Whether we realise it or not, we all use mental models to think about our context (customers, competitors), make choices, structure work, and undertake key activities (such as doing innovation or pursuing M&A).
But how often do you stop for a moment to challenge them? Often we operate on autopilot. If they don’t work, we try again, and again, without thinking of an alternative.
My guest in this episode, Roger Martin, has spent his career developing these alternative mental models and approaches that challenge conventional wisdom.
This episode is for anyone who is curious about how to think differently about how to:
- Lead effectively
- Develop strategies that work
- Make decisions
The best bits of these conversations are captured in my newsletter Flashes+Sparks.
More about Roger
In 2017, Roger was named the world’s #1 management thinker by Thinkers50, a biannual ranking of the most influential global business thinkers. He is a a trusted strategy advisor to the CEOs of companies worldwide including Procter & Gamble, Lego and Ford.
He is a Professor Emeritus at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto where he served as dean from 1998 to 2013.
His newest book — his thirteenth — is A New Way to Think: Your Guide to Superior Management Effectiveness.
Also check out his weekly articles on strategy on Medium.
“There is no useful definition of execution that is different from strategy.”
Roger Martin, Professor Emeritus, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
VIEW RUNNING ORDER
04.24 | The biggest shift in thinking CEOs should make. |
07.36 | Looking at the infrastructure underneath the applications. |
10.04 | What gets in the way of delving deeper. |
14.27 | The two practices extraordinary CEOs master. |
18.36 | The balance between hierarchy and empowerment. |
24.34 | The importance of trust. |
26.22 | The application of open strategy. |
29.07 | The power of choices throughout an organisation. |
35.43 | What the return-to-the-office debate misses. |

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