

This week Rick and his team are hosting their annual Unconventional Business Summit in Olathe, Kansas. You can check it out here: https://unconventionalbusiness.org/summit23/

When I was about 12 years old, my family joined the Green Hills Golf & Swim Club and my dad started teaching me how to play golf. Two words he often said to me as we were playing have stuck with me and have shaped many aspects of my life: “Ready Golf.”

Technically, the term “ready golf” refers to an agreement among players that whoever is ready to hit their shot should do so.  I remember my dad’s use of the term slightly differently. As a pre-teen boy I’m guessing I was easily distracted. From my father’s encouragement, I knew that as soon as I hit a shot I was to begin preparing for my next shot.

My dad had to repeat the phrase to me often. It did not come naturally to me to stay focused and be prepared. I’m sure that our earliest rounds of golf were much slower than they needed to be because of my youthful fidgeting, misdirected energy, and lack of focus. I imagine that my father, more than once, wondered whether this idea of joining a club and teaching me golf was such a great idea. But in time I learned.

From my dad’s repeated reminder with those two words I developed a mindset to always be thinking ahead, always being prepared for the next action, wasting as little time possible in whatever I was striving to do. I see that in everything I do in my work and my life. Sometimes it’s a blessing. Sometimes it’s not. But it’s a part of who I am.

Although I don’t remember focusing on the formal definition of “ready golf” during those Green Hills days, I do think I’ve practiced those additional aspects of that concept throughout my career. There have been several times when I have “hit out of turn” because it didn’t make sense to wait any longer. Entrepreneurs don’t wait to be asked before they develop a solution to a known problem. Star employees don’t wait for a role to be added to their job description before stepping into an obvious gap. They do the work that needs to be done and maybe they’ll even get credit for it. Being always ready, looking ahead, and being sensitive to changing conditions positions you to move the game forward. Sometimes you even win.

Are you playing ready golf? Maybe you should give it a try!

Read the full article here.

Brothers Chip and Dan Heath wrote one of my favorite books of all time, Made to Stick, so when I saw their follow-up book, Switch, for a bargain price at Half Price Books, it was a no-brainer to pick it up. Their books are fun to read, well researched (those two attributes don’t often go together), and teach us how to do something hard in a way that, well, sticks.

Switch did not disappoint.

Change is hard and so we are naturally resistant to it, some of us more than others. The authors introduce a 3 part framework that helps explain why it’s hard to get people to change. They then use that framework to explain how to overcome the challenges and help people to change for the better. The three parts of their framework are the Elephant (our heart), the Rider (our head), and the Path (our environment).

The book is fun to read because it is full of encouraging stories that not only demonstrate the approaches being taught, but help us see that people like us really can lead change, even when it looks almost impossible. By the time you finish the book, you may realize that the authors have used their own framework to change many of us readers from those “skeptical that change initiatives work” to those “ready to lead the charge”. 

Read the full review here.