Paradigmatic shifts in business, also knows as inflection points, can make or break organizations. This book helps business leaders know how to spot those and take action to prepare for opportunities or disruption.

This book is written well. This is the first book of Rita Mcgrath I’ve ever read and I found it interesting and insightful. I can’t wait to read her other book The End of Competitive Advantage.

The points in this book are well presented. There are also figures that help illustrate the points. It is a bit academic and practical at the same time.

SEEING AROUND CORNERS

A lot of cautionary tales in business are of the “they didn’t see it coming” variety.

For instance, Kodak developed a commercially viable digital camera but put it on the backburner in favor of their existing film business. Nokia, far and away the leading mobile phone company at the time, for all intents and purposes pooh-poohed the touchscreen revolution unleashed by the iPhone until it was too late. And in the example to end all examples, Blockbuster could never recover its market share from the mail-order DVD rental model of Netflix, which itself would make DVDs obsolete later on by pivoting to streaming video.

What executive wouldn’t want the ability to avoid such fates, be on the right side of history and, as it were, see what’s next? Author Rita McGrath offers insights in this regard in Seeing Around Corners: How to Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen.

Three key takeaways:

One, there will always be innovation and new market entrants that will force businesses to adapt within a competitive environment. Of these, those that present the greatest opportunities—and thereby, also the largest risks—are inflection points, or the “10x” events and developments that fundamentally alter the assumptions that underlie business models.

Two, part of the reason businesses can get blindsided is that their executives think in terms of “Who are our competitors?” instead of “Who may want to get into our space?” Although the two are closely related, these are entirely different questions. But thinking in terms of arenas allows businesses to cast a wider net and consider non-traditional competitors as well as new sources of disruption. It also reframes decisions about what resources are available and how they might be deployed to achieve corporate objectives.

Three, it’s important for executives to have a discovery-driven mindset in their approach to strategic planning. There is a danger for those in the C-suite to double down on an existing business model, if not fall prey to confirmation bias or groupthink. Hence, the best way to combat such hubris is to be aware that there are “unknown-unknowns” and appreciate the need to engage with the broader market “out there” in order to remain grounded.

“Predictions are hard,” the famed Yogi Berra is reputed to have quipped, “especially about the future.” While there is no guarantee that any executive will make the right call about where the markets are going at any given point in time, the lessons that McGrath seeks to impart in Seeing Around Corners will most certainly help.

Overview:

-- I got this book as an advance review copy from Netgalley. Rita McGrath has produced another stunning book, in a way even better than her earlier book “The End of Competitive advantage”.

Ease of reading:

-- The book is not only easy to read. The stories and the insights from the stories follow one after the other. The stories keep the reader interested and the insights from the stories allows us to learn from these stories.

What I loved about the book:

-- We are living in a world where there are inflection points coming at us from all around us. Industry after industry seems to be on the path of disruption. Given this scenario, the ability to see these inflection points early and knowing what to do (and when to do) is a meta skill that all leaders will need to develop, if they want to continue to be effective as leaders and to successfully navigate their organisations through these inflection points.
-- She presents a simple framework through which we can look at these inflection points and decide what would be the appropriate response.
-- The book seamlessly moves from being descriptive to becoming prescriptive.
-- Every chapter ends with a key takeaways, so that if you don’t have the time or patience to read the entire chapter, you could quickly read the summary to get the gist of the chapter. While the summary is great, this gives some people incentive to just read the summary and not dive deeper, which leads to them not understanding the nuances.

What would I have done differently:

-- I don’t think there is anything I would have done differently. She shares examples of how people and organisations already have used the principles that she presents in the book to navigate crucial inflection points.
-- Maybe, it would have been very interesting for readers to see what in her opinion are some of the inflection points that are playing out in the market (that could have a significant impact on the market) and how would she expect the players in the market to respond. I think this could make an excellent additional material that she can provide for people who would like to know more and may not necessarily go into the book.

My recommendation:

-- IF you are leading an organisation, business or even if you see yourself as the leader leading your life, this book comes highly recommended. I would give this book a 5/5.

Adding this book to my virtual shelf of the great strategy books. It is easy to read and full of stories about companies and people. Theory is well mixed with great examples. I found the book very easy to read and it makes you think as a leader in your company and as an individual if you are looking for a challenge in your career. Thank you for the advanced reader copy!