Cambridge Business Association
The Road to Reinvention
Book

The Road to Reinvention

How to Drive Disruption and Accelerate Transformation

Josh Linkner
Jossey-Bass, 2014
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Editorial Rating

8

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  • Applicable

Recommendation

Josh Linkner, also the author of the bestseller Disciplined Dreaming, offers dozens of inspirational stories about pioneering mavericks to motivate you to start “disrupting.” Every story will make you question your ambition, drive and commitment. The book is exhausting in all the right ways – a wake-up call for the complacent, for anyone stuck in a comfortable rut, and for organizations at the top of their game that, unknowingly, may already be on the road to their demise. Are you ready to take action to change your life or radically alter your company’s direction? You’ll appreciate an unusual central character, the city of Detroit, which pops up throughout to demonstrate hard times and the “grit” you need to reinvent constantly. getAbstract believes that no matter what work you do or at what level, Linkner’s tales will inspire you.

Summary

If You Wait, It’ll Be Too Late

Don’t wait: Change now and change often. When you sense the smallest reason to reinvent, listen to your instincts and start the process. Reinvent even when you’ve just achieved your greatest success – indeed, especially when you reach the top. If you wait, it’ll be too late.

Lee Kun-Hee, head of Samsung, disrupted his company, top to bottom – changing everything, despite its unprecedented growth and its best-ever financials. Lee knew that despite its success, Samsung would decline and fail if it didn’t undertake a thorough overhaul, and quickly. His mantra to the company’s top executives was “change everything but your wife and children.” Lee’s leadership probably saved the organization from a painful demise, like the deaths of Circuit City or Blockbuster, whose reliance on their core businesses swept them aside.

Don’t confuse “reinvention” with a “turnaround.” Turnarounds occur when organizations face the final stages of a death spiral; they usually fail. By always changing and never resting, you avoid the desperation of a turnaround. Look for, embrace and celebrate ideas that eat into and even destroy your core business. If you...

About the Author

Josh Linkner is CEO and managing partner of Detroit Venture Partners, which focuses on revitalizing Detroit, MI. A speaker, venture capitalist, inventor, entrepreneur and jazz musician, he also wrote Leaning Forward and the bestseller Disciplined Dreaming.

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