Medici Effect: What Elephants and Epidemics Can ... - Self Help in You

111 of 113 people found the following review helpful

Medici Effect opens slowly and at first I was disappointed: just another book of business successes. But as I began taking notes, I realized Frans Johansson really has a new message for all of us.

I recommend skimming the first chapters to get to the second part of the book, and then going back to understand application of principles. The heart of the book is about the definition of intersectional innovation and the conditions that must exist for breakthroughs to happen ? a combination of individual qualities, environmental support, luck and perseverance.

Perhaps the most helpful, most widely applicable guidelines involve planning for failure and, relatedly, moving from quantity to quality. Prolific authors, artists and business people tend to be successful. They might discard a dozen ?bad? ideas to come to two or three successes. So we should reward people for actions, not just success. The only true failure is failure to act.

I also liked Johansson?s discussion of risk, especially the notion of ?risk homeostasis.? If we take risks in one area, we compensate by avoiding risks in another. And a false sense of security can lead to senseless risk-taking.

Johansson?s examples make fascinating reader and probably helped sell the book. But I couldn?t help thinking that he offers little hope to the majority of people who find themselves in environments where they are forced to specialize. Risk-taking and diversity of experience tend to be discouraged and in fact we tend to disparage what I call the ?winding road? career path. Richard Branson is an innovator; on a lesser scale, he?d be a rolling stone.

Johansson emphasizes that underlying diversity, most people have a core competence where they?ve developed a solid expertise. I think that point has to be addressed, along with the need for a social antenna that allows innovators to find a supportive arena. If you?re too maverick, you?re dismissed; too conformist, you?re not innovating. Where?s the balance?

For example, Orit Dagiesh, the Bain consultant, must have paid lots of dues to reach her position. And while Johansson says she defies the consultant stereotype, she does so in a direction that enhances her femininity, with high heels and jewelry. If she?d been more casual or sporty, she might not have been taken seriously. Attractiveness pays, especially for women.

After reading this book, I began to see other examples of intersectional innovation. Natalie Goldberg?s first book, Writing Down the Bones, mixed Zen Buddhism with writing.

And Herminia Ibarra?s Working Identity argues for creating new networks to make meaningful career changes.

If I were teaching an MBA course in marketing, strategy or product planning, I?d recommend this book. And I?d recommend this book as a gift to anyone interested in business ideas. Those who liked Malcolm Gladwell?s book, The TIpping Point (which Johansson discusses) will like The Medici Effect too.

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