Leading Transformation ― How to Take Charge of Your Company's Future

Leaders know that their job is to lead transformation to keep pace with technology and an ever-changing business environment. They also know that they are bound to fail doing so. But not because they can't solve a technology or strategy problem. They will fail because of the intractable human problems--fear, habits and routines, politics, the inability to see what doesn't yet exist--associated with change. These challenges are as old as the hills, but what if there were finally a way to transcend them?

This book reveals a radical new method for doing just that. Written by the executive who designed and implemented it, the neuroscientist who helped make it work, and the academic who explains why it works and how to do it, Leading Transformation introduces an innovative yet proven process for creating breakthrough change. Broken down into three steps--envisioning the possible, breaking down resistance, and prototyping the future--this process uses cutting-edge tools such as science fiction, artifact trails, and neuroprototypes to overcome people's inability to imagine or react to what doesn't yet exist, override powerful habits and routines that prevent people from changing, and create compelling narratives about the organization's future and how to get there.

Used successfully by organizations such as Lowe's, Pepsi, IKEA, Google and others--with numerous other companies around the world learning how to apply it—the process revealed in this book gives leaders the means to effectively transcend the human barriers that hold organizations back.

Nathan Furr is a professor of strategy and innovation at INSEAD in Paris and a recognized expert in the fields of innovation and technology strategy. Furr earned his PhD at Stanford; he has published multiple books and articles in publications such as Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, and other respected journals. His most recent bestselling book, The Innovator's Method (Harvard Business Review Press, 2014), won multiple awards in the business press. Nathan has worked with leading companies to study and implement transformation and innovation strategies, including Google, Amazon, Citi, Deutsche Bank, Philips, Kimberly-Clark, Solvay, Telenor, and others.

Kyle Nel is the CEO and cofounder of Uncommon Partners, a consulting and training firm based on the methods in this book. He is formerly the founder and executive director of Lowe's Innovation Labs, part of Lowe's Companies, Inc., where he led a team responsible for driving the company's innovation vision, strategy and growth. His longstanding passion for changing human behavior led him to create a methodology, network and global team that is propelling Lowe's in new directions while promoting learning, excitement and possibility for tomorrow. Under his leadership, Lowe's Innovation Labs has introduced projects including the Lowe's Holoroom augmented and virtual reality design experience, the OSHbot autonomous retail service robot, and 3D scanning and printing services at retail. Lowe's was recently ranked #1 in innovation on the Fortune 500. Nel has also cultivated a network of uncommon partnerships, such as that with Made in Space to send the first commercial 3-D printer to the International Space Station, and launched a disruptive technology startup accelerator and incubator in Bangalore, India. Nel was recognized on the 2015 Advertising Age "40 Under 40" list. He previously held positions in market research with Lowe's and with the Walmart Global Insights Group.

Thomas Zoega Ramsoy is one of the leading experts on applied neuroscience and consumer neuroscience. He is the founder and CEO of Neurons Inc, a global innovation and tech company that helps companies, organizations and universities enable neuroscience tools and insights, including Google, Facebook, IKEA, Tesco, VISA, and Samsung. Ramsoy publishes extensively on the application of neuroimaging and neurophysiology to consumer behavior, management and decision making. Prior to founding Neurons Inc, Ramsoy was the Director of the Center for Decision Neuroscience at the Copenhagen Business School and Copenhagen University Hospital.

Author social media/website info:
@nathan_furr
@Kyle_Nel
neuronsinc.com (Thomas Zoega Ramsoy)