Mavericks at Work: Why the most original minds in business win

Mavericks at Work: Why the most original minds in business win
William Taylor

Polly LaBarre

An engaging and incisive look at today's top business leaders – visionary and creative mavericks who are changing the way we do business. Inspiring and accessible, ‘Mavericks at Work’ is for anyone who wants to succeed in business – from the entry-level employee to the CEO.In ‘Mavericks at Work’, two high-profile journalists introduce an inspiring group of entrepreneurs and executives who are building great businesses by challenging business as usual. From break-the-mould innovators such as HBO, Pixar, and Netflix to global giants such as IBM and Procter & Gamble, these mavericks are winning big by devising new answers to the oldest (and toughest) challenges of competition and leadership. Their stories are exciting – and their ideas are truly powerful.Real mavericks know that:• Big, original ideas pay big dividends• Being different makes all the difference• Nobody is as smart as everybody• Cheaper is better, but value is priceless• Great leaders are insatiable learners‘Mavericks at Work’ is a relentlessly useful how-to book. But it is also an eye-opening what-if book – with insights that showcase the power of business at its best and set a positive agenda for the future.

Mavericks at Work

WHY THE MOST ORIGINAL MINDS IN BUSINESS WIN

William C. Taylor & Polly LaBarr

To Chloe, Paige, and Grace— mavericks at home

WCT

To my parents— who held me close, but never fenced me in

PL

Contents

INTRODUCTION

The Maverick Promise

PART ONE

RETHINKING COMPETITION

Chapter 1

Not Just a Company, a Cause: Strategy as Advocacy

What ideas is your company fighting for? • Can you play competitive hardball by throwing your rivals a strategic curveball? • Changing the channel: The one-of-a-kind network that transformed television.

Chapter 2

Competition and Its Consequences: Disruptors, Diplomats, and a New Way to Talk About Business

Can you be provocative without provoking a backlash? • Why strategicinnovators develop their own vocabulary of competition. • Winning on purpose:The values-driven ad agency that carves its beliefs into the floor.

Chapter 3

Maverick Messages (I): Sizing Up Your Strategy

Why “me-too” won’t do: Make-or-break questions about how you and yourorganization compete.

PART TWO

REINVENTING INNOVATION

Chapter 4

Ideas Unlimited: Why Nobody Is as Smart as Everybody

How to persuade brilliant people to work with you, even if theydon't work for you. • Why grassroots collaboration requires head-to-head competition.• Eureka! How one open-minded leader inspired the ultimate Internetgold rush.

Chapter 5

Innovation, Inc.: Open Source Gets Down to Business

Have you mastered the art of the open-source deal? • Why smart leaders“walk in stupid every day.” • Bottom-up brainpower: How a 170-year-oldcorporate giant created a new model of creativity.

Chapter 6

Maverick Messages (II): Open-Minding Your Business

Shared minds: The design principles of open-source leadership.

PART THREE

RECONNECTING WITH CUSTOMERS

Chapter 7

From Selling Value to Sharing Values: Overcoming the Age of Overload

If your products are so good, why are your customers so unhappy? • Howto build a cult brand in a dead business. • “Our customer is our category”—the retailer that sells a sense of identity.

Chapter 8

Small Gestures, Big Signals: Outstanding Strategies to Stand Out from the Crowd

Do you sell where your customers are—and your competitors aren’t?• Warm and scuzzy: How Howard Stern became the world’s most unlikelyteddy-bear salesman. • Why the company with the smartest customers wins.

Chapter 9

Maverick Messages (III): Building Your Bond with Customers

Brand matters: The new building blocks of cutting-edge marketing.

PART FOUR

REDESIGNING WORK

Chapter 10

The Company You Keep: Business as if People Mattered