Today, when your fortunes can literally change overnight, the new strategic imperative is making your moment of maximum risk your moment of maximum opportunity. In The Upside, Adrian Slywotzky provides bold and original ideas for growth breakthroughs as well as the practical tools to use Monday morning, such as
•How to change the odds for your next major initiative and create potential industry breakthroughs, as Toyota did with its expanding universe of Prius vehicles.
•Shape and exploit risk, don’t be shaped by it. Become a knowledge-intensive business and continuallyincrease the knowledge gap between yourself and rivals, as Coach and Tsutaya of Japan have convincingly done.
•A category killer can’t kill what’s not in its category. When basketball legend Bill Russell faced a taller, stronger Wilt Chamberlain, he led the Celtics to victory by inventing a different game. The same thinking lets Target prosper in a Wal-Mart world—and can help you outcompete the “unbeatable” rival in your own industry.
•When you come to a fork in the road—take it! Only a fraction of companies survive when industries experience technological or strategic transitions. To be a survivor, learn the secret that enabled Microsoft to weather the advent of the Internet—the art of the double bet.
•Stuckinabusinessbox? Findthebiggerbox—and then the biggest.When growth stagnates, capture more of your customer’s dollars through demand innovation and big-box thinking, as companies from Continental AG and Ikea to Procter & Gamble have done.
•Your competitors can alsobe your greatest enablers of profit. Stop competing yourself to death! The key is knowing when to compete and when to collaborate, as Apple has shown with its revolutionary approach to the music business.
1 Changing the odds
2 Why do customers surprise us?
3 The fork in the road
4 Unbeatable
5 Powerful, Pround, and Vulnerable
6 When nobody makes money
7 When your business stops growing
8 Treasure Island
"The Upside is all upside-quintessential clear thinking, Slywotzky at this best. Whether you are on the attack or worried about being attacked, this book shows you how to anticipate and capitalize on opportunities and threats others fail to see."
--Clayton M. Christensen, author of the Innovator' s Dilemma--
"Converting risks into giant opportunities differentiates the leaders of the future. Adrian Slywotzky provides breakthrough thinking in this must-read book."
--Ram Charan, author of know-how and coauthor of Execution--
"The Upside shows way to create growth breakthroughs from threats that are both practical and inspiring. This is a must-read book."
--Phillip E. Rowley, CEO of AOL Europe--