The Uncommonly
Pragmatic Blog
Strategy
Four Lessons Startups Can Find In Big Companies
It is not hard to beat up on big companies when it comes to innovation — and I’ve got plenty of proof, after two decades as one of those people delivering change from the inside of tough, conservative, regulated businesses. Big companies are bureaucratic. They are slow and complex. They get bogged down in how-things-have-always-been-…
Purpose Is Your Innovation Catapult
Innovators who embrace the role of purpose in their work stand a greater shot at success. Having a belief stemming from a real problem that you passionately want to solve says, “I see something that needs to change, and I am going to change it.” Aligning your core belief to a real problem sets the…
How to Discover Your Next Big Growth Idea
We are well into 2019. Personal resolutions, professional goals, and business targets have by now been drafted if not established. Top on the list is the perennial priority: to find the ideas that can morph into new sources of innovation and growth, and then make them real. How do you come up with these ideas?…
Use Your Superpower
Before the holiday champagne starts to flow, the calendar fills with festivities, and you pack up and head off to rest and reenergize before the start of the new year, I want to leave you with a powerful piece of advice from all of the change makers I know, those featured in The Change Maker’s…
Anticipate, Adapt, Listen
The week’s big NYC headline was Amazon’s decision to establish a Queens headquarters. What a difference a decade makes. During my days as a Long Island City-based Citibanker, friends saw being based there as a form of exile, even though the views were (and still are) are far superior to those of anyone working in…
From the Human Intelligence Series: Seeking Innovation
Click the link below to access my recent podcast interview with Jennifer Gardner at AICPA. Our conversation centered on seeking innovation. We talked about Seeking, the first phase of the Seek, Seed, Scale methodology presented in my upcoming book. Discovery is at the heart of innovation, and leaders can start by listening and observing clients…
Reframing Metrics to Enable Innovation
According to the Gartner 2018 CEO and Senior Business Executive Survey, respondents who believe their company is an “innovation pioneer” reached a high last year of 41 percent, up from 27 percent in 2013. Responders are taking some measure of credit for moving their organizations ahead of competitors in the race for growth and relevance….
The Return to Purpose-Driven Business Models: Spotlight on Insurance
Any leader in any company who sees a future for their business and career is feeling the pressure to innovate, find new ideas and business models, and create enduring client value that adds to the bottom line and strengthens the balance sheet. There is no one formula or set process to find and execute the…
CMOs Behind the Eight Ball
Recently I was a panelist at How Marketers Drive Growth – sponsored by Forbes, along with TD Ameritrade CMO Denise Karkos, Tableau CMO Elissa Fink, Sprinklr President and COO Carlos Dominguez and Head of Forbes CMO Practice Bruce Rogers. We talked strategies to solve CMOs’ quest: proving marketing ROI. This precious goal is proving to…
How to avoid being swallowed by the mar-tech solutions vortex
Thanks to Scott Brinker at chiefmartech.com for sharing the 2017 Marketing Technology Supergraphic. I appreciate every year seeing the updated technology landscapes along with the insights and commentary provided by Luma Partners. If you are having trouble making out any of the details, it’s not your eyesight. Over 5000 companies are included on the landscape,…
Amy is a leader who is demanding and relentless in the pursuit of the great.
In The Change Maker’s Playbook she shares her philosophy and methods to transform ‘out-there’ ideas into new real world business models that can change businesses’ growth trajectories and how brands engage with their customers.
Kahina Van Dyke
Global Head, Digital Channels & Client Data Analytics; Standard Chartered Bank Board Member, Progressive Insurance