Encore Episode: CD038 Choose to be Distinctive with Roger Martin

Creative Disruption with Marguerite O'Neal

Roger Martin is a world-renowned thinker, business strategist, author, and CEO adviser for big companies like Procter & Gamble, Verizon, and Lego. He serves as the Institute Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute, a company whose mission is to develop a better understanding of what it means to have shared and sustainable prosperity. He received his AB from Harvard College and his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1979 and 1981 respectively and from 1998 to 2013, he served as Dean of the Rotman School of Management.

On today’s episode, Roger discusses how he came to be one of the world’s greatest business thinkers and why he decided to pursue such a career. He shares his insight on the kind of leader the future needs and the abilities that today’s leaders must have to visualize the future. He explains different types of business models and shares examples of scenarios that make use of each model. He also describes what it means to always choose the path that is least comfortable and why leaders should always strive to make difficult choices.

“Majority of the spoils in business go to those who chose to be distinctive.” - Roger Martin

Today on the Creative Disruption Podcast:

• How leaders can create a future that doesn’t exist yet.
• The thought process leaders must grasp to visualize the future.
• What it means to have the ability to appreciate qualities in life.
• Why sometimes you must watch and interpret customers instead of asking them.
• What is integrative thinking?
• Scenarios that demonstrate Roger's principles and ideas.
• What it means to fall in love with two opposing models.
• The Diversity Paradox and why it's a double-edged sword.
• Why we should operate outside our comfort zone.
• The difference between a reliable process and valid process.

Key Takeaways:

• Making choices is not meant to be comfortable.
• One of the arts of understanding customers is not to ask them questions they can't answer, but asking them questions they can answer and feel comfortable answering.
• Consumers are not there to design products and services. Their job is to express frustrations and longing.

Resources Mentioned:

• Carol Dweck - Growth Mindset
• Hilary Austen

Connect with Roger Martin

• Roger Martin official website
• Martin Property Institute

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