Genius at Scale by Hill, Tedards, and Wild

GENIUS AT SCALE by Linda A. Hill, Emily Tedards, and Jason Wild is an in-depth, thoughtful look at “How Great Leaders Drive Innovation.” The authors’ credentials are impressive: Hill is the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School (HBS); Tedards is a graduate researcher in organizational behavior at HBS; and Wild is he former Global Vice President of CEO Co-Innovation and Customer Engagement at Microsoft. Together, they essentially use case studies and real-world examples to talk about Architects, Bridgers, and Catalysts effecting change in their organizations. Some of the companies and groups mentioned are P&G, Pfizer, Mastercard, Delta Airlines, as well as food organizations in Africa and Italy and the Sampark Foundation which promoted educational advancements in India.  

GENIUS AT SCALE is very accessible, with differently sized helpful headers, a conversational tone, and a focus on individuals and their stories. Much of this necessitates a new way of thinking, like Mastercard’s emphasis on a Framework to Grow, Diversify and Build in the “World Beyond Cash” or P&G’s increasing recognition that “the product economy was shifting to an experience economy.” The authors note that “as much as leaders would like to plan their way to innovation, their job as architects is to help their teams and organizations act their way instead,” referencing a vivid descriptor from previous research: “it's like shifting from leading an orchestra to a jazz ensemble: while their sheet music provides some guardrails, the musicians have to improvise, listen, and adapt to each other as they perform.” Another chapter looks at the establishment of the Cleveland Clinic in Abu Dhabi, stressing the importance of continuous learning and adapting to local practices, needing “to create an environment where all caregivers could be ‘contemplative and creative rather than reactive problem solvers’.” While reading, I found many insightful comments like when the Sampark leadership opined “If you launch a decision as an initiative, people wait for it to fail. If you launch it as an experiment -- indicating that you will reverse it if it doesn't go right -- people participate in shaping it. They own it.” The authors and those they studied repeatedly point out how critical it is to have a “foundation of shared purposes and values -- a sense of community." GENIUS AT SCALE is clearly extensively researched with notes comprising at least ten percent of the book; there's also a helpful index and the online bibliography contains a list of over 700 books and articles.  Highly recommended.

Right Kind of Wrong by Amy C. Edmondson

RIGHT KIND OF WRONG by Amy C. Edmondson is a thorough examination of “The Science of Failing Well.” Edmondson, a Harvard Business School professor writes about the Failure Landscape and Practicing the Science of Failing Well in the two main sections of her new book. For example, she describes Basic Failures – those everyday errors which often occur due to inattention, making assumptions, or over confidence – and contrasts them with Complex Failures and with Intelligent Failures. Edmondson clearly illustrates how these failure types differ in terms of preventability and uncertainty and she employs memorable examples (e.g., Citibank transferring $900 million in principle instead of $8 million in interest or pilots not recognizing the need to turn on de-icing equipment under unusually cold conditions). For more information from Edmondson about “productive failures” and conducting post-mortems, check out her interview in Harvard Business Review. RIGHT KIND OF WRONG received a starred review from Library Journal (“information-rich study”). See also The Perfection Trap by Thomas Curran or Never Enough by Jennifer Breheny Wallace which garnered a positive blurb from Lisa Damour. 

Money, Power, Respect and Glass Walls - plus more

I just realized that August 26th is Women’s Equality Day which commemorates the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote. Given that and the recent controversy resulting in suspension of the Spanish soccer coach, it seemed worth sharing a number of new books which deal with women’s sports or gender bias:

MONEY, POWER, RESPECT is a debut work by Macaela MacKenzie, a journalist most recently at Glamour. Here, she explores “How Women in Sports Are Shaping the Future of Feminism.” Looking first at Money, Mackenzie devotes a chapter each to the pay gap, to underinvestment in women’s sports and to the motherhood penalty. She argues forcefully that these issues occur across industries, but that the public nature of sports means that “the differences in resources are as obvious as the stadiums women play in and the uniforms on their backs, offer[ing] those trying to shortchange women fewer places to hide.” The section on Power has chapters dealing with a collective voice, changemakers, barriers, and recognizing your worth. Again, MacKenzie draws on a variety of instances including prejudiced comments by a former Japanese Prime Minister which resulted in his resignation. The final section, on Respect, contains chapters which deal with sexist images and language, how men feel threatened (e.g., citing data from Accenture and Girls Who Code regarding women in the tech industry), and the importance of visibility and media coverage for women. MacKenzie is adept at illustrating her points with real life cases and at drawing on academic research (like studies of media bias) to support her points. In an author’s note, MacKenzie indicates that she “interviewed dozens of athletes, academics, and activists;” she also lists additional sources in a formal Notes section that comprises roughly twenty percent of the text. MONEY, POWER, RESPECT appeared on several “must read” lists including ones from Time Magazine and the Next Big Idea Book Club.   

GLASS WALLS by Amy Diehl and Leanne M. Dzubinski discusses “Shattering the Six Gender Bias Barriers Still Holding Women Back at Work.” Before reading further take a moment and write down your thoughts on what those could be. Diehl, an information technology leader and gender equity researcher, and Dzubinski, an associate Biola University in California, label the barriers as male privilege, disproportionate constraints, insufficient support, devaluation, hostility, and acquiescence. How many did you name? The authors encourage readers to “reflect on how intensely you have been socialized into gender stereotypes that permeate society. And think about how that socialization may be affecting you, even unconsciously.” Diehl and Dzubinski give numerous examples (such as gatekeeping, tokenism, using derogatory language, or interrupting) and often provide specific details by quoting business women or faith leaders (an area where Dzubinski has done previous research). Pointing out that “identifying and exposing bias is the first step to eliminating it,” they also provide helpful, actionable strategies for leaders, allies, and self at the end of each section. Roughly a fourth of the text is devoted to Notes, Bibliography and Index. GLASS WALLS received a starred review from Booklist (“practicality and clarity make this a valuable contribution”). 

Looking for more reading ideas? McKinsey just posted “Ten Books by Women Authors in Honor of Women’s Equality Day.” Related titles we have reviewed include Invisible Women; Pay Up; When Women Lead; Up to Speed; Controlling Women; The No Club; and so many more.

Ready for Launch by Scott Kelly

READY FOR LAUNCH by Scott Kelly is subtitled “An Astronaut's Lessons for Success on Earth.” Writing for “anyone who has a dream or a goal but isn’t sure they have what it takes to achieve it,” Kelly has chosen ten life lessons (e.g., Diversity is a Force Multiplier) and devotes a chapter to each. For example, he places special emphasis on the positive role of failure: “I believe that everyday human failures …can be one of our greatest opportunities to learn, grow, and succeed. …only when you are willing to risk failure are you aiming high enough.” When I read Kelly’s comments about “how adversity shapes us depends on how we choose to respond to it,” I immediately thought of Randy Pausch ("We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand") and his book, The Last Lecture which, ironically, has a rocket ship on the cover. At just over one-hundred and twenty pages, READY FOR LAUNCH is both entertaining and inspirational; hopefully, it will provide readers with the same sort of motivation that Wolfe’s The Right Stuff gave Kelly. The first astronaut to spend an entire year in space, Kelly has written several other books for adults (Endurance) and children (My Journey to the Stars). He is a prolific writer – I vividly remember his essay “I Spent a Year in Space, and I Have Tips on Isolation to Share” published by The New York Times in March 2020 as the pandemic began. School Library Journal describes READY FOR LAUNCH as an “excellent addition to all library collections” and recommends it for grades 5 and up.

Taking Charge of Change and Choose Possibility

TAKING CHARGE OF CHANGE by Paul Shoemaker is all about “How Rebuilders Solve Hard Problems.”  A Microsoft alum, Shoemaker is currently a consultant and Founding President of Social Venture Partners International where he networks with others to increase the impact of social change. His book, part of the HarperCollins Leadership collection, is divided into five parts where he profiles over 30 young rebuilders, discusses why they matter, outlines key traits, provides case studies, and explores implications for the future.  I think our Business teachers - who already have a project about entrepreneurs and business leaders - will final some valuable discussion prompts here. In particular, they could invest time in reviewing Shoemaker’s comments regarding authenticity, complexity, the “generosity mindset,” importance of data, and cross-sector fluency. His "challenges to traits" connections also pairs nicely with ideas raised by The Moxie Institute’s short film The Adaptable Mind and complements Putnam’s and Romney Garrett’s thinking about an inflection point or reset moment in Upswing. While Shoemaker stresses that America is becoming increasingly unequal, fractured, and siloed, he takes a positive spin and argues that “the skill sets, qualities, and traits it takes to rebuild are different from what it takes to build.” What could be as important or inspirational to study with our future graduates? We will have a copy of TAKING CHARGE OF CHANGE on our shelves soon.

CHOOSE POSSIBILITY by Sukhinder Singh Cassidy focuses more on steps that individuals can take to help their own careers. Cassidy, a well-regarded Silicon Valley entrepreneur and investor with time at Google, Amazon, and StubHub, uses examples from her life experience to encourage readers to “Take Risks and Thrive (Even When You Fail).”  She presents the Myth of the Single Choice and says, “It’s time to free ourselves from our ‘all or nothing’ perception of risk-taking.” Cassidy names the first part of her book “Get Going” and she advocates considering possibility and acknowledging that action results when the fear of missing out is greater than the fear of failure. Subsequent parts, called “Get Smarter” and “Get Rewarded,” cover self-development and building “agility, flexibility, and resilience.” While the examples are sometimes too centered on Cassidy and are more relate-able for people already on a career path, there are some valuable insights here for our students, especially about being more open to learning from failure and setbacks. CHOOSE POSSIBILITY includes notes and an index; it was described as “an indispensable guide to decision-making and risk-taking for anyone who finds themselves afraid of making a wrong choice in their career” by the Next Big Idea Club.