Books

Rewired: The McKinsey Guide to Outcompeting in the Age of Digital and AI

| Charlie Ranalli

Authored by experts at McKinsey, this guide is a comprehensive and insightful exploration into the transformative power of digital technologies and artificial intelligence. They meticulously outline the frameworks and methodologies that successful companies have employed to not only adapt but thrive in the rapidly evolving digital era. It presents a blend of theoretical insights and practical applications, making it a valuable resource for business leaders aiming to navigate the complexities of digital transformation.

One of the standout features of “Rewired” is its pragmatic approach to integrating digital and AI technologies into existing business models. The authors emphasize the importance of aligning digital initiatives with core business strategies, ensuring that technological advancements contribute to business goals. The book is full of case studies and real-world examples, illustrating how various organizations have successfully implemented digital transformations. These examples provide readers with tangible, actionable insights that can be adapted to their unique business contexts. Additionally, the guide addresses common challenges and pitfalls associated with digital transformation, offering solutions and best practices to mitigate risks and maximize returns.

“Rewired” highlights the human aspect of digital transformation, focusing on the crucial role of leadership, culture, and talent management. Aligned with the core tenants of this blog, the authors argue that while technology is a powerful enabler, the true drivers of transformation are the people within the organization. They provide strategies for nurturing a culture of innovation, continuous learning, and agility, which are essential for sustaining competitive advantage in the age of digital and AI. Overall, “Rewired” is an indispensable resource for any business leader seeking to harness the full potential of digital and AI technologies, offering a roadmap to outcompete and excel in the modern business environment.

Rewired: the McKinsey Guide to Outcompeting in the Age of Digital and AI
by Eric Lamarre, Kate Smaje, Rodney Zemme

Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers

| Charlie Ranalli

This is a belated review of a book very, very useful for enterprise intrapreneurs and start-up entrepreneurs.

Business Model Generation provides a comprehensive and practical toolbox to design and evaluate business models: a reference framework (the widely adopted Business Model Canvas), a set of patterns (e.g., unbundling, long tail, multi-sided platforms), design technics (a lot in common with Design Thinking), strategy (in the authors’ own words “approaches to reconsider business strategy though the lens of the business models canvas”) and finally a process for business model design.

It is full of real-life examples of how companies invented or disrupted markets with ingenious business models.

For teams that want to push the boundaries of business model innovation, this book provides an extremely practical framework to walk the exploratory journey with focus and technique.

Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers
by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur

Fast Times: How Digital Winners Set Direction, Learn, and Adapt

| Charlie Ranalli

In Fast Times, a team of McKinsey consultants share the recipe they apply to help their customers be first movers and win the digital race.

“[Fast Times] is for senior executives who are frustrated by the slow pace and limited return on investment (ROI) of their digital transformations, and are unsure what’s holding them back” in the word of the authors.

While not a detailed blueprint to design a Digital Transformation initiative, they cover critical imperatives to develop a Strategy, Capabilities, Adopt and Scale, and they cleverly do it answering provocative questions like “Are you clear about the which transformation model is best for your company?” or “Have you hired digital stars?”

They provide insightful tips on Speed, Scale, Talent and Culture. A must read for leaders already embarked in a digital journey or in need of a reset.

Fast Times: How Digital Winners Set Direction, Learn, and Adapt
by Arun Arora, Peter Dahlstrom, Klemens Hjartar, and Florian Wunderlich

Doing Agile Right: Transformation Without Chaos

| Charlie Ranalli

Having originally learned Agile – and its family members Scrum and Kanban – leading a software development organization, applying it to change management and digital innovation required taking a step back and reflecting how the concepts, methods, and artifacts work in this new mission and environment. It took a lot of work!

In Doing Agile Right, Bain & Company’s Darrell Rigby and his colleagues Sarah Elk and Steve Berez provide an excellent overview of Agile concepts, how to implement and scale them to enable nimble innovation, and, in their own words, how to achieve balance between the fast-paced change facilitated by Agile and the financial and operational discipline provided by traditional management practices.

“Every organization must optimize and tightly control some of its operations, and at the same time innovate. Agile, done well, enables vigorous innovation without sacrificing the efficiency and reliability essential to traditional operations. The authors break down how agile really works, show what not to do, and explain the crucial importance of scaling agile properly in order to reap its full benefit. They then lay out a road map for leading the transition to a truly agile enterprise”

Doing Agile Right: Transformation Without Chaos
by Darrell Rigby, Sarah Elk, Steve Berez

The Technology Fallacy: How People Are the Real Key to Digital Transformation

| Charlie Ranalli

Digital technologies are disrupting organizations of every size and shape, leaving managers scrambling to find a technology fix that will help their organizations compete. This book offers managers and business leaders a guide for surviving digital disruptions―but it is not a book about technology. It is about the organizational changes required to harness the power of technology. The authors argue that digital disruption is primarily about people and that effective digital transformation involves changes to organizational dynamics and how work gets done. A focus only on selecting and implementing the right digital technologies is not likely to lead to success. The best way to respond to digital disruption is by changing the company culture to be more agile, risk tolerant, and experimental.

The Technology Fallacy: How People Are the Real Key to Digital Transformation
By Gerald C. Kane, Anh Nguyen Phillips, Jonathan R. Copulsky and Garth R. Andrus

Designed for Digital: How to Architect Your Business for Sustained Success

| Charlie Ranalli

Most established companies have deployed such digital technologies as the cloud, mobile apps, the internet of things, and artificial intelligence.

But few established companies are designed for digital. This book offers an essential guide for retooling organizations for digital success.

Designed for Digital: How to Architect Your Business for Sustained Success
By Jeanne W. Ross, Cynthia M. Beath, and Martin Mocker

Unlocking the Customer Value Chain: How Decoupling Drives Consumer Disruption

| Charlie Ranalli

There is a pattern to digital disruption in an industry, whether the disruptor is Uber, Airbnb, Dollar Shave Club, Pillpack or one of countless other startups that have stolen large portions of market share from industry leaders, often in a matter of a few years.

By decoupling the customer value chain, these startups, instead of taking on the Unilevers and Nikes, BMW’s and Sephoras of the world head on, peel away a piece of the consumer purchasing process. Birchbox offered women a new way to sample beauty products from a variety of companies from the convenience of their homes, without having to visit a store. Turo doesn’t compete with GM. Instead, it offers people the benefit of driving without having to own a car themselves.

Unlocking the Customer Value Chain: How Decoupling Drives Consumer Disruption
by Thales S. Teixeira and Greg Piechota

Driving Digital Strategy: A Guide to Reimagining Your Business

| Charlie Ranalli

For over a decade, Gupta has studied digital transformation at Fortune 500 companies. He knows what works and what doesn’t. Merely dabbling in digital or launching a small independent unit, which many companies do, will not bring success. Instead you need to fundamentally change the core of your business and ensure that your digital strategy touches all aspects of your organization: your business model, value chain, customer relationships, and company culture.

Driving Digital Strategy: A Guide to Reimagining Your Business
by Sunil Gupta