Greg Satell

Los Angeles, Philadelphia, United States

Bestselling Author of CASCADES & MAPPING INNOVATION | International Keynote Speaker | Transformation Expert and Advisor | @HarvardBiz Contributor

Articles

Working, Fast And Slow

1 week ago | digitaltonto.com | Greg Satell

In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman suggests that we have two modes of thinking. The first is emotive, intuitive and fast. The second is rational, deliberative and slow. As humans we evolved to make split-second decisions in life-or-death situations. Our slow-moving rational minds don’t automatically engage unless we deliberately focus. Cal Newport, in his new book Slow Productivity, makes a similar point about work.
Summer Reading List: 17 Revolutionary Books

2 weeks ago | digitaltonto.com | Greg Satell

One observation I’ve made is that countries tend to have their preferred season for rising up. In Ukraine, quite maddeningly, it is the dead of winter. I still remember freezing with so many others on Kyiv’s Maidan during the Orange Revolution in November 2004, then seeing so many of my friends freezing the same way on the same place a decade later. We Americans, at least in this one respect, are far more sensible. We protest when it’s warm.
The Science Behind Why Massive Change Seems To Happen All At Once

2 weeks ago | greg-satell.medium.com | Greg Satell

Humans tend to think about things in a linear way. We assume progress happens step by step — losing a little weight for the summer, putting money into a college fund, growing a business customer by customer. We measure, plan, and execute accordingly. One day follows the next, and we try to make a little progress towards our goalsYet many have observed that shifts are often abrupt.
Why Resistance to Change So Often Defies Logic

3 weeks ago | digitaltonto.com | Greg Satell

tags: Change, Resistance, Transformation Anybody who’s ever pursued significant change of any kind knows that some of the opposition can be absolutely nuts, with no rational basis at all. Change consultants often suggest we look for a “root cause,” but that’s often a fool’s errand. You’ll not only drive yourself crazy running in circles, you’re also likely to lend credibility to their attacks.
Why Leaders Need To Master Tribal Signals

3 weeks ago | greg-satell.medium.com | Greg Satell

Pundits often encourage us to find our tribe, but that has its downsides. Tribal thinking can make us suspicious of outsiders and can lead us to ignore new information and evidence that challenges our existing beliefs and paradigms. Sure, there is safety in sticking with our tribe, but we are unlikely to learn anything new. Experimental evidence has long shown we are hardwired to be distrustful of others we see as different than ourselves.
How We Got Here—and What Needs To Come Next | Digital Tonto

4 weeks ago | digitaltonto.com | Greg Satell

During the 15 years I spent in Eastern Europe, I saw more than my share of upheaval. When I arrived in Poland in 1997, there were monuments to dysfunction everywhere you looked. In Warsaw, Stalin’s horrid Palace of Culture dominated the skyline. In Krakow, the abandoned frame of the Szkieletor building stood frozen since the 1970s.
Why Intention Will Be Central To The AI Economy

4 weeks ago | greg-satell.medium.com | Greg Satell

When OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was asked about how artificial intelligence will affect the marketing industry, he said, “It will mean that 95% of what marketers use agencies, strategists, and creative professionals for today will easily, nearly instantly and at almost no cost be handled by the AI.”Anybody who’s used an AI service can see what he means.
To Innovate, Leaders Need To Empower The Edges

1 month ago | digitaltonto.com | Greg Satell

Breakthrough innovation typically comes from the edges. Albert Einstein had published his miracle year papers when he was an obscure 26 year-old Swiss patent clerk. Some of McDonald’s most popular products, such as the Big Mac and the Egg McMuffin, originated with franchisees before getting adopted nationally. That’s why a lot of management experts advise leaders to spend time on the edges of their enterprise and some, Walmart’s Sam Walton comes to mind, can do that effectively.
First, Try Not To Fool Yourself, Because You are The Easiest One To Fool

1 month ago | greg-satell.medium.com | Greg Satell

I recently read a book by a well-known business thought leader that I have tremendous respect for. Surprisingly, I noticed a factual error and, when I checked her notes, I saw that she cited an article I wrote in Forbes in which I made the same factual error. So it is quite likely that she made the mistake because she put her trust in me. The error was relatively minor. I wrote that Blockbuster CEO, John Antioco, was fired because of a compensation dispute, when actually he left of his own accord.
The Evidence Behind Why Big Transformations Start Small

1 month ago | digitaltonto.com | Greg Satell

tags: Change, Surviving Victory, Transformation In the 1950s, a number of researchers began exploring how innovations spread. Why do some ideas catch on while others fizzle out? And why do certain ideas gain quick acceptance in some places but struggle in others? To find out, they studied successful innovations like hybrid corn and tetracycline. What they found was that innovative ideas tend to come from outside the community, with early adopters being those most connected to the outside world.