CHAPTER 12

Dialogue and Deliberation

Better Conversations Generate Better Strategy

“Conversations are the smallest units of change.”

—I have no idea who said this but I wish I had.

Mark Storm

There is convincing evidence that conversation is often a turning point for strategy. Billy Beane’s conversation with Sandy Alderman pointed toward an unorthodox logic that evolved into the Moneyball strategy. Lou Gerstner’s meeting with Dennie Welsh led to a “mind afire” realization that IBM’s future was a service-centric business model. It’s possible that a conversation between Christopher Columbus and his brother sparked the insight that a voyager could exploit one set of prevailing winds to sail west and a different set of winds to return.

The big idea ...

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