The Book

The marvelous Anna Catalano and I are jointly writing this.

A WORK IN PROGRESS - Initially Paused to let GenAI LLMs burn in.

Definitely a rough draft - work in progress

 

A lot of this came out of seven sets of experience:

 

  • Engagement and talks with the National Association of Corporate Directors and its members. Anna and I are members. I was honored to win their Top 100 Award in 2023.

  • Anna and I co-founded the Kellogg Innovation Network 16 years ago, which evolved into the World Innovation Network. This network is dedicated to creating unlikely collaborations by bringing together leaders from various sectors—public, private, startups, nonprofits, the arts, academia, and defense—to explore opportunities that promote global prosperity.

  • Anna’s long and continued service on boards.

  • Big tech transformation-intensive jobs at global brands across several industries.

  • Hundreds of Board and C Suite conversations explaining the 4th Industrial Revolution, 5G, and the concurrent change waves.

  • I have delivered lectures and discussions on the same at HBS, Booth, Naval Postgraduate School, Kellogg, Booth, Cornell, Georgetown, and various boards and C-suites. I also received my foundational education from Kellogg and attended a year-long invite-only symposium on board excellence with HBS icon Prof. Jim Cash.

  • As an employee, advisor, board member, Executive in Residence, Chairman, and Executive Chairman, I have worked inside 46 start-ups. I also had 12 board seats (public, private, not-for-profit), exiting a high-tech/deep-tech one in December 2024 when it was acquired. I am currently serving on the board of Vantiq, a leading-edge breakthrough tech firm.

 

 

The book will have these main parts:/structure

 

Part I:  Setting the stage  - Why today is different and matters more than you in ways you have not heard ye. Innovation and Pragmatism

Part I:  De-mystifying this era

 

1.      What is really happening – it’s more than GenAI/LLMs

a.      AI is five different things -explained

b.      The 12 change waves

c.      Where do those go  - what’s over the horizon

2.      The underlying framework for this era is two three things:

a.      Data to Information to Intelligence to Impact.

b.      Knowledge/Wisdom systematized – GenAI and your vault of tacit knowledge

c.      Combined with process smarts

d.      Farming and harvesting Knowledge and Know How

3.      What does that mean for business  

4.      Opportunity and Risk

 

 

Part II:  Charting the Path

  

1.      Real Impacts of the Current Reality

a.      The pragmatic view

b.      What is the

c.       

d.      potential impact

2.      Lessons from History

a. Industrial Revolutions

b. Military Strategy

3. What will be different – a peak over the horizon

a.      AI and IT in 3-8 years

  i.         Business Building

ii.         Business Execution

iii.         Talent

iv.         Velocity

b.      Brands become anchored in a new view of Trust and Transparency

c.      Modern Tech is like Rugby or a Commercial Kitchen…why that matters

d.      Cybersecurity – The Unseen Risks

e.      Quantum Computing

 

Part III: The Strategic Refresh Moment is Now

 

a.      Strategy –

a.      The process from Strategy to Impact

b.      The pareto root cause failures

c.      The Board

b.      The C Suite / Board in an AI world Accelerators verus

c.      The team and the change

d.      There is no AI success path if you are bad at IT

e.      Talent Supply – continuous growth/retention. Untapped pools

f.         The Unseen Risks – Cyber Security, Quantum Computing

 

Part IV: Leadership and Culture

1.      What is Culture in a business and what are the key levers. A simple, tested model

2. Why the board matters more than you think.

3.      Journey Talent

4.      Talent Optimization

5.      Creating a Culture of Innovation – what has worked in the trenches H, L and I ( Borrowing from a class taught on this at SOCOM under Adm McRaven)

5.      Corporate Governance and Talent

6.      The future of talent is migratory

 

Part V: Conclusion

Part VI - Modular Resources – accelerators, helpful models, shortcuts and frameworks 

  •  

     

     I. AI, IT  &Transformation Frameworks   

    - The 10 Ps 

    -  AI Transformation Models 

    - Product Development and Management in an AI World 

    - The Four Change Management Models 

    - The IT Factory Model  - IT is not one thing, it is five that are maaged differently

    - Architectural Lego 

    - The Five Questions to Ask Your CIO 

     

    II. Emerging Technologies & Infrastructure   

    - Innovation Radar 

    - MR/AR/VR Demystified 

    - Demystifying 5G

    - Quantum Computing

    - Science Impact Acceleration

     

     

     III. Leadership, Culture, and Talent   

    - Accelerators versus Consultants 

    - Three Leadership Hats in an AI World 

    - GenZ and the Five Imperatives 

    - Ecosystem Competition and Partnership Prowess 

    - Does Anthropology Matter? 

    - Human Networking Framework 

     

     IV. Strategic Insights & Case Studies   

    - Lessons from Silicon Valley 

    - Metaphysics of Business  and why that matters

    - FedEx Case Study