Know what matters: lessons from a lifetime of transformations

Preface

Part one: Living the entrepreneurial life. Future back

Competitive advantage is everything

Means, ends, and by-products

Entrepreneurs are opportunists

Think before you IPO

You take the money; I'll take control

Feeding the growth monster

Empathy unlocks the future

Discovering today what matters tomorrow

Defining what you stand for

Getting it done

You don't own the business; the business owns you

Business (and life) requires hard choices

Part two: Leading a large enterprise. Develop with discipline

Break the cycle of failure

Innovator in chief

Make smart bets

Seek out the tough stuff and create a barrier to entry

Know when to fold 'em

If you don't have control, credibility is your currency

The doing of the doing

Business would be easier without people

Parish priest in a business suit

Be contrarian : conserve in a boom, build in a bust

Business is personal

Part three: Driving large-scale transformation. Managing the desire/friction ratio

Making the transformation operational

Finding new runways for growth

Come clean

with yourself and others

Keep your promises

Know when to sell

Epilogue: Transformation never ends.